invisible

Arriving to Hanoi on Friday around 2PM, leaving on Monday at 11AM. Will be there mid-september this year.

Question is - does travel to Sapa worth the trouble? Based on reading, it would be at least 7h ride via bus/minibus. Also, seem these buses depart early in the morning and we would like to depart on afternoon on friday and come back on Sunday.

If it is too much trouble, where else to go and see spending no more than 4h one way? Have heard about Mộc Châu District but not much information is available online, at least in English.

hxhbk

In my opinion, you need 1 full day in Sapa at the minimum to make the trip worth the driving time. It does not look like your current schedule will support that.
The Moc Chau plateau area is quite beautiful with the rice paddies in stair case formation and the villages of the local ethnic minority. With your current schedule, I would suggest to stay at the Mai Chau Lodge, in the town of Mai Chau (about 3 hrs from Hanoi by car), located on the southern end of the Moc Chau plateau. AFAIK this is the only decent place to stay, unless you are OK with the homestay approach with the local folks. You can spend a day or so exploring the surrounding area. Trip Advisor has info on the Mai Chau lodge and the hotel have their own web page.
I did this Mai Chau itinerary several years ago as part of a longer trip: Hanoi - Mai Chau - Son La - Dien Bien Phu.

Daawgon

Sapa is awesome and worth it, but with so little time in Hanoi, I would stay right in the city because the city of Hanoi is so special. I also do not recommend any bus service - the train being far safer.

Save Moc Chau, Mai Chau and Sapa until you have more time - Vietnam is not the place to rush around trying to see everything in 3 short days.

Just remember that the PEOPLE of Vietnam are far more interesting than the landscape!

thebug622

Look into Meo Vac I was in both Sapa and Meo Vac last November and found the two places very similar both in scenery and lots of ethnic people but without the hordes of people you will find in Sapa. It would require a bus to Ha Giang then hiring a driver. Do not attempt the drive on a M/C and take at least 2 days its a loop drive

sandy86

I took night bus from Hanoi to Sapa and arrived in early morning about 4 AM but they will let you sleep on bus until sunrise and drop of at city centre. Now they have new route from Hanoi - Sapa so only 5 hours. Departure from Hanoi around 11 PM, for way back from Sapa departure about 9PM - arrive Hanoi 4 AM. So totally you have 2 full days in Sapa.

chrisphh

Personally, You should book night train to travel from Hanoi to Sapa.

invisible

Seems so. Now, if one decides to visit sapa, what mode of transportation is the best in terms of time/comfort? How much time one would need at Sapa itself and what are ways/modes to explore it?

I am completely OK staying at homestays, did this at Hoi Ann - with $22/night it was excellent value.

How much time did you spend on this? How did you travel from site to site and how explored the site after arrival - by foot/bike/etc?

Could you tell me what makes Hanoi so special? If it is like Saigon, I would have no intention to go there - I've been in Saigon close to 6 times and after first time it was only used as a transit point.
At the same time if Hanoi has charm like Hoi Ann - I would not mind to devote one day there.

Question - does it make any sense to rent a card and do driving on your own? I really want to minimize time wasted and restrictions imposed by logistics.

How does it rate in terms of comfort/noise/ability to sleep? Any safety problems? I personally would not have one but my wife has elevated sense to be safe in a public space.

Jay71

We did the overnight train up to Lao Cai/Sapa and spent one night in Sapa. It gave us a taste but I did wish we had a few more days to explore the extended areas around Sapa considering it was a bit of a journey to get there. Sapa itself isn't that big and we were able to walk down to Cat Cat village and explore the Sapa in that one day. I would have loved more time to trek in the areas around Sapa some more and visit some villages. Instead, the next day, we jumped on a tour that kind of centred around a visit to the Bac Ha market and then dropped us off at Lao Cai to jump on a train back to Hanoi. We fit a lot in our trip to Sapa but it was pretty grueling that way.

I'm not sure if it's just because of the places I visited in each but I find Hanoi quainter that HCMC (though not comparable to the quaintness of Hoi An). Tourist visited areas such as the Old Quarter are less redeveloped than HCMC which preserves a lot of the historical architecture. I enjoyed the food in Hanoi better too as I'm told there is a notable difference between northern and southern cuisine. The traffic is still pretty insane though. I want to go back to Vietnam for another visit particularly since we found a flight deal but one of the conditions the missus has set is that we need to be able to fit in Hanoi, she doesn't care about HCMC.

I was able to sleep a bit on the train to Sapa but the missus had a tough time. It was a rough ride with parts feeling really bumpy at times.

IAN-UK

So, essentially you will have just two complete days in Vietnam. If it's a first visit to Hanoi, it would be a pity to start on another trip as soon as you arrive. You could find plenty to do and see in the city over two days: it really is very different to Saigon. You might consider saving rural charms for a future visit, and use this one to get information on the logistics of such a trip.

Our first time in the city we got Hanoi Kids involved: you may not take to enthusiastic amateur guides, but ours were charming, well-informed and helpful, developing an itinerary based on what we wanted to see and do.

Daawgon

Never, never, never take a night bus anywhere in Indochina - they're dangerous enough during daylight hours!

Good advice from IAN-UK!

TravelDream

I agree with him too.
There's plenty to do in Hanoi for two days. A really interesting city - with loads to see.

Alternatively you could spend a night at Ha Long Bay. Amazing views and some of the boats really are stunning, with delicious food. Most one night trips leave early in the morning and you get back the in the evening on the following day. You could do Saturday and Sunday - though I think it would be a shame not to see Hanoi.

Sally Nguyen

I think Moc Chau is a good idea when you don't have more time. In October - December, the weather is cool and have many colorful flower. You can stay in a local home and the people are friendly, they will give you some advice to visit there. You can see heart-shaped tea hill, Dai Yem waterfall...and many unique destinations. If you need the contact, I can ask for you. My close friend visited there.