The coronavirus pandemic pretty much shut down travel and tourism around the world beginning in March 2020. In 2021, however, as the widespread distribution of vaccines allowed more tourists to hit the road again, the industry began to recover. And while tourist levels have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, and the omicron variant has again prompted travel advisories, there is more optimism in the travel industry.
So where did tourists go before travel shut down again at the end of 2021 — and what attractions did they see?
To determine the world’s most popular Instagram attractions, 24/7 Tempo reviewed global luggage storage network Stasher’s Ranking the World’s Best Tourist Attractions. The 99 attractions were selected based on several measures, including Instagram engagement, which was determined by the number of likes on 200 Instagram posts on each attraction’s hashtag. 24/7 Tempo’s list includes the top 40 attractions by Instagram engagement.
Most of the attractions on the list are those that can be enjoyed outdoors, such as the monumental Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Stonehenge in England, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (These are the most colorful natural wonders on Earth.)
The top 40 attractions also include three theme parks. Somewhat surprisingly, the list includes six museums and art institutes, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris, as well as several mosques, cathedrals, churches, and temples.
Of the top 40 tourist attractions on the list, eight are in the United States, half of them in New York City. France has the next-most attractions in the top 40 with five, including such must-sees as the Eiffel Tower and Palace of Versailles. China has four attractions on the list, among them the Forbidden City. (These are the most popular U.S. attractions on Instagram.)
The timeless attractions of the Colosseum in Rome, the Acropolis in Athens, and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Cairo continued to prove to be irresistible to those on Instagram — but they are not the most popular attractions on the list.
Here are the 40 most popular Instagram attractions in the world
40. Stonehenge
> Location: Wiltshire, United Kingdom
> Instagram engagement rating: 1.77 out of 10
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39. The Colosseum
> Location: Rome, Italy
> Instagram engagement rating: 1.80 out of 10
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38. Acropolis
> Location: Athens, Greece
> Instagram engagement rating: 1.83 out of 10
37. Victoria Peak
> Location: Hong Kong, China
> Instagram engagement rating: 1.89 out of 10
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36. Forbidden City
> Location: Beijing, China
> Instagram engagement rating: 1.93 out of 10
35. The Art Institute of Chicago
> Location: Chicago, Illinois
> Instagram engagement rating: 1.93 out of 10
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34. Sacre-Coeur
> Location: Paris, France
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.11 out of 10
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33. Blue Mosque
> Location: Istanbul, Turkey
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.15 out of 10
32. Louvre Museum
> Location: Paris, France
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.16 out of 10
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31. Europa-Park
> Location: Rust, Germany
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.25 out of 10
30. Uffizi Galleries
> Location: Florence, Italy
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.31 out of 10
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29. Hollywood Walk of Fame
> Location: Los Angeles, California
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.47 out of 10
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28. Oriental Pearl Tower
> Location: Shanghai, China
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.50 out of 10
27. Nagashima Spa Land
> Location: Kuwana, Japan
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.64 out of 10
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26. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
> Location: Tennessee and North Carolina, USA
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.68 out of 10
25. Notre-Dame Basilica
> Location: Montreal, Canada
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.84 out of 10
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24. PortAventura
> Location: Tarragona, Spain
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.85 out of 10
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23. Rijksmuseum
> Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.89 out of 10
22. Great Pyramid of Giza
> Location: Cairo, Egypt
> Instagram engagement rating: 2.91 out of 10
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21. Statue of Liberty
> Location: New York City
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.02 out of 10
20. Universal Studios Singapore
> Location: Singapore
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.30 out of 10
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19. Victoria Harbour
> Location: Hong Kong, China
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.31 out of 10
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18. Mount Fiji
> Location: Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.33 out of 10
17. Eiffel Tower
> Location: Paris, France
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.34 out of 10
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16. Christ the Redeemer
> Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.52 out of 10
15. Times Square
> Location: New York City
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.59 out of 10
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14. Alcatraz Island
> Location: San Francisco, California
> Instagram engagement rating: 3.80 out of 10
13. Yad Vashem
> Location: Jerusalem, Israel
> Instagram engagement rating: 4.01 out of 10
12. Palace of Versailles
> Location: Versailles, France
> Instagram engagement rating: 4.18 out of 10
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11. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center
> Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
> Instagram engagement rating: 4.30 out of 10
10. Wat Pho
> Location: Bangkok, Thailand
> Instagram engagement rating: 4.31 out of 10
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9. Plaza de Espana
> Location: Seville, Spain
> Instagram engagement rating: 4.97 out of 10
8. The Blue Lagoon
> Location: Iceland
> Instagram engagement rating: 4.98 out of 10
7. Metropolitan Museum of Art
> Location: New York City
> Instagram engagement rating: 5.44 out of 10
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6. Puy du Fou
> Location: Les Epesses, France
> Instagram engagement rating: 5.56 out of 10
5. Neuschwanstein Castle
> Location: Schwangau, Germany
> Instagram engagement rating: 5.79 out of 10
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4. Central Park
> Location: New York City
> Instagram engagement rating: 5.90 out of 10
3. Grand Bazaar
> Location: Istanbul, Turkey
> Instagram engagement rating: 6.52 out of 10
2. Matterhorn
> Location: Valais, Switzerland
> Instagram engagement rating: 7.60 out of 10
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1. Van Gogh Museum
> Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
> Instagram engagement rating: 10 out of 10
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