Located in the northwestern region of Vietnam, Sapa is probably the most affordable destination with a series of unique cloud hunting and festival experiences. - book train Hanoi to Sapa
Various means of transportation to Sapa
From Hanoi to Sapa, you can choose to travel by many types of transport. Return bus, both ways, is only 500,000 VND. If you want to shorten the travel time to only 5 - 6 hours, visitors can choose limousine companies such as Eco Sapa Limousine, Sapa Limosine VIP to pick up and drop off at your place, the fare is about 450,000 VND/way. But if you are looking for some comfort, take a sleeper bus for the same price. Sleeper cabins of reputable bus companies such as Interbuslines, G8 bus Sapa, HK Buslines are fully equipped with amenities from wifi, charging ports, drinking water, TV, warm blankets, curtains... These car companies also have double cabins for couples for only 700,000 VND/way, both private and cost-saving.
Besides, traveling by train is becoming a new trend, so that tourists can fully enjoy the beautiful scenery along the routes.
The trains are air-conditioned and have restrooms so you don’t have to rely on rest stops. The train travels quite slowly, about 8 hours, but you’ll be less likely to get motion sickness than if you take the bus.
Train fares range from 300,000 - 500,000 VND/way depending on seat or sleeping position. However, visitors will need to spend about 50,000 VND more to take a transfer from Lao Cai station to Sapa town center.
Alternatively, you can also ride a motorbike, for those who want to take photos along the way. However, this is not a recommended form of transportation because it requires good health, steady hands and long-distance driving experience.
When arriving in Sapa, the Green Sapa electric car is a popular means of transport due to its affordable price and convenient sightseeing. Visitors can also call a taxi or Grab.
Affordable accommodation
Coming to Sapa, you have many accommodation options, from motels, homestays, 3 to 5 star hotels, meeting all basic needs to high-end resorts.
Room rates range from 300,000 VND to several million VND/night. Some "cheap" but quality homestays include Moc Home, Huan Dau Dau, MT House, Eco Farmer...
Hotels near tourist attractions or with beautiful views in the center of Sapa town, Cau May, Muong Hoa have room rates of about 500,000 - 900,000 VND/night, Mi House, Arista homestay, THE 1903 Sapa, Pi's Boutique Hotel to name a few.
If you want to enjoy a view from your bedroom and high-class service at 4-5 star luxury hotels, prepare to spend at least 900,000 VND/night.
Some of the "worth the money" places include: Hotel de la Coupole, Lady Hill, Highland Resort & Spa, Chau Long, Amazing Hotel, KK Sapa Hotel...
Places not to be missed
Fansipan Peak and Sun World Fansipan Legend tourist complex were awarded the title "World's Leading Natural Landscape Tourist Area 2024" by World Travel Award and are in the most beautiful cloud season of the year.
Early morning temperatures drop, causing thin ice to cover walkways and structures, creating a magical scene.
When the sun rises, a sea of white clouds covers the mountain top and the spiritual complex from an altitude of 2,900-3,143m like a fairyland.
Fansipan peak is bustling with the Stone Lotus Festival, introducing more than 50 unique stone lotus species and many fun activities to explore the culture of 7 ethnic groups in the Northwest. Especially, during this time, cable car fares are on great discount, with a price of only 550,000 VND/person.
Cat Cat Village is about 2km from the town center, where visitors can experience the space of mountains, forests, and babbling streams and waterfalls.
The tourist area exploits the daily life of the H'Mong people, giving visitors direct cultural experiences such as blowing leaf trumpets, jew's harps, and introducing craft villages.
This time, Cat Cat offers free local culinary experiences with dishes such as Banh Day, Men Men, Xoi... Entrance fees to experience the village are only 150,000 VND/adult, 80,000 VND/child.
Another emerging tourist destination is Lan Rung brocade village at lane 81, Dien Bien Phu street, Sapa town.
Visitors coming here will definitely have beautiful pictures, imbued with Northwest art with traditional brocade exhibition space.
In addition, you can also try your hand at indigo dyeing workshops - a long-standing craft of the H'Mong people, beeswax painting to create patterns on costumes, or creating brocade patterns by unique silk spinning. All activities are free of charge.
The ancient Stone Church, Sapa Lake, Ta Phin Stone Garden and the dreamy rose garden are also free of admission until the end of the year.
Go to the night market at night, explore the love market, immerse yourself in the bustling atmosphere of Sapa at night... countless activities make the trip to Sapa in the cloudy season endlessly interesting.
Delicious restaurants not easy to miss
One thing that makes Sapa so attractive is its "delicious - nutritious - cheap" cuisine. With 200,000 - 400,000 VND/day, tourists can freely explore attractive specialties.
Boiled rice noodles with rich broth, served with shredded pork, seaweed, crispy sweet potatoes, boiled eggs, peanuts, delicious and attractive flavor, price only 30,000 - 45,000 VND/bowl at Mr. Ha's boiled rice noodles.
Thang Co, a meat soup prepared in the Northwest style, including horse, buffalo, beef and pork meat, is also a culinary highlight not to be missed.
Some restaurants such as A Nguyen and A Quynh sell a pot of thang co for only 300,000 - 500,000 VND, suitable for families and small groups of friends.
If you visit Fansipan, remember to stop at May village at the foot of the mountain to enjoy interesting Northwest menus such as horse meat Thang Co, herbal fish soup, buffalo meat stir-fried with wild bamboo shoots, fried stream fish, black chicken hotpot and herbal tea.
In the chilly weather of Sapa, grilled dishes around town are also a favorite choice for tourists.
Grilled skewers, grilled eggs, bamboo rice, grilled sweet potatoes, grilled chicken with sauce... delicious with prices from 10,000 - 50,000 VND per dish.
Snacks such as fragrant roasted chestnuts and hot chestnut cakes are about 50,000 VND.
Hot pot is also very attractive, especially the salmon and sturgeon hot pot, a specialty of Sapa. The hot pot broth is sweet and fragrant, the fish is crispy and firm, served with H'mong whiskers and fresh chayote picked from the garden.
Sitting in the bamboo stilt house, enjoying the cool weather, watching the colorful Sapa town at night is the best. Some good restaurants to consider are Ca Hoi Vua, Dan toc restaurant, Sapa TV, Cho Tinh restaurant...
Coming to Sapa, not only can you eat delicious food and have fun, but you can also bring back gifts with a strong Northwest flavor as souvenirs.
Coming to Cat Cat village, in addition to enjoying free snacks such as sticky rice, rice cakes, men men... visitors can buy specialties such as bamboo rice, grilled meat, dried buffalo meat, corn wine, and apple wine, with prices ranging from 50,000 - 200,000 VND.
In addition, brocade products are also popular. Visitors can buy large, highly artistic picture frames as gifts or bring back sophisticated, dedicated souvenirs from H'Mong and Tay ethnic artisans at the Vietnamese brocade village.
Estimated total cost for a three-day, two-night trip to Sapa:
- Transportation: ~500,000 VND (bus, round trip ticket)
- Accommodation: ~1,000,000 VND (2 nights at mountain view homestay)
- Food: ~ 800,000 VND (breakfast at homestay, lunch and dinner 400,000 VND/day)
- Sightseeing: ~700,000 VND (cable car to Fansipan peak and visit Cat Cat village)
With only 2-3 million VND, you can comfortably enjoy a journey of cultural and culinary discovery, snow hunting, and cloud hunting full of excitement in Sapa for three days.
Source: https://sapatrainticket.com/travel-blog/sapa-an-affordable-travel-destination-in-winter/
