Thinking of a scenic paradise that has cool weather and is affordable? (This trip was US$600) You can find these in North Vietnam, with Sapa and Halong Bay. In this guide, we will show you where we went and did, and share some tips too. Are you interested yet? Check out the amazing time we had in this video!

Overview

Total cost: US$400 + $200 flight

Flight: $200 (from Singapore)
Accommodation: $70
Transportation: $70
Food: $65
Shopping: $40
Tours: $130
Misc: $25

Time allocation

Hanoi (2 days)
Sapa (3 days)
Halong Bay (2 days)

Activities

Cafe hopping (Hanoi, Sapa)
Hiking (Sapa)
BBQ (Hanoi)
Stargazing (Sapa, Halong Bay)
Kayak (Halong Bay)
Shopping & Sightseeing

Day 1: Arrive in Hanoi + Overnight train to Sapa

Get a SIM card: This is the first thing you will probably do at the airport after touching down.

Get to the city centre: We arranged a private car for the airport transfer to our hotel, which cost 350k VND (US$15). We chose a small and cheap room in Box Hotel, right in the middle of the city. I highly recommend this instead of bringing your bags everywhere because it is 1) cheap (US$10) and 2) you can shop, rest and shower before setting off for Sapa.

Hunt for good coffee: We all know that Vietnam is famous for their coffee, and Hanoi is full of cafes waiting to be explored. We went into a tour agency shop to ask for coffee recommendations and it turned out to be a really cool place! Cong Caphe is a popular cafe among the local young people and the coffee cost 35k VND (US$1.50) only!

Book Halong Bay cruise: While planning for the trip, we decided to book the Halong Bay cruise in Hanoi because the online prices were too expensive. There are sooo many tour agencies set up at all corners of the street. It was hard deciding which ones were credible and honest. We booked our cruise through the tour agency that recommended the coffee place – Vietnam Impressive.

Sapa train tickets: I recommend getting them in Hanoi only if you are not worried about availability running out. The price of the tickets quoted in Hanoi was US$20-30 for Fansipan Express, but cost US$38 online. Halong Bay cruise tours are also cheaper when booked in Hanoi, and since it was our last destination, we had some flexibility.

Fansipan Express to Sapa: This is an overnight train that takes about 8 hours to arrive in Sapa. Here’s a tip: travel in a group of 4 so that you can have a cabin all to yourself. In general, the bunk beds were comfortable and they provided water, bananas and free crackers. You can also buy beer on board. There are various levels of luxury you can choose when choosing your train ride. Fansipan Express is suited towards budget/average travelers.

Things to note: The restroom is very minimal, with just a sink and a toilet (no mirror). I recommend using the toilet at the start of the ride because that is when the toilet is cleanest. Lastly, bring a multi plug because there are only 2 power outlets.

Sleep tight!

Day 2: Fansipan Mountain (Sapa)

Finally, at 5am you will be greeted by the cool Sapa air. Similarly, we requested a hotel transfer from the train station. I highly recommend requesting for a high floor when you pre-book your hotel, because you want to be able to see more of the town of Sapa as well have an unobstructed view of the mountains.

More coffee: After a hearty pho breakfast, we went to get coffee at Moc Ca Phe. It had an outdoor seating area on the 2nd floor, so we enjoyed a nice view of the town while sipping on hot drip coffee in the cool weather.

Make village trek arrangements (I will explain more later)

Cable car ride to Fansipan Mountain: For 600k VND (US$26), you can take a 20-30 min cable car ride up, followed by a 600 steps leading up to the summit of 3143m. The view is spectacular because we saw clouds rolling over the mountains, and I can only imagine how beautiful it would be at sunset! I would not recommend it for the elderly because the thin air makes one get tired more easily. There are multiple rest stops in between that are great for photos.

For taxi to the cable car ride, a local from the coffee shop helped us to call a cab. We simply agreed on a time to meet the taxi driver at the base to fetch us back to our hotel. This method is way cheaper than the 400k quotation by the hotel’s cable car tour – we paid 200k+ 20k tip (you have to hope that the taxi driver does not bail on you though).

Dinner in Sapa: There are lots of BBQ & hot pot options in the middle of the town. It cost only US$7 per person for our hotpot, and we ordered a lot of beef. Yum.

Shopping: Buying North Fakes (North Face replicas). For a windbreaker/water resistant jacket, it cost about 400k VND, and 400k for a waterproof bag. Of course you are welcome to bargain.

My last comment is that the nightlife is not as bustling as Hanoi, but it was alright because we needed to rest in preparation for our early morning village trek the next day.

Where we stayed: Sapa Panorama

Day 3: Local Village Trek

Trek guides: People have asked me about whether they should book a tour guide online. I recommend waiting till you get to Sapa because the cost will be much lower and you are definitely going to find tour guides. Besides, paying more online means you are paying for commission.

There were guides (women from the villages) waiting in the town center in the morning and very proactively came up to us and offered to take us to their village.

The price quoted was $10-13 USD per day for a day trek to Hau Thau village, including lunch in their homes. There are so many more villages to explore, so I would not be fixated on wanting to go to one specific village.

After walking for about 1 hour, I realized that Sapa is bigger than what I had imagined. The view is constantly changing, with different parts of the mountain range coming into view.

After eating and taking more pictures, we were taken back to the town on the back of motorbikes. We went back to our hotel and watched the sun set over the mountains from the balcony. Oh, bliss.

Day 4: Cat Cat Village + Sleeper Bus to Hanoi

We had half a day left in Sapa, and we decided to go to Cat Cat Village since it was the nearest one to the town, and hence most popular.

Coffee with a view: There are so many cafes with great mountain and valley views. You can see it from the video I linked above too. There were fewer tourists than I thought there would be, considering it is only 30min walk away from the town.

Sleeper bus back to Hanoi: We chose this option coming back because the train tickets are relatively more expensive, and it sounded fun to try a sleeper bus. Bus tickets only cost $15 USD. Pro tip: Do not pick the back row seats because of low head room. The toilet is pretty small too, with no toilet paper so prepare your own. Blankets were provided. I had a positive experience because I had my friends’ company. The ride took about 6 hours.

Classic Roadside BBQ: Another highlight was sitting by the road sharing a BBQ after a long day. One serving of chicken/pork/beef cost about 80k VND (US$3), so you can really eat like a king.

Make dinner plans for after 7pm, because that is when the “real” food stalls start to sprout everywhere along the roads. Some roads get blocked on Sundays so that was cool. These places are where you try local street food. Google maps does not tell you much about local food places because they are mobile street vendors. The ones we found through Google were somewhat underwhelming.

Where we stayed: Box Hotel

Day 5: Halong Bay Cruise

This is 3 hours drive away from the city, but cruise packages already include a round trip ride to and from your hotel. Halong Bay is a very relaxing place and you will be surrounded by emerald waters and large limestone structures. Cat Ba National Park is also located there and you can go hiking.

We booked a mid-range cruise – Apricot Cruise. These are privately run cruises and there is no fixed “menu” or selection. As I mentioned earlier, you can look for a travel agent in Hanoi and ask for their options and recommendations.

We agreed on US$80 (student price) per person after looking the cruise up online, comparing with online prices and reviews.

There are several price points, with varying levels of luxury and comfort. Generally they have some activities like a cave tour, Vietnamese food lessons, kayaking at sunset (my favorite), etc.

Visited a huge cave and went kayaking shortly after

At night it is fairly chill, most cruises have happy hour before dinner. End the night with stargazing.

Stargazing tip: If you are there in the summer, lookout for the milky way, and expect a lot of stars because you would be looking directly into the center of the galaxy. Some notable constellations are Sagittarius and Scorpius.

Day 6: After Halong Bay, explore Hanoi

We arrived back to Hanoi in the evening after a morning of Taichi, pearl farm tour, and lunch. Try to explore a weekend night market in Hanoi!

After that we went to Hoan Kiem lake and walked one round, passing by various beautiful hotels, buskers and then sat down to eat our US$4 personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. It was super chill even though there were a lot of people around on the weekend.

Where we stayed: Hanoi Gate Hotel

Day 7: Home

One last tip would be to arrange for hotel transport to the airport. It cost US$17 per person for 4 of us. Make sure to also use my free packing list template when preparing for your trip.

This is one way to strike a balance between the nature side of things, and also see Hanoi’s main tourist attractions. If I had more time, I would love to also consider a homestay in Sapa and go hiking in Cat Ba National Park.

Share this post if you think it could be useful for someone! Thank you for reading 🙂