Cycling in Vietnam

An Bàng Beach is Hội An's best beach - 4km from the Ancient Town, with a long stretch of fine sand, a relaxed strip of cafes and beach bars, and none of the resort overdevelopment that has overtaken Đà Nẵng's coastline to the north.

Ba Om Lake in Trà Vinh is a sacred Khmer reservoir over 1,300 years old, surrounded by ancient trees and the Âng Pagoda - the most important Khmer Buddhist temple in a province with one of the largest Khmer Krom communities in the Mekong Delta.

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.

Bến Tre is the Mekong Delta's coconut capital - a province of dense palm groves, narrow canals, and traditional villages where coconut is processed into every conceivable product, explored best by bicycle on flat delta roads and by small boat through the shaded waterways.

Bình Sơn Beach in Ninh Thuận is a stretch of undeveloped coastline north of Phan Rang with clear water and a fishing community backdrop - in a province that gets less rain than anywhere else in Vietnam and has some of the most reliably sunny beaches on the south-central coast.

Cần Giờ Beach is Ho Chi Minh City's own beach district - a 70km 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.

Cát Tiên National Park is the most accessible serious wildlife destination from Ho Chi Minh City - a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of 72,000 hectares protecting lowland rainforest, over 350 bird species, and the Dao Tien Endangered Primate Species Centre.

Cửa Đại Beach is the closest beach to Hội An Ancient Town - 4km east on a flat cycling road, with a wide sandy shore, a strip of seafood restaurants, and views of the Cham Islands on the horizon.

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 and lakeside cycling as the main visitor draws.

Dốc Lết Beach is Nha Trang's best day-trip beach - 18km of white sand on a sheltered bay 50km north of the city, with calmer and clearer water than Nha Trang's main beach and significantly fewer crowds.

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 and Early Lê dynasties ruled a newly unified Vietnam from 968 to 1010 AD, with two temple complexes still standing among the karst peaks.

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 cascading down both sides of the valley below.

Long Bien Bridge is Hanoi's iconic colonial-era cantilever bridge across the Red River, designed by Gustave Eiffel's firm and completed in 1903 - 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.

O Quy Ho Pass is Vietnam's longest and highest mountain pass at 2,090m, crossing the Hoàng Liên Son range between Sapa and Lai Chau on a 50km stretch of road that descends through cloud forest, rice terrace valleys, and one of the most dramatic mountain landscapes in Southeast Asia.

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 2,000-hectare protected forest reserve on the edge of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park - a network of jungle trails, a canopy walkway, and some of the most accessible wildlife habitat in central Vietnam, 7km from Sơn Trạch village.

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 cut through towering limestone karst in Ninh Bình, rowed by local women through flooded rice paddies that turn gold in harvest season. Vietnam's most scenic boat journey.

Thẩm Mã Pass - a lesser-known but stunning mountain pass on the Hà Giang Loop between Yên Minh and Đồng Văn, with sweeping views over terraced valleys and karst peaks that rival the more famous passes.

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 where boats, traders, and travelers cross between Vietnam and Kandal Province.

Trà Quế is a 200-year-old herb farming village 3km from Hội An Ancient Town - a dense patchwork of organic herb plots tended by hand using traditional methods, 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, 60km 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 forested islands, calm water, and dramatic sunset views.

Tuyền Lâm Lake is Đà Lạt's largest reservoir - a 320-hectare expanse of calm water surrounded by pine forests, accessible by cable car, kayak, or bicycle, with Trúc Lâm Thiền Monastery on the hillside 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.