Cycling Vietnam's Mountain Tracks 8 Days

Our mountain tracks cycling adventures tours
begin with ………

… ... time to recover from your flight and a welcome dinner before boarding the overnight train to Sapa.

Meals: one dinner
Escort/guide: transfer from airport to hotel, evening pickups for your meal and railway station

Familiarising in Sapa: 1 day cycling around the area

A modest 30k ride to meet explore of the many ethnic minority villages around Sapa – a bit ‘touristy', but lots to see and do.

Meals: one breakfast and one lunch
Escort/guide: from arrival at railway station to hotel and return

Heavens Gate and beyond:
4 days cycling westward to Dien Bien Phu

This is where you leave the commercial world. After an authentic local market, the route twists and winds along bumpy roads and rough tracks against a magnificent panorama of mountain scenery. As the tortuous bends and gradients appear around the corner, small villages come into view down in the terraced valleys. The many different hill communities see few visitors, but most are eager to meet foreigners.

There's plenty of time to hike to some of the nearer villages or relax alongside the multitude of springs and torrents, or cool down in the larger pools. The clear air and tranquil setting seems light years from the rush and bustle of Hanoi .

As the mountains dwindle in size, the highways and buildings of Dien Biem Phu come into focus and the materialistic world reappears.

Meals: four breakfasts, four lunches and three dinners
Escort/guide: from arrival at railway station to hotel and return

Dien Biem Phu and departure: 2 days

Apart from the French, few people outside of Indochina are aware of the significance of this small mountain city. For Vietnamese people, it is revered as the battle that finally drove the French colonialists from the country. It's well worth a few hours looking around the war relicts and historical sites. Then, after lunch, you'll board the afternoon flight to Hanoi . Depending on your flight time on the next day, you may have some time to wander around the capital until your car arrives to take you to Noi Bai airport.

Our prices include:

• Breakfast and accommodation sharing a twin room.

• Pick-ups and transfers by private air-conditioned vehicle as specified in the itinerary above (Please note: pick-ups will be by a guide and driver or, where a guide is not necessary, a driver only. All unaccompanied drivers will be briefed in advance, and will carry a mobile phone to ensure smooth transfer arrangements)

• Travel in an appropriate private air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced safe driver (On the whole trip you will have a supply car, which can give you a lift whenever you feel tired).

• The services of experienced English-speaking guides as indicated in the itinerary. Your biking trip will be escorted by a well-trained biking guide. (please note: guides will be on hand from pick-up until guests' return to their hotel or reaching their destination). Free days or part days will not include the services of a guide unless requested and included in the final itinerary.

• Train tickets: Hanoi - Lao Cai (good local standard, soft four-berth cabin with air-conditioner Fanxipan Express/Tulico Carriage).

• One way flight tickets: Dien Bien Phu – Hanoi , including airport taxes.

• Where necessary, entry fees for all visits as mentioned in the programme.

• Lunches and dinners (as specified in the itinerary) in the best local restaurants and picnics where no suitable restaurant is available.

• Good quality mountain bikes for all biking days in the programme

• Drinking water and local fruit for all biking days in the programme

• VAT and other taxes