Top 6 Markets in Sapa for Shopping

To explore a new destination, visiting many famous tourist points with marvelous landscapes may not be enough. To have integral tourism experiences, you can’t skip the beauty of traditional cultures in the places you come. And markets are exactly a useful way to help you explore more about it.

In Sapa, markets play an important role in reflecting the colorful traditional cultures of many ethnic minorities living together here. Fortunately, many markets here still preserve its special features forming through many generations. You can find a lot of hand-made goods that have good quality and are made by skillful hands of workmen. Markets in Sapa are a place for trading and exchanging goods and where people wear their best costumes,  meet others, converse, or date, making them a special space of traditional culture. 

If you want to have these markets' names for your Sapa itinerary, this article will be a useful suggestion for you with much information about the most famous markets in Sapa from BestPrice team. Let’s start. 

1. Sapa Market

Address: Luong Dinh Cua Street, Sapa town

Sapa Market is the biggest market in Sapa. It’s the shopping center for locals and tourists with a spacious 2-floor building. Located in the center of the town, near Sapa station, Sapa Market is very convenient for those who want to buy some specialties of Sapa as souvenirs to give to their friends and family.

Thanks to the big scale of this market, you can find almost all the featured goods of this land from fresh food such as buffalo meat, black chicken to dried goods such as medicinal herbs, mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, especially folk remedy of Dao ethnic for postpartum mothers. If the first floor is mainly for food and drink, the second one is for clothes and accessories with hand-made brocade and so on. 

This indoor market helps you visit without any concern about the weather, but it has less traditionality than other markets in Sapa. But if you prefer a convenient one, it’s really a good choice for your trip.

Sapa Center Market

2. Love Market Sapa

Address: 01 Ngo Cau May, Sapa town

Love market is a unique culture of many ethnic minorities in Northwestern Vietnam. But in each province of this region it will have several differences. Love Market Sapa is a fair gathering once a week on Saturday nights, in front of the ancient stone church. 

From the name “Love Market,” this market is not really for exchanging goods but for the locals, including girls and boys wanting to find love. They play instruments and dance in colorful costumes with traditional music. This feature makes Love Market very attractive to tourists. Besides enjoying this cultural space, you can find delicious foods as well as hand-made brocade in this market. Love Market is really an interesting destination for your Sapa tour. 

Sapa love market

3. Coc Ly Market

Address: Coc Ly commune, Bac Ha district

Coc Ly Market is a fair gathering once a week on Tuesdays. It’s an important market for locals in western Bac Ha, including the Nung ethnic, Mong Hoa ethnic, etc. Located on Chay riverside, it’s convenient for tourists to visit this market before transferring on boats to the peaceful villages of locals to explore more about their daily lives. 

Rather far from the center of Sapa town, it would be best if you had a bit of effort to travel this market, but it’s really worth trying. Here is a place trading mainly hand-made locals such as brocades and skillful embroideries, or labor tools such as buffalos, etc. It’s a chance for you to explore unique cultures that you can’t find anywhere else.

Coc Ly market in Sapa

4. Muong Hum Market

Address: Muong Hum commune, Bat Xat district

Muong Hum Market is a fair gathering on Sundays, from 7 AM to 1 PM. At 44 kilometers from the center of Sapa town, Muong Hum is an attractive destination for tourists fond of traditional cultures in Northwestern Vietnam. With just 20.000 VND for a bus ticket from Sapa, you have a chance to join one of the most crowded markets in Lao Cai province. There are many ethnic minorities taking part in this market, such as Ha Nhi, Mong, Dao, etc., making it a colorful cultural space and really attractive, thanks to distinct traditional costumes for each ethnic. 

Muong Hum market

5. Sapa Night market

Address: Dien Bien Phu street, Sapa town

To meet the needs of many tourists who want a place for out-going in the evening, Sapa Night market is formed and becomes a famous tourist point in Sapa. You can find many types of goods here, but the main ones are food and souvenirs. 

Sapa night market

6. Bac Ha Market

Address: Bac Ha town, Lao Cai province

Bac Ha Market is very famous and typical for a northwestern fair. It gathers once a week on Sundays. Not just a place for trading goods, Bac Ha market also has cultural exchanges of many ethnic minorities taking part here, such as Hmong, Dao, Tay, Nung ethnics. 

As a big market, you can find very many products in this Sapa Sunday market. Bac Ha is also divided into smaller areas for distinct products such as brocade area, food area, horse area, etc. It’s very convenient for buyers and sellers to meet and exchange. By the way, it’s easier for tourists to visit as well as buy some specialties as souvenirs for their friends and family.

Bac Ha Market Sapa

To have a wonderful trip, don’t skip markets in Sapa because they will give you many interesting experiences about colorful traditional cultures in this beautiful land. Thanks to that, you can broaden your knowledge about locals' daily lives here besides marvelous landscapes, which are inherently famous in Northwestern Vietnam. BestPrice team hopes that a lot of information in this article about the top 6 markets for shopping in Sapa can be a useful suggestion for your itinerary, giving many great experiences in your Sapa trip.

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Nhat Anh

Image Source: Internet