NatGeo lists Vietnam mountain range among world’s best destinations

A scene from the Hoang Lien Son National Park. Photo by Shutterstock/Aivars Ivbulis

U.S-based National Geographic’s listing of best travel spots for 2019 includes Vietnam’s Hoang Lien Son mountain range.
The magazine said the range, located around 195 miles northwest of the capital city, “remains rugged, rural and a world away from hectic Hanoi.”
The newly installed cable car system on Mount Fansipan, Vietnam and Indochina’s highest peak (3,143 meters or 10,312 feet), has helped to draw an increasing number of tourists to the area.
NatGeo suggests that visitors to the area consider going on a hike in the Hoang Lien Son National Park and the nearby Muong Hoa Valley.

It also recommends that visitors try out homestay accommodation with ethnic minority communities like the Hmong, Red Dao, Tay and Giay.

The Hoang Lien Son Range is among three Asian destinations on the list, alongside Oman and Fanjingshan in China.

The monument at the summit of Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam. Photo by Shutterstock/Ekkalak Ngamjarasvanji

NatGeo’s list also includes Canterbury Region, New Zealand, Dordogne, France, Dakar, Senegal, Peruvian Amazon and other destinations.

Hoang Lien Son is one of Vietnam’s grandest mountain ranges. Apart from the Fansipan peak, Sa Pa Town, with its picturesque rice terraces and dreamy cloud scenes, is a major tourism draw.

Rice terraces in Sa Pa Town. Photo by Shutterstock/Efired

Last February, the town was named among top 10 places in Southeast Asia by travel publisher Rough Guides.

Sa Pa welcomed over 1.4 million visitors in the first six months of 2018, including 141,400 foreigners, according to Lao Cai Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.