Sapa is always beautiful at all times of the year, which is also why sapa is always the destination of choice for a great holiday, but if you come to Sapa without trying the interesting things below, it is flawed.
About Sapa
Sapa belongs to Lao Cai province, more than 300km northwest of Hanoi, Sapa is a tourist destination exploited since the French colonial period in the early 1900s, known as the misty northwest town with countless landmarks and interesting specialties that attract tourists, especially foreign visitors.
Sapa – Misty Town
The weather and time to visit Sapa
Sapa is a special town, this place is in a temperate and subtropical climate so the weather all year round is very cool, especially in winter there will be frost and snowfall.
The average temperature in Sapa is 15-18 degrees, in summer the temperature is about 20-23 degrees during the day and about 16 degrees at night. Sapa weather is cool all year round, so it is always chosen by tourists as a favorite destination when planning travel and resort.
What is the best month to travel to Sapa?? Sapa has a cool climate all year round, so every time of the year is an ideal time to travel to Sapa. From May to August, Sapa will have rain, although not significant but also affect your trip more or less. Therefore, So you need to consider traveling to Sapa during this time. From December to January next year, Sapa appears icy and snowy, if traveling this season, prepare enough warm clothes to catch the snow in Sapa to the fullest..
What to prepare when traveling to Sapa?
- The necessary documents when traveling to Sapa you need to prepare it is identification documents such as ID card / CCCD,... for children, an extracted birth certificate is required for procedures with adults. In Sapa, you need to use your ID to check in at the hotel or rent motorbike services, guides,...
- You should prepare warm clothes because sapa weather is cool all year round, especially at night it will be quite cold.
Prepare warm clothes when traveling to Sapa
- Preparation of headache, abdominal pain, cold medicine,... to avoid the case that you do not fit into the food and are not used to the air and food here.
- Because Sapa has many slopes, roads will not be as flat as in the provinces of the same, so during the visit you will have to walk quite a lot. Therefore, you should bring sneakers, soft soles, low soles to make it easy to move as well as avoid leg pain.
- Schedule sightseeing before traveling to have a reasonable journey, avoid getting tired during the trip.
- Do not forget to bring sapa tourist map so as not to get lost, you can buy it at bookstores in Hanoi, or at the train station, Sapa town center is available for sale.
Transportation when traveling in Sapa
Transportation to Sapa
Buses and trains are two popular transportations to Sapa. Currently, Sapa has no airport so there are no flights to Sapa at all, if you are in other provinces, you need to move to Hanoi and book a car or train ticket to Sapa. You should choose reputable addresses to book bus tickets to avoid scams. Some reputable and quality sapa bus companies such as Hung Thanh bus, Inter Bus Lines, Sapa Shuttle Bus,... Bus tickets cost about 200,000 VND – 400,000 VND / one way ticket, the bus will run directly to the town, it takes about 8 hours to travel from Hanoi to Sapa.
If you go to Sapa by train,the fare of Hanoi – Lao Cai train costs around 250,000 VND – 500,000 VND / one way ticket, depending on the class of seat you choose. Besides, you also need to book more cars from Lao Cai station to Sapa town. Vietpix recommends using buses that will be more convenient to travel to Sapa instead of trains.
Train to Sapa
For those who choose to travel to Sapa on their own,they will have to book these services by themselves. Therefore, when planning to travel, it is recommended to book a train ticket about 1-2 months in advance to avoid selling out early, especially during the tourist season or holidays such as Valentine's or Christmas.
Transportation in Sapa
Motorbikes are the main means of transportation in Sapa, you can rent a car for 100,000 VND - 150,000 VND / day, just deposit the ID card for the owner. Some reputable motorbike rental shops may be of interest to you:
- Lao Cai Tourist Information Center, Fansipan No. 2.
- Mr. Chinh Store, 44 Fansipan.
- Minks Sapa store, no specific address but very easy to find in town, you can ask the locals about this store.
You can also choose a motorbike to go to tourist attractions, on average, if you go from 4-5 points close to each other, it costs about 100,000 VND / turn. Besides, your feet will also be an effective means of transportation in Sapa. Walking around town, visiting villages is also a good idea when exploring Sapa.
Motorbikes are the main means of transportation in Sapa.
Book Sapa Hotel
Sapa hotel rooms are diverse, designed in vintage style or wild to suit the atmosphere of the town. Some hotel booking areas are convenient for exploring you can refer to:
- Sapa town center area includes busy roads such as Fansipan, Muong Hoa, Ngu Only Son, Ham Rong,... there are all kinds of hotels from budget to high-end and affordable homestays. The town center area is suitable for all your activities such as fun, shopping, exploring interesting destinations,...
- Ta Van and Lao Chai area is home to many homestays and is also home to sapa's most beautiful homestay with many different styles. However, staying in these two areas is quite sad at night, with little place to eat and play. Reservations in this area will be suitable for but guests prefer tranquility and enjoy walking the streets.
According to Sapa travel experience you should book economical travel combos to save more costs. Currently, Sapa combos cost about 900,000 VND – 1,800,000 VND / person, depending on the season, the price may fluctuate higher or lower.
Where to go, what to play in Sapa?
Sapa attracts tourists not only because of its amazing natural scenery but also because of its rustic ethnic identity. So what are the tourist attractions in Sapa? Explore with BestPrice right below.
Fansipan Peak
Fansipan is the tallest mountain in the Hoang Lien Mountains, also known as the roof of Indochina,... very rich. To reach Fansipan Peak, visitors will use the cable car or tram, or if you want to fully explore the mountain, you can climb the trail to conquer the central mountain of Hoang Lien Son.
Fansipan Peak
Cat Cat Village
This is a craft weaving village that still retains its culture until now, one of the places to go in Sapa. Coming to Cat Cat village, you will pass through the curves located between the two sides of green terraces, bringing romantic and poetic beauty. The way up to Cat Cat village is the steps of the rocky land, the higher it becomes, the more clearly the terraced fields interspersed in the mountains and forests, for a long time appeared white forest plum trees erased ... Inside Cat Cat village are wooden and bamboo plank houses, bearing the cultural identity of the Mong people and dao people here.
Yellow cabbage flowers on Cat Cat village
Sky gate
If you are looking for a beautiful viewing location in Sapa,then do not miss the Sky Gate. This place is located more than 10km north of Sapa town, from above you can see the mountains and mountains, along with fresh and windy air. Bring a warm coat to avoid a cold.
Sapa Old Church
Located right in the center of town, is a place to play in Sapa and virtual living coordinates are chosen by many young people. Sapa Ancient Church, also known as the Stone Church, was built in 1895 by the French, so this ancient church is full of ancient French architecture. Opposite the stone church is a large square that often takes place large festivals in Sapa town, but also night markets of ethnic people. The back is surrounded by Ham Rong Mountain, where there are many trees mixed with the rocks of poetic nature. At the top of Ham Rong Mountain, which is 1800m high, you can fully see the whole town of Sapa.
Panoramic view of Sapa from Ham Rong Mountain
Famous food in Sapa
What specialties does Sapa have? Traveling to Sapa, you definitely can not help but enjoy the famous dishes below:
Lam rice is a typical rice dish of people in the Northwest region with plastic rice put in bamboo tubes and cooked, creating a complex aroma of bamboo blended in rice. You can use blue rice with sesame salt to fully enjoy this flavor.
Roasted pigs are a specialty dish here, in restaurants in Sapa often serve this dish. The pork is fragrant and evenly cooked, suitable for drinking or gathering friends.
Shame is a dish transformed from China, in Sapa, the humiliation is understood as a braised meat marinated in spices such as garlic, chili, aggressive leaves,.. be tender, served with rice will be very delicious.
Humiliation – a dish sourced from China
Grilled skewers that you can encounter anywhere on the streets of Sapa, especially at night, hot grilled skewers are always suitable for hungry bellies to enjoy amidst the cold weather of the town.
You can enjoy the above specialties at delicious eateries in Sapa that are popular with tourists such as:
- A Phu Restaurant - Ethnic Specialties, No. 15 Fansipan, Sapa Town. The restaurant is famous for ethnic dishes such as pork armpits, humiliation, chicken stew, triumph,... prices range from 80,000 VND - 200,000 VND for dishes.
- A Quynh Restaurant, No. 15 Thach Son, Sapa is famous for the mongol winning dishes cooked from horse meat. The dishes of the restaurant cost about 100,000 VND - 300,000 VND, open from 7:00 - 22:30 every day.
- Hoa Dong Tien Restaurant, address at 29 Cau May, Sapa is famous for fish dishes such as fish salad, salmon hotpot,... costs about 100,000 VND - 300,000 VND for dishes or a hot pot.
- Sapa Night Market, Sapa Love Market held on weekends is a place where grilled dishes such as grilled eggs, grilled skewers, buffalo meat, grilled corn or toasted noodles are concentrated,...
Grilled dishes at Sapa night market
Shopping experience in Sapa
- Sapa sells a lot of handy items such as keychains, wallets, bags at very cheap prices that you can buy about souvenirs or as gifts.
- For Sapa children selling souvenirs, buy their support but do not give money, because they will pull each other to surround you as you will be awkward.
- Carefully personal property in any tourist area has good and bad people, cases of pickpocketing, robbery of property,...
- If buying items such as carpets, brocade fabrics,... let's bargain a little with the seller.
Notes when traveling to Sapa
- Be careful with specialty purchases in Sapa because you may encounter high-priced but poor-quality items such as reishi mushrooms, tobacco leaves,...
- Do not use discriminating words such as "ethnic minorities" but call them Mong people, Dao people,...
- You should not take photos of Sapa people, especially women and children. If they know you're taking a photo, they'll either pay for a photo shoot or start buying some items.
Please do not take photos of women and children in Sapa
- Do not give money to children even if they look poor, it is the act of teaching them bad, they will invite friends to run after you to ask for money.
- In Sapa, there is still a custom to arrest your wife, so a small note for tourists is to "be careful" not to get caught!
Above is a guide to summary of Sapa travelexperience, hope to help your upcoming trip. What are you waiting for, plan to travel to Sapa right away.