Exploring the Valley in the Clouds – Sapa with kids
Almost from the moment that we arrived in Vietnam, we started having friends tell us that we just had to make some time on our itinerary to visit Sapa. When we asked why, they usually just had some comments about how the area was beautiful, or how their trip to the area was so relaxing. It wasn’t a lot to go on, but we decided that since so many of our friends loved it, we should probably give it a look!
We’ve had the chance to see a ton of beautiful places over the years, so I wasn’t expecting to be blown away, but, oh, was I wrong. This place is on another level in the beauty department!
We chose to spend a full week in the area, so we could really check out what Sapa has to offer for families, and, while we probably could have done it in a shorter time, I’m really glad we chose to stay for the week.
Here are some of our favorite activities in the area.
Sapa Valley Village Trekking
While Sapa is the name of one specific city in the area, when most people talk about visiting Sapa they are also including the other smaller villages spread throughout the valley. These villages are home to minority ethnic groups who have been calling this valley home for as long as we have records of people living here, and a trek through the is the perfect way to see a small slice of what life is like for them in the valley!

Local women are most often the tour guides in Sapa, and whether you book through an online retailer or just ask you’re homestay host if they know someone, you will most likely be getting a guide who has called this area her home for her whole life. Ours was a young H’mong woman who lived just a few minutes walk from our homestay.
Different guides offer different routes through the village, but, in general, each trip consists of walking through a few of the local villages, along the famous rice paddies, into a bamboo forest, and to a local waterfall.
Our trip was during rice planting season, and villagers all across the valley were hard at work distributing bright green rice shoots across their farms, Throughout the entire hike I was struck again and again with just how beautiful (and green!) everything was.
In all our trek lasted about 4 hours, from 9am to 1pm. During that time we ended up walking nearly 6 miles, including quite a bit of uphill, but the fresh air and beautiful scenery kept our kids so engaged that we hardly heard any complaining!
One thing to note is that at several points along our trek there were local women who would begin walking with us in hopes of selling us local crafts. We ended up buying a small bag that was dyed using local indigo, a small fabric lamp, and a mouth harp, but ultimately there were too many of them for us to buy something from them all.
If you notice some women add themselves to your party, it’s quite possible that they are going to ask you to buy something, and it’s a good idea to let them know sooner rather than later if you don’t intend to buy anything.
Visiting Fansipan Mountain
While most of Sapa’s villages are located in the lower elevation areas of the valley, its other “must-see” attraction heads the other direction. Up.

Mount Fansipan is the tallest mountain in Vietnam, as well as in the the entirety of Indo-China (including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar), which has earned it the nickname, “the roof-top of Indochina.” Coming in at 3,143 meters (10,326ft) in height, Fansipan’s peak is nearly 1500 meters higher than Sapa, putting its top firmly in the clouds.
While you could opt for the multi-day hike to the peak from Sapa, it’s not a particularly easy one, and not something that I would recommend doing with younger kids in tow. Instead, if you’re wanting to visit the top with your kids, you should opt for taking the Fansipan cable car, which is a trip in and of itself!
Fansipan Peak
The highest point of the peak is marked with a small pyramid-shaped monument that marks your arrival at the top, but the real reason to visit the peak is for the view! During clear-sky moments, the view is spectacular, and you really do feel like you’re on top of the world. When it’s cloudy out, you may not have as much of a view, but the ethereal movements of the clouds still make for a great experience.

Temples and Monuments
High points are considered sacred spaces for many, and Fansipan’s height has led to a large number or monuments and pagodas on the mountain’s top. Some of the most popular include the Grand Belfry, a giant Buddha statue, and a series of incredibly impressive (and somewhat exhausting) staircases leading to several pagodas.
If you plan on visiting any of the religious sites, be sure to wear respectful clothing. Though, honestly, the colder weather at the top of the mountain probably means that you should be covered up anyway.

Getting there
Assuming that you aren’t one of the adventurous few who choose to do the three day hike to the top, the best way to get to the top of Fansipan is by way of the Fansipan Cable Car.
Klook offers an inexpensive way to book your transportation up Fansipan with the least amount of hassle possible. You can choose to book just the cable car from Sun World Fansipan Legend up to the top of the mountain, or a combo ticket that also includes the Moang Hoa Mountain train which can take you all the way from Sapa City Center.
You buy the ticket online and get a QR code on your phone, so you don't have to bring any paper tickets with you. The whole process was seamless for us, and is definitely the easiest way to get up the mountain.
Moang Hoa Mountain Train
While it is possible to take a taxi straight to Sun World Fansipan Legend, where the cable car station is located, our family opted to take the Moang Hoa mountain train from Sapa to make things easier.
The Moang Hoa Train leaves from Sun Plaza in Sapa center and runs all the way up to Sun World. Once you arrive, you can either walk straight over to the Fansipan Cable Car Station to continue your journey up Fansipan, or choose to look around the gardens for a bit.
If you also choose to take the mountain train, I suggest buying your tickets together, to save some money. A ticket for both of these together costs 980,000 VND/adult (730,000VND/kid) via Klook, which is about $7 more (per person) than just buying the Cable Car tickets alone.

The train itself is an absolutely stunning ride through the valley, with plenty of great views of the rice fields, two small tunnels, and over 1660 meters of track. It’s the longest mountain railway in Vietnam, and a lot of fun!
Fansipan Cable Car
Leaving from Sun World, you will need to take the Fansipan Cable Car up the mountain. This cable car holds two separate Guiness World Records. Not only is it the longest non-stop cable car ride in the world, coming in at 6,292.5 meters (20645ft) in length, but it also has the largest altitude change for a three-cable cable car (1,410m or 4626ft).
Basically, the cable car is an attraction all its own!

During the ride up the mountain, riders have a 360-degree view from the cable car’s windows and can get a fantastic view of the scenery, depending on the clouds. We saw rice fields, forests, and several waterfalls on our way up!
If you buy these tickets separate from the Moang Hoa Train tickets, they cost 800000 VND/adult and 550000VND/child via Klook.
The cable car runs from 8:00am to 4:00pm (going up) with the last car down the mountain leaving at 5:30pm, so be sure to get back down before then!
Do Quyen Funicular
Once you’ve ridden the cable car to the top, there’s still a bit of a climb to get to the actual peak. You can opt to take the stairs, but if that seems like too much of an effort, there’s a 2-minute funicular ride that you can take, as well!
We chose to take the walking path to the top so we could see everything, and then rode the funicular back down. I didn’t find a place where I could buy a ticket for the Do Quyen Funicular ahead of time, but getting a ticket there wasn’t difficult. Just be sure to bring some cash with you.
Tickets were 120,000VND/person, with kids under 1 meter in height being free.

Our kids were very happy not to have to walk back down all stairs after we had just finished walking up them, so I’d 100% recommend getting tickets for the funicular at least one direction.
Learn about Indigo in a Batik Dying Workshop
While most people probably recognize the color indigo from its prestigious place in the rainbow, natural indigo dye comes from the indigo plant which has traditionally been grown by the indigenous people around Sapa for generations!
The deep blue color is used in the dying of traditional fabrics through a special technique called ‘batik,’ which uses melted wax to protect fabric from the indigo dye so that artists can create intricate designs.
We did a batik water color workshop with the kids in Kuala Lumpur, and it was a ton of fun, so naturally we were interested in learning more about it here!
We found 2 different indigo workshops in the villages that both look like a ton of fun.
The longer workshop is offered by the Indigo Snail homestay, and includes 5 and half hours of Hmong crafts, including the batik work, hands-on indigo dying, Hmong embroidery lessons, and (my favorite) a home-cooked meal!
Located a short drive from Sapa center, guests at the Indigo Snail can do everything from taking village treks across the valley, to Indigo workshops, to cooking lessons!
The other workshop I found is run by the Indigo Cat, and is slightly shorter at around 3 hours. This one focuses almost entirely on the batik work, and the host does the indigo dying herself, which can be nice if the kids don’t want to get their hands dirty.
You can contact Indigo Cat directly via WhatsApp to get prices and availability.
Making Traditional Vietnamese Food in a Cooking Class
My family loves taking the opportunity to do cooking classes all around the world. And since the food in Vietnam has been so good, adding a cooking class on to our itinerary seemed like something of a no-brainer!
The easiest way to find cooking classes is probably just to ask around at your homestay. If your host doesn’t offer classes themselves, there’s a good chance they know someone who does. But, if you’d prefer to book online, there are two cooking classes in particular that stand out.
The first is at the Indigo Snail homestay again! They have a spacious kitchen area and source their ingredients from around the valley to help you make a pretty delicious dish, including spring rolls, sticky rice and meat.
Cooking class at the Indigo Snail (via Viator)
The other one is a cooking class at the Saigonese Trekking House. If you go this route, you have a little bit more control over the menu as they discuss it with you on arrival and then take you along on a local market trip to gather the ingredients.
Cooking class at the Saigonese Trekking House (via Viator)
Just hang out and enjoy the view at your Homestay
Even with everything there is to do in Sapa, you’d be missing out if you didn’t take some time to just sit back at your homestay and enjoy the view.

We stayed in a homestay that had a fabulous view of the valley, and I can definitely say that working on my writing while looking over the rice paddies and cloudy mountain peaks was my favorite part of my stay. I just cannot get over how beautiful it is!
Plus they had one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had, so there was good reason to take my mornings slow.
Other Top things to do in Sapa
When I was doing research for what I wanted to do with my family during our trip, there were a couple really popular activities that caught my eye, but that I ultimately decided not to do.

Cat Cat Village
Cat Cat Village is a super popular village trip that you can take that’s located just outside of Sapa. It’s a small village area that is supposed to be a show piece of Hmong culture, including traditional buildings, places to buy local crafts, and demonstrations of various craft and farming techniques used by the locals.
However, in my research, I saw several reviews that called out Cat Cat Village as being something of a tourist trap. Ultimately, we decided to stick to the local villages around our homestay, since we were able to see craft demonstrations and buy handicrafts there, without having to pay an extra entry fee.
Red Dao Bath
The other thing that caught my eye was the Red Dao baths.
Basically, this is a hot herbal bath in a wooden tub that is supposed to be absolutely wonderful for your skin, and for promoting general health. And honestly, that sounds pretty good a day or two after the village trek, when your muscles gets a bit sore.
We didn’t do this, but if you’re in need of a spa day, it might be worth looking into!
Learn about the Red Dao ethnic minority while trekking through their local villages, and end with a relaxing soak in a traditional herbal bath that soothes your muscles and promotes good health.
Getting to Sapa
A large part of the beauty of Sapa comes from its remote location in North Vietnam, but that same remoteness means getting there isn’t quite as straightforward as some other locations. Even so, getting to Sapa isn’t particularly hard either.
From most parts of the country, getting to Sapa means a trip through Hanoi, so this section is written assuming that you’re starting there.
If you’re interested in visiting Sapa, then the last part of your trip into town will have to either be on a bus or in a taxi, as there are not currently any airports in the region around Sapa and the nearest train station is about an hour away from Sapa’s city center, in Lao Cai. And in fact, when we visited, we chose to take the night bus from Hanoi as it was both inexpensive and took us directly into Sapa itself.
However, we haven’t been particularly impressed with the night buses in Vietnam. Yes, the seats are like tiny hotel rooms, complete with a chair laid back so far that it’s almost flat, a USB port to charge your phone, and decent bus-wide WIFI. However, as futuristic feeling as it feels, the ride itself was not super comfortable. And since I ended up in a seat without windows, I spent a pretty large chunk of the ride feeling a bit sick.
That said, here are my picks for the best ways to get to Sapa!
Private Transfer or VIP Van (5-6 hours travel time)
We actually used the “VIP” transfer van option when we traveled from Hanoi to Cao Bang to see the Ban Gioc Waterfalls, and we found it to be a pretty comfortable option! Unfortunately, the quality of the van and the driver can vary considerably, so there’s never a guarantee that it will be a great trip, but the ones I’ve been on have all been comfortable enough, so I feel like this is a pretty solid option.
12Go is the easiest way that I’ve found to book a transfer van in Vietnam. They will typically be mixed in with the other results under the “Bus” tab, and may also be labeled as limousines, but they are all definitely just cargo vans that have been converted with extra comfy seats.
Overnight Bus (6-7 hours travel time)
Pricewise, the larger buses are the most cost effective way to get from Hanoi to Sapa, but you should know that Vietnamese buses tend to be a bit different than in other countries. For one, most of the buses that have seats that recline all the way back into a sleeping position. And, in fact, I’ve been on a few that don’t have a way to sit the seat up into a sitting position at all!
Especially for longer rides, this can be a great feature, since it’s easier to sleep reclined than sitting up, but, at least for my family, it’s still not super easy to sleep while the bus is on the road. If you have smaller kids, I suggest making sure that the bus you choose has double wide bed/seats so there’s room to snuggle with them. Our daughter in particular really disliked our bus with single wide seats, since she felt separated from us while in her seat.
This is the option that we chose to use to go to Sapa, but we almost certainly would have been more comfortable in one of the VIP Vans.
Once again, 12Go is the easiest way to book these buses.
Train + Taxi Combo (9 hours travel time; 8 hours on the train, 1 in a taxi)
While Sapa doesn’t have a rail system that attaches to the rest of Vietnam’s transit network, the nearby town of Lao Cai does, which makes it a common destination for families who prefer traveling by rail instead of road.
Taking the train has some major benefits. You have more room to stretch your legs than on a bus, and there’s less chance of something going wrong. No flat tires. No engine trouble. And a very low chance of a wrecking. You also have restrooms right there on the train, and can even order food to eat in your cabin!
However those benefits come with the double draw back of a longer travel time and increased cost. At this moment, 12Go is showing train tickets ranging from $18/person to a whopping $112/person for the 8 hour ride from Hanoi. And then, after getting off the train, you’ll still have to hire a taxi to take you the final hour!
Vietnam has some beautiful train rides in their country, but unless you just love train rides for the sake of being on a train, I’d skip this particular route.
I’ve actually found it easier to go into the local train station to purchase my tickets in person than to use 12Go for train tickets, but if you prefer to do it online, 12Go is still the best option.
Flying into Sapa
Currently, there is not an airport servicing the area around Sapa. However, construction has already started on an airport in the Lao Cai area that is scheduled to open in 2026!
So, while in just a couple years a visit to Sapa will be as easy as hoping on a plane and grabbing an hour long taxi from the airport. Of course, while this will be more convenient, it also means that more travelers than ever will be visiting the area. So if you want to see Sapa without the crowds, I suggest you do so now!