Travelling through Asia, there’s endless possibilities of places to visit and experiences to have. It’s sometimes hard to know which destination is best to visit—especially when they’re off the beaten path. I’m here to help! This articles shares practical information of what to consider before booking a trip to Sapa. And of course, to figure out if Sapa is worth visiting on your trip.
Having recently returned from a trip through Vietnam, I spent close to six weeks exploring the country and have a good overview of what it has to offer. I haven’t yet met anyone who didn’t enjoy travelling Vietnam, as it has so much to offer. That being said, I’m here to share the best and worst of Sapa and whether or not it’s worth a visit.
Overall I believe, Sapa is a great place to visit, both in terms of the beautiful landscape, and local culture. However, depending on a few factors Sapa may not be worth visiting for everyone. Read further to know why Sapa is a great place to visit, and when it might not be. I’m focusing here on the best time of year to visit Sapa, hiking trips, the culture and accommodation.
Table of Contents
When to Visit Sapa Vietnam
Northern Vietnam has completely different seasons than the lower half. In the North, the weather has two distinct summer and winter seasons. Whereas, Southern Vietnam is warm all year around. The more North, the colder the temperature gets in the winter time. Therefore, Sapa in certain months can have discouraging weather conditions during the winter.
The best time of year to visit Sapa is September and October. This is when the rice paddies are bright green, in full action, and the weather is warm but clear. This will be a busy time to visit though, and it might be necessary to book accommodation ahead. Otherwise, try the off season as I did, just mind the weather.
When visiting in March, there were days of sunshine, and other days of complete fog and rain. The temperatures dropped significantly around this time of year as well. Consider these weather conditions when planning a trip. Specifically for those who haven’t booked ahead of time.
One of the best reasons to visit Sapa is to see its stunning landscape. This includes mountains as far as you can see, surrounding valleys of cultural villages. Then, there’s cascading rice paddies and rivers flowing through said valley. It’s a landscape that surprised me in many different ways. And, one of the reasons that made my trip so memorable. After my time in the hectic Old Quarter of Hanoi, Sapa was the deep relaxation I needed.
That being said, if the weather is poor, it could remain so foggy and cloudy that travellers could miss all of this scenery. When it comes to planning, there’s a few different options to work with this. Many travellers have a rough plan of where they’re going, in which case it would be great to monitor the weather in Sapa, and perhaps travel somewhere else until the weather has improved. Or, just go anyways and hope it will clear up at some point, especially when visiting for a few days.
However, for those that only have one day to visit Sapa, if the weather is poor, it might be better to skip it altogether. Hopefully though knowing this information ahead of time will help with planning a trip to Sapa, Vietnam.
Hiking Trips through Sapa
Doing a hiking trip is one of the most popular activity when visiting Sapa. This makes it worth visiting Sapa, if the weather is good, or if you need some much needed time outdoors.
Most guides meet travellers at their hotel or a meet up location, and trek through the mountains, forests and rivers of Sapa. This is a great option to enjoy the local landscape and have some exercise blended in, both group trips and private tours are available.
Tours can be done for any length of time, from the people I spoke with the two or three day trips are the most common. Although, some people might only do one day—if that’s all the time they have.
Most overnight trips stay at a local homestay, where it’s a half way point or so on the hike, then go back to Sapa a different direction the next day.
In terms of when it’s good to do a hiking trip in Sapa, the weather is most definitely important to check on. This could change the trip from only seeing fog, and the landscape a few meters in front, versus clear landscapes of the entire valley. Unfortunately the fog can be so dense only a few metres ahead is visible.
It’s not bad to visit in the off season when the weather is foggy, but some people might not find it worth it to travel all the way to Sapa for foggy views.
Culture in Sapa
Vietnam is incredibly culturally diverse, and when travelling, the changes are quite noticeable. Sapa specifically has many indigenous groups such as the Hmong, Red Dao, Tay, Giay, and Xa Pho.
Each group has their own traditions, way of life, festivals and ceremonies. Staying in Sapa, you can’t go wrong to engage with these cultures and learn more about them. This is a great reason why Sapa is worth visiting, as I found it easy to engage with the local cultures.
I was able to learn more about the Black H’mong by staying at a homestay for my entire trip in Sapa. When I did the two day hike with someone from the family, I was able to ask about the culture and learnt so much. Doing both a tour and staying at a homestay would both support the local people and provide an opportunity to learn about the cultures there.
One downside to the tourism in Sapa, is that there is a fair amount of poor sales tactics. These can come off as harassment, as they’re the sales people can be quite determined. Specifically, this can be on hiking tours, or around the town. Local people may follow travellers and may not offer to sell something right away. This did happen on my hiking trip, and it’s important if you don’t want to buy anything then to be clear about it from the beginning. Once my group said no to buying anything, the people left us alone.
Accommodation Location
When I planned a trip to Sapa, I wanted some time out of the city. For this reason, staying outside of Sapa’s town made a big difference to my overall experience.
I didn’t know ahead of time Sapa town would be so busy, but had pre-booked accommodation at a homestay. The only downside of staying out of town is needing transportation around, but my accommodation helped arrange it. Staying out of town may have its local noises—think roosters, and local construction—but overall made the experience more authentic and calm. During my time there I loved waking up and just watching wildlife, or the fog move.
However, if you want to be in the action, staying in Sapa town might be better. I was surprised when being there how relentless the sales people and traffic are. Staying in town might also be brief if you plan on doing a two day trip and only staying in town for two nights, then leaving. In which case, it might be more convenient to stay there.
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