[Hanoi & Sapa #1] 4-Person Hanoi–Sapa 7N8D Booking Breakdown

Only three days in the October calendar showed a number in black. Everything else was gray.

Direct Answer & TL;DR

Tomorrow (September 29), our family of four (two adults, two kids) leaves for Hanoi and Sapa for 7 nights, 8 days. Flights, hotels, the night train, the sleeper bus, and Fansipan tickets came to ₩3,185,191 (~$2,290) in bookings alone. Chapa Express, the train the kids wanted, sold out within a week, so we switched to Damitrans. A hotel near Hanoi station turned down our day-use request, so we’re going straight from the airport to an Old Quarter hotel. Fansipan prices by height, so my older kid, a child by age, paid the adult fare.

That’s about ₩796,000 (~$573) per person, and meals and local transport aren’t in there. Lodging runs about ₩230,000 ($165) a night in Sapa and about ₩270,000 ($194) at L7 West Lake in Hanoi. The biggest line is the flight, over a third of the total. The full trip cost, added up after we got home, is in #10.

The Sleeper Train and Nine Hours in Hanoi

Two weeks before departure, I checked Chapa Express’s 4-person shared cabin on Klook. Every date was open. I closed the tab, telling myself I’d look into it a bit more first.

I wanted Chapa Express because of the kids. They had watched the cast of the YouTube show “Pung-hyang-go” take a sleeper train from Hanoi to Sapa, and they wanted to ride it too. I wanted to give them a good memory, and among the sleeper trains, Chapa Express is the one many people pick. So I settled on it.

A week later, I opened it again. Almost every Hanoi → Sapa date was gone, except for a few. Chapa’s own site showed sold out everywhere. I wanted to know why, but I couldn’t find out. The kids were disappointed. I was too, since it was the train I’d been looking forward to most. I’d only been looking at Chapa Express, so I had no idea which other sleeper train to pick. After some scrambling, I booked Damitrans Express. The interior looked similar to Chapa’s, and I remembered reading reviews praising the bedding.

Per the official schedules, both trains leave Hanoi station at 10pm and reach Lao Cai around 6am. On paper, the timetables are nearly identical.

With the train settled, the next problem showed up. Our flight lands in Hanoi at 12:35pm, and the train leaves at 10pm. That left nine hours to fill with two kids and our suitcases.

My first plan, like in Pung-hyang-go, was a day-use room (renting a room for daytime hours, no overnight stay) at a hotel near Hanoi station. We’d go from the airport to the station, drop our bags at the hotel, and shower before boarding.

Searching Agoda for a room near the station for 2 adults and 2 kids returned nothing. So I booked a 2-adult room and asked the hotel directly.

“We’re a family of 2 adults and 2 children. Could we use the room during the day, until we leave for the sleeper train around 9pm?”

The reply came a few hours later. It was a 2-person room, four of us wouldn’t fit, please cancel and rebook. Fair enough. I had asked to put four people in a two-person room. The booking allowed free cancellation, so I canceled right away.

I looked into leaving luggage at Hanoi station, and into getting a spa treatment that included bag storage. Then an idea hit me. If we were only going to leave bags at the station and wander the Old Quarter anyway, why not go straight from the airport to an Old Quarter hotel?

This time I picked a cheap, well-reviewed place on Agoda that could book 2 adults and 2 kids: the family triple room at Luxury Old Quarter Hotel & Gym. It has a 9.0 rating, 2,067 reviews, and sits about 1.3km from Hanoi station. The price seems to have ticked up a bit since I booked.

We won’t sleep there. We head out at 9pm. Still, I think having somewhere to leave bags and shower is a solid choice. If the family is worn out, the whole trip gets harder.

Plane Seats and Fansipan Tickets

With two kids, we wanted all four seats together. Pulling up the seat map, most of it was paid seating. Per the official policy, advance economy seat selection on Vietnam Airlines is paid, and you can pay up to 6 hours before departure.

I knew seat selection was free at check-in, so I checked in online a day before departure. Before check-in, the seats were open. Once I finished checking in, four seats in the paid front section had been assigned to us for free. I hadn’t paid for them. Moving from there would cost money.

The four dark seats are ours.

On the Incheon → Hanoi leg, the farther forward and the closer to the aisle or window, the pricier the seat. The only seats you could pick for free were a few in the middle of the rear section.

The near-white seats are the free ones.

Not a window seat, but up front, so it seemed like a good spot and I left it alone. How the airline decides which seats to assign isn’t explained in any official source.

I bought the Fansipan tickets while emailing back and forth with our Sapa hotel, MGallery. They said I could buy round-trip VIP tickets covering Fansipan sections 1 and 2 through the hotel, and the price was close to the standard ticket. I ended up VIP by accident. The package is the Muong Hoa funicular + cable car round trip + WOW pass.

Fansipan prices by height, not age. Per the ticket vendor, 140cm and up pays the adult fare, 100–140cm pays the child fare, and 99cm and under rides free. Our older kid is a child by age but is over 140cm, so we paid the adult fare.

Then I searched Sapa on the iPhone Weather app. Rain in the forecast.

Back on a Sleeper Bus, Lower Deck, Middle

On October 3, we take a sleeper bus from Sapa back to Hanoi on HK Buslines (formerly HK Open Tour). Drop-off is across from Lotte Mall West Lake. From there we go to L7 West Lake Hanoi by LOTTE HOTELS, where we’ll spend the last 3 nights.

I booked through the Vexere app, which lets you pick your own cabin type and seat. I’d heard the front and back get rough vibration and noise from the wheels, so I picked 2 lower-deck middle double cabins. I’d also heard the upper deck gets more motion sickness.

I found the cabin dimensions and amenities on a travel information site. Contrary to what I’d heard, Vexere’s own blog says to pick the upper deck if you can, citing reviews that it’s less bumpy. For anyone prone to motion sickness, it also suggests a seated limousine van instead of a lie-flat bus.

Tomorrow at 10:05am we leave Incheon on VN417. That night we board the Damitrans sleeper train at Hanoi station. The rain forecast for Sapa hasn’t changed.

🔗 References

• Chapa Express Train - Cabin Class — Chapa Express cabin types, SP3 schedule 22:00 → 06:10
• Vietnam Railway - Damitrans Express — Damitrans SP3 22:00 → 06:05, 4-person and 2-person VIP cabins
• Vietnam Airlines - Advance seat selection — Economy advance seat selection is paid, payable up to 6 hours before departure
• Headout - Sun World Fansipan Legend Tickets — Fansipan adult fare over 140cm, child fare 100–140cm, free under 99cm
• Sapa Nomad - Book HK Buslines Hanoi to Sapa — HK Open Tour renamed to HK Buslines, lower-deck double cabin 90×180cm, amenities, about 6 hours
• VeXeRe Blog - Hanoi to Sapa sleeper bus — reviews recommending the upper deck, seated limousine van suggested for motion sickness
• 한국경제 - 풍향고 멤버들의 하노이 당일치기 베스트 코스 3 — Pung-hyang-go cast taking the 10pm sleeper train to Sapa (Korean-language article)
• Vietnam Arrival Card (PAI) Visa Date Error: Set to the Day Before (#2)
• Landed 12:11, on the Sleeper Train at 10pm (#4)
• Resting by West Lake, a City Tour Bus Around Hoan Kiem, and Home (#9)
• Nha Trang 5N7D, Two Families, 4 Kids: Itinerary & Cost