350km far north-west from Hanoi, Sapa, the capital of Sapa District in Lao Cai Province, lies at the altitude of 1600m. With the temperature ranging from the lowest of -1oC to the highest of 29oC, Sapa’s climate is moderate and drizzly in summer while chill and foggy in winter. Sapa is famous for both its fine, rugged scenery and also its rich cultural diversity. Sapa is an incredibly picturesque town that lies in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range near the Chinese border in northwestern Vietnam, known as “the Tonkinese Alps”. Sapa and its surrounding region is host to many hill tribes, as well as rice terraces, lush vegetation, and Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam. If you want to visit Sapa, the best way to get there is to take the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai. Sapa has no train station, but it’s about 38 km from Lao Cai train station and easily reached from there by car or bus in about 50 minutes. There are both daytime and overnight sleeper trains between Hanoi and Lao Cai.

 

Recommended trains with just few stops: SP1, SP3, SP7. These trains are with air-conditioned soft sleepers, air-con hard sleepers, and air-con soft seats. Vietnam Railways operates some of the cars on these trains, but other cars in the train are operated by private companies (Tulico, King Express, Fanxipan, Orient Express, Livitrans, Hara, and many others). Some of these cars are significantly nicer than the standard cars.

 

Below is the train schedule from Hanoi to Lao Cai (Sapa): Trains SP1, SP3, SP7 and LC3.

 

TRAIN SCHEDULE FROM HANOI TO LAO CAI (SAPA)

(Validity from 11th June 2015)

 (red= arrival time; blue = departure time)

OTHER TRAIN SCHEDULES:

• Train schedule from Lao Cai to Hanoi
• Train schedule from Hanoi to Saigon
• Train schedule from Saigon to Hanoi