Top places to travel in Vietnam (Part 3): Sapa

Top places to travel in Vietnam (Part 3): Sapa - The Town of Fog

Located in the northwest of Vietnam, Sapa contains many miracle sceneries. The town of fog attracts tourists with majestic mountain views and many unique experiences exploring the lives of ethnic minorities.

1. General Information about Sapa

Sapa is a highland town in Sapa District, Lao Cai Province with a height of approximately 1600 meters, about 38 km from Lao Cai city and 376 km from Hanoi.

2. Climate

Sapa has a cool and fresh climate. Located at an average altitude of 1,500m - 1,800m, Sapa climate is temperate with an average temperature of 15-18°C.

From May to August, it is rainy season in Sapa.

At the end of the year, when winter comes, the temperature in Sapa can drop below 0 degrees and snowing.

3. Best time to visit Sapa

Sapa is a must-see destination of Lao Cai tourism. At any time of the year, Sapa has its own unique beautiful features:

Spring: From February to May. Tourists have a great opportunity to enjoy the beauty of peach blossom forest, plum blossom forest and many other beautiful flowers.
Summer: Especially from August to September, visitors will explore the spectacular yellow terraced fields. It is a magical view you should not miss because terraced fields in Sapa was honored as one of the most magnificent terraced fields in the world.
Autumn: From September to November: This place appears the phenomenon of thick fog. It is also the season of watering terraced fields so tourists are not too difficult to catch a sight of the strong flowing streams – extremely spectacular scenery.
Winter: From December to January. The weather is extremely cold. At that time, Sapa has a magical beauty. There are many years of heavy snow covering all Sapa like European countries. It attracts many tourists from all over the world.

4. Transportation

Sapa town is located 38km from Lao Cai city and 376km from Hanoi. To travel to Sapa, you can choose the means of train or car.

Transfer to Sapa by Sleeper Bus/ Car/ Van takes 3-4 hours.
Transfer to Sapa by Train takes 6-7 hours. Tourists can choose the types of hard seat, soft seat or air-conditioned bed. However, there is an inconvenience: after arrive Lao Cai station, visitors need to continue to travel to Sapa town by bus.

5. Foods

What really a regret if you miss the favor specialties such as sprouts stone, stream salmon, mountain village pork ... and barbeque restaurants at night in the town center.
The list below is our recommended dishes that you should not miss when travelling Sapa: Fresh vegestables dishes, Stream salmon, Mountain village pork, grilled foods, Stream fish, Horse's tripe disd, Sapa "black" chicken,...

Click here https://vietnamscenery.com/what-to-eat-and-travel-tips-part-3-top-10-most-favor-vietnamese-foods-in-sapa.htmlto know more about Sapa specialities.

6. Famous tourist spots in Sapa

Ham Rong Mountain: Standing on the top of Ham Rong mountain, you can see the whole view of Sapa, Muong Hoa valley and Ta Phin village. On Ham Rong mountain, you can also enjoy many colorful and pretty flower gardens.

Location: Sapa town center.

Sapa Stone Church was built in 1895. The church has been embellished and preserved, becoming an indispensable image when speaking off misty Sapa town.

Location: in the center of Sapa town.

Cat Cat Village is a long-time village of the Mong people. The village has preserved many traditional handicrafts such as planting cotton, linen and weaving. Now this place is also known as a famous tourist destination in Sapa.

Location: 2 km from Sapa town center.

Ta Phin Village has a beautiful natural landscape with unique cultural identities of Red Dao people. In Ta Phin village, you can visit Ta Phin cave nearby. In the cave, there are many stalactites with the shapes of angels dancing, the far field, the sparkling forest ...

Location: 17 km to East of Sapa Town Center.

Ta Van Village: visitors will have a great opportunity to learn more about the economic activities and lifestyle of the Giay people. Road to Ta Van Giay village is small and narrow. On both sides of the road are amazing terraced fields with corn fields.

Location: 8 km to Southeast of Sapa Town Centre

Fansipan is the highest mountain of Indochina peninsula (3,143 m), located in the center of Hoang Lien Son range. Currently, not only the climbing road, cable car has been used in this area to serving travelers’ expectation. Fansipan cable car route has been certified by Guinness Records (three-wire cable has the largest difference between the departure station and arrival station (1410m); and the world's longest three-wire cable car (6292.5m)). Time to reach Fansipan peak is now shortened from 2 days to only 15 minutes.

Location: 9 km from Sapa town to the southwest.

Silver Waterfall – Love Waterfall – O Quy Ho Valley: The majestic Silver Waterfall flowing down from a height of over 100 meters to the stream of the O Quy Ho valle. However, in the dry season, you should consider visiting Silver Falls because there is very little water.

Location: 12 km to the west of Sapa Town Center

Heaven Gate: Standing in the middle of Heaven Gate, you can see the panorama view of the vast valley below with the green fields, Sapa town, far-away Silver Waterfall.