Things to do in

Lao Cai Province

Enjoy a 2-day tour from Hanoi to Sapa, visiting Cat Cat village and taking a cable car up Fansipan Peak – the Roof of Indochina. Detailed Itinerary Day 1: Hanoi – Sapa – Cat Cat village (Meals: lunch, dinner) Depart Hanoi for Sapa in the early morning. Stop for short breaks in Phu Tho province and Lao Cai city before arriving in Sapa town. Enjoy a welcome drink and lunch with local Vietnamese dishes. Trek to Cat Cat village, the home of the Black H’Mong people. See the Cat Cat waterfall and the hydrofoil constructed by the French during the 19th century. Visit a local H’Mong family and learn about their culture and customs. Head back to Sapa town for dinner. Overnight in your Sapa hotel. Day 2: Sapa – Fansipan Peak – Hanoi (Meals: breakfast, lunch) After breakfast, travel to the cable car station and take the 20-minute cable car ride up Fansipan. Admire the spectacular scenery, visit the pagoda, and climb the 600 steps to the peak, known as the Roof of Indochina. Return to Sapa town and have lunch at the hotel. Enjoy time to explore Sapa on your own before heading back to Hanoi.

Day 1: Hanoi – Sapa (Lunch) Start with pickup from your hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and depart for Sapa. Follow the highway to Lao Cai city where you will make your first stop for breakfast by yourself. Stop off at Lao Cai city before arriving in Sapa, where you'll see the colorful traditional costumes of H’mong, Dzao, and Tay People. Here enjoy a lunch of local Vietnamese dishes. After lunch, take a short trek to the gate of Cat Cat village, home of the Black H’mong ethnic people and located near the bottom of a deep valley at the foot of Fansipan Peak. A local guide will give you insight into the daily life of the locals. Trek down to the bottom of the valley to the waterfall, where the French built a hydraulic power station. Stop to take photos before walking back uphill to meet the bus. The trek is approximately 2.5 kilometers and lasts for 2 hours. In the evening, return to Sapa Town, where you can enjoy your evening at your leisure. Stay overnight in the Sunny Mountain Hotel or similar. Day 2: Sapa – Hanoi (Breakfast/Lunch) Have breakfast at your hotel and prepare a light pack for trekking. You can keep your luggage in the storage at the reception. Take a Trek to Y Linh Ho through the rice terraces and along Muong Hoa Streams to the Black Hmong village of Lao Chai.  See the spectacular landscape of Hoang Lien Son Mountain before heading to Ta Van village, home of the Dzay People. The trek takes around 3.5 hours and covers about 12 kilometers. The tour guide will make the best itinerary for the trek depending on your ability of trekking. The bus will pick you up at Ta Van Bridge to take you back to the center of Sapa. Take a break at the hotel and have lunch, before enjoying some time to explore at your own leisure. After some free time, meet the rest of your group at the hotel to prepare for your return to Hanoi. Get back on the bus to go back to Hanoi. During the journey, you will stop for a break. Arrive back at your accommodation in Hanoi in the late evening.

Day 1: Get picked up from the meeting point between 6:45 and 7:00 AM. The bus will stop for a couple breaks before arriving in Sapa at 12:30 PM. Once there, you will meet some local ethnic minority community members from the H’mong, Dzao and Tay tribes, in their colorful traditional costumes. Enjoy a Vietnamese lunch and check in to your hotel afterwards. At around 2 PM, continue your tour with a drive to Cat Cat village, home to the Black H’mong ethnic minority and located at the foot of Mount Fansipan (the highest mountain in Vietnam). Your local guide will introduce you to local daily life and you will trek down to the valley. The two-hour trek covers about 4 km (2.3 miles). In the afternoon, you will be transferred back to Sapa for dinner by 5:00 PM. Enjoy some leisure time afterward. Day 2: After breakfast, take a 5 km trek along rice terraces to the Black H'mong village of Lao Chai. Then, trek to Ta Van village, home to the Dzao ethnic minority. The total trekking distance is about 9 km and lasts about four hours. At 11:30 AM, a bus will pick you up at Ta Van Bridge to head back to Sapa. After lunch, enjoy some free time to discover Sapa on your own. In the evening, return to your hotel for dinner and another overnight stay. Day 3: After breakfast you will trek to Ham Rong (Dragon’s Jaw) Mountain. There are several well-tended flower gardens along the way and you will take in a breathtaking view at the top of Ham Rong Mountain. This two-hour trek is approximately 2 km (1.2 miles) long. At 11:00 AM, you will be back at your hotel to check out and have lunch. By 3:00 PM you will be on your way back to Hanoi, arriving at your hotel around 9:00 PM.

Day 1: After getting picked up by your guide in Hanoi Old Quarter, board your tour bus and begin the journey to Sapa, stopping for regular breaks along the way. Arrive in Sapa just in time for lunch at a local restaurant to prepare for your first hike.  After lunch, begin your hike to Y Linh Lo. Trek downhill through the Muong Hoa Valley, passing by rice paddies and small hamlets where you will learn more about the life of local tribes. Continue trekking through villages and rice terraced fields to Ta Van village, a place settled by the Dzay people and is commonly considered to be the most beautiful in the area. Whilst in Lao Chai village, you will also be able to exchange communication with the local villagers. Here, you will also cook and eat dinner overnight with a local family of the Dzay people in Ta Van. Stay with your family overnight for an evening of rest and relaxation.  Day 2: Commence your day of adventure with a nourishing breakfast prepared by the family you are staying with before setting off on your trek. The trekking distance for this part of the tour is 4 kms and lasts 2-hours. Start your scenic trek to the rice paddies, where upon arrival you will have a fantastic opportunity to take some unique holiday photos of the surrounding landscapes. Enjoy a walk through a bamboo forest and stop to have a panoramic view of Giang Ta Chai village – home of the red Dzao People. Continue on your trek through the Ciang Ta Chai Bridge to the main road, from here, a bus will pick you up to head back into Sapa town.  Upon your arrival in Sapa Town, you can shower in your hotel, check-out, have a bite to eat and relax at a leisurely pace until all the group members are ready to travel to Hanoi again. Once the group is ready, you will board your comfortable bus back to Hanoi, with two comfort breaks along the way.

From Hanoi, you will head to Nghia Lo town – the home of Thai people, one of the main ethnic groups in Yen Bai. Arrive in Tu Le town, walk around the rice fields and explore the lifestyles of the Thai and Mong people. Go on a trek then spend a night in a homestay. After breakfast the next day, you will move to Mu Cang Chai. Drive over the Khau Pha pass (one of the four greatest passes in Northern Vietnam, connecting Tu Le and Mu Cang Chai). These scenic roads offer a lot of stops for picture-taking. When you arrive in Mu Cang Chai spend around 3 hours trekking from La Pan Tan to Rasberry Hill – one of the most famous destinations in the country. Eat a simple lunch at a Hmong house in Mu Cang Chai. After lunch, you will continue to enjoy some trekking from Che Cu Nha to Kim Noi village. Stay overnight in a stilt house. The next day you will trek up to Sang Nhu or Lao Chai village, where there are beautiful rice terraces. Enjoy trekking through the pine forests and along the hidden paths as you take in the views of Mu Cang Chai.

Day 1: Hanoi – Sapa - Cat Cat village (Lunch) You’ll be picked up from Hanoi early in the morning. Admire the scenery as you travel through the countryside. Stop at Lao Cai for a break. Enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountains and rice terraces along the way from Lao Cai to Sapa city. At 1:00 PM, arrive in Sapa Town, where you'll view the colorful traditional costumes of the H’mong, Dzao, and Tay local people. Enjoy a lunch of traditional local Vietnamese dishes. Then, enjoy a trek to Cat Cat village, home to the Black H’mong. In the evening, free to discover Sapa Town in Night. Day 2: Sapa - Easy Trek to Lao Chai and Ta Van – Sapa. (Breakfast/Lunch) After breakfast, trek to Lao Chai village, about 8km from Sapa town. Here you will discover the daily life of the locals and how they make traditional clothes and handicrafts.  After lunch in one of the local houses, you will walk to Ta Van village, home to the Dzay people. These people have a rich culture and beautiful houses located on rice paddy fields. You will visit the home of a local family to learn about their life, and enjoy some green tea. In the evening, return to Sapa Town for free time.  Day 3: Sapa – Fanxipan Peak – Sapa – Hanoi. (Breakfast/Lunch) After breakfast, check out from your room and depart for the Sapa cable car station, where you will board a cable car to Fansipan Peak. At the summit, enjoy free time to admire the panoramic views.  You’ll then head back to Sapa for lunch and to explore the town by yourself. At 3:00 PM you’ll be picked up by bus and driven back to Hanoi.

Reconnect with a more simple way of life on an amazing 2-day tour of Sa Pa from Hanoi. Spend the night at a homestay of the ethnic minority people and learn more about their way of life in the mountains. Day 1: In the morning hop on the bus departing for Sapa via Lao Cai. Continue to Sa Pa and see the colorful costumes of the Hmong, Dzao and Tay people. The representative in Sapa will welcome you at the bus stop and take you to the hotel to relax, and enjoy a lunch of local dishes in Sapa town. Trek through the rice terraces and along the Muong Hoa Stream. Arrive in the Black Hmong village of Lao Chai surrounded by Hoang Lien Son Mountain. Continue to the ethnic village of Ta Van to check into your homestay and get to know the family. Day 2: Enjoy breakfast prepared by the family before your morning trek through the rice paddies and bamboo forest. Get a panoramic view of Giang Ta Chai village before crossing the Giang Ta Chai Bridge, where a bus will take you back to Sa Pa for lunch and a shower before the return trip to Hanoi. The bus stops at the meeting point from there you get to your hotel by yourself.

After meeting your local guide and driver, head about 30 minutes out of Sapa Town to visit the Silver Waterfall, Love Waterfall and Tram Ton Pass. Explore the area before leaving for the traditional village of Ban Khoan. From there, begin your trek. The trek, about 4 hours and 15 kilometers (9.3 miles), takes you along mountain trails and through remote tribal villages. Enjoy amazing views of the surrounding rice paddies, and take plenty of photos as you learn about the unique cultures of the Hmong and Red Dzao people. Take a break for a picnic lunch before continuing the trek to the home of the Red Dzao tribe in Ta Phin Village. In the afternoon, meet your driver to begin the 30-minute transfer back to Sapa.

Learn about the ethnic minority people of Vietnam on a 2-day trek through the Hoang Lien Son mountains. Spend the night at a homestay and more. Day 1: Hanoi – Sa Pa (L, D) Journey towards Lao Cai past rice fields and peaceful scenery. Arrive in Sa Pa and take a walking tour to visit the local market and meet ethnic minority Black H’mong and Red Zao people in their traditional costumes. Trek through the Muong Hoa valley after lunch. Brave the suspension bridge to Y Linh Ho village, where you can watch the H’mong people go about their daily lives. Continue up the mountain to Lao Chai village, and then check into your homestay, where you can learn about the mountain life of the Dzay ethnic minority people.  Day 2: Ta Van – Giang Ta Chai – Sa Pa – Hanoi (B, L) Trek from Ta Van village and see the terraced rice fields, small hamlets and bamboo forests of the Hoang Lien Son mountains. Continue to the Red Zao village of Giang Ta Chai and get beautiful views of the Muong Hoa River. Continue uphill to visit a handicraft center in Hau Thao village, where the H’mong and Zao women gather to exchange skills. Meet the children and teachers of a local school before driving back to Sa Pa. Get some free time to explore the market and town center before taking the bus back to Hanoi.

Meet your local guide and driver at your hotel in Sa Pa Town at 09:00 AM. Depart for the first tour stops, located a 30-minute drive away, visiting the Silver Waterfall, the Love Waterfall and Tram Ton Pass. After discovering this area, leave for the O Quy Ho Pass, where the trek will begin. The trek is a 10km long dirt trail through the bamboo forest of Hoang Lien National Park, offering great views of the surrounding rice paddies. Enjoy a picnic lunch at 12:30 PM, being served at a beautiful spot in the wilderness.  Continue your trek after the lunch break to Sin Chai village, where the community-based tourism in Sapa takes place. Proceed with the tour to visit the nearby village, inhabited by the Black Hmong people, one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the Sapa area. Explore some native houses to learn more about the culture, customs and handicraft skills. Take the transfer back to Sa Pa in the early afternoon. You will arrive at around 03:00 PM and will be dropped off at your hotel in Sa Pa Town.