Sapa is 400 km (9 hour drive by car) north-west of Hanoi. This cloud-covered town is located at 1550 m above the sea level, cool all year round. There are many magnificent mountains including the peak of Indochina - Fansipan of 3143m elevation. 

The area is home to 7 ethnic groups with unique cultures, lifestyles and languages; all wearing their traditional attires, working on evergreen terraces. Hill tribes gather for the weekend market for trade and for meeting with lovers.  Sapa is a good place for relaxing, for culturally touring, and/or for trekking and should not be missed on your trip to Vietnam.

Sapa Town from above

The area was built into a hill station for the French colonialists to get away from the heat of Hanoi in the summer. There used to be many French-styled villas in town. But most of them were destroyed during the border clash with China in 1979.

Nowadays Sapa attracts thousands of tourists from all of Vietnam and abroad thanks to the cool and fresh climate, the sublime nature beauty and the colorful hill tribe cultures.

Sapa Tourist Attractions
The Sapa weekend market held on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Ethnic groups from different villages would flock to town for trading and for meeting with lovers. The whole town of Sapa would be colored by their traditional colorful costumes.

There used to be a love market in town on Saturday night until late 1990s. Since more and more tourists travel to Sapa for witnessing the love market, it's not in session as it was once.

Black Hmong Ladies sun-bathing in Sapa Town

Cat Cat Village is about 1 km from Sapa town. It's located at the bottom of the Muong Hoa Valley and near the stunning Cat Cat Waterfall. Cat Cat is home to the Black H'Mong who accounts for over 50% of Sapa population. To visit village, you walk through Sapa Market down the valley. Once you walk out of the crowd, you'll be stunned by the nature's beauty with high mountains of over 3000 m and the green rice terraces dropping nearly 1000 below. The sun shines across and there are H'Mong houses scattered in the valley. The walking tour of the whole loop would take you about 2 hours.

A sunny day in Sapa Town with blue sky

Lao Chai and Ta Van Villages are home to the Giay People and Black H'Mong People. They are at the bottom of the Sapa Valley and offer breathtaking scenery of rice terraces dissected by the running water of the mountain streams. To visit these 02 villages, you'll need to hire a jeep or a motorbike and travel past the stadium and Sapa market gate. You'll follow this main road for 8 km, then you'll see a path down the valley to the right where you'll get off and start the walking trip of Lao Chai and Ta Van Villages. The whole tour takes about 1.5 hour.

Terraces out of Sapa Town

Ta Phin Village is 12 km from Sapa Town and it's home to the Red Zao People. The village nestles itself on the mountain slopes and offers unreal mountain views. You can take a motorbike/jeep from Sapa to the village and enjoy a walking tour around chit-chatting with the local young girls selling handicrafts. Very likely you'll be invited to visit their home. The tour takes about 1-1.5 hour.

The Silver Waterfall and the Gateway to Heaven: these 02 sites located about 15 km from Sapa Town on the road from Sapa to Lai Chau province. The Gateway to Heaven is Tram Ton Pass between Sapa and Binh Lu town which offers stunning panoramic view of the Fansipan and the deep valley below. The trip takes 2 hours by jeep or motorbike. Make sure the camera has enough memory for this route.

Ham Rong Mountain is just right in the center of Sapa Town. The mountain offers a panoramic view of Sapa and its surroundings including Fansipan - the Peak of Indochina. Accessing the mountain, you'll go alongside the church from the town center to the end of the road and turn left for the asending path. There are steps which will guide you through the fresh orchid gardens and flower gardens to the top. There's also an ethnic house on the mountain with ethnic music and performances played by the local girls and boys.

Mount Fansipan (3143 km elevation) is the Peak of Indochina. You can take an adventure of a life time conquering this summit in 4 days, mountain camps as accommodation, untouched jungles on the way to the top, hotly cooked meals accompanied by sounds of jungles are highlights of the adventure.