If you are coming to Vietnam and planning to visit both Hoi An and Hue, I cannot recommend enough making the trip with a motorbike tour !
We chose to book with Le Family Riders and it was truly a highlight of our trip. From the whole organization to the many stops throughout the day, including the kind drivers, everything was well though of.
In this article I will give all the information for booking this activity and detail how the day unfolds.
The family owned business is offering different day trip options so you can either have a driver and enjoy the ride, or drive the motorbike yourself.
Here are the different options available :
- Option 1 – If you want to sit behind a driver on a motorbike : 58$ per person
- Option 2 – If you are two and want to share an automatic scooter 125cc : 49$ per person
- Option 3 – If you are two and want to share a manual motorbike 125cc : 55$ per person
- Option 4 – If you want to drive alone an automatic scooter 125cc : 58$ per person
- Option 5 – If you want to drive alone a manual motorbike 125cc : 65$ per person
Each option includes lunch, drinks, helmets, fuel, fees for the waterfall, and the gear if you choose the manual motorbike.
The entrance fee to the Marble Mountain (which is 40.000 Dong = 1,6$), and the elevator ticket there (15.000 Dong = 0,6$) are not included so make sure to bring cash.
You can bring your big backpacks or suitcases because they have equipment to strap them behind their motorbikes (or they will transfer them if those are too big to fit on the motorcycle).
They do the drive both ways so if you are in Hue and looking to go to Hoi An it is also possible. If you just want to enjoy the full day ride and come back to the city where you started the tour, it’s doable as well.
You can contact Le Family Riders either via email at [email protected] or WhatsApp :
The price is very interesting considering everything that is included : transportation, lunch, pretty much unlimited beer/soda/water during the day, and pick up from and to your hotels.
Definitely bring sunscreen and sunglasses because you can get sunburnt after a sunny day on a motorbike.
Next, bring a swimsuit and towel because there is a stop at a waterfall.
You will walk a bit at the Marble Mountains so maybe wear sneakers instead of flip-flops, and don’t forget cash for the entrance ticket.
You will get picked up at your hotel in Hoi An around 9am and the drivers will take you to their shop. Here you will get a brief presentation of the day and meet the different people of the group. We were around 8 or 9 people that day, plus the drivers.
This is the time where you can warn them if you have any food allergies or food preferences for the lunch.
At 9:30am we were all ready to go and the drive to Hue began.
First stop was the Marble Mountains at 10am. This is a group of five limestone hills located near Da Nang. It requires to climb a few steps to visit the many caves and pagodas but there is also an elevator to reach the top in a few seconds for 15.000 Dong or 0,6$ in addition to the entrance fee which was 40.000 Dong or 1,6$.
We personally took the stairs as the walk was nice in the morning and there was less people than for the elevator.
There are four pagodas, five caves and 2-3 viewpoints worth the walk. If you don’t have much time, make sure to prioritise Linh Ung Pagoda (second picture below) which is close to the big buddha statue (first picture), Huyen Khong Cave (third photo) and the two main viewpoints.
On the last picture is the Xa Loi Tower, which is on the way to the caves.
And here’s the breathtaking view you can admire from one of the viewpoints :
After the visit of this beautiful and peaceful site, we were back on the road for an hour or so until the next stop : Da Nang bay.
We drove by Da Nang beach (picture one below) and stopped later on at the top of the hills, to admire the view of the bay (picture 2 & 3) :
A few minutes after we stopped to get coffee in a local café overlooking the mountain roads :
Around 30 to 40 minutes later, it was time for lunch ! We arrived at a seafood restaurant by a splendid and deserted beach. We had the most delicious meal there, with fresh seafood, grilled fish, shrimp spring rolls and they even made options for those who had allergies or didn’t eat seafood. The cooked oysters topped with peanuts, spring onions and soy sauce were the best thing we got to try !
Next thing you know, it was time to hop back on the motorbike and drive towards the waterfall.
On our way there we saw many buffalos in the wild – a truly magical moment :
We stopped at the waterfall for around an hour, had a refreshing swim and enjoyed a few drinks in the water.
After this very pleasant break, we drove by some fishermen houses on the water – you cannot get more peaceful than those landscapes :
All along the way we saw many beautiful rice fields with mountains in the background :
For the last halt of the day, we stopped by a fishermen village established around the Cau Hai Lagoon. We learned how they used to live and why they now live on land rather than on boats similar to those you can see on the pictures below.
We were there during sunset, right when the fishermen untangle their nets and leave on their boat for the incoming fishing night :
We enjoyed the last minutes of sunlight and we hopped on the bikes for a last drive :
We arrived in Hue around 5pm, enjoyed a last coffee, said goodbye to the people and amazing drivers. They dropped us off at our hotel around 6pm.
As we were staying in Vietnam for two weeks only, we had to plan and choose carefully our activities, and this one was definitely a highlight of our trip. You can do the journey in train in 3 hours but you won’t have an experience like Le Family riders offers.
In addition of getting to Hue, you get to spend a day in less touristy areas, see beautiful landscapes and share a good time with the nice drivers and people of the tour.
I 100% recommend booking with them, it was really well organised, timings were respected and everything was well thought of.
Plus, it makes for unforgettable memories.
That’s it for my day trip to Hue from Hoi An in motorbikes !
If you want more tips and information about Vietnam destinations, you can check out my Two days cruise on Ha Long and Han La Bays or my Three days Ha Giang loop in North Vietnam. I also made an article about everything to know before going to Vietnam and a Two weeks itinerary in Vietnam.
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