Ninh Binh listed among 50 best spots to visit in 2018

According to US travel site Insider, Ninh Binh boasts impressive topography that includes mountains, limestone cliffs, and forests.

US travel site Insider has listed the 50 best spots to visit in 2018, in which Ninh Binh found a place.

Located 90 km south of Hanoi, Ninh Binh is known as “Ha Long Bay on Land”, given its limestone mountains rising out of paddy fields.

The most famous local attraction is the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site, which has been expanded over recent years and will soon become more popular for its green fields, mountains, caves, and forests. The province also boasts the Tam Coc - Bich Dong tourist center, which is even more stunning when its rice fields turn to yellow. Ninh Binh was one of the three locations for the movie Kong: Skull Island, one of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of 2017.

Insider suggests visitors try the full experience by gliding along the rivers that run between paddy fields in a traditional rowing boat, exploring caves in Cuc Phuong National Park, the first national park of Vietnam preserving a variety of rare animals and plants, on 22,000 ha, and visiting ancient temples in the area. As the first capital of Vietnam, Ninh Binh is also a destination for culture and history explorers, where tourists can find thousands of vestiges of palaces, temples, pagodas, and tombs related to the Dinh, Le, and Ly Dynasties.

Ninh Binh is also famous for its delicious dishes made from goat. Local goats are fed naturally on limestone mountains, which makes their meat firmer than goat meat from elsewhere.

The Insider list includes some of the world’s biggest cities, such as Buenos Aires, Chicago, London, Mexico, New Orleans, and New York. In Asia, it recommends Singapore, Sichuan in mainland China, Indonesia’s Raja Ampat Islands, and Taipei.

Ninh Binh province is an increasingly popular destination for many tourists in Vietnam. It welcomed 6.5 million visitors last year, earning revenue of over VND1.7 trillion ($75 million). It is expected to host more than 7 million visitors this year, earning revenue of nearly VND2.5 trillion ($110 million).

The province is now drafting a tourism master plan to 2025 and vision to 2030. Tourism is to become a key economic sector of the province by 2025 and the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex a key destination.

by Le Diem / VET