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Sapa is not only attractive to visitors with terraced fields of ripe rice color or quaint villages around the Northwest mountains, but it is also an ideal destination for those who love to explore, especially while trekking. If this is your first time experiencing Sapa Trekking, please refer to our top 4 Sapa trekking recommendation below!
Best time to get to Sapa
Choosing the right time will make your trip more complete and perfect. Sapa has the nuances of a temperate country, with a humid subtropical climate. Summers are usually quite cool and winters are cold. Here are a few suggestions for the ideal time for you to choose for your upcoming journey:
- From September to November is the best time to go trekking in Sapa: ripe rice season, beautiful cloud hunting opportunities, moderate cold weather and no rain.
- From January to March: the season of wild flowers blooms, the weather is cold, there are many festivals taking place.
Transportations to get Sapa
From Hanoi, you can choose 2 popular ways to travel to Sapa town, which is the choice of taking a bus or traveling by train. To help you have a more objective view, in today’s article I will compare these 2 conversion methods:
By train
- The price will be higher than traveling by bus
- Clean, quiet and good service
- You can choose from a comfortable chair or bed
- Comfortable space, spacious enough
- The sound of the tracks will sometimes wake you up at night.
- After arriving at Lao Cai station, you will have to travel by bus to reach Sapa town
- Travel time is about 7-9 hours
By bus
- Fares are much cheaper than train
- You can choose between a seat or a sleeper car
- However, you will not be able to lie down comfortably so it will be more difficult to sleep when traveling by bus
- No restrooms (cars will stop at rest stops along the way)
- Travel time only takes about 5-6 hours
What to pack
It is very important to prepare all the necessary items for the trip. Because in the process of moving, there are roads that will be very wild, so it will be difficult for you to find shops or services when needed. Here is a list of Sapa trekking items that you should prepare:
Clothes:
You should bring lightweight clothes, easy to move when climbing mountains or visiting hills and waterfalls. And if you come to Sapa in the winter, you must definitely bring a thick warm coat. In winter, Sapa will sometimes be in a negative state, with heavy snowfall and cold. A scarf or gloves, wool hat will be super necessary items to keep your body warm in the cold weather of Sapa at this time.
Footwear
If you plan to go hiking or visit the village, active sports shoes will be the best suggestion. They not only help protect your feet when moving a lot, but also show health and are also very fashionable.
Money and bank cards
Money or bank cards are probably things to prepare when traveling to Sapa. It helps you cover expenses such as accommodation, meals and is a vehicle for your wonderful experiences.
Besides bank cards, it is recommended that you carry cash with you. The amount should be just enough to pay for petty things like car fare, food, etc. Because that will help you in cases where you can’t find an ATM to withdraw money.
Sapa 1 Day Tours
- 1 day experience
- Moderate to challenging
- Cultural immersion & active adventure
- Rice fields, valleys & villages
- Private tours
- Vegan-friendly
Sapa 2 Day Tours
- 2 days 1 night experience
- Moderate to challenging
- Cultural immersion & active adventure
- Mountains, valleys, rice fields and villages
- Private tours
- Vegan-friendly
Sapa 3 Day Tours
- 3 days 2 night experience
- Moderate to challenging
- Cultural immersion & active adventure
- Mountains, valley, rice fields & villages
- Private tours
- Vegan-friendly
Sapa 4 Day Tours
- 4 days 3 night experience
- Moderate to challenging
- Cultural immersion & active adventure
- Mountains, valleys, rice fields & villages
- Private tours – Less Touristic
- Vegan-friendly
Top 4 Sapa trekking recommendation around central town
Sapa town – Cat Cat village – Sin Chai village
Itinerary: Sapa town – Cat Cat village – Sin Chai village – Sapa town
Time: Sapa 1 day trek
Trekking distance: 7km
Level: Easily trekking in Sapa without a guide
The travel schedule is as follows:
From the center of Sapa town (ancient church) you move to Cat Cat village, about 2.2km from the church. After arriving at Cat Cat village, you buy tickets to enter the resort, then walk (mainly the stairs) to go inside to visit as well as rest.
From Cat Cat village, move in the direction of Muong Hoa valley about 3km through terraced fields to reach Sin Chai village. Unlike Cat Cat village, Sin Chai village has not been developed in terms of tourism, so it is still quite wild and few people know about it. Here you will have the opportunity to admire the traditional wooden houses built with the wood of Po mu.
After visiting Sin Chai village, continue the journey to the center of Sapa town. End of the day trekking in Sapa. This is considered the easiest trekking route and is very suitable for first-time trekkers.
Sapa – Love Waterfall – Silver Waterfall – Y Linh Ho – Ta Van
Itinerary: Tram Ton – Love Waterfall – Silver Waterfall – Cat Cat village – Y Linh Ho – Lao Chai – Ta Van – Sapa town
Time: 2 days 1 night – One of the best treks in Sapa
Trekking distance: 20-30 km
Level: Moderate
The travel schedule is as follows:
Day 1: Sapa – Tram Ton – Love waterfall – Silver waterfall – Cat Cat village (Homestay)
Around 9:30, start moving to Tram Ton (should go by motorbike or taxi to save time. This journey will start from Tram Ton – the highest pass road in Vietnam with an altitude of 2047m. trekking about 1.1km along the Golden River to Love Waterfall.After visiting, we will move to Silver Waterfall (by car).
From Silver Waterfall, go down through Sapa hiking trails from Muong Hoa valley towards Sin Chai village – where the Black H’mong live. Here you will rest and have lunch then move to the Homestay. This is also where you will spend the night in a homestay.
Day 2: Cat Cat village – Y Linh Ho – Lao Chai – Ta Van – Sapa town center
Wake up at 6 am, have breakfast and prepare things to go to the center of Sapa town. On the way to trekking, I will stop by Y Linh Ho in Lao Chai and Ta Van village. The road at this time will have a bit of a zigzag road, but it’s not too difficult!
Along the way, the porter will show you the way down the valley to the beautiful suspension bridge. Here you will see the Golden River and the waterfall from afar. Continue trekking up the hill and visit the ripe rice fields of Y Linh Ho village, Lao Chai. Find yourself a flat, airy place to rest and have lunch!
In the afternoon, continue trekking to Ta Van village – the village of the Mong, Red Dao and Giay ethnic groups. After sightseeing and learning, you start moving to Sapa town with a distance of about 5km. With this Sapa trekking map suggestion, you will be able to explore more destinations in this foggy town.
Sapa town – Ta Phin village – Ta Giang Phin – Sapa
Itinerary: Sapa – Suoi Ho – Ma Tra village – Ta Phin – Phin Ho – Lu Khau – Suoi Thau – Kim Ngan – Ta Giang Phin – Sapa
Time: 3 days 2 nights
Trekking distance: 43km
Level: Hard
The travel schedule is as follows:
Day 1: Sapa – Ma Tra – Ta Phin (14 km)
Around 9:30, start moving from Sapa church to Ma Tra village. On the way, you will see the picturesque terraced fields. After coming to Ma Tra village, you can stop to rest and have lunch before moving on to Ta Phin village.
Day 2: Ta Phin – Phin Ho – Lu Khau – Suoi Ho – Suoi Thau (17km)
Around 7am wake up, have breakfast, rest and clean up luggage to continue the journey on the 2nd day with the first destination is Phin Ho village located at the border between Ta Phin and Khoang villages. This journey will take about 2.5 hours and passes through hills, valleys, forests and rice terraces.
After coming to Phin Ho village, you will rest and have lunch here. Then continue downhill through the rice fields to come to Lu Khau village – this is where the Red Dao and Hmong live. Don’t miss the chance to visit the salmon farm here!
Then continue to go through the asphalt road to reach Suoi Thau village in the late afternoon. Here you will stay overnight in a homestay, have dinner and rest.
Day 3: Suoi Thau – Kim Ngan – Ta Giang Phinh – Sapa (12 km)
In the morning, you will take a tour around Suoi Thau area – where you will witness the daily life of the Red Dao people. After this village, you will come to Gia Thau village to admire the terraced fields. Then come to Kim Ngan village for lunch.
After lunch, you will follow a short uphill path to Ta Giang Phin village, which takes about 1 hour. Here, you will visit the house of a blue Hmong to learn about the difference of their customs and traditional costumes from the Red Dao and the Black Hmong.
Then move to Sapa town center. Because this Sapa trekking trip often has to travel a lot with time, if you are too tired, you can choose to go by motorbike taxi to the town center!
Conquering Fansipan peak – the roof of Indochina
- Itinerary: Sapa – Tram Ton Pass – Rest point 2800m – Fansipan peak – Sapa
- Time: 2 days 1 night
- Trekking distance: 11.2km
- Level: Hard
The travel schedule is as follows:
Day 1: Sapa center – Tram Ton pass – rest point 2800m
Around 8 am, start moving from Sapa to Tram Ton Pass. This is where you will start your Fansipan trekking journey. The way from Tram Ton pass to climb Fansipan mountain, you will be able to see the beautiful scenery of the Northwest mountains! However, because the road is quite difficult and often lost, you should choose to go to Fansipan Trekking tour!
By about 4pm, you will reach the break point 2800. Here you can set up a camping tent and prepare food for dinner. If you go on a clear day, you will be able to see the beautiful sunset halfway up the mountain! It’s usually very cold here at night, so don’t forget to prepare warm clothes, gloves, and thermal patches!
Day 2: Rest point 2800m – Fansipan peak – Sapa center
Around 6 am, wake up to watch the sunrise, then have breakfast, rest and prepare for the journey to climb Fansipan – touch the roof of Indochina. From the 2800 station to move to the top of Fansipan mountain, it will take you about 1.5 hours.
After reaching the top of the mountain, you can choose to travel by train to reach the landmark. Because the air is thin up here, it is very difficult to breathe. You should not work too hard to avoid fatigue. After about 1 hour of sightseeing at the top of the mountain, you start moving down to the 2,800 waiting point for lunch and rest.
Fansipan Hiking 1 Day
- 1 day fansipan experience
- Moderate to challenging
- Cultural immersion & active adventure
- Visit Fansipan, highest mountain of Indochina
- Private tours
- Vegan-friendly
Fansipan Trekking 2 Days
- 2 days 1 night fansipan experience
- Moderate to challenging
- Cultural immersion & active adventure
- Visit Fansipan, highest mountain of Indochina
- Private tours
- Vegan-friendly
Buy Cable Ticket Online
- [QR Code] Buy Fansipan Cable Car Tickets Online
- Non-refundable
- Present your e-voucher
- Fixed-day ticket
- Admission with voucher
Sapa is one of the most beautiful towns in Vietnam. If you are planning to go to this magnificent place, contact us to book a Sapa trekking tour from Hanoi with the best promotion!
