Sapa is among famous Ha Long Bay and Hoi An ancient town with regarding to bring much tourists discover by its pure beauty and surrounding attractions.

It belongs to Lao Cai province in North Vietnam. It is especially rich in opportunities for trek, homestay and the mountain views as well as rice terrace fields. Therefore, it will be not enough when traveling without cool adjectives and a camera memory card to record.

Mountainous Sapa town began life as a retreat on the top of the hill for the French colonialists, desperate to escape from the searing heat of the Vietnamese plains. They picked the cool of Fansipan’s surrounds. And it is easy to see the reason, the moisture of Hanoi peels out as you ascend the mountain peaks skirted with finely emerald green rice terraces. Since French colonial, Sapa town became famous for its cool climate to relax of officials and soldiers.

Sapa or Sa Pa is one of Vietnam’s most famous and northern trekking destinations. Nearby Fansipan Mountain with the height 3, 143 meters above sea level – the tallest point in Vietnam. Sapa has the cooler weather so the French establish this place as a favorite hill station in the early 1920’s. Sapa tours is a journey which gives visitors a contrast about the north highland of Vietnam. It is the spectacular rice terraces appearing which is described as waterfalls.

In fact, it is one of the most breathtaking hill stations in Vietnam. It is the home of stunning landscapes of mountains, forest, ethnic villages and rice terrace fields. Visitor can visit Sapa town all year round and each brings different feeling and views

Sapa is a town in Lao Cai province, Vietnam. This is a famous tourist destination from the early 20th century to the present. Nature’s Creator bestowed on Sapa a landscape picture. That is both romantic and majestic, with ridiculous ranges of clouds waiting for the wind, terraced fields to see, watching the standing pine trees. silently witnessing stories from Indochina in the heart of the town…

The climate of Sapa is cool all year round with unique indigenous imprints – including the culture of the two ethnic minorities in Sapa, the Mong and the Dao – combined with the European architectural space. European classic. All of the above factors have created a special attraction for travelers who want to explore this land and book a tours in Sapa from Hanoi right now.

Yes, Sapa is not only a wonderful destination in Vietnam for unique culture, cuisine, local minority people groups, but also unique architecture buildings. Its special divides into two main types.

The first is tradition of local minority groups with stilt houses and the last is French architecture buildings.

The traditional style of Sapa expresses through houses of local ethnic people clearly. Some of them are Tay, Nung, H’Mong people. Each stilt house in each ethnic nation designs different, however, all ethnic stilt houses are made in wood in general.

Factually, visitors can visit ethnic villages and see their stilt houses in Cat Cat, Lao Chai, Ta Van, Ta Phin, Giang Ta Chai, Y Linh Ho villages, etc.

While French constructions you can see mainly in Sapa town center or surrounding such as Stone Church, villa, ect

Travel to Sapa will have the opportunity to experience mountainous land, ethnic local people groups in different culture and lifestyle diversity. Here is the chance to harmony with nature. For who love adventure Sapa is a wonderful place for trekking, climbing the mountain and conquer Fansipan Mountain.

It is a highland town in North Vietnam. This destination owns magical nature beauties with fascinating hill, valley, dreamlike waterfall, especially colorful rice terrace fields. Therefore, travel to Sapa you can have many choices for accommodation as your wish with different views

It is great to decide to choose a hotel in Sapa town center. Because it is in center so you have the most advantage to move around closely visiting sites easily. Most of restaurants, shops, night market are also in Sapa town. Very best for you to book any services and have choice. There are many hotels from budget to luxury in Sapa town centre, just walk around you can choose one as your wish.

For those who love to have a balcony in room and enjoy the view to the mountain, you can choose some hotel surrounding Sapa. Some of them have view to Muong Hoa Valley with beautiful rice fields and rivers. 

Topas Ecolodge which is far from Sapa town, it offers a great place to enjoy and harmony with nature. It lies on a hill therefore you will have a wonderful views of mountainous landscapes.

Sapa is also famous for community tourism. That is why homestay is one of the best choice to interact with local minority people. There are many villages have homestay such as Giang Ta Chai, Ta Van, Ta Phin, etc. With the budget quote and no better way to experience with local people and culture, homestay is the best choice. And the condition of homestay is standard so visitor must aware this before travel if expecting facilities like hotel will make you disappointed

 

 

As the roof of Indochina, Fansipan peaks at the height of 3143m above sea level. Fansipan also offers some great choices for many levels of trekking starting from the easiest path can be done within a full days for those who are physically fit, not necessary experienced. Scenery along the way to the top is worth your effort with thick forest, magnificent landscape of Hoang Lien Son range, idyll tribal villages and the sight of wild Azalea near the peak.

Best time for a Fansipan trek would be between mid-November and March since in this time the weather in the north falls in winter, drier air, less rain and temperature low which will make your trek much more easier than it is in summer.

For folks who are not capable of trekking on long hours, you still can reach the top of Fansipan by riding cable car. From 2016, Fansipan Legend, the highest, longest and most modern cable car system in the world has been opened for everyone who dreams of standing on top of ‘Roof of Indochina’.

 

The central town of Sapa has to its own a dreamy and romantic atmosphere, especially when it’s covered in mist and cloud. By no means should you skip this town when coming to Sapa, it’s a wonderful base to explore further areas. And Sapa Town itself has a lot of things for visitors to enjoy.

 

 

 

Why not come up the 1800m-peaked dragon-jaw shaped mountain for the panoramic view of Sapa and Muong Hoa Valley. The path up is easy and on the mountaintop there is a Cloud Yard if you want to conquer all the way. At lower attitude, part of the mountain was made into a flower garden with hundreds of orchid kinds and other flowers. A romantic hangout for couples and friends.

 

 

Sapa Church is not far away from Ham Rong Mountain, it only costs you a short walk. The church was built in 1895, made entirely of stones, and considered to be the most ancient vestiges of the French.

Nowadays, Sapa Church is the symbol of Sapa town, especially when it’s covered in mist or snow. The front of the church is a huge square where a lot of local activities to take place, some cultural performance on Saturday. Take the camera with you for some really unique photos of the Church.

 

- Sapa Market:  The market of Sapa is not only a center for goods exchanging but also a meeting place of Hmong, Dao, Nung ethnic minorities. Located in the center of Sapa (Luong Dinh Cua Street), the market is not easy to miss with thousands of goods, hand-made products on display.  Tourists can also buy pharmaceutical products, forestry products and brocade clothing. Food to enjoy here is the local specialty Thang Co’ – a soup made from horse meat, bacon, borecole, chayote, corn wine.

- Night Market: If you’re looking for a street food tour at night, we suggest you to join the Sapa town night market where several nightly grilled dishes like grilled beef, fish and vegetables can be found. It’s a wonderful local experience especially on chilly nights, you stay close to the fire and wait for your meat to be done. Don’t forget to use chili sauce and lemon-salt to eat with the meat.

 

To take in the magnificent beauty of highland terraced paddy fields in the harvest season, nowhere is better than Muong Hoa Valley which lies between two towering mountain ranges running in parallel southeast of Sapa Town.

Come to Muong Hoa Valley, you’ll be learning more on the age-old rice cultivation of the highland ethnic tribes, taking the scenic sights of the mountain range covered in the terraced fields, forest and streams downhill.

It isn’t just landscape, it’s the way of life of Hmong, Dao and many others preserved for many generations.

The poetic Muong Hoa River will take you to the idyllic hamlets of ethnic people such as Sa Seng village, Hang Da village and Hau Thao village. On the lowest altitude of 1000m, the valley is home to several minority groups, including Hmong, Zao, Zay….

 

Cat Cat village is the H’Mong village people. It impressed visitors by the picturesque scenery of rice terrace fields, old Hydro Electric Power Station since French built. It si around 3km from Sapa town so it is easy to have a trekking to this village

 

 

 

 

 

How beautiful it is once you see in your eye? Your tour Vietnam is not really perfect if not have a trekking time through village and see beautiful rice terrace fields. There are many villages to experience and shoot wonderful photos such as Lao Chai, Ta Van, Ta Phin, Y Ty, etc

Local ethnic people here often grow rice and establish next terrace rice fields from the foot to nearly top mountains. It is from generations to generations without selling because these are the most valuable for them. Visit silver waterfall.

Silver waterfall is about 12km from Sapa town center. It is one of the place for discover its beautiful waterfall. Like a white dragon looking down from the sky. It’s easy to travel to this fall by motorbike or car with 30 minutes.

 

Sapa is very famous for the natural beauty of forest and mountains and the cold atmosphere. Beside, Sapa is popular with many delicious and unique dishes, which feature the flavor of the Northwestern region. In this post, we will share you top must-eat dishes in Sapa that you should not miss when traveling here.

 

Sticky rice cooked in bamboo is the featured dish of the ethnic groups in the Northwest of Vietnam. The main ingredient of this dish is sticky rice, which is cooked in a bamboo steam. When the dish is well-cooked, the burnt bamboo steam outside will be removed.

“Com lam” is very popular and is a favorite dish of the locals and tourists, thanks to the delicious taste of the sticky rice, the fragrance of bamboo and the harmonious combination of rice, stream water and bamboo.

 

Thang Co is a featured dish of Mong people. You can easily find this dish in their villages and markets. The main ingredient of Thang Co Sapa is the horse. A serving of this dish usually includes the horse’s meat, heart, liver, innards and blood and 12 kinds of spices such as Amomum tsao-ko, cinnamon, lemon grass, ginger, other special spices and especially, “thang co” is the last spice. When eating, the broth and sliced horse meat are added to the pot.

Thang Co is usually served with many kinds of vegetables such as “cai meo”, “cai lau”, turnip cabbage, etc. Especially, Thang Co tastes best when being served with corn wine- the fragrant wine of the highland region. The harmonious combination of Thang Co and corn wine brings an unforgettable and pleasant taste.

 

Seven-color sticky rice is a traditional dish of Nung people in Muong Khuong district, Lao Cai province. The seven colors of this dish are pink, light red, dark red, indigo, yellow-green, green and yellow. The colors of sticky rice are made of different kinds of leaves in the forest. The people here believe that eating the seven-color sticky rice on special and important occasions will bring good luck.

 

 

 

Grilled pork with Indian pepper is a must-eat dish when traveling to Sapa. The pork is marinated in India pepper and grilled on the hot stove. The softness and featured taste of the dish will be an unforgettable experience for diners.

 

 

 

This simple dish is incredibly delicious, and it is a pity if you travel to Sapa without trying the grilled fish. Sapa has many kinds of fishes, and their flavors are different from other fishes. The goby fish, bighead carp, etc. are usually found in the stream of Sapa. Almost of them are not so big, just as big as your fingers. When completing the catching fish process, you just need to make a fire to grill the fishes or cook them with some kinds of species to have an attractive dish. The sweetness and freshness of this dish are irresistible to any diners.

 

The Black-Bone Silky Fowls of Sapa are raised on the hills and fields. Thus, their meat is very delicious. The Black-Bone Silky Fowl grilled with honey, mint and served with pepper, salt and lemon is such a tasty dish that you must try once.

 

 

 

Unlike the greasy imported salmon, salmon raised in Sapa is high in nutrition and less greasy. People process it in many different ways to create delicious dishes such as salmon salads, grilled salmon, sashimi, salmon cooked with curry. However, salmon hot pot is the most favorite dish of many diners.

 

 

 

 

At night, the cold atmosphere covers the whole town. And nothing is better than sitting near the cozy fireplace and enjoying hot grilled food. The fragrant from the tasty BBQ has such a strong attraction to whet your appetite.

 

 

 

Cai meo, which is a popular vegetable of Sapa, is processed in various ways to create different dishes. The locals usually stir-fry, cook, and boil the cai meo or serve it with the hot pot. In general, the simplest way to process this kind of vegetables is to slice it into small pieces, mix it with ginger and boil them together to have a nutritious soup. This soup is often served with wine.

 

 

 

when visiting the houses of H’Mong people in their villages, you can see many pieces of meat gathered on a tray. The meat comes from the horse, buffalo, and pig and they are smoked to store. This method of storing food can keep the food usable up to a few years. When eating, the meat is carefully washed and fried with tomato, and bamboo sprout. The dish will have a unique fragrance and featured taste when it is done.

 

 

 

You can easily see the locals theft the pig in their armpit at the market, and this is also the origin of the pig “theft armpit.” The pig is a localized breed. The locals let the baby pigs grow up naturally, and after one year, when they are more than 20 kilograms, they will be sold for meat.

The pig “theft armpit” is so famous that many restaurants use it to cook many delicious dishes. The soft, sweet and less greasy meat, as well as the crunchy skin, is the principal feature of the dish. Pig “theft armpit” is usually marinated carefully in many kinds of spices and served with wine. You will fall in love with this dish at first sight!

 

The Black-Bone Silky Fowl of Mong people is very special because its bone and meat are in black. The crunchy skin and the black chicken meat offer such a refreshing taste. The scientists have proven that eating black-bone silky fowl can help you increase your sexual ability and treat heart diseases.

The most famous dish processed from the Black-Bone Silky Fowl is grilled Black-Bone Silky Fowl with honey. The delicious and excellent taste of this dish will surely meet your need.

 

 

 

The suitable time to travel to Sa Pa: Sa Pa has the cool weather for a year, you can experience both four seasons in one day: Winter, Summer, Fall and Spring. However the optimum time to journey at Sa Pa isRice Terrace – Sapa.

• About March to May and Sept to Nov! This is a perfect time of weather in Sa Pa, besides, you will find lots of intriguing festivals within this time.

• In Apr and May: This is the great time for the person who loves to find the perspective of planting rice on the terraced area of folks, when there’s also the blossom season. It is time for the photographers. – At the end of Sept is the ripe rice season: The gorgeous yellow covers Sa Pa in this time. This is the best selection for tourists.

Being in Lao Cai Province with 350 km from Hanoi, Sapa is famous not only for its beautiful and magnificent scenery but also for its cultural diversity. The French used to consider Sapa a Summer Capital in Northern Vietnam in French colonial period in the early 20th century. Its natural landscapes keep attracting more and more visitors to spend their holiday here. Especially, the place is the foremost choice for honeymoon couples.

In addition, Sapa town is the cool climate which make it more famous on summer time for relaxing destination in Vietnam.

Furthermore, homestay in these stilt homes are very popular. Although some villages are more authentic than others. Venture to the remote villages, they offer spectacular glimpses of lifestyle, seemingly stolen in history.

Sapa, called “The Queen of the Mountains” is a beautiful city in Northern Vietnam. It is located atop a plain across from a lovely valley, high mountains looming over the town on all sides, it is the town connecting modern Vietnam to the world of mystifying minority cultures and great landscapes.

Sapa is known for both its beautiful, rough landscape and also its plush cultural diversity. It is a highly picturesque relaxation town that is located on the Hoang Lien Son massif close to the Chinese border in north-west Vietnam; this massif is called the Tonkinese Alps. Sapa and the regions surrounding it host a lot of hill tribes, and is the home of the famous rice terraces ranked by the USA travel and leisure magazine as the world’s most beautiful terraces. These famous rice terraces flow down the ridges like an art painting and give the environment an almost dreamy outlook, and just at the back of the rice terraces is the Fansipan mountain which is the highest mountain in Vietnam.

From admiring the majesty of the Fansipan mountain, to taking in the rare and breath-taking beauty that is the rice fields to experiencing the rarity of snow in Vietnam, Sapa offers you a magical experience unmatched by anywhere else in Vietnam.

The climate of Sapa is highly seasonal. It is a subtropical climate in the summer and a temperate climate during the winter. Average temperature for Sapa town is 15.4ºC, with a maximum of 29.4ºC and a minimum of -7ºC.

Besides, Sapa experiences a marked wet season from May to September, with the heaviest rainfall occurring in July and August. The weather is also notorious for changing frequently and quickly. It is said that only in Sapa, one can experience many different seasons within only one day.

And the high season often falls between June and August. While March-May and September- November are the two recommended periods to visit Sapa. Because it offers you a more laid-back natural and rejuvenating holiday.

While winter from November to March may be cold, foggy and light rainy, but each 3 or 4 times, the weather clears and the perspectives are more magnificent than they’re weather clears. Sometime it has snow and ice this time

Regardless of what time of year you come, Sapa has its disadvantages and advantages by its own beauties.

In fact, you can travel to Sapa every-time of year. However, you travel to Sapa in winter from December to February ought to be heating. Some areas in the room have electric blankets or heaters built into the bed frame. However, it means that the rest of the room is going to be freezing. Therefore, please ensure that when you give your passport to the hotel, the room you will stay will have wood burning fire place.

Above are all the most complete and detailed Sapa travel experiences that Origin Vietnam has summarized. Hope all of these experiences will help you have a trip to Sapa with lots of fun and great experiences.