Lonely Planet, a travel guide considered the "bible" of the global travel community, has recently published an article introducing unmissable experiences for visitors to Ha Long Bay for the first time.

According to Lonely Planet, the first experience is to take a sightseeing flight over the bay. From water level, the islands are impressive. However, for a completely different perspective, take to the skies on a 25-minute scenic seaplane flight and the islands start looking more like mini mountain ranges snaking through the sea. The water landings and take-offs alone are almost worth the money.

Being a major tourist destination, getting to Ha Long is very easy. It takes about 2 hours if taking the Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway to travel 170km from Hanoi to Ha Long. Ha Long city is also served by Van Don International Airport, located about 50km from the city, with domestic flights from several major Vietnamese cities.

According to Lonely Planet, Ha Long’s scenery changes with the season and there is beauty to be found practically year-round.

For adventurers, summer is ideal for water sports, including kayaking and swimming. The colorful Ha Long Carnaval is also held at the end of April/early May. However, photographers might prefer visiting in winter, as early mornings regularly see misty conditions, creating eerie scenes of fog-shrouded islands in the distance./.