Hanoi Vespa Day Tour with Female Riders & Countryside Visit

5.00

(26 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Helmet on, I hopped onto the back of a Vespa with my rider—her bright Ao Dai fluttering as we zipped through the early city traffic. Our guide waved us off with a grin, promising a day that would show us both sides of Hanoi. The hum of scooters mixed with street vendors’ chatter as we left the Old Quarter behind and crossed Long Bien Bridge, its rusty beams stretching over the Red River like something out of another era.

The air changed once we hit the countryside—cooler, carrying hints of wet earth and fresh-cut grass. We rolled past rice paddies so green they almost glowed, stopping to chat with farmers who grinned at our group. At a family fruit farm tucked between fields, we tasted just-picked guava while the owner explained how rice wine is made (the sharp scent drifted from a clay pot nearby). There was laughter when one of us tried to help peel a pomelo and failed miserably.

Back in town after lunch (noodle soup at a spot packed with locals), our Vespas wove through narrow alleys where laundry hung above our heads and kids chased each other between houses barely wider than my arm span. We paused at Huu Hiep Lake to see the B52 wreckage poking out of the water—a quiet reminder of history—before circling West Lake for views of fancy villas and old pagodas. Our guide pointed out John McCain’s monument by Truc Bach Lake, sharing stories I’d never heard before.

We finished up with egg coffee in a tiny café near Train Street, watching as life carried on just inches from the tracks. By late afternoon, my hair smelled faintly of exhaust and coffee foam clung to my lip—but I felt like I’d seen slices of real Hanoi most visitors miss.