Motorbike in Vietnam: licence, insurance, easy riders or a car

The legal side: licence, insurance and helmets

Renting a scooter in Vietnam is easy, and a shop handing you the keys does not make riding it legal. The UK government's travel advice tells British travellers they need both the 1968 version of the international driving permit (IDP) and their UK driving licence to drive a car or ride a motorbike in Vietnam. IDPs are issued under different international conventions, and the UK's own IDP guide lists Vietnam as a 1968 country. When we checked on 2026-10-03, GOV.UK said a UK IDP could be bought in person at certain shops with PayPoint for £5.50. Travellers from elsewhere should check which convention their own country's permit is issued under and whether their home licence covers motorcycles, not just cars.

Two more rules apply to every rider. Third-party insurance is compulsory: the UK advice says it is illegal to drive without it, so ask the rental shop whether the bike's papers include it and keep them with you. Helmets are compulsory for both the rider and the passenger. The national tourism board tells visitors to always wear one, and the UK advice adds that it should be a good one.

Alcohol is not a grey area. According to the UK advice, any alcohol found in your system can bring a fine and possible imprisonment. Police enforcement is real too. In April 2026, after a young British traveller died following a motorbike accident on the Ha Giang loop, Viet Nam News reported that traffic police there had stepped up patrols aimed at tour drivers and at foreign visitors renting vehicles. The checks covered valid licences, speed, lane discipline, drink-driving and standard helmets, and the roughly 50 rental and tour businesses in Ha Giang city had to sign commitments not to rent vehicles to unqualified drivers.

Finally, read your travel insurance before you rent. The UK advice and the national tourism board both tell visitors to buy insurance, and the UK advice says it should cover your planned activities. Check exactly what your policy says about motorbikes: whether riding (or riding pillion) is covered at all, and what it requires about licences and helmets. A hospital stay or a medical evacuation is the bill you least want to be refused.

Ride yourself, take an easy rider or hire a car

For Ha Giang, the national tourism board describes the three options plainly: experienced drivers can rent a motorcycle in town, others can book a tour on the back of a motorbike or go by private car. The same choice applies across the country. The landscape is the same in each case. What changes is who carries the risk and how much of the day you spend watching the road instead of the view.

• Riding yourself suits people who already ride at home and have the right licence and insurance. You get the freedom to stop anywhere, and you carry all the responsibility. The UK government is blunt: riding in Vietnam is much riskier than in the UK, motorbike accidents are common and have killed and injured British nationals, and you should not hire a motorbike if you are not an experienced rider.
• An easy rider is a local driver, usually booked through a tour company, with you as the pillion passenger. It is the usual way for non-riders to do the mountain loops on two wheels. Ask who the driver is, how long they have driven the route, whether they hold a licence for the bike, what helmet you will get and what happens on a day of heavy rain. In April 2026, Viet Nam News reported that a large Ha Giang operator sent nearly 100 of its pillion drivers to a road-safety training session run by the provincial traffic police. You can ask any company whether its drivers have had similar training.
• A car with a driver loses the open-air feel but removes the licence question altogether. Choose it for families with children, for travellers who do not want to spend several days on a pillion seat, in the rainy months and for long transfers between regions. Grab's Vietnam site lists car rental with a driver alongside its ride-hailing service, and local tour companies in Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An arrange private cars.
• In the cities, you rarely need a bike of your own. GrabBike, Grab's motorbike taxi service, operates in Vietnam, and the UK advice recommends ride-hailing apps such as Grab or Xanh SM over unlicensed taxis.

Renting a bike: deposits, checks and parking

When we checked on 2026-10-03, the national tourism board's transport page gave scooter and moped rentals at 150,000 to 300,000 dong a day, depending on the bike, and its FAQ gave an average of 6 to 12 US dollars a day. Treat these as a rough guide and agree the price, the deposit and the return time before you take the bike. Away from the main cities, bikes are often rented through your hotel: the tourism board says basic motorcycles can be arranged at hotels in Mu Cang Chai, while dirt bikes are rented from operators in Hanoi.

Deposits are where advice differs. The tourism board warns that shops may ask you to leave your passport, or a cash deposit, if you rent for more than a week. The UK government says do not hand over your passport, because a shop can hold it against claimed damage. Offer a cash deposit instead, ask for a written receipt that names the bike and its condition, and photograph every scratch with the shop owner watching before you ride away.

Check the bike yourself: brakes front and back, tyres, lights, horn and mirrors. The UK advice tells riders to check the motorbike thoroughly. Ask for the registration papers and the insurance certificate to be kept under the seat. Then follow the tourism board's everyday rules: never leave the bike unattended on the street, use paid parking where you get a ticket, and check the number on it. Keep bags in the seat compartment or hooked at the front of the bike, not on your shoulder, because bags carried that way are easily snatched.

On the road: traffic, daylight and weather

The tourism board's own description of Vietnamese traffic is that it is 'more ebb and flow than follow the rules', and it advises new riders to watch the local style before joining it. The UK advice is shorter: compliance with road laws is poor, so keep your speed down and stay alert. Ride predictably, keep well clear of trucks and buses, and slow down for blind bends on mountain roads, where the Ha Giang accident in April 2026 involved a truck.

Ride in daylight. For the Ha Giang loop, the tourism board says obstacles and roadworks can appear at any time, and tells riders to approach curves with caution, drive during daylight hours and stop after dark. That is good advice on every mountain road, and it means planning short days: a stage that looks like three hours on a map can take most of a day with photo stops, fuel and roadworks.

Weather closes roads. The UK advice warns that seasonal flooding can disrupt overland travel and that mudslides and landslides block roads. Check the forecast every morning in the rainy season, and do not plan to ride back to Hanoi or another airport city on the day of an international flight. If heavy rain sets in, a car or bus for that stage is the sensible choice, not a failure.

If something goes wrong

Save the emergency numbers before you set off: according to the UK government, they are 113 for police, 114 for fire and 115 for an ambulance, and the lines are operated in Vietnamese only. Keep your insurer's emergency number and your policy number on your phone and on paper, and make sure a friend or family member knows them too.

An accident has legal consequences beyond the injury. The UK advice says that foreign nationals involved in traffic accidents have been stopped from leaving Vietnam until the police have completed their investigations, that this can take a long time, and that some have been asked to agree to out-of-court financial settlements. It advises getting professional legal advice in that situation. Riding without a valid licence or insurance makes all of this worse.

Good first rides and the classic routes

The Hai Van Pass between Hoi An, Da Nang and Hue is the best-known day ride. The tourism board describes a full-day route of about 150 kilometres from Hoi An to Hue, via the Marble Mountains, Da Nang and the pass, then around Lang Co lagoon and along Tam Giang Lagoon. The pass itself is only about 20 kilometres, with the remains of a Nguyen-dynasty lookout post at the top. An easy rider or a car with a driver covers the same road if you would rather not ride it yourself.

The Ha Giang loop in the far north is the four-day route most motorbike trips are measured against. It starts in Ha Giang city, about 300 kilometres and some six hours by bus from Hanoi, and climbs to the Dong Van Karst Plateau and the Ma Pi Leng Pass. It is also the route where police checks have been stepped up and where most travellers choose an easy rider. See our Ha Giang and four-day loop guides for the route, the overnight stops and the border-area questions.

Mu Cang Chai in the northwest has quiet main roads and the Khau Pha Pass between Mu Cang Chai town and Tu Le, and the tourism board recommends it for riding. It is six to eight hours by road from Hanoi, so it suits travellers with more time than a weekend.