Vietnam in NYT's Top 20 Places to Travel in Your 20s

                                                               Photos: Duc Anh

New York Times listing the latest in a long line of recommadations for Vietnam as a holiday destination.

The New York Times has ranked Vietnam in tenth place on its “Top 20 Places to Travel in Your 20s”.

“A trip to Southeast Asia would be tough to squeeze into a week, but if you find yourself with a bit more time, consider Vietnam, a country rich in cuisine, culture and natural beauty - and light on the wallet,” it wrote.

Hoi An, Hue and Ha Long Bay are recommended as three memorable places in Vietnam. The three were also suggested as great places to visit by the UK travel website skyscanner.net in June, which ranked Vietnam as the world’s second-cheapest holiday destination.

An Bang Beach, 3 km east from of An ancient town in central Quang Nam province, was ranked 16th in the Top 25 beaches in Asia by travel website TripAdvisor. By April 11 there were 1,248 ratings on TripAdvisor regarding An Bang Beach, of which 581 people, or 46.55 per cent, thought the beach was excellent and 463, or 37 per cent, thought it was good.

TripAdvisor itself described the beach as “lovely” and suggested the best time to visit is from May to September. An Bang Beach was also voted among the Top 100 beaches in the world by CNN Summer Travel in 2013.

Hoi An is an old trade port and has retained over 1,000 ancient relics, such as streets, houses, temples and tombs. Its architecture is a combination of Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese, with a little Western as well. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

Hue, meanwhile, was ranked in second place in the Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Vietnam by Touropia. According to Lonely Planet, the top places to visit in Hue are Thien Mu Pagoda, the To Mieu Temple Complex, the National School, the Flag Tower, and the Tombs of Nguyen Dynasty emperors such as Thieu Tri and Tu Duc.

The city’s slogan is “Hue - A Homeland of Happiness”. It targets that, by 2020, tourism will contribute 52 to 53 per cent of its GDP and over 55 per cent by 2030. By 2020 it aims to attract 5.1 million tourists, with 2 million international arrivals, 8.8 million tourists by 2025, with 3.2 million international arrivals, and 12 million tourists by 2030, with 5 million international arrivals.

Quang Ninh province, home of Ha Long Bay, has recently opened three new tourism experiences for visitors. In June it opened a 2.2 km cable car from Bai Chay Beach to Ba Deo Mountain that can transport about 2,000 people an hour. It was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world, with one cabin holding up to 230 people, and for having the world’s highest pillar, at 188.88 meters above the ground.

The beauty of Ha Long Bay has also attracted Hollywood film makers and is featured in the trailer for Kong: Skull Island, which has been released recently.

by Nhi Linh / VET