Extra day in Sapa or Ninh Binh?

Hi all!

I'm going with my girl to Vietnam for (oh!) just 8 effective days and I am wondering: would it be better to stay in Sapa for three days, or to be in Sapa for two days + spend another day in Ninh Binh? Our planning is this:

Day 1: arrival to Hanoi (at the evening)
Day 2: Hanoi
Day 3: Hanoi and night train to Sapa
Day 4: Sapa
Day 5: Sapa (Sunday market)
Day 6: Sapa (bus to Hanoi in the afternoon)
Day 7: Hanoi to Halong
Day 8: Halong
Day 9: Halong to Hanoi
Day 10: morning in Hanoi (we leave in the early evening)

The question is: do you think that it is worthy to spend three days in Sapa, as in the current planning, or is it better to stay in Sapa two days and to do a day-trip to Ninh Binh (or other place)?

In Sapa we are staying at a hotel and not doing a homestay (I have back problems and we prefer to do day-trips rather than a long trip with a homestay).

We are open to suggestions! :)

Thank you in advance!

Cheers!

If you want to save time and fit in all 3 destinations, you could take the sleeper bus from Sapa (Lao cai) to
Haiphong (for Halong bay), and then a minibus from Haiphong direct to Tam coc to take in the Ninh Binh area. Then bus back to Hanoi. Tam coc merits an overnight stay so you can do the river trip before the daytrippers and touts arrive.

If you combine the Sunday market with an evening bus from Lao cai, you can wake up in Haiphong, and save time for Ninh Binh by avoiding unnecessary transit in Hanoi.

Personally, if you want to spend time to climb Fansipan mountain, you should spend 3 days in there, if not you should spend 2 days only and spend more time in Hanoi to visit some places around Hanoi such as Ba Vi National Park

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When will your trip start? I'm going to Ninh Binh this weekend to see rice fields in Tam Coc, hopefully they're still available. You can visit Ninh Binh 1 day, 2 days or even 3-4 days, depending on your time budge and interests. If you have only 1 day, you may think about this loop: Hanoi - Sapa - Halong (come back to Hanoi first) - Hanoi - Ninh Binh.
Strongly recommend you to book Halong cruise before you get there (contact a reputable agency), better to use their shuttle bus.
Sapa is my favorite place, once again, you can spend 2-3 days or even a week. I visited Bac Ha market in June once and can't forget the image of fleshy plums everywhere in the market and still remember that the local pp would sell the whole big basket of plums only (not by weight), local horse race, local pp enjoyed "pho" with happy faces, some local herbs & spices (didn't know what they were actually).....In Sapa, if you love trekking, you can do some routes: Sin Chai - Cat Cat - Y Ling Ho, Lao Chai - Tavan - Giang Ta Chai or Su Pan - Thanh Phu – My Son – Nam Sai – Nam Can. I had a chance to stay at Topas Ecolodge (they use 100% solar energy with beautiful bugalows and excellent view, but quite expensive (but if your budge is ok, it's worth staying), even much better and more interesting than Victoria resort in Sapa town.

If I were you, I would spend 3days in Sapa to do trekking and relax.

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