After the Hanoi – Lao Cai highway was put into operation, traveling to Sapa has become easier than ever. Along with the completion of the cable car system, visiting Sapa and conquering Fansipan Peak – the Roof of Indochina has become achievable for anyone! However, how to travel to Sapa reasonably? How to plan your time? Where to visit that not everyone knows. In order to help those who have never been to Sapa understand more about Sapa – We send you a carefully selected and reasonable Sapa exploration itinerary.
Video guide for independent travel to Sapa
What makes Sapa attractive
People ask me: What’s in Sapa this season?I don’t know either. You’ll know when you get there.The result is I don’t know either.All I know is: In the morning, the fog covers the path, in the evening, watching the sunset is relaxing.
Sapa is known as the place where heaven meets earth. It has 4 seasons in a day (cool morning, sunny noon, gentle evening, cold night). Perhaps these things make Sapa have landscapes that cannot be found anywhere else.
Moreover, the simple, rustic mixed with modernity makes Sapa even more attractive. Sapa is famous for its pristine ethnic villages. But there are also modern structures: Fansipan cable car.
So what are you waiting for: go to Sapa today.
How long is enough to visit Sapa?
When traveling to Sapa, it is recommended to spend at least 2 days there, and if you have more time, you can stay for 3 days. To save costs, choose high-quality sleeper buses and travel overnight so that you can arrive in Sapa the next morning and have more time to explore.
Transportation to Sapa
There are no flights to Sapa, so the only transportation options are by car or train to Sapa. However, trains are less commonly used nowadays. You can also travel by motorbike, but the roads are winding and dangerous, so it’s not recommended. The cost of gas for a motorbike is not much different from the bus fare.
Train to Sapa
There is only one train route to Sapa, which is from Hanoi to Lao Cai (to the city of Lao Cai). When taking the train, you will arrive at Lao Cai station, which is 37km from Sapa. From there, you can take a shuttle bus to Sapa for about 50,000 VND per person, or a continuous bus for 30,000 VND per person. You can buy tickets online or directly at the station. The train from Hanoi to Lao Cai mainly operates in the evening from 7 pm to 10 pm, offering various seating options from seats to sleeper beds. However, this option can be a bit complicated due to the need to change vehicles. Not to mention the ticket booking process.
Bus to Lao Cai:
There are two options for you:
– Scheduled buses to Lao Cai: Many buses operate from Hanoi with various companies such as Hưng Thành, Sao Việt, Vietbus, Hà Vân Hải Sơn…
– Charter buses: This option is suitable for large groups and families.
– VIP buses: These are luxury buses provided by passenger transport companies. They offer 9, 18, 25, 45-seat buses, which are convenient and cheaper than charter buses while ensuring a good service.
Passenger buses to Lao Cai
This is the most popular option. There are many bus routes and companies operating to Lao Cai, with most buses departing from Hanoi at locations such as Mỹ Đình, Nước Ngầm, Trần Nhật Duật… Here are some options for you to consider:
Hanoi – Lao Cai buses for your reference:
- Hà Sơn – Hải Vân, with offices in Giải Phóng and Mỹ Đình bus station (multiple daily departures).
- Sao Việt, with offices in Giải Phóng and Cầu Vượt Dịch Vọng.
- Interbusline: Office at 110 Trần Nhật Duật, Hanoi.
- Queencafe: Office at 206 Trần Quang Khải.
- Hưng Thành: Office at Trần Khát Chân.
- VietBus: Office at Giải Phòng.
- Sapa express
Gia nằm THÁI NGUYÊN – LÀO CAI (Highway bus). Departing from Thái Nguyên at 9 pm, arriving in Sapa at 3:30-4 am. Ticket price: 250,000 VND one way, 440,000 VND round trip.
There are also sleeper buses from Quảng Ninh.
There are buses from Hải Phòng and Hà Nam to Sapa, but it’s been a while since I last took them.
Getting around in Sapa:
- In Sapa, tourist spots are usually 2-10 km apart, so common means of transportation include taxis, motorbike taxis, or motorbikes. There are also tourist cars, but not many.
- Xe điện ở nhà thờ tel: 6,000 VND/1 person/one way to go to the market for shopping.
Notes when traveling to Sapa on your own:
- The Hanoi – Lao Cai Highway route is only for cars. Backpackers should pay attention to avoid getting lost on the way.
- When in Sapa, make sure to have a town map, do not rely on a map. (Usually hotels, guesthouses, or homestays will provide a free copy for you). Sapa has one-way streets within the town that are not shown on maps, so be careful.
- Fansipan: You can hike or take the Fansipan cable car by Sunworld. Cable car prices: Adults: 600,000 VND. Children from 1m – 1.3m: 400,000 VND. Children under 1m are free. All prices are round-trip. The electric car ride to the cable car station is free, and the walk is not long, allowing you to check in along the way. From the station to the peak of Fansipan, you will have to climb an additional 600 stone steps. The peak of Fansipan will be visible. If you can’t climb all the way, you can take the mountain train to “reach the summit.” Round-trip ticket prices: Adults, children over 1.3m: 100,000 VND/person; children from 1m to 1.3m: 70,000 VND/person; children under 1m are free. When climbing to the peak, it’s advisable to bring a hat, scarf, gloves, and a raincoat (in case it rains). The climbing path is quite long, so make sure to bring water. If it’s raining, don’t go, as it’s a waste of money, and wearing a raincoat for photos might not be ideal.
- Cat Cat Village: Ticket prices are advertised as 40,000 VND/person online, but in reality, it’s 70,000 VND/person. Parking fee is 10,000 VND/vehicle. The path is easy to follow, and a free map is provided. Renting ethnic clothes is around 10,000 VND/set (not confirmed). The view is beautiful, great for photo opportunities.
- Ta Van Village – Lao Chai Village – Co Tien Stone Beach – May Bridge: If someone offers to sell you tickets, be cautious. The route includes off-road sections and steep slopes (it’s recommended to use a geared motorbike for safety). After crossing a 5m iron bridge, turn left to the Museum of Ethnology to access May Bridge. The entrance fee is 10,000 VND/person – this is where you realize you paid 75,000 VND for a ticket elsewhere. That’s why it’s better to be cautious and not buy tickets from random sellers.
- The night market includes both the old market and the new market (the old market near Cat Cat Village has been relocated next to Sapa Bus Station – now the new market), a stone church, and a square. The new market is right next to the bus station, mainly selling grilled food and some local handicrafts and souvenirs. Food prices are displayed, so no need to worry about overpricing (though the food quality might not be the freshest).
- Silver Waterfall – Love Waterfall – O Quy Ho Pass: The Silver Waterfall looks similar to the Silver Waterfall in Tam Dao, so it’s optional. Love Waterfall ticket is 75,000 VND/person, parking fee is 10,000 VND/vehicle. The experience might not be exceptional. The round trip walking distance is 2km (not recommended as many people find it disappointing). O Quy Ho Pass is about 1 – 2km away. When you see some roadside stalls, that’s the entrance – a must-visit spot.
- Don’t trust taxi drivers who only take you to specific places without exploring. They might insist on taking you to many places, and the tour price is fixed, leaving you with no choice. In general, it’s a waste of money and time, leading to frustration. I won’t mention the company names here to avoid any issues.
What to eat in Sapa
Another crucial aspect that everyone cares about is where to eat. Sapa is famous for sturgeon, tuna, Thang Co… You have to try to know.
1. For hotpot dishes like sturgeon, salmon, chicken, beef, mixed hotpot, you can visit one of these two places: A Phu Restaurant at 15 Fansipan Street.
2. For Thang Co, there are many places in Sapa like A Nguyen, A Quynh, and many other restaurants. But for the ideal dining spot with reasonable prices, you can go to A Phu Restaurant at 15 Fansipan Street.
3. For goat-related dishes, you can try Thêm Dê restaurant on Dien Bien Phu Street.
4. A must-visit place with unique dishes is Hai Lam Restaurant at 72 Luong Dinh Cua Street, offering specialties like GRILLED CHICKEN WITH GREEN PEPPER, SEAFOOD FRIED RICE, and various fish hotpots, Sapa specialties are also excellent here.
5. For mountain forest specialties, you can visit Hoa Dao Restaurant on Le Van Tam Street.
6. For breakfast with noodles and pho, don’t miss these two places: Bac Ha Clean Pho at 53 Le Van Tam Street near Xuan Vien Lake, specializing in chicken pho, very delicious. The second place is Pho Khuyen on Tue Tinh Street near the town’s police station.
7. For grilled dishes, you can go to 24 Cau May Street, or the grilled food market at Sapa night market, 1km from the town center. If you want to enjoy grilled buffet, you can visit TubOtel Sapa Hotel.
8. For good coffee and Instagrammable spots, you can visit the following places: For a high view and Instagrammable spots, go to TubOtel Sapa, Fansipan Coffee on Fansipan Street, Cong Cafe on Xuan Vien Street, Ladybird Coffee on Thach Son Street, or Nhan Coffee on Ngu Chi Son Street.
9. For desserts like Che, you can visit Che Hue Truc Viet on Thac Bac Street, opposite the stone church.
10. For bars or pubs, you can head to the Western Street or Muong Hoa Street, where there are plenty of pubs.
Some dining places in Sapa that you can try
- Art house milk tea at house number 14-ticket booth 1 of Cat Cat village, super delicious, clean, beautiful view.
- Conveyor belt hot pot/spicy dried chicken at 552 Dien Bien Phu
- Sturgeon hot pot at A Phu’s restaurant (number 15 Fanxipan)
- Chicken and beef noodle soup. Price 30k per bowl: 724 Dien Bien Phu
- Pho for 40k: 128 Thach Son
- Sapa Deli restaurant. Number 011 Cau May street, in the center, serves pho for breakfast and hotpot for lunch and dinner. Very reasonable prices.
- Anh Dung restaurant at 12-14 Xuan Vien
- Red Dao restaurant at 2 Thac Bac
- Hue beef noodle soup at 025 Thach Son
- Home-cooked rice at 41 Xuan Vien
- Grilled food at Sapa night market, by Sapa lake
- The Hill Station Cafe at 7 Muong Hoa
- Cong Cafe, Dao Cafe in the center
- Haven Cafe on the way to Cat Cat village, beautiful view, standard drinks
- Viet Emotion Cafe in the center, especially with many paintings drawn by the owner’s father
- Amazing Bar at 7A Dong Loi
- The H’mong Sister at Cau May street
- Herbal bath along Cau May street for about 100,000 VND per person, better to go to the Dao village in Ta Phin for a bath.
3-day 2-night self-sufficient travel itinerary from Hanoi to Sapa
I chose to travel by sleeper bus from Hanoi to Sapa. The average ticket price for a passenger bus from Hanoi to Sapa is about 250,000 VND. The cheapest ticket price from Hanoi to Sapa is 180,000 VND, and the highest price is 450,000 VND. The travel time from Hanoi to Sapa by bus is about 5 hours and 30 minutes. Therefore, I recommend choosing the night trip at 10 pm – 11 pm. Arriving in Sapa around 4:30 am – 6 am is ideal. Take a taxi to the hotel to drop off your luggage and start exploring.
Our group chose to travel by Sao Viet Sleeper Bus, with a ticket price of 240,000 VND per person for the outbound journey and 200,000 VND per person for the return journey (it’s cheaper to book a round trip in advance; if not, like us, book the return journey in advance as this season is very crowded, late bookings may not have available seats and you may have to share a bus). Departure starts at 11 pm the night before and check-in at Sapa Bus Station at 4 am.
DAY 1: SAPA JADE HILL, TA VAN VILLAGE, CAT CAT VILLAGE, O QUY HO
After returning to the hotel to change clothes, we had breakfast at Pho Con Sui – 591 Dien Bien Phu, a unique and delicious meal for 35,000 VND per bowl, highly recommended.
– Next, we went to Sapa Jade Hill – a resort with beautiful scenery in Sapa for taking photos. If you are not staying here, you can buy a ticket for sightseeing and photo shooting at 150,000 VND per person (for sightseeing and photos only), 300,000 VND per person (including tea and cakes), 650,000 VND (including lunch).
– On the way, we also visited Ta Van village, took photos with the Cloud Bridge, another beautiful spot for people to check in at Sapa this time. We hired a taxi for both ways, costing 400,000 VND for these two locations. If you want to save money, you can rent a motorbike.
– At 12 pm, we returned to the hotel to check-in, had a light lunch, and at 1:30 pm, we went to Cat Cat village. It’s recommended to spend about 3 hours there as there are many beautiful photo spots.
– Renting costumes in Cat Cat village: Since the red outfit in Sapa has been worn a lot, this time we found a new and beautiful green outfit, very unique, not available elsewhere. The rental price is the same as for regular outfits, 50,000 VND per set. You can rent them at Art House 14 Cat Cat Village. This place also serves delicious milk tea. Walking around the village can be tiring and thirsty, so buying milk tea is a wise choice. 35,000 VND per cup
– In the village, there are many children who will ask for money, candies, and invite you to buy things. You can buy some candies from the stores outside the village and give them to the children, but do not give them money as it may lead the children to skip school and beg or sell things.
– After taking photos, you will have to climb a path from the end of the village back to the beginning. You can hire a motorbike taxi for 20k to take you back, as the entrance and exit are different gates.
– Around 4:30 pm, we will move to Ô Quy Hồ to watch the sunset. The 18km road is quite far, so make sure not to go too late to catch the sunset for photos. This is definitely a super beautiful and surreal photo spot, where you can see the panoramic view of mountains, clouds, and sky. It’s very windy up there, so make sure to dress warmly. After taking photos and videos, there will be grilled food such as skewers, potatoes, eggs, and warm sweet tea for you to enjoy! Eating will warm you up inside and out ^^
– For dinner, we will go to Cầu Mây street, stroll around the city center, and then return to the hotel to rest.
DAY 2: BẢN TẢ PHÌN, STRAWBERRY GARDEN, MONASTERY, FANSIPAN
– Since our hotel in the combo is Pao’s Sapa with a room overlooking the beautiful mountains, we will wake up early in the morning to have breakfast and take photos at the hotel. There is also a hot spring pool with a beautiful view, but I forgot to bring my swimsuit, so I couldn’t take a dip, remember to bring yours ^^
– At 9:30 am, we will take a taxi to Tả Phìn. The road is very bad 🙁 luckily we have a skilled driver 😀 Our first stop is the strawberry garden. This season, strawberries are available for 300k/kg, you can either pick them yourself and weigh them or buy a pre-picked box. I found the pre-picked box to have bigger and nicer strawberries. Then you can take them into the garden for photos.
– Next, we will visit the Ancient Monastery, quite primitive, but if you have a photo concept, it will look beautiful in pictures. You can also go further into the village to experience the Red Dao herbal bath. Since we did it before, we skipped it this time.
– Back at the hotel, we will check out from Pao’s Sapa and move to Phương Nam, then we will have lunch. At 1 pm, we will walk to Sun Plaza to take the cable car up to Fansipan.
– We booked the Fansipan tickets a day in advance, with free delivery to the hotel at a price of 780k/person, including the cable car ticket, round-trip train ticket to Mường Hoa, and one-way mountain train ticket (only 100 steps instead of 600). When coming down, you can walk down to enjoy the scenery or like us, buy the mountain train ticket down in 30s for an additional 80k.
– Choose a day with good weather to go up Fansipan and keep your ticket safe as it is a round-trip ticket that will be checked again when going down. There are many beautiful spots for photography, but they are usually crowded, so you may have to wait and take advantage of quieter moments to snap quick photos for the best shots.
DAY 3:
– Having breakfast at the hotel, packing up and checking out, leaving luggage at the hotel and then heading to Sun Plaza for photos, buying some miscellaneous gifts.
– Besides, there is also the stone church and Sapa lake, which are beautiful places for everyone to check in.
– It would be even better if we could stick to the itinerary and go to have coffee at The Haven Sapa Camp Site or Viettrekking Home Sapa, both of which are famous coffee shops with great views here. However, that day the fog was quite thick, making it impossible to see the scenery and take good photos, so we decided not to go. Viettreking Home Sapa is temporarily closed for maintenance until 25.04, everyone.
– At 1 pm, we got on the car to return to Hanoi, and around 7:30 pm we arrived back in Hanoi. End of the 3 days 2 nights trip.
Cost for the 3 days 2 nights Sapa trip is around 3 million VND per person, which is quite comfortable, my friends.
Itinerary for the 2 days 1 night self-sufficient Sapa trip:
If you are busy and only have 2 days off on the weekend, then consider the following self-sufficient 2 days 1 night Sapa travel itinerary
Day 1:
- At 9pm, we got on the bus in Hanoi, arriving in Sapa around 4am.
- At this time, I advise you not to sleep on the bus. My friend and I walked to our accommodation (I stayed at Sapa backpacker hostel) near Stone Church.
- On the way, you will enjoy the early morning beauty of Sapa.
- We stopped at a grilled food stall to have bamboo rice and some skewers, sitting around the charcoal stove listening to the locals chatting. It was a unique and warm feeling.
- By 6am, we checked in. We rented a motorbike here, left our luggage, and went out to explore (as we could only check in at 12pm).
- The owner was very enthusiastic and friendly, and the bike rental price was reasonable.
- Then we went to Fansipan.
- I must say I enjoyed the feeling of climbing to the top, it was amazing and beautiful. (But it gets cold and the air pressure decreases at the top, so be careful.)
- On the way back, we stopped to have salmon hotpot (delicious, but a pot for two was too much, one person’s portion was just right, a pot for two was overwhelming and we couldn’t finish it).
- We returned to check in, rested and freshened up a bit (the room was affordable but clean, comfortable, and had a pretty view).
- In the afternoon, we visited Cat Cat village and then went to Ham Rong peak (a perfect spot to watch the sunset).
- In the evening, we went to the night market, wandered around the city, and had grilled food (it’s best to go with your loved one, going with a friend might be a bit awkward).
Day 2:
- In the morning, we visited Love Waterfall (the road up was incredibly beautiful), went to Ancient Rock Field, and a few other places that I forgot.
- In general, we enjoyed the journey, but due to limited time, we mainly focused on sightseeing.
- At noon, we stopped at a cafe on the hillside with an amazing view.
- After that, we checked out, wandered around, and in the evening, we took the bus back to Hanoi.
