Hạ Long Bay is blessed with a spectacular emerald beauty. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Đức

HÀ NỘI — UNESCO heritage site Hạ Long Bay in the northern province of Quảng Ninh is one of the most beautiful places in the world to add to any traveller’s bucket list in 2022, according to Canadian travel publication The Travel.

Located in the northeast of Việt Nam, the bay has attracted visitors from far and wide as it is home to over 1,600 limestone towers and islets covered in tropical trees. Most of the islands are uninhabited and unaffected by humans.

The Travel suggests that the best way to experience this mist-shrouded landscape is to board a junk boat and sail through the outstanding scenic beauty.

“Visitors can get off to explore various cave formations across the bay, including Thiên Cung Cave and Surprise Cave, which give way to impressive sweeping views of the water below,” said that magazine.

Sửng Sốt (Surprise Cave) is a must-visit destination in Hạ Long Bay. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Đức

Hạ Long Bay is one of the only two Southeast Asian representatives to break into the list along with Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex.

Topping The Travel’s list of 10 of 2022's most beautiful places around the world is Zhangjiajie National Park in China, the inspiration for the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar.

“This 200+ square mile national park has hundreds of towering sandstone pillars. The area is often covered in low clouds, making the pillars appear to float out of the haze, creating a scene that looks too beautiful to be!” the magazine said.

Other destinations on the list were Venice (Italy), Yellowstone National Park (US), Angkor Wat (Cambodia), Santorini (Greece), Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia), Patagonia (Chile), Bora Bora (French Polynesia), and Banff National Park (Canada).

In March, The Travel had named Việt Nam’s Hạ Long Bay among the top 10 places in Asia that travellers must visit at least once in their lifetime.

In 2019, the bay was listed by British travel magazine Rough Guides as one of the 10 best UNESCO sites in Asia.

This popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, two hours from Hà Nội, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and was recognised for its outstanding geological and geomorphological value by the World Heritage Committee in 2000.

"It forms a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars and is an ideal model of a mature karst landscape developed during a warm and wet tropical climate. The property’s exceptional scenic beauty is complemented by its great biological interest," the UNESCO website notes.

Since the start of this year, nearly 1.5 million holidaymakers have travelled to Hạ Long Bay. VNS