How to Get to Sapa from Hanoi
As a remote mountain area, Sapa has no airport; therefore the only way to get Sapa from Hanoi is by road or rail. This is certainly a long trip because the distance from Hanoi to Sapa is about 380 km. Thus, you should make plan carefully and chose the best means of transportation depending on your demand.
1. By train
Travelling from Hanoi to Sapa, train is available. The trip will takes about 8 – 9 hours and stops at Lao Cai Railway Station, the gateway to Sapa.
► Vietnam Railways provides three services daily:
• Two express trains consist of SP1/SP2 and SP2/SP3. The trains depart during the night and just stop in the main stations
• One local train such as LC1/ LC2, which departs at a slower speed in the daytime and stops at all stations during the trip of Hanoi - Lao Cai railway line.
• Particularly if you travel in the high season or national holidays, you can find these services such as SP7/SP8 and LC3/LC4. These services are added besides daily services by the railway company.
► Time and price ticket:
• 8.00 pm – 10.00 pm for night train, you can have a good sleep before admiring beautiful sceneries at sunrise.
• The cost for night train is reasonable ranging from $35 – 180 per person on a way, in which Victoria express offers the most expensive price.
• The cost for day train is reasonable ranging from $10 – 20 per person on a way.
• The day train is usually not comfortable as the night train because it will take a long time for travelling and stop at more stations.
It is highly recommend that you should book your ticket in advance, especially during the peak time of the holiday, because at that time, the ticket is very expensive and maybe not available for the same day travel. Besides, the prices depend on the company and their brand.
2. By sleeper bus from Hanoi
You can take a sleeper bus for the trip to Sapa from Hanoi with the price from $11.18 to $15.65 (250.000 to 350.000 VND). You can book the ticket and find the schedules as well as the price options of different bus firms by online through Vexere platform.
3. By express bus from Hanoi
You can choose the firm of the Sapa Express Bus for the departure of Hanoi - Sapa – Hanoi on the new highway from Hanoi – Lao Cai at 7.00 am. The trip will take you about 6 hours for travelling from Hanoi to Sapa. On the way you can have great opportunity to enjoy the stunning sceneries in Vietnam. The buses are new brands but they are very comfortable. You can book directly through Sapa Express or most Hanoi Travel Agencies can arrange the ticket, the cost is about $16 per person on a way.
4. By motorcycle
There are different routes for travelling from Hanoi to Sapa tour if you want to travel by motorcycle. Particularly, if you travel for the first time, the trip will take 10 hours. However, this journey is suitable for the adventurers because of the distance and hard terrain.
You can consult two main routes for your trip with the total of 360km or 420km:
• Hanoi – Vinh Phuc – Viet Tri – Phong Chau _ Doan Hung – Yen Bai – Lao Cai – Sapa (360km)
• Hanoi – Hoa Lac – Son Tay – Thanh Hoa – Along 32 nation road (420km)
