Things to do in

Sa Pa

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.

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.

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.

Day 1: Hanoi – Sapa by bus, free and easy After 6:30 AM pick-up, depart to Sapa town. Following the highway to Lao Cai city, see the rice fields on both sides of the road and enjoy the peaceful scenery. Take a short comfort break at Lao Cai city before approaching Sapa. At 1:00 PM, arrive in Sapa, take a quick break to freshen up then walk around this charming town, paying visit to Sapa market and the old cathedral. Meet local ethnic minority people such as Black H’mong and Red Zao wearing their traditional colorful dresses, selling farming products and handicrafts as souvenirs. A meal with local Vietnamese dishes will be served in a local restaurant. After lunch, spend some free time this afternoon discovering Sapa town by yourself. Around 5:45 PM,  enjoy dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. Overnight at hotel. Day 2: Sapa - Y Linh Ho – Lao Chai – Ta Van village (breakfast, lunch, dinner) Wake up in the morning and enjoy the fresh air. Have a local breakfast in the restaurant, then, get ready for trekking. Check out the room and begin your exploration trip to Muong Hoa valley. Follow the main road heading south for about an hour before turning right to a foot path down hill to Muong Hoa Valley. This part offers spectacular scenery of the highest part of Hoang Lien Son mountain range and on a nice day, Fansipan Peak can be seen. Crossing the river by a suspension bridge you will challenge your feet uphill to Y Linh Ho village. Here, pay a visit to some H’mong families, and watch them doing their daily work. After a picnic lunch, the trail continues up and down hill for about 2 hours as you reach Lao Chai, a large village of the H’mong and then follow the river bank to Ta Van of the Zay people. Visiting local homes, and village schools, enjoy your cultural discovery of local ethnic people as well as breathtaking scenery of the Muong Hoa Valley. Settle down in Ta Van village for an overnight home stay. Accommodation: Homestay in Ta Van Village Day 3: Ta Van - Giang Ta Chai - Sapa – Hanoi (breakfast, lunch) Leaving Ta Van village after Breakfast, take the trail uphill, passing fascinating terraced rice fields and some small hamlets of the H’mong before getting through a bamboo forest to a waterfall. Enjoy a break for some magnificent scenery and then continue walking for half an hour to Giang Ta Chai village of the Red Zao people, which sits on the top of a hill and looks down Muong Hoa river. After spending time visiting the village, making friends with the Zao and experiencing the hospitality, cross the river by another suspension bridge and then go uphill again to Hau Thao village. Visit a local handicraft center where H’mong and Zao women gather to exchange experience and skills of making handicrafts. A late Lunch will be prepared nearby this center and then you have time to relax and prepare before heading back to Hanoi. The tour guide will take you to the bus station. Tour ends. The bus journey back to Hanoi takes five or six hours (depending on traffic). Arrive in Hanoi around 9:30 PM to 10:00 PM. Please notice the drop off location: - During weekdays (Monday to Thursday): your hotel/apartment in the Old Quarter - During Weekends (Friday to Sunday): the bus office or street corner that is close to your hotel/apartment in the Old Quarter. (There is a walking street area on some streets in the Old Quarter during the weekend and the transfers are not allowed inside these walking streets).

Arrive at Lao Cai train station. A bus will be waiting for you and it will take you to Sapa. After breakfast, meet the tour guide and start the day trip by trekking 12 kms, to visit Y Linh ho, Lao Chai and Ta Van villages of the Black Hmong and the Dzay minorities people. Then after lunch, proceed to hike around the villages of the Dzay and Hmong. This brings you a great opportunity get to know about their daily life, work, customs and their products, such as embroideries and clothes. The next day, the tour guide will take you to discover Giang Ta Chai village and then Su Pan village where you will meet the red Dzao minority. After a picnic lunch, continue hiking to Ban Ho, the village lying within a beautiful valley, home to the Tay minority people who have their traditional house on stilts. You will take 2 km walking to a very nice waterfall which was discovered and named “the Lavie” by the French during the colonial times in Vietnam. You can enjoy swimming there. On the last day, you will go up to the mountain to visit a small hamlet of the Red Dzao people called Nam Toong, then continue to go through the forest and hidden path to My Son - where you can meet Xa Pho village - the smallest population in Sapa. Then get back to Sapa to take a shower and spend the rest of the day exploring Sapa town with its market, square and abandoned church. Return on a sleeper train.