Home Sapa Travel Guide How to get Sa Pa

How to get Sa Pa

Sapa is one of the most ideal destinations for tourist when visit Vietnam. There 3 ways to get Sapa: get Sapa by train, get Sapa by car, get Sapa by motobike…but the most popular way to get Sapa is by train. With 3 ways you can choose the best way to get Sapa that you like.

Get Sapa Vietnam by trainHow to get Sa Pa

Vietnam Rail operates some of the cars, but other cars in the train are operated by private companies (Tulico, Ratraco, Victoria Hotels, and others). To get tickets, you may need to arrange with a travel agency or purchase tickets for the VNR cars at the Hanoi train station.
Trains leaving Lao Cai around 7PM will arrive in Hanoi at 4AM. If you don’t make prior arrangements to return at an early hour, you may find yourself sitting outside of your hotel, waiting for the desk to open.
Prices vary according to both the type of seat purchased and the season during which you are travelling. The times around Vietnamese holidays are particularly expensive and tickets cannot be assumed available for same day travel, so book ahead if possible.
The train ends at Lao Cai. From there, dozens of shuttle buses will be waiting outside the station to take you the remaining distance to Sapa, usually at a ‘fixed’ rate of 25,000 dong.

Get Sapa Vietnam by car

Bus-to-SapaLikely train, get Sapa Vietnam by car is quite popular. Car with berth start form My Dinh bus station, Luong Yen bus station or Gia Lam bus station…go to Sapa everyday. After 8 – 9 hours, you will stay in Sapa. The earliest car will start at 17.00 and the cost for a tickets is about 250.000 for a way.
You can hire a private car for your group. You should contact to a travel agency to hire. The cost for hire car is varitious. It depend on the kind of car what you hire.

Get Sapa Vietnam by motorcycle

Sapa can also be reached by motorcycle from Hanoi by a variety of routes. There are two main routes:

1.    Hanoi – Vinh Phuc – Viet Tri – Phong Chau – Doan Hung – Yen Bai – Lao Cai – Sa Pa ( Total: 360 km ).
2.    Hanoi – Hoa Lac – Son Tay – Thanh son – Along 32 nation road ( Total: 420 km )

The most direct route takes at least ten hours for first time riders, though local expats often brag about making it in less.