Sapa - an affordable travel destination in winter
Located in the northwestern region of Vietnam, Sapa is
probably the most affordable destination with a series of unique
cloud hunting and festival experiences.
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.
As a local travel company we provide delailed information
about how to book train
Hanoi to Sapa at affordable prices.
