Vietnam on Two Wheels

Criss-crossed by mopeds, shaded by banyan trees, soothed by the lake at its center, Hanoi is an immersive experience. Its vintage neighborhoods are threaded together by boulevards and dotted with orchid-scented shops and sun-faded colonial villas. There’s a contemporary buzz, thanks to youthful design and restaurant scenes, but the past is never far away – immortalized in temples, museums and President Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. Above all, though, this is a city to be experienced at street level, at its food stalls, markets and pavement bars serving bia hoi, the local beer.    

Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrated for its extraordinary karst landscape with thousands of weather-sculpted limestone peaks rising from the Gulf of Tonkin's tranquil waters. Its dramatic hills and spires evoke a fantastical realm reminiscent of the floating Hallelujah Mountains in James Cameron’s Avatar. Explore hidden caves, serene grottoes and floating fishing villages while cruising aboard a luxurious wooden junk. 

Traditional wooden houses practically tumble into the canals in Hoi An, a waterfront city with a well-preserved lantern-lit Ancient Town of tailor shops and banh mi stalls. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it moves at a slightly gentler pace than most urban centers in Vietnam. Get out of town to cycle through emerald rice fields or unwind on the golden sands of nearby Cua Dai.

This is Vietnam’s garden city, much smaller than Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, wrapped around the lazy waters of the Perfume River. A place best explored by bicycle, free-wheeling past mossy pagodas and water-lily ponds, down leafy streets scented by frangipani. As the home of the country’s last royal family, its imperial citadel dominates the landscape, with ornate mausoleums along the riverbank, guarded by stone mandolins, and a jumble of palaces, temples and pavilions. But it’s also Vietnam’s foodiest city, thanks to the harvest of ingredients grown nearby, and the street-food markets sizzle with the sheer variety of flavor. 

Otherwise known as Saigon, this is Vietnam’s most dynamic metropolis – cacophonous and endlessly diverting. Best seen from the back of a motorbike (if you dare), it’s a hub for contemporary Asian culture, cuisine and entrepreneurship, with skyscrapers pushing the city upwards. But the romance prevails, with the belle epoque Opera House and Notre Dame Cathedral at its heart, and boulevards leading past colonial-era villas and hotels where Graham Greene once dawdled. There are museums and parks to explore, and the Ben Thanh market, bursting with flavor and color – while the Saigon River is a constant presence, its slow-moving surface reflecting sunshine and nocturnal neon.