Best Ha Giang Loop 3-day itinerary & map for first-timers

I tell almost everyone to take four days on the Ha Giang Loop, and plenty of them book three anyway, which is completely fine. So this is the Ha Giang Loop 3-day itinerary I’d actually ride, day by day, with the stops, the distances and a map you can pin, and the one change that makes three days feel like enough.

The change is the bus home. Most three-day plans end with a race back to Ha Giang city for the half-four bus to Hanoi, and that’s where they go wrong. On the night bus at eight, day three stops being a deadline. Everything else below follows from that, plus one choice you’ll have to make on day two between Lung Cu and the boat.

• Quick Answer: The best Ha Giang Loop 3-day itinerary for first-timers runs anticlockwise: day one Ha Giang city to Dong Van via Quan Ba and Yen Minh (about 150km), day two over Ma Pi Leng Pass to the Nho Que River and on to Du Gia (90 to 110km), and day three back to Ha Giang city (about 100km). That’s around 350km and five to six hours of riding a day. On three days 2 nights you’ll usually choose between Lung Cu and the Nho Que boat, and taking the 8pm night bus back to Hanoi takes the pressure off the last day.
• Ha Giang Loop 3 days 2 nights, by day:
  • Day 1: Ha Giang city, Bac Sum, Quan Ba Heaven Gate, Yen Minh, Tham Ma, Dong Van. About 150km. Night in Dong Van.
  • Day 2: Ma Pi Leng, the Skywalk, the Nho Que boat or Lung Cu, Meo Vac, Lung Ho, Du Gia. 90 to 110km. Night in Du Gia.
  • Day 3: Du Gia waterfall, Little Ma Pi Leng canyon, Ha Giang city. About 100km.
• Map pins in order: Ha Giang city, Quan Ba Heaven Gate, Yen Minh, Tham Ma Pass, Dong Van, Ma Pi Leng Pass, Meo Vac, Du Gia, Ha Giang city. Click here to open.
• What drops off on three days: usually Lung Cu, sometimes the boat, and most of the sitting around.
• Cost: $150 to $170 on an easy rider tour, $90 to $110 riding yourself independently, before the bus and tips.
• Best month for three days: October, when the weather is most reliable.

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The Ha Giang Loop 3-Day Itinerary at a Glance

Click here to open the route in Google Maps

This is the same anticlockwise loop every tour company runs, and the only real variation between three-day itineraries is where night two is spent and whether Lung Cu gets squeezed in.

The shape above is the one I’d pick for a first loop, because Du Gia is the nicest night on the whole trip and three-day plans that sleep in Meo Vac and ride back on the main road lose it.

Everything is planned backwards from dark. Riding at 25 to 30km an hour, which is realistic up here, day one is most of the daylight, and that’s why the stops below come with times. Why daylight decides it, and what four days would add, is in the Ha Giang Loop itinerary.

Day 1: Ha Giang City to Dong Van

Riding yourself, the night bus gets you in around four in the morning, and I’d be on the road by eight. Tours tend to start later, around nine or half nine after a bánh mì at the office, which is fine when someone else is doing the riding and it’s exactly why day one feels long.

Out of the city, Bac Sum pass is the first climb, and then Quan Ba Heaven Gate, where the coffee stop with the view of the Twin Mountains is the place to stretch and eat something. Lung Tam, the Hmong linen weaving village just off the road, is a half-hour stop if you’re ahead of time. Lunch is in Yen Minh at around half twelve, about 100km in, and the homestays there are in the best Yen Minh homestay for anyone turning this into four days.

The afternoon is the prettiest riding of day one, up through the pines and over the Tham Ma switchbacks, and then the Vương family palace at Sà Phìn (if you’ve got the hour, which on a tour you usually do and riding yourself you often don’t). Dong Van comes in around half four or five. That leaves the old quarter for the evening and the morning, and how I’d spend both is in Dong Van Ancient Street.

Everything you carry goes in a small backpack. The big bag stays in Ha Giang city, since there isn’t room for it on the bike.

Day 2: Ma Pi Leng, the Nho Que and Du Gia

This is the day that makes the loop, and the one where three days bites.

Out of Dong Van by half seven, over Ma Pi Leng Pass before the tour groups, with a stop at the monument and the short walk to the Skywalk ledge while it’s quiet. The honest version of the pass is in Ma Pi Leng Pass: expectation vs reality. Then down towards Meo Vac and the turn-off for the Nho Que boat.

Lung Cu or the boat?

On three days you can realistically have one. The Nho Que boat is 150,000 VND and takes a good couple of hours with the ride down to the dock and back. Lung Cu, the flag tower at the northern tip of Vietnam, means an early run north from Dong Van and back before Ma Pi Leng, and it costs you about the same morning.

I’d take the boat. The canyon from the water is the thing people remember, and Lung Cu is a flag, a lot of steps and a view that isn’t as good as the one you’ll get from Ma Pi Leng an hour later.

After lunch in Meo Vac or Mau Due, the road runs south over Sa Li pass to the Lung Ho viewpoint and down into Du Gia, 90 to 110km for the day.

I’d want to be in Du Gia before five. If the morning ran long, the backup is to sleep in Meo Vac and ride back on the main road on day three, which is quicker and loses Du Gia.

Day 3: Du Gia to Ha Giang City, and the Bus Home

A slow morning, for once. Du Gia waterfall is a few minutes from the village, and a swim first thing is the best start to a day on the whole loop. Then it’s about 100km back to Ha Giang city on quieter roads, with the Little Ma Pi Leng canyon on the Lô River on the way, a stop for the view down into the gorge and the boats at the bottom if you’ve got time.

Here’s the part I’d change on almost every three-day plan I see. The last comfortable bus to Hanoi leaves at around half four, which means finishing the riding by three, after two long days, with a hard deadline on the end. It’s the day I’ve seen go wrong most.

Night buses to Hanoi leave at around eight, and a lot of the tour companies and hostels will let you shower and wait, so on the night bus you get into the city at a normal time, eat, and sleep your way to Hanoi.

Some cabin companies let you stay on board when it gets in at four until it’s light. The companies are in Hanoi to Ha Giang by sleeper bus, and if Ninh Binh is next, that bus is in Ha Giang to Ninh Binh.

Ha Giang Loop Map for 3 Days

There’s no official Ha Giang Loop map, and every operator’s version differs a little. For three days, these are the pins I’d drop into Google Maps, in order, with roughly how far each leg is.

Routed in Google Maps, those pins give you the real road distances, which is more use than any drawn map, and saving the area for offline use before you leave the city is worth the two minutes, since signal comes and goes.

Legs 4 and 5 are the ones where the kilometres lie, because the stops take longer than the riding. The whole loop’s route and the other ways of doing it, clockwise or with the DT176, are in the Ha Giang Loop guide.

Ha Giang Loop 3 Days Tour or Self-Drive, and the Cost

A three-day easy rider tour is $150 to $170, with the driver, bike, fuel, homestays, meals, permit and entrance fees included. Riding yourself in a guided group is $130 to $150, and fully independently it comes to $90 to $110 for the loop itself. On top of that there’s the bus, around 700,000 VND return in a cabin, and a tip of $10 to $20 a day on a tour.

The operators are compared in my motorcycle tour review, and a line-by-line budget is in the Ha Giang Loop cost.

For a first-timer who doesn’t ride a manual at home, three days on the back of an easy rider is the version I’d suggest. Sitting pillion is less tiring than riding, so three days is a lot easier to live with on the back of someone else’s bike than on your own.

Ha Giang Loop 3 Days FAQ

Is 3 days 2 nights enough for the Ha Giang Loop? Yes, if the weather’s kind and you give up one of Lung Cu or the boat. Four is more comfortable.

How many km a day on a 3-day Ha Giang Loop? About 150km, then 90 to 110km, then 100km.

Which direction should I go? Anticlockwise, like the tours. Clockwise is quieter but needs a fifth day to work.

Can you see Lung Cu on a 3-day loop? Yes, if you skip the Nho Que boat and leave Dong Van very early on day two.

How many days do I need in total from Hanoi? Four, with the night bus up and back. A three-day loop takes four days out of your trip.

When is the best time for a 3-day loop? October, because clear weather is what makes three days work. In fog or the wet season, four days is safer.

Three Choices to Make Before You Book

• Lung Cu or the Nho Que boat? My default is the boat.
• Night two in Du Gia or Meo Vac? Du Gia, unless day two runs very late.
• The half-four bus or the eight o’clock? The eight o’clock, every time on three days.

With those three settled before you pay, the rest of a Ha Giang Loop 3-day itinerary mostly takes care of itself. If you find you’ve picked the other option on all three, that’s usually a sign you’d be happier with four days 😀

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