Best Travel Experiences In Sapa Vietnam

Sapa is a wonderful place to discover and relax, one of must – places to visit in vietnam. I have visited here many times every year and will definitely take my family there in the following years. Sapa is “awesome” not only by the cool weather but also by nature, culture, human and many other sweet things.

Each time to Sapa is a chance to gain new experiences and I would like to share some to help you have amazing Sapa tours from Hanoi. If you have any questions, please comment below.


BEST TIME TO VISIT SAPA?

Spring time: Sapa Vietnam in spring is “thick” and interminable of peach blossoms, plum flowers and many other kinds of flower. They are specific flowers in Sapa that may be unusual to foreign tourists. If you would like to see peach blossoms, please search information carefully because the weather can change each year. Peach blossoms may bloom earlier or later than previous years and you may miss the chance to contemplate their beauty if not searching carefully. You should visit from February to April or in the first week of May. One more thing is at that time, it’s not in the rainy season so the streams will be dry, there will be a little water in the fall and watching them will be less interesting.

Rice harvest: in Sapa there is only a six – month crop, sowing rice in early May. The paddy fields grow greenly from July to September and begin to turn yellow from October to December. If you want to relax as well as see rice ripen, you should visit Sapa from July to September because if you visit from October to December, it becomes rather cold and foggy. This time is flooding season so the waterfall will flow heavily and impressively.

Winter time: Perhaps this is the coldest area in winter in Vietnam. It always snows here in recent years. The white snow covers all houses and everywhere, even with half a meter thick. You can’t know exactly the snow days so you have to keep connecting with local people regularly (or the ones in the hotel you intend to stay) or via TV, radio, newspapers, etc to update about the weather.


HOW TO VISIT SAPA?

The A-Z of backpacking: surely your mean of transport is a motorbike. You just simply go straight on vietnam hanoi – Yen Bai – Lao Cai – Sapa 390km highway route. Destinations are varied depending on your time because on the way to Sapa, you can also visit Mu Cang Chai, Ha Giang… You may search “Sapa backpacking” on The internet to find out the most suitable destinations for you.

Semi-backpacking: You can travel to Lao Cai Station by train or bus then rent motorbikes to Sapa. It’s 40 km from Lao Cai Station to Sapa with winding roads and underneath twisty streams. Besides, there are mountains and gorgeous rice terraces in the distance. The motorbike renting fee is around 100 – 200.000 VND/day depending on the motor type and you should choose manual transmission motorcycle to save gas and easily ride on the bumpy mountain road.

A view in Sapa in Summer

Non-backpacking:

– Option 1: With Sapa tours from Hanoi, you can travel by train from Tran Quy Cap Station to Lao Cai Station then catch a bus to Sapa from the bus station (100m far from the exit gate of the train station). There are lots of buses with the ticket price of 50.000 VND/ person without having to hustle or sitting on plastic chairs, but you should choose nearly full bus for soon traveling.

It’s long distance from Hanoi to Lao Cai and the time for traveling may be up to 8 – 9 hours so you should choose soft benches or beds. If you travel in summer, you should choose a cabin with the air conditioner as it’s extremely hot.

– Option 2: You can choose sleeper bus from Hanoi to Sapa. Indeed, the bus will stop for about 30 minutes in Lao Cai Station to let Hanoi – Lao Cai guests leave and pick up Lao Cai – Sapa ones.
NOTES:

There are some hotels providing free buses from the station so when booking you should ask about this service. Their staffs will hold your nameplate, waiting for you at the exit gate and take you to the hotel.

HOW TO MOVE AROUND IN SAPA?

You can go by taxi, bus, motorbike taxi or rent a motorbike to travel by yourself in Sapa. In my opinion, you should rent a motorbike to enjoy the natural beauty of Sapa. There are many rental spots on the way or you can have the hotel staffs rent for you. The rental fee is around 100 – 200.000 VND/day depending on the motor type.

You should refuel at the gas station on Thach Son Street (the only gas station in Sapa) after getting the motorbike and try to fill up as much as possible because, you have to wait in a long queue each time gazing up. You also should fill up gas at noon to avoid being crowded or you can refuel at the mobile gas station if you are lazy for going too far or in an emergency situation.

You should bring a bottle (water included or not is up to you) to buy 1-2 liter of gas from the passers-by in case your motorbike runs out of gas on the road.
WHERE TO STAY IN SAPA?

There are 3 options depending on your needs:

1. Less than 100.000 VND/night is suitable for people wanting to save fees, providing clean and safe space for sleeping, bathing and keeping luggage. People often sleep in public on bunk beds. Backpackers often choose this option. The hotels that I recommend are: Violet hotel, Sapa backpackers, Sapa Hostel

2. From 200.000 – 500.000 VND/night are popular hotels, suitable for families, couples and groups. They are often a little bit far from the centre of Sapa or don’t have beautiful views or both but don’t worry because Sapa centre is rather small, about 1km going on foot. In any cases, you still have to rent the motorbike. Here are some suggestions: Pumpkin Sapa-hotel, Fansipan view hotel, Thien Ngan Sapa Hotel, Boutique Sapa

3. Premium hotels with more than 700.000 VND/night rental fee are qualified with various services and facilities.

Suggested Hotels: H’Mong Sapa, Sapa Paradise view, Sapa Panorama, Cat Cat view, Chau Long Sapa II

Among luxurious hotels, I really like H’Mong Sapa Hotel with nice room decoration, excellent inside and outside views, picking-up buses at Lao Cai Station and polite staffs. Check-in time is 2:00 pm, but I can come into my room at 9:00 am. Check-out time is also very flexible because I can delay 1 hour later than regulated time.

If having much money, you can enjoy relaxing space at Topas Ecolodge Resort. Mark Zuckerberg – CEO of Facebook has stayed in this resort when in Sapa.
WHAT ARE INTERESTING TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN SAPA?

I arrange tourist attractions from nearest to farthest places. The last one is my own evaluation.

Ham Rong Mountain: this is the place attracting the most tourists when in Sapa. 5-minute walking from Sapa centre, this dragon-mouth shaped mountain range is “thick” and interminable of flowers and trees. You can leisurely climb to take photos, visit Golden Luck Garden and raise your eyes at Fan-xi-pang peak. Looking from Ham Rong peak, Sapa and Hoang Lien Son mountain range seem to be “tidy” in your eyes. If you travel in the cold season (or suitable weather), you will see thin clouds sluggishly flying around your foot. Don’t forget watching a free music show with typical performances of each ethnic group at the culture house on the way to Ham Rong peak.

O Quy Ho peak – Heaven Gate – Love Waterfall – Silver Waterfall route
Here are some pictures I took on my trip in Sapa. It was so sorry as I came here in summer that I couldn’t see the rice ripen and peach flowers.

I hope that the information above will help you a lot if you are going to take Sapa tours from Hanoi.

Source: http://hanoi.tips/

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