From Hanoi to Sapa and back.

Good Morning everyone:
We are returning to Vietnam after 11 years and this time we are entering the country via Hanoi and working our way south. I am planning for 7 days in Hanoi and surrounds, but we think we want to spend time only in Hanoi with a trip to Sapa during that 7 day time period before flying to Hue. We have already had an excellent trip to Halong Bay. I hope you will help answer a few questions I have.

We are not into hardship any more after 15 years of travel throughout SEA and will avoid uncomfortable trains/buses, but we are OK with car/mini bus and driver or comfortable train in order to get to Sapa and back from Hanoi.
1. What manner of travel would you suggest considering the above caveats(with cost if known);
2. How much time will it take to get to Sapa by various means of transport; and
3. How many full days in Sapa would you recommend and why?
Thank you very much,
Doug

1. Take the night sleeper train to Lao Cai then a minibus to Sapa. It's easy and comfortable and relatively safe. I don't recall what I paid, but it wasn't much more than the bus.

2. Takes a bit over 8 hours by train, then another 45 minutes or so by minibus. The sleeper bus I took back was less, around 5 hours, which was annoying as it dumped me in the middle of Hanoi at 3am with nowhere open to go...

3. I spent 2 full days in Sapa and hikingin the area. I was satisfied with that length of time.

I would also suggest the sleeper train, get the best tickets and its not too bad, I really enjoyed the experience, its quite comfortable.

to return get a private car/van it will not be too expensive and the road is much improved with the new highway so it only takes a few hours.

I enjoyed Sapa a great deal, I only had two nights, which was not enough, given the first day is an arrival day and orientation. Three nights minimum.

I recently returned to Hanoi after a gap of 5 years, I stayed for 3 nights and I was happy with this. Towards the end I was finding myself going back to the same places that I had visited on the previous trip but found they had not changed. However if the focus was just meals and eating, one could happily spend forever in Hanoi.

Nightsleepers is THE WORST solution to go to Sapa, with frequent delays, rotten railways, wagons whih oscillate non-stop for 10 hours, arrival Lao Cai at 5h30, one hour bus to Sapa (NOT minibus as written, it's a scma ; PUBLIC bridgyht yellow and red big buses marked "Sapa".

Best way : very confortable express buses SapaExpres, departure Hanoi 7h30 and 5 hours easy trip on the brand new expressway direct Hanioi-Sapa (return Sapa 4h30, arrival Hanoi around 21h)

1st day : lunch, visit Cat Cat Waterfalls, Sapa(church - market is now in a horrible without any interest concrete structure - relax
2 and 3 day : trekking with a local agency such as the excellent Noamd rails (Sapatrek). I would say 2 days are OK, with one night in minority homestay. Depends on how much you like trekking

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Vietnam is changing really fast. You will see the new things which are different from what you saw 11 years ago. 7 days for the north of Vietnam including of Hanoi and Sapa is good. You will need at least 3 nights 2 days for Sapa area ( including of 2 nights on the train) or more time depending on your preferences and where you would like to go to. Generally, 4 nights 3 days for Sapa is enough to cover most of the main attractions with hiking and sightseeing activities. The safest mode of transport is the train although it will be uncomfortable from time to time due to the old rail track from French colony. The train shakes most of time, can affect your sleep on it. However, travelers still choose this type to be safe more than bus on the highway. Check it out www.sapasunshinetravel.com if you'd like to do this journey with train.

Night trains are the MOST tiring and unsafe way to go from Hanoi to Sapa ! Only tourists who have no time or those ignoring the existence of the very comfortable express buses riding on a very safe new expressway take the trains !

Thank you all so much for your valuable advice! I appreciate your time and attention to my inquiry.

Doug

Night trains are the MOST tiring and unsafe way to go from Hanoi to Sapa ! Only tourists who have no time or those ignoring the existence of the very comfortable express buses riding on a very safe new expressway take the trains

What utter nonsense. Trains are the most unsafe way to go to Sapa? How many people were injured or killed riding that train last year? None? How about the year before? None?

We have only used the train so can't offer any advice on other modes. A couple of recommendations re Sapa are: Hire a private guide and driver if possible and get out in the country and visit some mountain villages. If you have the time we recommend at least 3 days and two nights and even 4 days and 3 nights if possible. There is a lot to see and do if you get away even a short distance from Sapa proper.
Her is a link to a video we did of Northern Vietnam including Sapa and surrounding areas:
https://vimeo.com/93068496
Have a great holiday.

As repeatidly said, the grueling train is OK only if you have no time ; if, you have, the 5-hout express bus is infinitely better. Take it to return to Hnoi anyway, it lesves Sapa at 16h30 ang the trekkings end around 13h.

Driver ? There excellent 3-day trekkings, and even lmore days, going tio remote villages; nobody rents a car in Sapa except o continue towards Bac Ha and Ha Giang !

Can Cau and Bac Ha are two areas that are well worth visiting and a vehicle is suggested. The Can Cau Saturday market and the Bac Ha Sunday market are both very interesting with few tourists mostly due to their distance from Sapa I suspect.

You can go to those markets with a car, but it is not cheap ! You can also arrange with a good Sapa agency such as the excellent Nomad Trails an organized group tour (small minibuses) for the Can Cau Market only, or the BH market only,or both, in which case you sleep in the extra Ngan Nga Bac Ha Hotel

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