Cycling Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang

We ride a total of 730 km over 8 cycling days. The first 5 days are in northern Thailand, riding from the city of Chiang Mai to the border town of Chiang Khong. The journey takes us through undulating terrain, with valley floors and rolling hills, and we use vehicle transfers before or after each ride, except for Day 4, which is point-to-point. This helps keep distances manageable and avoids busy main roads. Along the way, we stay in cozy, character-rich Thai hotels.

On Day 6, we transition to Laos with a well-deserved break from the saddle, as we enjoy a scenic boat ride to Pakbeng. In Laos, we ride for 3 days, covering longer distances (100–140 km) due to the country’s low population density and mountainous landscapes. Don’t let those numbers deter you — our mantra is “ride as much as you can, then jump in the van!” The focus is on enjoying the journey at your own pace. We also take a rest day with a boat trip to Nong Khiaw. Aside from Luang Prabang, accommodations in Laos are more basic due to the remoteness of the region we are traveling through.

This tour offers a vibrant blend of cycling and cultural exploration, showcasing some of Southeast Asia’s most stunning natural scenery and a rich mix of cultures, from Thai and Lao to various ethnic communities. You’ll cycle through a mix of paved roads, village lanes, and farmer trails, with plenty of time off-the-saddle to visit temples, local markets, caves, and relax on boats cruising the scenic Mekong and Nam Ou Rivers.

The trip is fully supported, and your guide’s expert knowledge of the area and terrain means that you always know what is coming up in terms of distance and difficulty. This makes a tremendous difference, as does the constant supply of water and refreshments along the way.

Suitability: The tour is ideal for cyclists with a good level of physical fitness, comfortable with daily distances of approximately 80 km on mixed surfaces and steady climbs of around 900 m per day. Although the three riding days in Laos may seem challenging with distances ranging from 100 to 145 km, it's important to remember that these are the full point-to-point distances. You can always ride as much as you feel comfortable and then hop into the support van. While the route includes enough unpaved or unevenly paved sections to make a mountain bike the best option, this tour is not designed for those seeking a predominantly off-road experience. There’s no highly technical terrain, but good bike handling skills will help you navigate some of the rougher surfaces. The support vehicle is available throughout the journey, offering a break to any weary riders (though in some parts of Thailand, it may not follow directly but will meet the group at intervals).

Biking Conditions: In Thailand, we ride on a mix of well-paved secondary roads, village lanes in varying conditions, and gravelly farmer paths. On Day 2 we ride off-road on forest trails. As a rough estimate, you can expect about 20% of the total riding distance in Thailand to be on unpaved surfaces, with most of that coming on Days 2 and 4. We have chosen the least busy roads possible but please be aware that traffic can be unpredictable and, especially near the cities and towns, unavoidable

In Laos, we ride on paved national roads with varying conditions. Some sections are smooth, while others may have a few rough, potholed or gravelly patches. On average, you can expect about 60% of the roads to be in good shape. This is a remote part of northern Laos, so traffic is generally light, though we’ll occasionally share the road with lorries heading to Vietnam and China. Closer to towns, especially Luang Prabang, traffic picks up a bit.

Although we’ve scheduled our departures to avoid the wettest times of the year, rainfall can occur at any time. We generally ride rain or shine, but based on the guide’s discretion or your comfort level, modifications to the planned route can be made. Additionally, from March through April, northern Thailand experiences its annual burning season, when smoke from agricultural field clearings causes smog. While we avoid this period entirely, the exact start date varies each year, and some early burnings may occur in February, impacting air quality on parts of the route.

Bikes

Because some people can't imagine going on a trip without their own beloved bicycle, we do not provide them as part of this tour. However, you can hire bikes locally for the price listed in the tour pricing section. If you bring your own bike, please make sure it is a mountain bike or gravel bike in good mechanical order.

Bike Repairs

Basic spares and tools are carried by the guide and on the support vehicle, though we cannot guarantee having spares for every conceivable problem. Carrying a basic tool kit, a spare tube and a pump while riding is recommended.

Safety

Wearing a helmet is required on all our biking adventures and is non negotiable. If you do not wear a helmet you will not be allowed to cycle. Your tour leader is trained in first aid and emergency rescue, but to a large degree you must be responsible for your own safety while riding. It is therefore compulsory that you take out travel insurance that will cover you for a mountain biking tour.

Guides

You will be led by a local English-speaking guide and if the group is 9 people or more we will add another guide to the tour. All our guides are well informed in the history, culture and religions of the area where you are biking and are skilled at passing that knowledge on to you. Your guide is also medically trained and an experienced cyclist, able to handle most minor repairs en route.

If this is the tour for you here's what you need to do to confirm your place:

FLEXIBLE BOOKING CONDITIONS

CONFIRMING YOUR BOOKING

Just complete our online booking form or send your booking details offline (email or post), and we will confirm your participation. No deposit is needed to confirm your place on a SpiceRoads tour.

You are advised to read our Booking Conditions in full before you make your payment and should you require further clarifications of any of the conditions below, please email us or call our office.

TRIP STATUS

There is a minimum number of participants (usually 2) required to enable the trip to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to Depart'. Once a trip is guaranteed to depart you are free to book your flights and make other travel arrangements. If the trip status is ‘Limited’ will mean we have only a small number of spaces available for booking. If you are unsure about the trip status, please email us or call our office.

BOOKING ONLINE

From the tour page, click the 'Book Now' link. All departures for this tour will appear, just select the date you'd like to travel. For the next steps, you'll need to know the names of the people travelling. If you wish you can also provide extra details such as passport numbers, height (for bike hire), or you can add that later by logging into Manage My Trip (we'll set up an account for you automatically if you don't already have one). Our system will contact you from time to time to fill in the missing information, as it will be required before departure. However, if the trip that you are booking offers a child discount, you will have to fill out the date of birth of each rider (so we can calculate the appropriate discount).

If you are having any problems please send us an email, or give us a call (+66 026 3295) and one of our travel specialists will assist you with your booking.

BOOKING OFFLINE

Just call us or send an email indicating which trip you want to join and we will happily send you a list of questions and process your booking for you.

DEPOSITS AND PAYMENTS

We do not require a deposit or full payment to book a place for you on a tour.

The balance of the tour’s cost (final invoice) will need to be paid 60 days before the departure date with fees for any bicycle rental(s), single supplement(s) and extra hotel nights.

In the case where a booking is made when there are less than 60 days until the tour departure date, the tour’s cost should be paid in full within 72 hours of receiving an invoice from SpiceRoads. Payment can be made by credit card using our online payment gateway or by bank transfer. When making payment online you will need to confirm that you have read these booking conditions during the "checkout" process, which equates to agreeing to the terms of services and stipulations as indicated in this document.

In all cases, tour fees need to be paid “in full” before participation in a tour. No person(s) will be allowed to join a tour without fully settling their invoice and receiving a confirmation number from SpiceRoads.

The exception can be made for last-minute miscellaneous fees that can be paid locally (visas, additional local hotel bookings, etc.) can be settled on the day of arrival.

FULL FLEXIBILITY FOR TOUR CANCELATIONS

If the tour is cancelled or postponed by SpiceRoads because we didn't make the trip numbers and the tour can’t run, we will make a full cash refund (by bank transfer or on your credit card).

If the tour is cancelled for any other reason, including due to Covid related travel restrictions, we will give you a full credit (with no deductions for admin or any other small-print item) to use on any SpiceRoads tour with no time limit. (Exceptions being flights, special permits and other non-refundable items and these will be advised when booking the trip).

Before paying for your tour, you can cancel your booking with no charge and up until 40 days before departure, you can change your booking to another travel date or move your booking onto another SpiceRoads tour with no charges.

If you need to cancel after you have made full payment, please see our cancellation policy.

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The information in this document is given in good faith, and covers the average range of conditions likely to be found on this trip. Please note that the itinerary is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances, however, we will always do our best to adhere to this original itinerary