Hanoi - Sapa Trains

 

Hanoi - Sapa Train Route (click to enlarge)

Both Hanoi and Sapa are the must go cities for Northern Vietnam travel. You could get trek through the hill villages and get in touch with the local people in Sapa. The distance between Hanoi and Sapa is about 300km, no flight serves this line, and bus takes 5-6 hours, which could be boring and waste of time. Then the overnight sleeper trains become a preferred way to travel between these two cities. You will spend one night on the train, there are two or three trains serve this line each day, and most of the luxury private trains in Vietnam operate on this route.
 
The trains are between Hanoi and Lao Cai, since there is no railway station in Sapa.
 
Vietnamese: Ga Hà Nội
Address: 120 Lê Duẩn, Hoàn Kiếm District, Hanoi, Vietnam
How to get: It is located in the city center, you could take bus No. 86, 86CT, 01, 32, 38, 40 or CNG03 and get off at Ga Hà Nội.

There are two parts of Hanoi Railway Station, Part A and Part B. Trains to Lao Cai depart from Part B, which is on Tran Quay Cap Street on the far side of the tracks. It is better to confirm with your agent about the departure station after your ticket is confirmed.
 
Vietnamese: Ga Lào Cai
Address: Tổ 26A,, Tp. Lào Cai, Lào Cai
How to get: From Lao Cai to Sapa, you still need to take bus or taxi, the distance is about 38km (24 miles).
 
Most of the best tourist express trains in Vietnam are running on this route, like Orient Express Train, King Express Train, Fanxipan Express Train, Livitrans Express Train, Reunification Express Train, Victoria Express Train, Chapa Express Train and so on. The facilities and services on these trains are better than the Reunification Express. The two beds soft sleeper cabins are only available on the luxury tourist trains carriages. If you would like to have the best experience, you could try the VIP cabin on Sapaly, Chapa or Fanxipan.
 
There are two trains from Hanoi to Sapa in Lao Cai each day, SP1 and SP3, both of them depart at late evening and arrive on the next morning. Different tourist train carriages are attached on SP1 and SP3.

(Last Update on November 14, 2024)
 

SP1	Ticket Types and Price (US$)
	Hard Sleeper (6)	Soft Sleeper (2)
Damitrans 21:35 - 05:15	-	36

  
 

SP3 (22:00/06:10+)	Ticket Types and Price (US$)
	Hard Sleeper (6)	Soft Sleeper (2)
Reunification Expres 22:00 - 06:10 +1	-	34
Sapaly Express 22:00 - 06:10 +1	-	40
King Sapa Express 22:00 - 05:55+1	-	35
Chapa Express 22:00 - 05:55+1	-	42
Laman Express 22:00 - 06:05+1	-	45

 (Last Update on November 14, 2024)
 

SP4	Ticket Types and Price (US$)
	Hard Sleeper (4)	Soft Sleeper (2)
Reunification Express 21:40 - 05:30 +1	-	34
Sapaly Express 21:30 - 05:30 +1	-	40
King Sapa Express 21:30 - 05:25 +1	-	35
Chapa Express 21:30 - 05:25 +1	-	42
Damitrans 21:30 - 05:25 +1	-	36
Laman Express 21:30 - 05:25	-	45

International Trains from/to China 

K3/K4: Beijing - Ulaanbaatar - Moscow	K19/K20: Beijing - Manzhouli - Moscow	K23/K24: Beijing - Ulaanbaatar
K27/K28: Beijing - Pyongyang	T8701/T8702: Nanning - Hanoi	4652/4653: Hohhot → Ulaanbaatar 4654/4651: Ulaanbaatar → Hohhot
Z5/Z6: Beijing - Hanoi	K9795/K9796: Urumqi - Almaty K9797/K9798: Urumqi - Astana	Erlian - Ulaanbaatar
D87/D88: Kunming - Vientiane

 International railways under construction/planning from China to: