3 Days in Sapa: Your Handy Sapa Itinerary

It was morning. Apparently. It didn’t feel like morning…

I’d just woken up on the floor of a bus and it was raining. Hard. The bus driver was shouting ‘Welcome to Sapa!’ in a voice far too cheery for 6am. I’m glad this event occurred at the beginning of my Vietnam trip when I was fresh-faced and full of energy, excited for a busy Sapa itinerary.

At a point when my companions (who had been travelling for three months) were feeling the effects of long-term travel, I was full of beans and not particularly perturbed by the Sapa night bus. Flash forward three weeks and I would have been groaning the whole way!

Related reads: my North Vietnam itinerary and my complete Vietnam itinerary (north, south and central)

Three days in Sapa itinerary

We’d boarded the Sapa night bus the same day we’d returned from our trip to Ha Long Bay. Once we were on the Sapa Express bus, we settled into our beds and tried to get some shut-eye.

The journey from Hanoi to Sapa only takes about five hours meaning we actually arrived at 4am but were left on the bus to sleep until a little after 6am. At this point, we were awoken and taken to our next stop in the pouring rain.

Little did we know, it was going to rain a LOT in Sapa. Nestled in the misty mountains, this rice terrace region is quite different from the rest of hot, humid Vietnam. Apparently it’s even been known to snow in the winter, something I can’t imagine ever happening in Vietnam.

How to plan a Sapa itinerary

There are plenty of options when it comes to getting around Vietnam. These are a few of your options for getting to and visiting Sapa:

Day 1 – getting VERY muddy on our first trek

Luckily neither of our bags were as heavy as our new friends, Sam and Kane’s! This British couple were just on the road for a couple of weeks so didn’t have much luggage or a smaller day bag, so they just brought ALL their stuff on the trek. This was a harrowing notion to me as I absolutely HATE carrying anything heavier than necessary!

Our first trek through the misty rice terraces of Sapa was beautiful but HILARIOUS. As it was raining, the mud was slippery and I spent most of the time crashing through the undergrowth on my bum. If you don’t believe me, check out this photo (I considered trying to edit it but decided to embrace the realness):

In our tour party was the sweetest local girl aged about 12 who told us she helps out on the tours when she’s not at school. She quickly became my favourite – partly for necessity as she knew every step by heart, held my hand and told me where to put my feet.

On one occasion, she left me unattended for two minutes and I managed to fall into a weird split-like position I didn’t even realise I could do and get stuck halfway up a hill… Afterwards, she weaved a branch into the shape of a heart and gave it to me which I think was her personal way of commiserating my clumsiness.

Learning about the locals

After lunch we left the rice terraces behind – but not that far behind as the village we’d be staying in was virtually surrounded by them. This was the highlight of our Sapa itinerary!

We learnt that there are many tribal groups in the Sapa region known for their distinctive colourful dress and rural ways of life. Our tour guide told us that they all speak different languages which don’t remotely resemble each other, so the only time they’ll speak the national language of Vietnamese is as a common language when communicating with other groups.

The homestay wasn’t the most basic place I’ve ever stayed, probably due to how touristic Sapa has become in the last few years. There was WiFi and the upstairs resembled a dorm with lockers and chargers by the beds. Saying that, it was still a local home and we ate a traditional dinner with the other guests on a big shared table in their living room.

Day 2 – local life and trekking back to Sapa town

After a night in our homestay (we slept on thick mattresses on the floor which were as comfy as regular beds), we continued our Sapa itinerary with a second trek.

This was much shorter than the first day and pretty easy. I think it would be an overstatement to say I spent three days trekking in Sapa as you could probably have combined them all into one day without too much difficulty.

Unless you pick a tour specifically geared towards a challenge, most Sapa tours are about seeing the scenery and yes, they’re also about stopping at craft stores and markets where you’re encouraged to buy the goods. That’s tourism for you!

The best part of the day for me was seeing the local life in the countryside. Every horizon was dotted with rice hats and colourful splashes of clothing as people farmed the rice. One of my favourite scenes was this young boy riding his buffalo. Casual, you know 😉

Exploring Sapa town

Day 2 of our Sapa itinerary ended back at the hotel in Sapa town where we’d left our luggage the previous day. Even though the homestay hadn’t been overly basic (we’d still had hot showers and electricity), it felt good to sleep in a hotel bed.

In three years of travelling, I can probably count the times I’ve stayed in a hotel on one hand so it’s not hard for me to feel pampered!

As we’d arrived just after lunch, we had free time to explore Sapa town in the afternoon. We headed to the museum to learn a bit more about the history of Sapa and tribal groups in the area, then had a less cultural pitstop of coffee and cake at a cafe.

I didn’t fall in love with Sapa town which was more about Italian pizzerias and haggling over massage prices than it was the dreamy, surrounding scenery. Still, at least it provides a necessary base while you explore the amazing sights around it.

The misty mountain views were the highlight! The village was intriguing with a water wheel and lots of bridges but honestly, I found the whole thing over touristy and just awkward as we were constantly being marched by row upon row of handicrafts and urged to buy.

I probably could have skipped out on the whole thing and not regretted it. That’s just me being honest – I don’t want to sugarcoat every travel experience I have for this blog.

I’d already learnt that my favourite part of Sapa was the majestic mountains. Saying that, I probably wouldn’t be in Sapa at all without the tourist industry. I’m a tourist too, I know.

Booking a Sapa tour