It is quite hard to find a lot of organized information about Sapa, Vietnam. Especially for a beautiful city, there is not many information. So I have organized all the information that I wished I knew before traveling to Sapa. I hope you don’t make any mistakes like I did when I went. 

Sapa Vietnam Weather

So, I did not do my research thoroughly and I almost froze to death. Sapa weather is quite different than Hanoi or HCMC. Because it is a highland city, it tends to be colder than other cities. 

The best time to go is in September when they harvest the field, and probably that is the picture you have seen on tourist company boards. I was there in November and I missed the beautiful yellow field. It was still amazing in November, but I was kind of expecting the yellow field instead of green. 

Dec – Jan is really cold and snows occasionally. June to August is the high season for local Vietnamese, because it is still cool at night. And it is a good time to get away from the heat in the cities. 

Sapa Vietnam Trekking 

The biggest reason people go to Sapa is the do trekking. All in my mind was a beautiful field where I can dance around and take pictures. I did not know trekking meant “trekking.”

I just brought my training shoes, and it could have been a huge mistake just wearing those. You either wear a real hiking boots or borrow a wellington boots from tour companies. Unless you will be slipping and falling everywhere. Even with the wellington boots, it was hard. There was a guy flying everywhere with his sneakers. 

Sapa Vietnam Tours

It is really important to find the right tour. I know eco-tours have been thrown around everywhere and a lot of small villages have lost their identity and colors through these tours. But there are still few that tries to create responsible tourism. The most well known company is Ehtos. It is really hard to book as it always gets full. Yes, we couldn’t book. So make sure to book it in advance. 

The tour we chose was Sapa Sisters. They were extremely helpful during the tour and very accommodating even when we were getting tired and slow. I heard at the hotel that Sapa O’Chau is another good place to do tour with. 

Tips on Tours:

• I opted in for two day trekking and I almost died. I am not a hiker and walking almost 10 hours a day in a mud wasn’t easy. Next time, I would have done it for one night. 
• Because you go deeper into the villages, you get as local as you can. We had lunch with the tour guide’s family and it was a true unique experience.

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• We were suppose to stay with the locals, but with the shower and bathroom situation, we decided to do homestay at the end. The home stays are just hostel like with many beds in one room. 
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• There will be Sapa ladies tagging along even though they are not part of the tour. A lot of people complain that they had to give tips or buy something off them. Especially when they didn’t sign up for it. But, to be honest, I thought the lady was very helpful. She even carried our stuff, and even blocked me from falling down. 
• It can be really cold at night, so make sure to bring extra layers. You do not want to get cold there!

RELATED: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VIETNAM IS HERE!

Sapa Vietnam Hotels

Victoria hotel is probably the most well known hotel in Sapa. They also have a train service, so if you book Victoria hotel, I think it’s best to do a package with the train and hotel. We wrote about the train ride here. 

There is also another famous hotel called Topas Ecolodge. It is 45 minutes outside of town. If I had a chance to come back again, I would have chosen Topas Ecolodge. 

Victoria hotel is in Sapa town, and Topas Ecolodge is 45 minutes outside of town. But one thing I want to say is that there is really nothing to do in the town. 

I am not saying Victoria hotel is bad. It’s just Topas Ecolodge is much prettier. 

How to Get to Sapa Vietnam

There are only two ways to get to Sapa. By bus or train. I think the best way to do it is with the hotels. I normally do transportation separately with the hotels as it is cheaper. But getting to Sapa can be tough sometimes as it is not fully grown travel destination like Hanoi or HCMC. So my recommendation is to ask the hotel to arrange transportation. But, here is the pros and cons of taking the train or bus. 

Where to Eat in Sapa

Honestly, I had hard time finding good restaurants. So I just sticked with eating at the hotel. I was recommended to go to Gecko restaurant, but it was OK. Also, I tried Viet Emotion restaurant, and the pizza was quite surprisingly good. Good in a fast food kind of good. 

I did not stay long enough to try many places, but I am sure there will be better options than those two. If you did go and know places that you liked, please let us know below comment! 

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