Cycling in Vietnam

An Bang Beach is Hội An's most accessible beach - a wide stretch of white sand 3-5km east of the Ancient Town, reachable by bicycle through rice paddies in 20-30 minutes. Calmer and less developed than Đà Nẵng's city beaches, with beach bars, watersports, and good sunrise views.

Ba Om Lake in Trà Vinh is a sacred Khmer reservoir tied to a famous folk legend about a nighttime pond-digging contest between men and women, surrounded by hundreds of centuries-old sao and dầu trees and anchored by the Âng Pagoda - one of the oldest Khmer temples in Vietnam.

The Bến Hải River and Hiền Lương Bridge mark the former demilitarized zone that divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel from 1954 to 1975 - one of the most historically significant and quietly moving sites on the Vietnam War trail in Quảng Trị, its reconstructed bridge still painted blue on the north half and yellow on the south.

Bích Động Pagoda is a 300-year-old cave temple complex built into a limestone karst in Ninh Bình - three separate temples (Lower, Middle, Upper) climb the mountain face via more than 100 stone steps, once ranked 'second most beautiful grotto in Vietnam'. Free entry; best combined with a Tam Cốc boat tour.

Bình Sơn Beach is Phan Rang's city beach, just 2-3km from downtown and connected directly to Ninh Chữ beach, with a modern seafront park, fine white sand, and reliably clear water in a province that gets less rain than anywhere else in Vietnam.

Cần Giờ Beach (also called Bãi biển 30/4), Ho Chi Minh City's own beach district, is a roughly 50km drive from District 1 through mangrove forest to a dark-sand coastal town where Saigonese come for weekend seafood, a swim, and a break from the city without leaving city limits - though a major land reclamation project is set to reshape this coastline in the coming years.

Cát Tiên National Park - established 1992, 71,920 hectares (larger than Singapore), UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Over 1,610 plant species, 1,568 animal species, 300+ bird species (nearly 50% of Vietnam's total). Once the last mainland Asian refuge of the Javan rhinoceros, declared extinct here in 2010. Winner of 4 awards at the 2025 AEN International Ecotourism Awards including top prize for Biodiversity Conservation.

Cửa Đại Beach is the closest beach to Hội An Ancient Town - 4km east on a flat cycling road, with views of the Cham Islands on the horizon, though the beach itself has been narrowed by years of erosion and is currently the site of a major, actively under-construction land reclamation project expected to finish in 2026.

Dầu Tiếng Lake is the largest artificial reservoir in Vietnam - a 270km² expanse of water on the Tây Ninh and Bình Dương border, surrounded by forest and used for irrigation, with sunrise photography, lakeside cycling, and the nearby Chùa Thái Sơn temple on Núi Cậu among the main visitor draws.

Dốc Lết Beach is Nha Trang's best day-trip beach - a long stretch of white sand on a sheltered bay 50km north of the city, with calmer and clearer water than Nha Trang's main beach, significantly fewer crowds, and a name that comes from the soft, sinking sand dunes visitors once had to shuffle across to reach the sea.

Don Village (Bản Đôn) is the most popular Thai village in Pù Luông Nature Reserve - a hillside settlement of traditional stilt houses set above a wide bowl of terraced rice fields, and the main base for homestays, retreats, and trekking in the reserve.

Du Già is a Tày and H'mông village 70km from Hà Giang city on the eastern Ha Giang Loop - quieter and harder to reach than the main loop, with rice terraces, red silk-cotton trees lining the road, and homestays that attract travellers who want the experience over the Instagram shot.

Hoa Lư was Vietnam's first independent capital - a 10th-century fortress city built inside a natural ring of limestone karsts, where the Đinh, Early Lê, and the start of the Lý dynasties ruled a newly unified Vietnam from 968 to 1010 AD. One of 4 core zones of the Tràng An UNESCO World Heritage Site (recognised 2014). Note: this is the historic Cố Đô Hoa Lư in Trường Yên - not to be confused with the newer 'Phố Cổ Hoa Lư' recreated old-town tourist complex in Ninh Bình city centre.

Hòn Sơn is a large mountainous island in the Gulf of Thailand, Kiên Giang - calmer seas and a shorter crossing than Phú Quý, with clear water, Ma Thiên Lãnh peak, fishing villages, and almost no resort development. Minimum 2 nights to do it properly.

Khau Phạ Pass is one of Vietnam's four great mountain passes - a 30km road through the clouds between Tú Lệ and Mù Cang Chải, with the most dramatic views of rice terraces in the country, and the only paragliding launch site in the entire Mù Cang Chải region.

Long Bien Bridge is Hanoi's iconic colonial-era steel bridge across the Red River, built by the Daydé & Pillé firm and completed in 1902 - still in active use by trains, motorcycles, and pedestrians more than 120 years after construction.

Mã Pí Lèng Pass - Vietnam's most dramatic mountain road, a 20km switchback carved into sheer limestone cliffs above the turquoise Nho Quế River canyon. Built 1959-1965 by over 2,000 workers from 16 ethnic groups who hung from ropes on the cliff faces for nearly a year.

The Moc Chau Tea Hills are vast rolling plantations of trimmed green tea bushes covering the highland plateau of Son La province, about 10km from Moc Chau town. Most photogenic at dawn when mist settles between the rows - the smell of tea leaves in the cool morning air is one of the defining sensory experiences of the plateau.

Mũi Cà Mau National Park is the southernmost point of Vietnam's mainland - a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of 42,000 hectares of mangrove forest at the tip of the Cà Mau Peninsula, where the East Sea meets the Gulf of Thailand. The only place in Vietnam to watch both sunrise and sunset from the same spot.

Mũi Trô is a tiny, nameless-on-most-maps fishing village on the Bình Thuận coast - a handful of houses, round basket boats, and a rocky pebble beach that almost no foreign traveler has visited, sitting 2km off the road near Cô Thạch beach.

Nam Du is Vietnam's southernmost island archipelago - 21 islands in the Gulf of Thailand, closer and cheaper than Phú Quốc, with clearer water, outer islands for snorkeling, and a genuine fishing community character. 2 hours from Rạch Giá by high-speed ferry.

Ô Quy Hồ Pass is one of Vietnam's 'tứ đại đỉnh đèo' (four great passes) - the longest mountain pass in the northwest at 50km, crossing the Hoàng Liên Sơn range at 2,035m between Sapa and Lai Châu. Named after the mournful cry of a bird in a tragic love legend.

Phoenix Island (Cồn Phụng) and Unicorn Island (Cồn Thới Sơn) are two of the Mekong Delta's famous Tứ Linh islands near My Tho, known for coconut canals, sampan rides, fruit orchards, and the unusual Coconut Religion temple.

Phong Nậm Valley is one of Cao Bằng's most beautiful hidden gems - a wide agricultural valley where the Quây Sơn River winds between limestone peaks and golden rice fields, 15km from Trùng Khánh and 25km upstream from Bản Giốc Waterfall. September to October is peak season when the harvest turns the valley floor gold.

Phong Nha Botanic Garden is a protected forest reserve on the edge of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, 7km from Sơn Trạch village - despite the name, the main draw is a jungle trek to Gió Waterfall and its natural swimming holes, not a classic flower garden.

Phước Bình Beach is a 4km stretch of quiet coastline next to Phước Tĩnh fishing village, tucked behind a row of resorts between Long Hải and Hồ Tràm. Almost no tourist presence - barely shows up in Google search results. Best October to November.

Phú Quý Island (also known as Cù Lao Thu) is a remote coral island 120km off the Bình Thuận coast with some of the clearest water and best diving in southern Vietnam - a 2.5 to 3.5 hour ferry from Phan Thiết that delivers a genuine fishing island experience with minimal resort infrastructure.

Ta Pa Fields are a landscape of traditional floating rice paddies in the Seven Mountains region of An Giang province, submerged each flood season when the Mekong Delta rises. The combination of water-covered fields, distant mountain silhouettes, and Khmer stilt village architecture makes it one of the most distinctive seasonal landscapes in southern Vietnam.

Tam Cốc - three river caves carved through limestone karst in Ninh Bình, rowed by local women through flooded rice paddies that turn gold in harvest season. Part of the Tràng An UNESCO dual heritage site. Best mid-May to mid-June for golden rice.

Thẩm Mã Pass (also called Dốc Chín Khoanh, the 'nine-bend slope') is a dramatic, historically named mountain pass on Highway 4C between Yên Minh and Đồng Văn on the Hà Giang Loop - one of the route's most famous photo stops, which also means it's one of its most crowded, especially during the Sep-Nov buckwheat flower season.

Thường Phước Border Gate in Đồng Tháp is one of the Mekong Delta's international river crossings into Cambodia - a working border post on the Mekong marked by Border Marker 240, where boats, traders, and travelers cross into Cambodia's Prey Veng province via the connecting Kaoh Roka border post.

Trà Quế is a 300-year-old herb farming village 3km from Hội An Ancient Town - a dense patchwork of organic herb plots tended by hand using traditional methods, recognised as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage, where visitors can join farmers for a morning, learn to cook Vietnamese dishes, and eat lunch in the fields.

Tri An Lake is a large reservoir in Dong Nai province, 65-70km from Ho Chi Minh City, formed by the Tri An hydroelectric dam on the Dong Nai River. A popular weekend camping and kayaking destination for city residents, with 76 forested islands, calm water, and dramatic sunset views.

Tuyền Lâm Lake is Đà Lạt's largest reservoir - one of the largest bodies of water in the area, surrounded by pine forests, accessible by cable car, kayak, or bicycle, with Trúc Lâm Thiền Monastery perched on Phụng Hoàng Mountain above the northern shore.

Việt Hải is a fishing and farming village of 87 households inside Cát Bà National Park - nicknamed 'island within an island', reachable only by boat from Bến Bèo or by a 12km jungle trek through the national park. No road access to the outside world.

West Lake is Hanoi's largest lake - a 500-hectare expanse in the Tây Hồ district ringed by upscale cafes, ancient pagodas, seafood restaurants, and a 17km cycling path that offers the most pleasant outdoor escape within the city limits.