Route Map: Thac Ba Lake to Ha Giang City by Motorbike
Updated 25/01/2025
Taking 2 days to get to Ha Giang City from Hanoi is a good idea. We suggest you stop off in Thac Ba Lake as there are some great places to stay and it is a beautiful location.
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Route Map: Thac Ba Lake to Ha Giang City by Motorbike
Thac Ba Lake to Ha Giang City is about 180km direct. It can be driven by motorbike in around 4 – 4.5hrs, if you go direct and on the highway. We suggest you take a few of the smaller roads and take your time. Check out the detours that get you off the highway.
Thac - Ha Giang - Direct Route
This route totals around 180km and is a long ride here in Vietnam. It will take around 4.5 hrs. You can choose to do this direct if you are in a rush, or take a couple of detours that we show you below.
Morning: Thac Ba to Tan Quang (Lunch) / 130km – 3.5 – 4 hrs
Afternoon: Tan Quang to Ha Giang / 60km – 1.5 hrs
Thac Ba - Ha Giang (Detours)
Thac Ba to Ha Giang is quite long, but not very difficult. You will probably have time to take a detour or two depending on what kind of riding you want. These detours we list below will help you out.
Detour 1
This route will take you along a regular road and then on to some small paths through some small villages and farms and likely add about 1hr to your journey time.
Detour 2
This route is quite long and probably too much to take on. However, if you look at the map you will see there are two or three options to join it and you can easily jump on and off, or only take a shorter section. Again, it will get you off the highway and onto smaller quieter roads.
Detour 3
This is the most fun of the three detours and it is best to use an offroad bike for this at the moment. There is one section that is steep and rocky and quite difficult to ride if it has been raining. Using a semi automatic would be fine so long as you are willing to take it easy on this section. A larger CB500x would have a lot of trouble on this, so don’t bother. Expect to add around 1 hr to your journey time.
Where to stay in Ha Giang City
In Ha Giang City we like to stay in:
These hotels are good quality, have air con and hot water and can offer breakfast. You will usually find a room betweeen 25-50usd.
Where to stay outside of Ha Giang City
Outside of the city, we like to stay in:
These options are a little outside of the city and are therefore either a little more peaceful or better placed to get you out on ‘the loop’ quickly and easily the next morning.
Where to next.
From Ha Giang City, most riders will be heading North to get to Quan Ba, Lung Cu or Meo Vac even. This will be their first day on ‘the loop’. You might consider going to Du Gia and doing the loop in the opposite direction agains the general flow of traffic.
You could also be heading West towards Hoang Su Phi, Bac Ha and eventually Sa Pa over in Lao Cai. This is a quieter route with less tourists until you get to Bac Ha or Sa Pa.
If you are headed back to Hanoi it is either back directly or consider whether to stop off in Thac Ba, or even Tuyen Quang.
What type of bike to choose
We would advise you to choose between a manual or a semi automatic bike. These are the best bikes for a long trip like this and also for the mountains of Ha Giang. You have more control and they are less prone to overheating or break down.
Honda XR150
The XR150 is a great budget option that will perform well on the road and in the dirt on the small tracks of Ha Giang. The bike is lightweight, even if a little underpowered. There is plenty of room to fit a 40l bag on the rear, which should hold more than enough for a trip. The 12l tank and great fuel economy mean that this bike has a huge range of over 300km on a tank.
If you plan to ride two up, it might be a bit of a squeeze and you will have to pack very lightly or risk overloading the bike and making it quite rear weighted.
Honda CB500x
The CB500x is a great bike for the long haul drive up to Ha Giang. It is big enough and powerful enough to overtake trucks on the highway and carry two people with ease. Using a rear box and side panniers will give you plenty of room for gear. The 17l tank means you will have enough range for a day’s ride with ease.
The only concern would be taking some of the smaller tracks off road as our bikes have road tyres and the bike itself is quite big and heavy. However, there are plenty of small, interesting tracks that have concrete and are wide enough for the CB500x.
Semi Automatic
The Semi Automatic bikes are a much more budget option. We can offer the Honda Wave, Honda Blade or the Honda Future and they are all quite similar. it is really best to ride single on this kind of bike as this will leave room for a backpack and also not overlaod the bike in the hills. They are very fuel efficient but only have a 4l fuel tank so will need filling more regularly than the manual options.
Thac Ba Lake to Ha Giang by Motorbike
The ride from Thac Ba Lake to Ha Giang can be quite quick, easy and uneventful. If you are on a time limit, this could be fine, but often you will arrive in Ha Giang a little early. So, we offer you a couple of detours that will add a little adventure to the trip and help you make the most out of your day.
