3 day itinerary in Sapa (Vietnam) to discover all its highlights at your own

3 day itinerary in Sapa (Vietnam) to discover all its highlights at your own

Located at 5-6 hours from Hanoi, Sapa is a paradise in summer. It is also one of the most beautiful places to see in the Northwest.

Enjoy the beautiful Sapa within only 3 days

Travel to Sapa

Car:

You can go to Sapa by bus from the My Dinh (Hanoi) bus station. Or you can book bus ticket with some travel agency in Hanoi Old Quarter. Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway shortens the time to travel from the capital to Sapa to 5-6 hours. Ticket price is about 170,000 - 350,000 depending on the bus type.

Train:

You can book train tickets online or buy at the Hanoi Railway Station (usually runs at 21-22h daily) to Lao Cai station then take the bus from Lao Cai to Sapa. Since you have to get on and get off the bus again, you need to consider this option. Train tickets range from 155,000 to 700,000 depending on the type of chair or bed you choose. It takes around 8 to 9 hours.

Traveling in Sapa:

If you want to visit Sapa at your own, you should rent a motorbike. The road in Sapa has lot of steeps so be sure to check the motor brakes carefully. Motor bike rental is about 100,000 - 200,000 VND per day depending on type of motor.

Accommodation

Sapa has many types of accommodation for you to choose from motels, homestay in the village, hostel, to 4-5 star hotels, high-grade resort isolated. In addition to the homestay style, you can find a cocoon hotel quite interesting, with a beautiful view and suitable for back-Parker travellers. The price is from 250,000 VND per person per night. For Sapa's resorts, there are lots of choice such as Topas Ecolodge, Sapa Jade Hill, Sapa Highland ...

In Sapa, if you choose a homestay, look into homestay in some villages such as Cat Cat, Lao Chai, Ta Van to enjoy the fresh air, cool and serenity of the mountains and forests of the North West. Dorm room rate is from 150,000 VND per person per night, double bungalow price is from 500,000 VND/room/night. Some of preffered homstays are Nam Cang riverside Lodge, Eco Palms House, Heaven Sapa, Viet Trekking, Phorri's House ...

Eating

During your travel in Sapa, you shouldn't ignore some specialties of the Northwest such as "thang co", "men men", fish hot pot (sturgeon, salmon), grilled meat, rice, fresh vegetables ... If you travel in a big group, you can choose the fish hotpot with salmon, each pot is about 300,000 to 600,000 VND, enough for 3-6 people to eat. Grilled skewers can be found in many places, especially the sidewalk or Sapa night market. Each type of meat and vegetables are priced at 10,000 - 20,000 VND.

Itinerary

Day 1: Ham Rong Climbing - Sapa Stone Church - walking street in the town

Day 2: Visit Cat Cat - O Quy Ho Pass - Silver Falls - Love Waterfall

Day 3: Mountain train and cable car to Fansipan peak - shopping - back to Hanoi

 

The Sapa Center is now a bustling tourist destination because there are so many things to explore. Picture: Huong Chi.

Consultez SVP les circuits sur Sapa de l'agence Orient Skyline Travel pour une découverte profonde de la région!
 

Day 1

Ham Rong and Sapa Stone Church are two famous tourist destinations in the center that you need to visit. With fairy and ghost landscape, Ham Rong Mountain attracts a lot of visitors. The lowest point of the mountain is 1,450m, and the highest peak is 1,800m.

From the top of the mountain, you can admire the most popular tourist spots of Sapa town such as Muong Hoa valley, Ta Van village, Cat Cat village ... Ham Rong Mountain is suitable for holding a climbing event a mountain picnic, a dining and shopping, a scenic visit because on the way to the mountain there are many restaurants with beautiful flower garden. The entrace fees to Ham Rong mountain is 3.5 USD for adults and 1 USD for children.

 
Old church architecture in the heart of Sapa city. Picture: Lam Linh.

After going to Ham Rong Mountain, you return to the town center not far away to visit Sapa Stone Church. This is the symbolic work of the mountain town started in 1895. The church was built in the shape of a Gothic style, represented in the roof, bell tower, arch ... are pyramidal shape of bay flying bar Exit for works.

The small streets in central Sapa are also interesting places for you to explore. Here there are many cafes, restaurants, bars or spa services, bathing on Cau May Road, Muong Hoa, Ngu Chi Son ... At the weekend, you can also join Sapa love market at the ad The front of the church is Stone.

Day 2

The second day's schedule is more moving so you need to eat adequate attention and dress appropriately. Cat Cat is located 2 km from the center of Sapa, so you can choose trekking or motorbike. This is a peaceful Mong village, preserving many traditional and traditional handicrafts such as weaving, silver carving, jewelry making ...

 

The rice field in Cat Cat stretches to Lao Chai - Ta Van - Ban Den - Thanh Kim ... Photo: Tran Viet Anh.


The road to the beautiful village, you will go through the curves of the winding curves, the two sides are the terraced fields fill up the roof of the country. Passing the Si bridge to the center of Cat Cat village, converging the three streams: Tien Sa stream, Vang stream and Silver stream. Visiting the village, besides exploring the life of Mong people, you also have the opportunity to buy handicraft products as gifts, enjoy the local produce. Tickets to visit Cat Cat is 50,000 VND per person.

After lunch, you can go to Love Falls right next to Cat Cat with 20,000 VND per person. Then you drive to Silver Falls about 12 km west of the town center. On the way, from the distance you can hear the sound of waterfalls and pictures of white water as a strip of silk hidden in the clouds. The ticket price is 1 USD per person.

3 km from the Silver Falls is the peak of O Quy Ho Pass - one of the longest, most dangerous and majestic mountain pass in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam. The 50 km long pass, located on 4D Highway, connects Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces. Standing from the top of the pass, you will surely feel overwhelmed and realize that you are small in nature in the mountains and forests of the Northwest. Note, watch the time to pass around 17h - 17h30 because you will be watching the "eyes" sunset scene has fallen.

 

Watching the sunset on Quy Ho Lake, visiting the Love Waterfall, Silver Falls, trekking villages is an experience not to be missed in Sapa. Photo: Tran Viet Anh.

Day 3

Before returning to the train , choose the cable cars and mountain climbing to Fansipan peak without losing too much strength. In the morning you line up for tickets at the mountain train station opposite Sapa town square. Cable ticket price is VND 700,000 per person, two way ticket is VND 150,000 per person.

To reach the top of Fansipan you follow the climbing trains and cable cars, then one more train ride or climb 600 steps. Each ship lasts about 6-7 minutes, each cable lasts about 30 minutes. Those who like to walk can climb the stairs, visit the spiritual community on Fansipan Kim Son Bao Thang Tu, tower 11 floors, the statue Bodhisattva Bodhisattva, the largest Buddha Amitabha Buddha bronze Vietnam, ... In addition, at the station of cable car and mountain climbing there are shops selling souvenirs, restaurants ... serve the needs of shopping and dining of visitors.

 

Sapa view from the cable car to Fansipan peak. Picture: Phong Vinh.


At the top of Fansipan, if you are lucky enough to go on a sunny day, you will be able to see the sea breeze and have a much better picture. However, the weather on the top of the mountain often has thick fog and rain, pay attention to bring your coat, umbrella, camera preservation, phone to prevent mold.

The time to visit and admire Fansipan can cost you all one morning. Afternoon is the time to rest, eat and prepare to return to Hanoi.

Note: Sapa is cool all year round, and is cooler at the end of the year and it even has snow. If you travel to Sapa in this season, you should brings:- Outerwear, scarves and hats- raincoat or umbrella to avoid rain and dew- Sports shoes for walking, trekking the villages- Insect repellants, cold medicines.