Lào Cai: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Lào Cai is a city of 130,671 people in Vietnam (Lao Cai), 86 m (282 ft) above sea level.
Key facts
Daylight in Lào Cai runs from about 10 h 48 min a day in late December to 13 h 33 min in late June (computed for 22.49° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
No airport with scheduled passenger service sits within 100 km of Lào Cai in the OurAirports register, so flying in means a longer transfer from the nearest served city.
Buses to Lào Cai · Driving and car hire
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Hanoi, 252 km — buses · car rental · tours
- Kunming, 311 km (China)
- Haiphong, 333 km — buses · car rental
- Qujing, 334 km (China)
- Thanh Hóa, 352 km — buses · car rental
- Baise, 313 km (China)
- Mengzi, 115 km (China)
- Chuxiong, 376 km (China)
- Jianshui, 344 km (China)
- Bắc Giang, 266 km — tours
Common questions
How big is Lào Cai?
About 130,671 people live in Lào Cai (GeoNames).
What time zone is Lào Cai in?
Asia/Bangkok, currently UTC+7.
What currency is used in Lào Cai?
The Dong (VND). Traffic drives on the right.
Which cities are near Lào Cai?
Hanoi (252 km), Kunming (311 km), Haiphong (333 km), Qujing (334 km), Thanh Hóa (352 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.