Located in the northern province of Quang Ninh, the UNESCO heritage site Ha Long Bay has been listed among the top 51 most beautiful places in the world, as compiled by the famous and long-standing travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler.
According to details given by the magazine, Ha Long Bay is widely loved for its blue waters and spread of limestone islands, all of which are occupied by tropical trees and wildlife.
Condé Nast Traveler suggested that visitors to the area should board a junk boat and set off to experience the beauty of the mist-shrouded emerald basin for themselves.
Situated in the northeast of the country, the bay has attracted visitors from far and wide due to it being home to over 1,600 limestone towers and islets covered in tropical trees. Indeed, the majority of the islands are uninhabited and are unaffected by humans.
Ha Long Bay, which literally means the bay of a descending dragon, has twice been recognised as a World Natural Heritage site by UNESCO, both in 1994 and 2000.
Furthermore, 2019 saw Ha Long Bay welcome more than four million tourists. After a long period of closure caused by the need to control the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism in the bay is in the process of showing signs of recovery. In the peak summer season this year, the bay welcomed approximately 20,000 tourists each day.
Completing the list of Condé Nast Traveler’s top 51 most beautiful places in the world are the Azores of Portugal, Mount Kilimanjaro of Tanzania, Wulingyuan Scenic Area of China, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove of Japan, Na Pali Coast of Hawaii, Reynisfjara of Iceland, and Capri of Italy.
This is in addition to Cappadocia of Turkey, Angel Falls of Venezuela, the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador, the Cliffs of Moher of Ireland, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the Grand Canyon of Arizona, Machu Picchu of Peru, Mount Fuji of Japan, and Serengeti National Park of Tanzania.
