The "Yellow season" in Mu Cang Chai in northern Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

The article, written by travel journalist Katie Lockhart, recommended Mu Cang Chai, Da Lat, Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, Mui Ne, Quy Nhon, and Bai Tu Long Bay.

Mu Cang Chai in Yen Bai province is just a seven-hour drive northwest of Hanoi, and has sky-high rice terraces that top anything in Bali, Lockhart wrote.

Meanwhile, Da Lat in Lam Dong province is a favorite for Vietnamese honeymooners, with “cool, temperate climate, rolling hills, and ripe avocados.”

For Quang Binh province, a big draw here is Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the home of what many consider to be the world’s largest cave, Son Doong cave, along with plenty of other small caves and some of Asia’s oldest karst mountains to explore, said the article.

According to Lockhart, Binh Thuan province, “the cruisy coastal town of Mui Ne” offers over 3,200km of coast, with dreamy stretches of sand and roughly 30km outside of town are the Red and White Sand Dunes." 

In Binh Dinh province, Quy Nhơn is a coastal escape famous for its “super-fresh seafood and huge stretch of beach” and for being home to some of the country’s best-preserved Cham ruins, dating back to the 11th century.

Finally, in Bai Tu Long Bay in Quang Ninh province, visitors can enjoy “overnight cruises, float by towering karst mountains, kayak its emerald waters, and wave to sleepy floating fishing villages,” Lockhart wrote. The experience rivals that of Ha Long Bay, but “with far less congestion,” she added.