Coc Ly Market
Coc Ly Market
4.5
About
Coc Ly market where situated between stunning mountains by the Chay River. Every Tuesday morning, the people from the surrounding ethnic villages such as Flower H'mong, Phu La and Dao Tuyen gather to sell and buy their products. Having explored the market, you will have a boat trip to Flower H'mong village of Na Nen then trek to Trung Do village of Tay minority people. Enjoy the picnic lunch in local house with Tay people. From there you can travel by boat down the river and experience the magnificent sight of the beautiful river banks.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Coc Ly Market and nearby attractions
The area
Reach out directly
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
33 reviews
Excellent
17
Very good
11
Average
4
Poor
1
Terrible
0
Tours S
Hanoi, Vietnam4 contributions
Sept 2015 • Business
The market is divided into private space. People put all the good covering their culture and custom such as: some kinds of fruit, herb, jew’s ear mushroom, honey, corn wine, rice, household items, jewelry, colorful and interesting brocatelle at one area and put on nylon piece on the ground.
However, the most impressive area is the place where they are selling and buying cattle such as: buffalo, cow, pig, chicken, dog, cat and horse. The atmosphere is so crowded and noisy with the scene of people are sitting or standing to talk, discuss and persuade and bargain with each other. Next to this area is food area, presenting the specialty and famous dishes from ethnic minority people. It is as crowded as other corners. Mixing with the fog and mist from hot dishes is a lot of sounds such as talking, shouting, dishes beating. Tourist cannot miss this interesting scene, they will stay a bit, take a look and come to enjoy some of dishes with ethnic minority people.
However, the most impressive area is the place where they are selling and buying cattle such as: buffalo, cow, pig, chicken, dog, cat and horse. The atmosphere is so crowded and noisy with the scene of people are sitting or standing to talk, discuss and persuade and bargain with each other. Next to this area is food area, presenting the specialty and famous dishes from ethnic minority people. It is as crowded as other corners. Mixing with the fog and mist from hot dishes is a lot of sounds such as talking, shouting, dishes beating. Tourist cannot miss this interesting scene, they will stay a bit, take a look and come to enjoy some of dishes with ethnic minority people.
Written 10 December 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michael P
Bangkok, Thailand7,637 contributions
Aug 2017 • Solo
Coc Ly is a tiny village located approximately 18 kilometers west of Bac Ha town, which is roughly a two and a half to three hour drive from Sapa. Inhabited primarily by Flower Hmong people, the village hosts a market every Tuesday morning. Although the market is roughly half the size of either Bac Ha or Can Cau markets, it is very popular with tourists who visit as part of organized tour groups from Bac Ha, Lao Cai or Sapa. One of the main reasons for visiting this market is the stunning scenery of the surrounding area. The 40 minute drive from Bac Ha, up a narrow, winding country road, is simply spectacular.
Unfortunately, there are no buses or mini-buses running to Coc Ly. Transportation options are limited to participating in a group tour, hiring a car, renting a motorbike or taking a taxi from Bac Ha town.
Unfortunately, there are no buses or mini-buses running to Coc Ly. Transportation options are limited to participating in a group tour, hiring a car, renting a motorbike or taking a taxi from Bac Ha town.
Written 9 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katherine S
Washington DC, DC248 contributions
May 2017 • Couples
This market is very un-touristy, but it does sell goods for tourists in addition to actual things the villagers need (tools, herbal medicine, toys, buffalo, goat, meat, food). This market is also a place where the men like to hang out and drink (while the women buy and sell). You can get horse-soup....if you are in to that.
I thought it was fun to see, but not a "must-see" because it is far away from Sa Pa.
I thought it was fun to see, but not a "must-see" because it is far away from Sa Pa.
Written 18 May 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Getaway42210480924
3 contributions
Nov 2018 • Couples
The coc ly markets were interesting with a lot of locals wearing traditional dress and a lot of stalls selling these clothes, but not worth the long drive and cost of the tour. There are a lot of tourists there so is becoming more commercial. We were told they would be selling animals and all sorts of things but was just clothes, toiletries and the standard handmade crafts. Was ok but not worth 5 hrs of driving.
Written 26 November 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
504
New York City, NY345 contributions
Jan 2016 • Friends
Traveling back in time is that what this market is. It's unlikely, you"ll actually buy anything there but it sure is fun to see! It's a true local market, not for tourists (unless you are in the market for a water buffalo).
Written 9 February 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sue H
Nottingham, UK88 contributions
Nov 2015
Very intriguing place; hairdressing, raw meat stalls (pigs heads/offal included), usual tourist stuff, tribal costumes, lots of food & cattle (horses, buffalo, goats, oxen etc.) Various Hmong tribes people including Flower, Tu Di, Tay & Giay Hmong ladies doing their shopping etc. A little different to the usual market days us British usually attend!
Written 14 January 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tracey and Mart... B
Sydney, Australia144 contributions
Sept 2015
A good trip to see the local ethnic minorities in their outfits however it is a three hour drive from Sapa. We did a trek the following day which was a much better opportunity to speak to the locals and not so far. If you have time do both but , do it but if not go for the trek instead
Written 26 September 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kevin M
Sapa, Vietnam4 contributions
May 2015 • Friends
Our whole trip to Vietnam was arranged by Odyssey Tours. We were picked up from the train and driven to the Coc Ly market afterwards. The market is on a bank of the Chay River in a mountainous area. The market deals in fruit, vegetables, pork and chickens, in addition to colorful fabrics and items of traditional dress. A good place to understand the local traditions and customs.
Written 31 May 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rich M
Weston, CT343 contributions
Aug 2014 • Family
This is much more a local's market rather than for the tourist trade (and that's a good thing). We happened to be in Sapa the one day of the week it was active so drove there with our guide. Its a bit of a drive but very interesting to see local live. In a sense, this little slice of land becomes a bustling downtown center of commerce once a week and then is relatively barren farmland the rest of the time. Everything is sold here from hats to water buffalos. Combine with the boat ride on the river and its a very interesting a nice day.
Written 17 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Florence C
Adelaide, Australia70 contributions
Nov 2014 • Family
We went on a tour which included this market. It is a small rural market. The usual Sapa wares, weaving, embroidery some lacquerware and local foods. We enjoyed seeing the locals eating and interacting, tried some fried rice cakes which were delicious. Some of the ladies trying to sell goods were a bit pushy, but not overly so. Enjoyed the experience
Written 18 November 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Florence C!
Thank you so much for your sharing your experience about the Market on Trip Advisor forum,
This market is one largest hill tribe market in the northern Viet Nam,
After visit this market the tourist could do Boat Trip & Buffalo cart tour too ,
Thanks & hope to serve you next trip to Indochina ,
All the best.
Nguyen Minh Tien . Mr
Sales Manager
Sales@vietnamtomtravel.com
Written 20 November 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I am travelling with my partner to Sapa in November and, given that we will be there from Tuesday morning until Wednesday night, we have planned to visit Coc Ly Market on the first day and to do some trekking on the second day.
I am looking for a travel agent that organizes such a tour, but I can only find private tours and they are pretty expensive for us.
Has anyone made a Coc Ly Market tour (often combined with Chay river down by boat and 2-3 other villages) and could tell me how much did it cost?
Is it possible to book it a day in advance in Sapa or in Hanoi?
Thank you very much!!!!
Written 23 September 2015
hi Matthias . did you come to coc ly market? if you want to come i can help you to organize the trip for you, my phone number is +84985264267, lookfoward to see u
Written 30 May 2016
Showing results 1-1 of 1
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing