Things to do in Sapa

Sapa is a small hill town in the north-west mountains, built around a French-era church and a lake, and surrounded by terraced rice fields farmed by Hmong, Dao and Tay communities. Two ways get you here from Hanoi: an expressway bus or limousine minibus straight into town, or an overnight sleeper train to Lao Cai followed by a road transfer up into the hills.

The terraces are bare or flooded outside the growing season and turn golden around harvest, so what you see depends entirely on when you visit.

Sapa town is also mistaken for a single sight when it is really a base: Fansipan, Vietnam's highest peak, is a separate destination above the Muong Hoa valley, reached on foot or by cable car, and treated on its own page here rather than folded into a Sapa day out.