Life

Behold, The Most Instagrammed Places Of 2016

by Lara Rutherford-Morrison
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I use Instagram for three things: Insanely furry dogs, rainbow hair before and afters, and FOMO-inducing travel photos. Pick anywhere you want to go (plus many places you’ve never heard of) — you will find amazing images on Instagram to to make you jealous. The most instagrammed places in 2016 run the gamut from European landmarks to the Las Vegas strip to Disneyworld. (Instagrammers LOVE their theme parks). All of them will have you simultaneously smiling and turning just a little bit green with envy.

I was a bit surprised to learn that the most instagrammed places this year weren’t the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal, but rather the Walt Disney theme parks. It makes sense, however, when you consider that there are six Disney theme parks spread out all over the world; in 2014, the then-existing five of them (the Shanghai branch is new) together brought in nearly 150 million visitors. That’s a lot of Instagram potential. Following next behind Disney is another theme park, Universal Studios, home of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I WANT TO GO TO THERE.

According to the folks at Instagram, these are the most instagrammed places of 2016, based on global geotag data. Be prepared to drool:

1. Disney Theme Parks

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There are currently Disney resorts in California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The Shanghai location opened just this year.

2. Universal Studios Theme Parks

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Clearly, Instagrammers are into theme parks. There are Universal Studios theme parks in California, Florida, Japan, and Singapore; Universal Studios theme parks are also where you can find the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

3. Central Park, New York City

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New York’s iconic urban park spans 843 acres and receives 40 million visitors a year.

4. Times Square, New York City

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Another New York landmark, Times Square welcomes 50 million visitors a year.

5. Eiffel Tower, Paris

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Is it any wonder that the Paris’s iconic iron structure makes the list? The Eiffel Tower, built 1887 to 1889, has become the ultimate symbol of France.

6. Louvre Museum, Paris

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More than 9.3 million people visit the Louvre, the world’s largest museum, every year. And there’s lots to see — the museum’s 35,000 works of art include Leonardo Da Vinci’s La Giaconda (The Mona Lisa).

7. Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas

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Every year, 30.5 million tourists flock to the Las Vegas Strip to gamble, party, and, apparently, post to Instagram.

8. Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles

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The Santa Monica Pier is home to shops, restaurants, and its very own theme park.

9. Brooklyn Bridge, New York City

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An NYC icon, the Brooklyn Bridge spans nearly 1600 feet and has about 100,000 vehicles crossing during the day.

10. ВДНХ (Vystavka Dostizheniy Narodnogo Khozyaystva), Moscow

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Vystavka Dostizheniy Narodnogo Khozyaystva (Exhibition of the Achievements of the People's Economy) is a Russian exhibition center and park spanning nearly 700 acres.

Ten more locations round out the top 20:

11. Siam Paragon, Bangkok

12. Colosseum, Rome

13. Madison Square Garden, NYC

14. Los Angeles International Airport

15. Tower Bridge, London

16. Barcelona Centre, Spain

17. Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris

18. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

19. Empire State Building, NYC

20. Niagara Falls, New York State/Canada

Happy travels, Instagrammers!

Images: Getty Images (11)