The famous mountain town known for its stunning rice paddy fields and vibrant, colorful outfits of the local people. We were under the impression this would be a quiet, rural area, and that was the exact opposite of what it was like for us. Although the rice paddies are stunning, the surrounding town is quite built up and definitely geared towards foreigners.

How to get to Sapa?

We took a sleeper bus from Hanoi to Sa Pa, that we booked with Bookaway.com. The ride was 6 hours, with a few breaks at rest stops along the way, and cost us about US$9/each.

Where to stay in Sapa?

We stayed in town, which was nice for when we wanted to go to the Love Market, or walk to dinner, but we didn’t love the area too much. We recommend you stay outside the town center, so you have a more authentic experience and can really experience Sa Pa.

Budget: Indigo Snail Boutique Hmong Homestay
Luxury: Topas Ecolodge Sa Pa

Where to eat in Sapa?

Little Sapa Restaurant: Good, authentic Vietnamese food for a pretty decent price. We recommend: Pho, vegetarian spring rolls and morning glory.

A few of our favorite things to do in Sapa:

Love Market: The Love Market used to be where ethnic people would come to find a spouse to marry. Nowadays, it is a good place to go to shop, listen to music, and see some of the local people in their traditional clothes.
Trekking in the Rice Paddy Fields: We opted to do this without a guide, so we could explore and get a good workout by ourselves. It is possible to trek the rice paddy field, just make sure to bring a bag with water and food because its definitely easy to get lost. A few people along the way told us that you couldn’t walk the rice fields without a guide, which is simply not true (October 2019). We walked to “Mintu Homestay”, and we were able to start the trek from this road. A local showed us the way, we didn’t have to pay anyone, and we were right in the middle of all the fields within 25 minutes.

After speaking with a lot of other travelers and experiencing other areas of Northern Vietnam, we came to the conclusion that Sa Pa is beautiful, but we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to other travelers if you want a more authentic experience.

Sapa