Sapa trip: All tips for first time visiting Sapa

Sa Pa with a cool climate all year round, is an attractive holiday destination for those who love the mountains and forests and want to experience the wild beauty of the Northwest region. Tourists who love traveling, and have a hobby do not miss this interesting place. Here, Goasiadaytrip will send you all tips for your very first Sapa trip.

Sapa trip: All tips for first time visiting Sapa
Photo by @vietnamtourismboard

Contents

Tips to prepare luggage – Sapa trip

Costumes: Sapa’s weather changes during the day, 4 seasons converge in 1 day. You should bring neat and light clothes but be warm.

Summer in Sapa is cool, you can wear normally but still need a jacket. But the winter is very cold, you need a warm coat, gloves, a scarf and a wool hat to empty the high cold. Avoid carrying bulky, if you go long, you can bring some washing powder to wash clothes (Usually people only in Sapa 2-3 days is out of space to go).

Due to the typical terrain and typical tourist products of Sa Pa is walking to discover beauty, landscape so visitors have to walk a lot. So to make your feet really comfortable, you should prepare a pair of flat shoes or sports shoes. Do not wear high heels (if you go to play in central Sa Pa, you can wear high heels).

ID card: Almost all hotels in Sa Pa require room guests to show ID card to complete temporary residence registration procedures (if you lose your ID card, you can replace it with: passport, permit driver). In addition, many tourists in Sa Pa need to rent motorbikes for a stroll. So if you need to rent a motorbike, bring a driver’s license with you to make sure the trip is really fun.

Some personal items: You should prepare some personal items for your trip such as glasses, masks, towels, gloves … These things will help you ride a motorbike to protect your eyes and health when passing. Long journey because there are many places on the road.

Tips for transportation – Sapa trip

Completely a motorbike trip: Vehicle throughout the trip is motorbike. You just go straight to Hanoi – Yen Bai – Lao Cai – Sa Pa, the national highway runs out so it’s easy to go, the distance is about 390 km. This kind of travel is very popular among domestic and foreign tourists in recent years. It will bring to you a new feeling of travel. Are you going to apply those tips in this enticing Sapa trekking tour?

Sapa trip
Motorbike trip to Sapa – Photo on the internet

Gentle trekking: Take the train or bus to Lao Cai station and then rent a motorbike to Sapa. The road from Lao Cai station to Sa Pa is only about 40 km, winding road, winding well below the stream, far away are green mountains and terraced fields.

If you are interested in trekking, you can have a look at this article: Sapa Trekking Tips

Sapa trip
Trekking in Sapa – photo by @razziiberrii

The cost of renting a motorbike is around 100.000-200.000 VND / day depending on the type of vehicle, so it is better to choose a vehicle with a low fuel consumption for steep terrain. In addition, you can also choose to ride the bed lying straight from Hanoi to Sapa.

In fact, the car will stop at Lao Cai station for about 30 minutes to pay passengers from Hanoi – Lao Cai, take guests to Lao Cai – Sapa.

Travel by train from Hanoi: The vast majority of tourists coming to Sa Pa choose trains for their trip because they are cheap – safe – convenient and save time. However, there is a disadvantage that trains only take you to Lao Cai station, then you have to catch a passenger to Sa Pa. Train tickets to Sapa (Hanoi – Lao Cai) have many types. An average of VND 130,000-600,000 for normal ships and cruise ships are more expensive, around VND 650,000-750,000 one-way.

Train to Sapa – Photo on the internet

Tips for Accommodation – Sapa trip

As one of Vietnam’s famous tourist destinations, every year millions of domestic and foreign tourists come to Sapa to experience and explore the unique cultural space of ethnic minorities living here. So the accommodation system is very developed.

Sa Pa’s accommodation system is divided into 3 areas: the area near the lake, Cau May area – Muong Hoa and the town center. Among them are the most beautiful hotels in Cau May – Muong Hoa area. Most hotels in this area have a very beautiful view of the mountains and especially Fansipan peak.

You can go to: Top 5 luxury hotels in Sapa to read more about the evaluations and room rate for each.

Photo by @luxury_resort_vietnam

Room rates are reasonable: The cheapest prices are motels in the area near the lake, priced from 200,000-300,000 VND only. If you want to be a bit more comfortable at the hotel, you can spend VND 500,000-700,000 to book a room at a 3-star hotel in Cau May – Muong Hoa area. There are also a number of high-class hotels such as Victoria, Topas Ecolodge and Chau Long with prices of over 1 million. However, the price depends on the time you choose. If you arrive at the right time during the holidays, room rates can vary greatly.

Here is Top 8 attractive homestays Sapa for you to get more information and maybe you can choose a homestay for the next trip.

Sapa trip
Breakfast in a homestay in Sapa – Photo on the internet
Sapa center town – Photo by @linhkiwon

For travelers who like 100% traveling to experience and explore the unique cultural space of ethnic minorities living here, they should choose the homestay sleep service. This will be a great experience that you can’t forget and is also the most economical form of the trip.

So, there is a question that many people ask. It is: how many days can I spend in Sapa? the answer is definitely 3 days 2 night. This amount of time is suitable for you to explore all Sapa. You can go here: Sapa 3 days tour – 1 night in hotel – 1 night in homestay to see the itinerary for 3-day- plan in Sapa.

Tips for eating in Sapa

Being the cold province, the most famous specialty of Sapa is the fresh vegetables such as white cauliflower, green cauliflower, red radish, chayote …  Sa Pa is also famous for the meat “pig with armpit”. Meat “armpit pig” sipping with fructus crataegi wine. You can drink through the night without boring. In addition, each market has a unique dish. You can go here: Sapa Restaurants for more information about the must-try dishes and where to eat them.

Sapa trip
Black Chicken and Salmon Hotpot in Sapa – Photo by @hungrychopsticks

Food prices in Sapa are not expensive but you should ask for prices before eating. At night, you can go to the grilled street to drink San Lung wine and eat grilled food. There are many barbecues on the street: roasted eggs, baked hearts, grilled stomachs, grilled chicken, baked purple potatoes, chicken eggs, roasted duck eggs, lamella rice.

sapa trip
Grilled food – Photo by @lin.dino

Some tourist attractions in Sapa that you must give it a try:

Ham Rong Mountain (in the town center)

Silver Waterfall, Love Waterfall (about 12 km from the town)

Cau May Town (about 17 km from the town)

O Quy Ho Pass (about 18 km north of the town center)

Cat Cat Village (2 km from town). Read more about Cat Cat Village here

Ta Van Village (8 km from the town center)

Ta Phin Village (about 12 km from the town center)

Ancient Stone Area (about 10 km from the town center)

Fansipan Peak – Roof of Indochina (about 9 km from town)

Visiting China through Ha Khau border gate.

Sapa trip
View from Fansipan – Photo by @vietnam.tm

In conclusion, we just give you all the tips and the overview of travelling Sapa. We hope it can help you tailor and prepare your Sapa trip. Thank you for reading. Follow Goasiadaytrip blog for more information of travel.

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