All over the world, there are landmarks that attract millions of people each year to marvel at their wonder and take in the beauty of both the natural and man-made world. With camera phones now so advanced, lots of these photos end up on everyone's favorite image-sharing platform - Instagram with people using the corresponding hashtag to show where they've been.
Recently, Compare the Market analyzed the volume of Instagram hashtags for more than 70 of the world's most famous landmarks to reveal the top 10 most Instagrammable Landmarks in the world – some of which may surprise you. Some may be of no surprise at all. The city of Paris dominates the list with a total of three landmarks but Dubai, England, and several places in the US also make an appearance.
Scroll down to discover the 10 Most Instagrammable Landmarks in the world!
1. Eiffel Tower
One of the most famous structures in the whole world, the Eiffel Tower in Paris sits at number one on the list of most Instagrammable landmarks with an enormous 7,192,685 hashtags. Built between 1887 and 1889 by Gustave Eiffel who the tower is named after, it stands at 330m tall and has a wrought-iron lattice construction. It attracts around 7 million visitors every year and is a popular site for proposals. It's the most popular paid-for visiting site in the world, so expect queues if you plan on visiting. It can see 25,000 per day pass through it.
2. Burj Khalifa
One of Dubai's most iconic buildings is the Burj Khalifa: an 829-meter skyscraper that is made up of hotels, restaurants, apartments, corporate suites, and a staggering amount of unused (and unusable) space because of the ostentatious design. It holds several world records, including the tallest building, the building with the most floors, the highest elevator installation, and the world's highest nightclub. Construction started in January 2004 and it opened in January 2010 costing the owner, Emaar Properties, a staggering $1.5 billion. Over 6 million people a year visit the Burj Khalifa and it contains 900 residential homes.
3. Times Square
Times Square is possibly one of the most famous public spaces in the world, albeit not really square in shape. Located in Midtown Manhattan, Times Square is a vibrant, bustling hub of entertainment. It is famous for its brightly lit billboards, its proximity to Broadway, and being the site of the annual new year's eve ball drop. Originally Longacre Square, it got its current name when The New York Times moved its headquarters into a brand new space there in 1904. It attracts more than 50 million visitors a year and on a busy day more than 460,000 pedestrians can simply pass through. For lovers of long-exposure photography it's paradise, with taxis and people whizzing by at all times you can create some really beautiful work.
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4. Grand Canyon
The first naturally occurring landmark on the list is the jaw-dropping Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. The 277-mile-long deep-sided canyon was carved by the Colorado River and today it's a popular destination among hikers, rock climbers, and photographers alike. Helicopter or plane tours are popular to get an alternative perspective of the Canyon. Many know its vibrant red-colored rocks and twisting intricate caverns, but fewer are aware the Grand Canyon was also once the site of a graveyard – it closed in 2017 due to lack of space! In 2022, almost 5 million people visited the Grand Canyon for recreational purposes – Covid is definitely in the rear-view mirror of those RVs!
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5. Louvre Museum
Paris is really dominating the list of Most Instagrammable Landmarks with the Louvre landing fifth place. The French national art gallery is famously home to the Mona Lisa, and is situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine at the heart of the city. Steeped in history, the Louvre was originally a royal palace, though the royals had long since moved to Versailles when, in 1793, mid-revolution, it was opened as a people's museum. The much-photographed glass pyramid was a much later addition, built in 1984 by I. M. Pei who proposed it was used as the entrance to the Louvre's central Cour Napoléon. With 7.8 million visitors a year, it is the world's most popular art gallery and museum, and the hashtag Louvre has been used more than 3.6 million times.
6. Niagara Falls
Made up of three waterfalls, Niagara Falls is found at the southernmost tip of the Niagara Gorge and spans the border between Ontario, Canada, and New York state, USA. The largest fall of them all is the Horseshow Fall which stands at about 57 meters high and at a peak flow of around 3,100 tons of water passes over it every second. Niagara Falls is an important source of hydroelectric power and today provides electricity for around 160,000 homes. Sitting at number six on the list, Niagara Falls has gained 3.5 million hashtags but 20 million people visit the famous waterfall every year. Considering how many people "do it for the gram" that's a significant difference in numbers!
7. Big Ben
Not only is Big Ben one of London's locations for photography, it's probably the most famous clock in the world, and has gained more than 3.26 million hashtags on Instagram. Big Ben is actually the nickname given to the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster (which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue). It took 16 horses to pull the bell to the site. Pedants will point out that the whole building itself – the self-styled mother of parliaments – is called the Palace of Westminster and, since 2017, the tower is officially called Elizabeth Tower. The tag #BigBen is well understood on Instagram (and the real world) though. Many visitors to London assume the Palace of Westminster is ancient, but the Gothic look was designed by Augustus Pugin and built in its present form after a fire in 1835. The structure, and clock, remain an incredible feat of engineering and today more than 5 million people travel to marvel at the intricate clock tower amidst the bustle of the workings of UK government.
8. Las Vegas Strip
Known for its neon lights, world-famous casinos, vast hotel complexes, and mini versions of famous landmarks – such as the Eiffel Tower and Venice – the Las Vegas Strip really does have something for everyone. If gambling isn't your cup of tea, you could check out one of the incredible Cirque Du Soleil performances, indulge in a shopping spree, or treat yourself to lunch at one of the many amazing restaurants. Situated literally in the middle of the desert, unless you're keen to take an excursion to the Mojave National Preserve or Death Valley National Park, pretty much everything you can do comes at a cost so it's not a holiday you can do on the cheap but it surely is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. On Instagram, the term #lasvegasstrip has been tagged more than 3.25 million times making it only slightly less popular than Big Ben.
9. Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. A span of 6 vehicle lanes, plus a bicycle route and a pedestrian sidewalk, is supported by two art deco pillars 1280m (0.8 miles) apart. It's thought to be one of the most photographed bridges in the world (so it's unsurprising it has 3.2 million hashtags on Instagram). Until 1964 and 1998 respectively it was also the longest and tallest bridge. Other than its sheer size, the most notable thing about the Golden Gate Bridge is its color. The bright orangey-red steel was never planned to be a lasting feature, but Irving Morrow, one of the architects working on the project, decided he liked the vibrant hue and declared it not only fitted in with its surroundings but would make it much more visible in fog, and it has been painted that way ever since.
10. Notre Dame
Finishing where we started, the last landmark on the list is, you guessed it, in Paris. Taking up 1st, 5th, and 10th places on the list, it would seem Paris really is the hotspot for the most Instagrammable Landmarks and despite Notre Dame currently undergoing some major reconstruction after a fire broke out in the roof space in 2019, it's still got some 3 million hashtags on Instagram. The Gothic cathedral is instantly recognizable by its two symmetrical stone towers and is famous for its menagerie of grotesques that supposedly protect the church from evil spirits. In the 1996 Disney adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the kind-hearted Quasimodo befriends three of the stone gargoyles who come to life (though Victor Hugo may have imagined it differently).
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