Sapa is well-known as one of the famous tourist attractions in the Northwest religion in Vietnam. Referred as the Queen of Mountains, Sapa sits on a site at 1500 to 1650 meters altitude on the slope of Lo Su Tong, regally overlooking a beautiful valley, lofty mountains towering over the town. Not only offer you interesting experiences, Sapa also brings you to peaceful and relaxing moments. Let’s go with us to discover its beauty now.

Location and Geography

Sapa Town is located in Lao Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and 350 km north-west of Hanoi city, close to the border with China. Sapa Town is famous both for its fine, rugged scenery and for its rich cultural diversity. French used to consider Sapa as Summer Capital of Northern Vietnam in the early decades of the 20th century. Its naturally gifted beauty keeps attracting more and more people to spend their vacation there since then. Particularly, the place is the foremost choice for honeymoon couples!

Geographically, Sapa Town is exactly a mountainous area of Northwest Vietnam. The whole Sapa District is dominated by the Hoang Lien Son mountain range which is at the Eastern extremity of the Himalayas, being famous with the Vietnam’s highest mountain of Fa si pan at a height of 3,142 m above sea level. The town of Sapa lies at an altitude of about 1,600 m, bringing in a cool and foggy site of Sapa Town.

Best time to travel

April to May: the ethnic people grow rice on terraced fields. When being seen from afar, the terraced rice fields look like a picture of nature with heart- catching beauty keeping tourists to stay for admiration for a while. This picture however has its color changed seasonally, shows it most charming beauty when the new crop begins and when the field is lush with ripening rice.

Terraced fields when the new crop begins

September to October: When autumn ends, tourists can feel prosperity all over the area as rice in all terraced fields is ripe, giving the gold color. During the time, the terraced rice fields look like golden silk scarves flying over in the wind above green mountain slopes, making the mountainous landscape amazingly beautiful.

Rice field

Late December to February: Sapa has a harsh winter with temperature sometime drops to below zero degree and tree branches and grass are covered with ice. Sa Pa on icy days always attracts many tourists and photographers and strangely all the most beautiful pictures about Sapa are taken in winter time. Some recent years, snow falls at the end of December which is the great time for a Christmas holiday and New Year vacation. Travelling to Sapa at this time, visitors may contemplate beauty-spot as breath-taking as in picture described in the Snow Queen fairy tale of Andersen.

Snowy winter in Sapa

How to get there?

Visitors can choose to go to Sapa by train or car, but train is more advisable because of the long and bumpy road.

A train to Sapa

Most tourists arrive in Sapa by train it is definitely an impressive ride. The train leaves Hanoi train station in the evening and arrives in Lao Cai train station in early morning. From Lao Cai train station to Sapa is another hour bus ride, which gives your eyes a massage with the endless blue sky and colourful terraced paddy field. The road is curved around the mountain and you will just go from one surprise to another. The further you go, the closer you are to the sky and to nature.

Things to see

Fansipan peak – the Roof of Indochina

Fansipan Peak is famous to almost travelers for its height 3143m as the roof of Indochina. Reaching this Indochina roof after overcoming difficulties may not just give you the absolute victory feeling but certainly bring you with breathtaking natural scenes, spectacular beauty of clouds on Hoang Lien Mountains and cultural life moments of ethnic minorities in the Northwest area.

Fansipan Mountain

Bac Ha Market

Located about 76 km from the train station, Bac Ha Market is held every Sunday and is the biggest minority peoples market in Northwest Vietnam. Alive with bright colours and extravagant costumes of the local people, here you will meet Flower Hmong (Red Hmong), Black Dao, Tay, Nung, La Chi, Phu La and other minority groups who come from far and wide to buy and sell a wide variety of goods and livestock, to exchange news and to renew friendships. In the past, the market was a centre for trading horses but now that motorbikes have replaced them and it is more common to see buffalo, cows, goats, fish and other livestock being traded. The market opens at around 7.30 am and closes mid-afternoon, so an early start is advisable.

Ham Rong Mountain

Ham Rong Mountain is approximately 2000 meters high with green trees and colorful flowers almost all year round. Most tourists to Sapa enjoy mountain climbing. The winding path leading up to Ham Rong Mountain consists of many stone steps and helps to see small streams lazily running through bushy forest canopies. At midway to the mountain peak, travelers will finds themselves in an orchid garden with over 400 species of colorful booms. Standing on the highest point of Ham Rong Mountain, tourists will have a breathtaking view over the romantic Sapa town.

Ham Rong Mountain

Cat Lat Village

Nestled in a beautiful valley about three kilometers from Sapa Town, Cat Cat- the old village of ethnic groups- attracts tourists from all over the world for its distinctive customs and practices which have been lost in almost ethnic villages. The village is within easy walking distance from any hotel in downtown Sapa.

Peaceful scenery of Cat Cat village

Ta phin Village

Located about 17km in the west of Sapa, Ta Phin is a village of Red Dao’s people possessing a rich culture that has not been damaged by the modern life.

Coming to Ta Phin, you will immediately catch sight of groups of Red Dao’s women gathering together, keeping inside their hands colorful reels of thread and cloths. Since 1998, Ta Phin has officially become the “brocade village”, where tourists can find the distinctively hand-made brocades made by ethnic people. All of the products are eye-catching with numerous bright colors and patterns, ranging from bag, scarf, purse, to skirt, and even backpack and coat.

Ta Phin Village rice terraces

Stone Church

The ancient church is known as stone church or the Holy Rosary church which is located in the heart of Sapa town built by the French from the early 20th century. The whole church was built by stone (walls, floors, bell towers …) that are linked by a mixture of sand, lime and molasses. The church of Sapa is always a place where holds many traditional cultural activities of ethnic minorities. In the front of the church is tennis area which has unique cultural activities of local people on Saturday. With flute, trumpet leaves, “xòe” dance… created sparkling, magical atmosphere in Sapa.

And many other beautiful spots of Sapa Town like Thac Bac, Muong Hoa valley, and Sapa Museum… for you to discover the beauty of Sapa.

Things to do

Climb Fansipan, ‘Roof of IndoChina’

As the highest peak in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), Fansipan is always the first choice of visitors to have a trek and climb. These activities will give you the feel of challenging and winning, especially when you are at the peak, and also promise majestic views of the Hoang Lien mountain range.

Trekking to beautiful places of Sapa such as Muong Hoa valley, Cat Lat village, Ta Phin village, Love Waterfall, etc.

Muong Hoa Valley is a stunningly beautiful stretch of land lying at the bottom of Fansipan’s northern flank. There are many green paddy fields stretching to the horizon and dotted with different minority group’s villages such as Cat Lat village, Ta Phin village.

Contemplate Sunrise and Sunset in Sapa

Sapa turns into more sparkling and fanciful in the morning sunrise or flaming under the evening glow. This is an amazing image that anyone coming to Sapa shouldn’t miss.

Amazing sunrise in Sapa

Discover Markets in Sapa

Busy markets such as such as Coc Ly, Bac Ha, Can Cau express cultural distinction of the ethnic minorities in Sapa. Visiting these bustling fairs, you can enjoy not only the beauty of the locals in their colorful traditional dress but also their trading activities with various kinds of products such as brocade, jewelry, clothing, etc.

Spend a night at a local village homestay

If you would like to have fantastic experiences about customs, traditions and practices of ethnic minorities in Sapa, you should spend a night at a local village homestay. This is also a chance to enjoy special foods of Sapa prepared by the host family.

Do you feel eager to discover more about Sapa? Let’s go with Govietnamtourist.com to start your perfect journey to Sapa now.