Motorbike touring in Northern Thailand
Motorbike touring in Northern Thailand
Motorbike touring in Northern Thailand
Nomad Bike Tours

Chiang Mai · Northern Thailand · Laos

RIDE BEYOND
THE MAP

Guided motorbike tours through the mountains and jungles most travellers never see. Day trips to 11-day expeditions.

5.0on Google
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Ride Beyond The Map

THE MAP ENDS.
THE RIDE DOESN'T.

The mountain passes the guidebooks skip. The villages where the tarmac runs out. The silence at the top you'll chase for years. This is the Northern Thailand most travellers never see — and the only kind worth riding for.

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GUIDED MOTORCYCLE TOURS FROM CHIANG MAI

From single-day loops through the hills around Chiang Mai to multi-week expeditions across borders. Every tour is guided, all-inclusive, and built for riders who want the real thing.

Samoeng Loop
1 day

SAMOENG LOOP

The first proper mountain road most riders meet starts twenty minutes from the old city and doesn't stop for 147 km. We ride the Samoeng Loop anticlockwise — climbing early, saving the best corners for the afternoon. On the way: a 700-year-old tunnel temple, a cave you walk into by lamp, forest that closes over the road, and a waterfall the tour buses drive straight past.

From $259 USDLearn more →
Back Roads Bonanza
1 day

BACK ROADS BONANZA

Everyone rides up Doi Suthep on the paved road with the tour vans. We go up the back of it. 140 km of broken tarmac, dirt and jungle track behind Chiang Mai's own mountain — past a reservoir most visitors never find, up to Khun Chang Khian, a Hmong coffee village at 1,400 m that turns pink with wild cherry blossom every January, and down through the Mae Sa hills. You'll finish the day dusty. That's the point.

From $259 USDLearn more →
Village in the Clouds
1 day

VILLAGE IN THE CLOUDS

An easy 109 km east of Chiang Mai that ends 1,300 m up, in cloud. Mae Kampong is a tea and coffee village built along a stream, where the houses are wooden, the waterfall runs through the middle of town, and the café terraces hang out over a valley that fills with mist most mornings. The road there is gentle enough for a first-timer on a scooter and pretty enough that you'll stop more than you planned.

From $209 USDLearn more →
Mae Hong Son Loop
4 days, 3 nights

MAE HONG SON LOOP

1,864 curves on Route 108 alone — the number every rider quotes, and they come from the other side of the world to ride it. Then there are the 762 on the Pai road. Four days and 713 km the way we run it — over the summit of Doi Inthanon at 2,565 m, past Wachirathan Waterfall on the climb, up to Ban Rak Thai, a Yunnanese village pressed against the Myanmar border, through the gold Shan temples of Mae Hong Son, and home the long way through Pai.

From $999 USDLearn more →
Rider's Paradise
6 days, 5 nights

RIDER'S PARADISE

Ask a Thai rider where the best roads are and they will say Nan. Six days and 942 km to find out why — north to the white, black and blue temples of Chiang Rai, along the Mekong to the Golden Triangle where three countries meet, then up the switchbacks to Phu Chi Fa, where you climb before dawn and watch the sun come up over a sea of cloud. After that, south into Nan itself: the ancient salt ponds at Bo Kluea, and mountain roads that stay empty for hours at a time.

From $1600 USDLearn more →
The Last Frontier: Laos
11 days, 10 nights

THE LAST FRONTIER: LAOS

Cross at Huay Xai and the tarmac stops being a promise. Eleven days and 1,673 km through the north of Laos — dirt highways, river crossings, limestone mountains that come straight up out of the rice, and villages a long way from the nearest anything. You'll sleep under the cliffs at Nong Khiaw, swim the turquoise pools at Kuang Si, walk into caves the war left behind, and spend two rest days in the UNESCO streets of Luang Prabang, because the road there earns them. This isn't a tour — it's an expedition.

From $2499 USDLearn more →
NBT Super Loop
11 days, 10 nights

NBT SUPER LOOP

Most riders come to Thailand and choose: Mae Hong Son or Nan. This is both, welded into one ride — 1,381 km over eleven days, with a rest day in the middle because by then you'll want one. Thailand's highest mountain, a Yunnanese tea village on the Myanmar border, Pai, the temples of Chiang Rai, sunrise above the clouds at Phu Chi Fa, the empty mountain roads of Nan, and a last night on the water at Phayao. It is the whole North, ridden slowly, in the order it deserves.

From $2750 USDLearn more →
Pillion Tour
No licence needed

PILLION TOUR

You don't need a licence, experience, or even the desire to ride — just hop on the back of your guide's bike and take in the scenery. Same route, same stops, same adventure, no handlebars required.

From $259 USDLearn more →
Self-Guided Support
Ride your own pace

SELF-GUIDED SUPPORT

Ride Northern Thailand at your own pace, with experienced local support always within reach. Curated routes, map pins, daily advice, and live WhatsApp assistance — freedom, without being left on your own.

From $100 USDLearn more →
Compare all nine tours side by side →

Ride with people you can trust

YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS

Nomad Bike Tours is the tour sister company of CBTT — Chiang Mai's premier motorbike rental shop. Same crew. Same workshop. Same obsession with the ride.

300+
Riders hosted
100+
Trips run
10+ yrs
Expert guides
The NBT crew at their Chiang Mai shop
5.0
The NBT crew — your team on every NBT tour.

What our riders say

My bike was top tier. On arrival I had brand new tires and a freshly gone over machine… There were 3 others plus a mechanic. Having the mechanic come along puts the mind at rest. He is awake every morning before everyone else ensuring your bike is good to go… We did 10 days riding in Laos and it was the trip of a lifetime.

George Williams·Google reviewView on Google

Wow what a team!… Such a professional team providing bikes, we had a NX 500, food and accommodation organised for us. My friend and I did the Mae Hong Song loop and it was amazing with a legend as a guide. A big thank you goes to Ling as she was helpful and very knowledgeable.

Susan Harrison·Google reviewView on Google

Recently did a tour with NBT - 10 days on dirt and back roads across north-west Laos. Had a fantastic time, the CRF300 bikes are highly spec'd with aftermarket performance parts, and the guide and support crew were excellent. Accommodation was comfortable and well placed. I highly recommend this company, I never once felt unsafe or unsupported.

Andre Maz·Google reviewView on Google

A wonderful road trip. Thank you for this amazing day!

Isabelle Legares·Google reviewView on Google

Read Before You Ride

GUIDES & ROUTE NOTES

Honest comparisons, route deep-dives, and the things we wish someone had told us before our first ride in Northern Thailand.

Inside Mae Sap Cave on the Samoeng Loop
Tat Mok Waterfall, on the way back to Chiang Mai

Route Guide · 14 min read

The Samoeng Loop — the complete route guide

Measured leg distances, where the fuel actually is, the two climbs on Route 1269 that nobody warns you about, opening times and fees, and when to ride. From an operator who rides it every week.

Read the guide →
A terrace stop above the valley on Route 1095

Route Guide · 15 min read

Chiang Mai to Pai by motorbike — the Route 1095 guide

The real distance, the real timings, where the fuel is, which bike you actually want for the descents — and the truth about those 762 curves.

Read the guide →
Switchbacks stacked down a forested ridge on the Mae Hong Son Loop

Route Guide · 16 min read

The Mae Hong Son Loop — a rider's route guide

Real leg distances, the four fuel gaps that matter, how many days it actually takes, where to sleep, and honest answers on luggage, riding two-up and whether you're ready for it.

Read the guide →
A hairpin stacked above a green valley on a mountain road in Nan province

Route Guide · 17 min read

Chiang Mai to Nan by motorbike — the Route 1148 guide

The road Thai riders vote the best in the North, measured properly at last — plus where the fuel really is, the Nan loop legs, and the Phu Chi Fa distance nobody publishes.

Read the guide →
Two roads in one frame — a remote mountain highway dissolving into a close forest lane

Tour Comparison · 12 min read

Mae Hong Son Loop vs Samoeng Loop — which is right for you?

A side-by-side comparison from an operator who runs both: duration, difficulty, scenery, cost, and who each ride is really for.

Read the guide →
All route guides →

Your adventure, your way

DESIGN YOUR OWN TOUR

Got a route in mind? Want to combine tours, extend a trip, or ride somewhere completely off the map? We'll build a custom itinerary around your dates, pace, and riding style.

Let's Talk
Adventure riding in Laos

LOOKING FOR A HIRE BIKE?

Nomad Bike Tours is the guided-tour sister company of CBTT — Chiang Mai's premier motorbike rental shop. The same crew and workshop behind every NBT tour rents and services the fleet, so you can hire a bike by the day with the same standards and care.

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Get in touch

BOOK YOUR RIDE

20% booking deposit to reserve. Fully refundable 21+ days before departure.

◆TAT-licensed operator

◆Every rider insured — ฿500,000

◆No security deposit. No passport held.

◆Experienced guide on every tour

Before you ride — licences, insurance, damage →

Or reach us directly: info@nomadbiketours.com · 098 732 3988