Accessible from Hanoi both by car (on a new, modern highway) and by overnight train, Sa Pa is one of the primary tourist draws in the north. Most tours will be based from Sa Pa town, a charming hill station with numerous accomodation and restaurant options, which offers visitors opportunities to experience some of the tremendous ethnic diversity of Vietnam. As a birding destination, Sa Pa is also superb. The nearby Hoang Lien Son National Park sits at the base of Mt. Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam, and has been designated as an IBA. Over 350 species have been recorded in the area, and the park and mountain slopes are home to numerous highland species found nowhere else in the country. Tourists can also hike up Mr. Fansipan, which takes two days and one night.

Birding Highlights: Gould's Shortwing, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Crested Finchbill, Beautiful Nuthatch, Red-tailed Laughingthrush, White-browed Laughingthrush and Black-faced Laughingthrushes, Spectacled Barwings, Blue-winged Siva, Bar-throated Minla and Red-tailed Minla, Black-headed Sibia, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Ashy-throated Parrotbill and Golden Parrotbill, Mrs Gould's Sunbird, Green-tailed Sunbird, Black-headed Greenfinch, Little Forktail, Sickle-billed Scimitar Babbler, Black-faced Warbler, Ashy-throated Warbler, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, White-browed Fulvetta, Whiskered Yuhina, White-collared Yuhina, Stripe-throated Yuhina.