Esc is actually not mapped in Normal Mode, which is a bit of a waste for a key located in such a prime spot. I found mapping it to :nohl to be quite intuitive, since in other apps, Esc ends searches and/or highlights.
In addition, I also add :echo. Without an argument, :echo simply clears the cmdline, which fits nicely with the removal of highlights.
1vim.keymap.set("n", "<Esc>", ":nohl<CR>:echo<CR>")