Self-Launched Vietnam E-Bike Adventure: Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi

Base yourself in District 1 (Pham Ngu Lao or Da Kao) and do the city sights yourself in a loop: Saigon Central Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral (exterior), Reunification Palace (entry around £2.50) and the War Remnants Museum (about £2). Lunch on food-stall classics at a local quan or Ben Thanh Market food court, then browse Ben Thanh and Saigon Square. Evening: pick up your e-bike or city bike from a District 1 rental shop (roughly £8–12/day, cheaper by the week) so you're ready for tomorrow — ask for a step-through frame if you want an easy mount.

🚌Walk or Grab bike within District 1 (£1–2 per ride)

🛏Hostel dorm or budget guesthouse in District 1 (£8–14)

• →Walking tour of District 1 sights
• →War Remnants Museum
• →Reunification Palace
• →Ben Thanh Market and Saigon Square
• →Collect e-bike rental

Ride out of the city early (or take a local bus route 13/79 combination if you'd rather save the legs) through rubber plantations to Cu Chi. Pay the tunnel entrance on arrival (about £4) and either self-guide with the site map or join an English-language tour on the spot. Stop for sugar cane juice and fruit at a roadside stall. Alternatively book a half-day Cu Chi tour with bike hire via GetYourGuide (around £20–28) and ride back in the afternoon.

🚌E-bike ~70km round trip, or local bus £1–2 each way

🛏Same Ho Chi Minh City guesthouse (£8–14)

• →Cycle through rubber plantations
• →Cu Chi Tunnels entrance and self-guided/tour
• →Sugar cane juice stop

Take an early open-tour bus or local bus to Cai Be (about £5, 2.5hrs) and hire a bike there for the day. Ride through fruit gardens and delta villages, cross the local ferry to Tan Qui Island, and join a small rowing-boat trip through the canals (pay locally, roughly £4–6). Lunch at a garden restaurant with elephant fish, then visit the floating market and a rice-paper workshop. Return to HCMC by late bus or overnight in a Vinh Long homestay (£8–12).

🚌Open-tour bus £5, local ferry £0.30, bike hire £4

🛏Vinh Long homestay or return to HCMC guesthouse (£8–14)

• →Mekong Delta cycling
• →Tan Qui Island ferry crossing
• →Rowing boat through canals
• →Floating market and rice paper workshop

Take a morning sleeper or seated bus from HCMC to Da Lat (about £10–13, 7–8hrs) — book via a local operator or Klook. In the afternoon hire a bike in Da Lat and do an easy 25–30km loop on country lanes beneath Langbian Mountain, then wander the colonial villas and chalets around Xuan Huong Lake. Optional extras: Valley of Love, the Bao Dai summer palace, or a Lat ethnic village at the foot of Langbian.

🚌Bus HCMC–Da Lat £11, bike hire £4

🛏Da Lat budget hotel or hostel (£10–16)

• →Highland cycling beneath Langbian Mountain
• →Xuan Huong Lake and colonial architecture
• →Bao Dai summer palace (optional)

This is the big day: roughly 80km from Da Lat down to the coast, descending about 1,500m through pine forest, villages and tea and coffee plantations. Do it on a hired e-bike if you can find one in Da Lat (some shops rent them, about £12/day) — otherwise hire a scooter (£6–8/day) or take an Easy Rider motorbike tour (about £30) for the same route. Overnight in Nha Trang and eat seafood on the seafront.

🚌E-bike/scooter hire £8–12, fuel £2

🛏Nha Trang budget hotel (£10–16)

• →Da Lat to Nha Trang highland descent
• →Tea and coffee plantation stops
• →Nha Trang beachfront evening

Ride the 16km of coast out of Nha Trang to the Cham Tower (Po Nagar, about £1), then continue to Dai Lanh Beach for a swim and a hammock hour — eat a seafood noodle lunch at one of the beach shacks. Push on the remaining ~30km to Tuy Hoa, where an evening walk around the night market and riverfront gives a good feel for local life. Vietnamese coffee stop obligatory.

🚌E-bike/scooter hire and fuel £6–9

🛏Tuy Hoa guesthouse or budget hotel (£8–14)

• →Po Nagar Cham Towers
• →Dai Lanh Beach swim
• →Tuy Hoa evening walking tour

Take a short local bus to Chi Thanh market (about £1) and then ride the rural backroads ~65km to Qui Nhon through countryside and low mountain passes, passing minority villages and rural schoolyards. Picnic lunch at a local cafe en route. Qui Nhon has a long beach and cheap seafood — reward yourself.

🚌Local bus £1, bike/scooter hire and fuel £7

🛏Qui Nhon budget hotel (£9–15)

• →Rural countryside cycling
• →Chi Thanh market
• →Qui Nhon beach

Ride 45km from Qui Nhon to Quang Ngai, with a steady 2km climb to the working pagoda on the summit of Thien An Mountain for the view. In the afternoon take a Grab or local bus out to the My Lai Memorial and museum (about £2 entry) — a sobering but important stop; audio guides are available on site. Finish with a swim at a nearby beach or a cycle through the fishing villages.

🚌Bike/scooter hire and fuel £7, Grab to My Lai £4

🛏Quang Ngai guesthouse (£8–14)

• →Thien An Mountain pagoda climb
• →My Lai Memorial and museum
• →Fishing village cycling and beach swim

Cycle the small backroads from Quang Ngai towards Hoi An (or put the bike on a local bus for the long middle stretch, about £5). Once in Hoi An, buy the Old Town entry ticket (about £4.50) and walk the merchant houses, the Japanese Covered Bridge and Hoi An market. Evening: lanterns on the river, cheap cao lau and white rose dumplings.

🚌Local bus with bike £5, bike hire/fuel £5

🛏Hoi An hostel or budget hotel (£10–16)

• →Village cycling into Hoi An
• →Old Town ticket and merchant houses
• →Japanese Covered Bridge and Hoi An market

A flexible day. Options booked directly or via GetYourGuide/Klook: a sunrise My Son Sanctuary tour (about £18–25 including transport), a boat trip to Cham Island for snorkelling (about £22), a bike ride to Tra Que Vegetable Farm (entry £1), or simply An Bang Beach with a deckchair and a beer for the day (£4). Rent a bike locally for around £3.

🚌Local bike hire £3

🛏Hoi An hostel or budget hotel (£10–16)

• →My Son Sanctuary tour (optional)
• →Cham Island boat trip (optional)
• →An Bang Beach
• →Tra Que Vegetable Farm

The classic ride: roughly 100km from Hoi An over the Hai Van Pass (Pass of the Ocean Clouds), with a look at Da Nang and China Beach on the way. Do it on a hired e-bike or scooter — or take the train Da Nang–Hue (about £3–5, 3hrs, spectacular coastal views) and hire a bike in Hue if the distance feels long. Stop for lunch at Lang Co Beach, and detour through the Thuan An peninsula villages and their temples and tombs.

🚌E-bike/scooter hire and fuel £8–10, or train Da Nang–Hue £4

🛏Hue guesthouse or budget hotel (£9–15)

• →Hai Van Pass ride
• →Lang Co Beach lunch
• →Thuan An peninsula village temples

Morning cycling loop of Hue's sights: the Citadel (about £6), the tombs of Emperor Tu Duc and Khai Dinh (about £4–5 each), and Dong Ba Market along the Perfume River. Afternoon/evening: board the Reunification Express sleeper from Hue to Hanoi (soft sleeper about £25–32, ~13hrs) — book a few days ahead on the official Vietnam Railways site or via a local agent.

🚌Reunification Express soft sleeper Hue–Hanoi £28

🛏Sleeper train berth to Hanoi (£25–32)

• →Hue Citadel
• →Tu Duc and Khai Dinh mausoleums
• →Dong Ba Market

Arrive Hanoi in the morning and take a shuttle transfer to Halong Bay included in most overnight cruise packages. Book a budget-to-mid overnight junk cruise directly or via Klook/GetYourGuide (about £95–130 per person, including meals, kayaking at Luon Cave, swimming and hiking at Soi Sim Island, sunset and dinner on board). One of the few places where booking a packaged boat is genuinely the cheapest way to see it.

🚌Shuttle bus Hanoi–Halong return (included in cruise, or £12 by local bus)

🛏Overnight on a Halong Bay cruise boat (included in cruise price)

• →Halong Bay cruise
• →Kayaking at Luon Cave
• →Soi Sim Island swim and hike
• →Sunset on deck

Sunrise on the bay, optional tai chi on deck, then explore Sung Sot Cave and cruise past Ba Hang fishing village before a cooking demonstration and lunch on board. Transfer back to Hanoi in the afternoon. Settle into the Old Quarter (dorm £8–13), grab a bia hoi on Ta Hien street and eat bun cha for dinner.

🚌Return shuttle included in cruise

🛏Hanoi Old Quarter hostel (£8–13)

• →Sung Sot Cave
• →Ba Hang fishing village
• →Cooking demonstration
• →Hanoi Old Quarter evening

Final day of self-guided sightseeing: One Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature (entry about £1.50 each), a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter, lunch at a local restaurant, a one-hour cyclo tour of the Old Quarter (about £5, negotiate), and the Thang Long Water Puppet Show (tickets about £3–5, book at the box office or via Klook). Finish with a rooftop beer and a bun cha send-off.

🚌Walk, Grab £1–2, cyclo £5

🛏Not included — onward travel

• →One Pillar Pagoda
• →Temple of Literature
• →Hoan Kiem Lake walk
• →Old Quarter cyclo tour
• →Thang Long Water Puppet Show