Lao Cai to Yen Bai

By train the journey from Lao Cai to Yen Bai is scheduled to take from 3 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 44 minutes depending upon which train you take.

Train Times from Lao Cai to Yen Bai

There are currently 2 trains a day from Yen Bai to Lao Cai.

Buy Tickets from Lao Cai to Yen Bai

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Lao Cai is the closest train station to Sapa.

Location of Lao Cai Train Station

Location of Yen Bai Train Station

About Travel from Lao Cai to Yen Bai

Located about halfway between Hanoi and Sapa, Yen Bai is the connection point between the Vietnamese railway network and two scenic areas: Mu Cang Cai and Thac Ba Lake. The most popular time to visit the area is from September to November immediately after the rainy season when the weather is cooler.

Staying in Yen Bai

Yen Bai is a small city with around 100,000 permanent residents which grew from a small village at the start of the 20th Century to it’s current size largely because of the construction of a railway line linking this remote province to Hanoi.

Yen Bai City is pleasant with a scenic location among hills and forests. It is not, however, a tourist destination in its own right and has relatively few facilities for leisure travellers.

The best hotels in the province are located outside of Yen Bai City in scenic areas. The city itself has around half a dozen tourist hotels, most of which cost from the equivalent of $4 to $10 USD a night, with the cheapest accommodation being in dormitory rooms. The city’s most luxurious hotel, the Le Blanc Heritage Hotel, costs from around $55 USD a night. The Le Blanc Heritage Hotel is also only 900 metres walking distance to the north of Yen Bai Railway Station.

There is also very little ‘international cuisine’ on offer in the city, except the occasional basic dish such as a burger or french fries. Restaurants in the city which are popular include Nha Hang Thuy Linh (Vietnamese cuisine) and Sanh BBQ Restaurant (Korean style barbecue).

Thac Ba Lake

The closest part of Thac Ba Lake is located only 17 km by road to the north of Yen Bai City. Depending on exactly where you are staying, taking a taxi from Yen Bai City to Thac Ba Lake, or getting the hotel to pick you up, may be your only travel options.

Thac Ba Lake is a man made with an irregular shape which contains an estimated 1,300 small islands created when the area was flooded. The size of the lake has been estimated as being between 140 and 230 square kilometres, so there’s a very large area to explore. In addition there is a mountain by the lake which you can walk up, Cao Bien Mountain, some caves, and some small villages with wooden houses.

There are also plenty of resorts, guesthouses, and even campsites to choose from around the edge of Thac Bac Lake. The cooler climate, especially during the winter months, makes outdoor activities like camping and trekking much more pleasant than they would be in the heat of lowland Vietnam.

Mu Cang Chai

Mu Cang Chai is much further away (160 km by road) from Yen Bai City than Thac Ba Lake. Because of the roads it takes about 4 hours to travel by bus from Yen Bai City to Mu Cang Chai. Bus services to Mu Cang Chai tend to depart very early (around 05:30) from Yen Bai Bus Station. We recommend checking at the bus station the day before you plan to make the journey.

The reason leisure travellers come to Mu Cang Chai is because an area of approximately 7 square kilometres where rice is grown on terraces cut into steep sided hills. Rice has been cultivated in this way in Mu Cang Chai for several centuries by the minority ethnic groups who live in the area.

There are two ways to tour the rice terraces. One way is to rent a motorbike or hire a vehicle and a driver and drive through the area, which has very steep roads with lots of turns. The other option is to join an organised trek. There are a number of established 2 to 3 day trekking routes in the area with basic accommodation provided by the people who farm the rice. The paths in the area are often very steep so a good level of fitness is required for treks in Mu Cang Chai.