Two of the nation’s leading tourist destinations, Sa Pa and Ninh Binh, have been listed among 14 up-and-coming destinations across Asia to visit this year, according to travel magazine Trips to Discover.

According to the magazine, Sa Pa represents one of the most popular places to visit nationwide.

“It sits high up in the Hoang Lien Son mountains and makes a great base for trekking or mountain bike tours with routes that will take you past magnificent waterfalls, through rice paddies, and around charming mountain villages home to families known for making fantastic local handicraft items”, says Trips to Discover.

The magazine also suggests that tourists try to travel to villages where they can view firsthand how these items are made, in addition to purchasing products such as traditional weavings and carvings as souvenirs.

Furthermore, Trips to Discover went on to describe Ninh Binh as an incredibly picturesque destination. 

“It boasts hundreds of limestone monoliths that are topped by vibrant greenery that rise from the ground, scattered throughout the city with rivers flowing through them”, the magazine exclaimed. 

Moreover, the publication recommends that visitors take in a number of pagodas situated around Ninh Binh, such as Bai Dinh and Bich Dong, the latter of which has been built into a cave. 

Elsewhere on the top 14 list are destinations such as Gifu of Japan, Sarawak of Malaysia, Bagan of Myanmar, Sumba of Indonesia, Ella of Sri Lanka, Nusa Lembongan of Indonesia, Belitung of Indonesia, Okinawa of Japan, Hoh Xil of Tibet, Champasak of Laos, and Koh Kood of Thailand.