Sapa travelling overview

Sapa located nearly 350 km to the northwest of Hanoi. This cloud-covered town is at 1550 m above the sea level and has cool weather all year round. Here, there are a number of fabulous mountains including the peak of Indochina – Fansipan with the 3143m elevation.

This area is the home of 6 ethnic groups with unique cultures, lifestyles, and languages. Most of them are wearing their traditional attires and working on evergreen terraces. Hill tribes often gather at the weekend market to trade and meet their lovers. Sapa is also a good place for relaxing, for cultural discovery touring, or for trekking. It can be said that Sapa is a must-see destination for any tourist who would like to explore the beauty of the Vietnamese Northern. The area was built into a hill station for the French colonialists to get away from the heat of Hanoi in the summer. There used to be many French-styled villas in the town but most of them were destroyed during the border clash with China in 1979.

Nowadays, Sapa becomes an attractive touristic destination for thousands of tourists from all of Vietnam and abroad thanks to the cool and fresh climate, the sublime nature beauty and the colorful hill tribe cultures.

How to get there?

There are two main ways to travel to Sapa from Hanoi: by overnight trains or sleeper buses. And depending on your time and budget, you can choose the suitable one to get there.

By train: It often takes you for 9 hours to travel from Hanoi to Lao Cai and return on the overnight trains. The train runs slowly and serves you a very good sleep while enjoying the stunning scenery outside. There are daily overnight trains heading in each direction for tourists can choose. To get the tour ticket, you can book with Aroka Travel get the best price. See more at http://arokatravel.com/tours/sapa-2-days-1-night-by-train/

From Lao Cai, you are going to take a minibus to Sapa Valley. During the transportation, you will feel that the road is cut into the hillside and bumpy and windy, but the views of the terraced rice farms of the valley are beautiful as you ascend (ride on the left side).

: If you would like to travel straightly from Hanoi to Sapa without any stop, sleep bus will be a good option for you. Currently, traveling to Sapa on the Hanoi – Laocai highway could help you to save time and be more saving and safety. The buses run daily and take guests from 5 to 6 hours to reach up Sapa Town. For Sapa by bus please visit: http://arokatravel.com/tours/sapa-2-days-1-night-by-bus/

When to Go?
Sapa in each season has its own special beauties. However, the best time to travel there maybe from January to June or March to May. It is really cold in Sapa during the period of time January to February with the temperature possibly fall down 0 ºC. The rain season is from June to August. September marks the end of the rainy season and will be a good time to visit Sapa then by mid-December temperatures start to fall significantly making this September to mid-December period become the best time to visit Sapa.