Most people who search for motorbike rental Bac Kan are really looking for one thing: a way to reach Ba Be Lake on their own wheels. The old provincial capital is the last proper town before the lake, it is where the Hanoi buses stop, and it is where the few rental shops in this corner of the north are. This guide is written by a rental shop in Hoi An, 1,000 km away, so we will be straight with you: we do not rent bikes in Bac Kan and we have not ridden with any of the shops below. What we have done is check the lists everyone copies, fix the phone numbers that do not work, measure the routes on Google Maps and add the things those lists leave out.

Quick pick: where to rent for your kind of trip

There is no single right answer, because Bac Kan sits in the middle of several different trips. A traveller stepping off the Hanoi bus for two nights at the lake needs something very different from a rider halfway round a two-week northern loop. Start from what you are doing, not from the shop list.

Bac Kan is now part of Thai Nguyen: what that changes

If you type an old address into Google Maps and it looks wrong, this is why. Under Resolution 202/2025/QH15, Bac Kan province was merged into Thai Nguyen on 1 July 2025, and district level was abolished everywhere in Vietnam. There is no longer a “Bac Kan province” or a “Bac Kan city” on paper. The new Thai Nguyen covers about 8,375 km² and roughly 1.8 million people.

The old city was split into new wards under Resolution 1683/NQ-UBTVQH15:

In practice nothing on the ground has moved. Locals still say “Bac Kan”, bus companies still sell tickets to Bac Kan, and the shops below still answer the phone. But two things are worth knowing. First, when a shop gives you an address like “To 6, Duc Xuan”, it is still correct, because Duc Xuan kept its name. Second, Pac Ngoi village, the lake homestays and the park gate used to be in Nam Mau commune and are now in Ba Be commune, which is what Maps and your booking app may show.

Motorbike rental Bac Kan shops: the honest list

Almost every Vietnamese article about motorbike rental Bac Kan prints the same five names, in a different order, with the same phone numbers. We checked those numbers and found that two of them cannot work as printed. We also searched Google Maps for motorbike rental around the old city and the lake; only two businesses showed up, neither of them on the usual lists. That tells you how this market works: it runs on phone calls, Zalo and word of mouth, not on websites. Treat everything below as a starting point and confirm price and deposit before you hand over anything.

1. Hoai Anh (Duc Xuan)

• Address as listed: To 6, Duc Xuan ward (old Bac Kan city)
• Phone: 0209 3873 783. Most lists print “093 873 783”, which is one digit short and does not exist. Bac Kan’s landline area code changed from 0281 to 0209 in 2017, and 0209 3873 783 is the version that fits.
• Prices seen in listings: semi-auto 80,000–120,000₫, scooter 120,000–160,000₫ a day

The shop most often called the biggest in town, with a claimed fleet of close to a hundred bikes and delivery to your hotel. We cannot confirm the fleet size, but the delivery claim is consistent across every source that mentions it.

2. Mai Dung (Duc Xuan)

• Address as listed: To 9B, Duc Xuan ward
• Phone: 0209 3871 071 (printed as “093 871 071” on the copied lists, same problem as above)
• Prices seen in listings: semi-auto 80,000–120,000₫, scooter 130,000–200,000₫

Listings describe a wide mix of Japanese, Korean and Chinese models and a helmet plus a little fuel included. One older source says travellers can rent with an ID document only while locals pay a cash deposit; ask which rule applies to you.

3. Chi Thuy (near the bus station)

• Address as listed: Bac Kan bus station area
• Phone: 0904 505 333 (also printed as 0962 559 697)
• Prices seen in listings: semi-auto 90,000–120,000₫, scooter 140,000–150,000₫

The practical choice if you arrive by bus: the bus station is on Phung Chi Kien street, and you can walk off the coach and onto a bike. The owner is said to give route tips for Ba Be, which is worth asking for even if you rent elsewhere.

4. Duc Lan (city)

• Phone: 0368 138 703
• Prices seen in listings: semi-auto 80,000–100,000₫, scooter 130,000–140,000₫

The budget pick. Bikes are described as older but mechanically sound, which for the lake road is exactly what you want: nothing fancy to scratch, easy to fix.

5. Nhat Quang (city)

• Phone: 0346 604 107
• Prices seen in listings: 100,000–180,000₫ depending on model

Listed with newer bikes, under three years old. Deposits vary by model here, so ask before you arrive.

6. On Google Maps: two more options

• “Thue xe may Ho Ba Be”, on the lake ring road inside the park area (22.4033, 105.6209), listed as open until 22:00, phone 0965 205 588. Useful if you arrive at the lake without a bike and only want to ride the shore and reach Puong cave.
• “Pham Manh Cho Thue Xe May”, in the old city centre (22.1434, 105.8382). No phone or reviews listed yet; walk in or ask around.

Neither has reviews at the time of writing, so the same rule applies: photograph the bike, agree the price out loud, save the number.

In a town this size the best rental review is the bike itself. Squeeze the brakes, look at the tyres, then decide.

Motorbike rental Bac Kan prices and deposits

Motorbike rental Bac Kan prices are lower than in Hanoi or Ha Giang because there is almost no tourist demand outside autumn and holidays. The table combines the rates printed by the shops above and the ranges in our older version of this guide. Multi-day rentals are usually cheaper per day; ask for it.

Deposit: expect either your passport or ID held by the shop, or a cash deposit of about 1,000,000–3,000,000₫. Fuel is not included; most bikes come with just enough to reach a petrol station. There is no delivery fee in town at most shops, but confirm it on the phone.

Papers, licence and the deposit

Bac Kan shops are relaxed about paperwork, but the police at a checkpoint on QL3 are not. To ride legally in Vietnam a foreigner needs an International Driving Permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention together with the home licence it translates. The 1949 Geneva IDP (the one issued in the US, for example) is not recognised. Vietnamese riders need a class A1 licence for anything up to 175cc. Helmets are compulsory for rider and passenger, and every shop includes them.

We cover the licence rules, the fines and the 50cc exception in detail in our guide to motorbike licences in Vietnam. The rules are national, so everything there applies in Thai Nguyen too.

A note on leaving your passport: it is common practice, but you will need it to check in at homestays around Ba Be. If the shop will accept a cash deposit or a photocopy plus your ID card instead, that is easier.

Getting to Bac Kan with or without a bike

From Hanoi by motorbike: about 155 km and 4 hours from the Old Quarter, measured on Google Maps with highways avoided. The fast car route uses the Hanoi – Thai Nguyen expressway (CT07), which is closed to motorbikes, so you will ride the old QL3 through Thai Nguyen city, Cho Moi and on to Bac Kan. It is a busy truck road for the first half and a pleasant climb for the second.

From Hanoi by bus: coaches and limousine vans run daily from Hanoi’s bus stations to Bac Kan bus station, and some continue to Cho Ra, the town at the edge of Ba Be. Most travellers do this and sort out motorbike rental Bac Kan on arrival. By car the trip is about 165 km and a little over 3 hours on the expressway, so allow 3.5–4.5 hours by bus with stops.

From Ha Giang: 188–230 km to Ba Be depending on the route, 5–5.5 hours of riding. This is the link that turns the Ha Giang loop into a longer northern loop.

From Cao Bang: about 130 km and 3.5 hours to the lake via QL279 and QL3.

If you are starting in central Vietnam, our Hoi An to Ha Giang guide covers the flights, trains and buses north.

The ride to Ba Be Lake: distance, tickets, boats

Many guides, including the old version of this page, say Ba Be is 70 km from Bac Kan. We measured it: from the old city centre to the lake ring road is 53.3 km and about 1 hour 27 minutes on the new Bac Kan – Ba Be road. The 70 to 80 km figure matches the older route via DT257 and DT254 (79.1 km, just under 2 hours), which you might still choose for the scenery. Either way it is a comfortable half-day ride with stops.

Park ticket: 46,000₫ per adult and 26,000₫ for children under 16, bought at the park gate. You need it to enter the lake area even if you only ride through.

Boats: the best of Ba Be is on the water. Boats are rented per boat, not per person, and take up to 12 passengers (10 on boats licensed for international visitors). Prices listed for 2026 run from 200,000₫ for the short route to 400,000–800,000₫ for the longer circuits that add Puong cave, Dau Dang waterfall and Ao Tien pond. Kayaks cost around 150,000₫ an hour for two. Agree the route and the price at the pier before you step in.

What to see by bike and boat

Ba Be Lake. Three connected lakes, Pe Lam, Pe Lu and Pe Leng, about 8 km long and up to 35 m deep, with a surface that swells from around 300 to 500 hectares between the dry and wet seasons. It is the largest natural freshwater lake in Vietnam. The park was created in 1992, became an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2004 and, in 2011, Vietnam’s third Ramsar wetland of international importance. In December 2012 it was ranked a special national site. Sources disagree on its height: the park’s own English site says 145 m above sea level, the national biodiversity portal says about 178 m. Both are official; we report both. Official background is on the Ba Be National Park website.

Puong cave. The Nang river runs straight through a limestone mountain here, making a tunnel about 300 m long and 30 m high. It is home to bat colonies estimated at close to ten thousand. There is no entrance fee: you either pass through by boat or walk down from road QL279 over a bamboo bridge, which is why a bike is useful here.

Dau Dang waterfall. Less a single drop than a long series of rapids where the Nang river tumbles through boulders before entering the lake. Most boat circuits include it.

Pac Ngoi village. The Tay stilt-house village on the lake shore where most homestays are. It is the natural base for a night or two, and the lanes around it are some of the nicest easy riding in the park.

Hua Ma cave. A dry cave with a steep stair climb and a 25,000₫ ticket, on the road near the lake. Good for a rainy afternoon.

Free stops. The 2025 ticket list for the old province marks several sites as free: An Ma temple on its island in the lake, Nang Tien cave in the Na Ri area, the Na Tu and Don Phu Thong historic sites, Na Khoang and Bac Ban Vang waterfalls, and the ATK Cho Don revolutionary base in the forest west of the city.

For a place to stay near the lake, Ba Be hotels and homestays on Agoda is the quickest way to compare what is open.

Longer loops: Cao Bang and Ha Giang

Ba Be is a natural midpoint for a bigger northern ride. Two combinations work well:

• Bac Kan → Ba Be → Cao Bang (Ban Gioc): 53 km to the lake, then about 130 km on QL279 and QL3 to Cao Bang town, then onward to Ban Gioc waterfall. Plan at least four days.
• Ha Giang loop + Ba Be: finish the classic Ha Giang loop, then ride 188–230 km east to Ba Be, and return to Hanoi via Bac Kan. This is how many riders who start with a Hanoi rental do it.

For either one, a bike rented in Bac Kan is the wrong tool: local shops expect it back, and one-way drop-offs in other towns are rare. Start in Hanoi or Ha Giang instead. If you are still deciding between a big northern loop and a shorter coastal ride, we compared them in Ha Giang loop vs Hai Van Pass.

Reading in Vietnamese? Our sister page thue xe may Bac Kan covers the same area for Vietnamese riders.

Safety checklist for the mountain roads

• Check the bike before you leave: brakes, both lights, horn, tyre tread. Photograph every scratch with the shop owner watching.
• Save the shop on Zalo. Phone signal is patchy around the lake; a Zalo message gets through when a call will not.
• Avoid riding after dark. The lake road has unlit bends, buffalo and fog in the cooler months.
• Respect the rainy season. June to August brings the heaviest rain and occasional landslides on the mountain roads. Ask locally before long rides.
• Dress for cold in winter. December to February can be close to 10°C in the early morning on the passes.
• Ride your own pace. Trucks on QL3 overtake close; stay right and let them go.

Coming south to Hoi An next?

If Bac Kan is part of a longer trip through Vietnam, the ride you will remember in the centre is the Hai Van Pass and the villages around Hoi An. That is where we can help directly, not through a list.

FAQ

Updated September 2026. Distances and times were measured with Google Maps directions: Hanoi Old Quarter (21.0285, 105.8542) to old Bac Kan city centre (22.1470, 105.8340), and from there to the lake ring road (22.4033, 105.6209). Shop details are as printed in public listings and on Google Maps; we have not rented from these shops, so confirm prices and deposits directly. Administrative names follow Resolutions 202/2025/QH15 and 1683/NQ-UBTVQH15. Park facts from Ba Be National Park and the national biodiversity portal nbca.gov.vn. The Agoda link is an affiliate link; booking through it supports this site at no extra cost to you.