Hai Van Pass among world's most beautiful drives

Hai Van Pass, located between Thua Thien-Hue province and Da Nang city in the central region, has been named among the 10 most beautiful drives in the world by renowned US magazine Travel + Leisure.

Pentagon Motor Group analyzed more than 7 million Instagram hashtags to find the world's most stunning routes. To come to this conclusion, the team first researched a list of the most popular road trips in the world, along with their location and length. Then, it used Instagram hashtag data to find how many images were associated with each route and divided that number by the number of miles the road trip covers to find which one had the most photos taken per mile.

With a length of 20 kilometres and 2,680 pictures per km, the Hai Van Pass

Don Ca arch bridge located at foot of Hai Van Pass - a pristine beauty

ranked fourth in the list, behind the Great Ocean Road (Australia), Big Sur (California), and Jebel Hafeet (United Arab Emirates).

"Despite the looming question over international travel, road trips are still on cards, thanks to the luxury and convenience of our wheels," Jonathan Lingham, marketing director at Pentagon Motor Group, said. "As there are so many driving holiday destinations around the globe, we were curious to find out which route is officially the most beautiful. It's great to see so many bucket-list-worthy road trips cropping up from all around the world - from the UK to Australia, and Norway to the USA - it proves that everyone can jump in their car and embark on an epic adventure."

According to Travel + Leisure, the Hai Van Pass which translates to "Ocean Cloud Pass” has been called "one of the best coast roads in the world," by Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson.

Hai Van Pass offers an impressive landscape of verdant mountains and clear blue skies, overlooking Da Nang City, Tien Sa Port, Son Tra Peninsula, and South China Sea. Crossing over a spur of Truong Son mountain range between Thua Thien-Hue Province and Da Nang City, it stands at 500m above sea level, making it the highest pass in Vietnam.

The pass is popular amongst thrillseeking motorcyclists due to its winding roads, sudden curves and blind corners. It has lush jungle on one side and the sea on the other.

THE TOP 10 ROAD TRIPS

1. Great Ocean Road, Australia 2. Big Sur, USA 3. Jebel Hafeet, United Arab Emirates 4. Hai Van Pass, Vietnam 5. Chapman's Peak Drive, South Africa 6. Blue Ridge Parkway, USA 7. Going-to-the-Sun Road, USA 8. Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland 9. Olympic Peninsula Loop, USA 10. Icefields Parkway, Canada