If you take an epic trip, but don't post about it to Instagram,
did it even happen? Mm-hmm
Like it or not, Instagram has changed the face of travel forever
with nearly half of all millennial travelers
choosing their destinations based upon Instagram ability.
I'm Alex. I'm Marko, and you're watching Vagabrothers,
your go-to guide for travel tips, vlogs, and inspiration here on YouTube.
And in this video we're talking about the most popular travel destinations on Instagram,
and how to get the perfect shot.
Let's go.
Travel Photography is nothing new.
When you experience something unique, you naturally want to share it.
So if a picture is worth a thousand words
then a good Gram Hammer is enough
convincing to make millions of people travel to faraway lands.
Smartphones have armed every traveler with a camera, blown up previously
unknown spots, and some say made travel more about capturing an experience than
experiencing the moment itself.
Now that doesn't mean that Instagram is the end of travel.....
But with more people dying globally from selfies than from shark attacks,
we should all remember to not let the joy of travel be
overshadowed by the pursuit of "likes"on social media.
If you find this video useful, give it a" like",
share it with your travel buddies, and subscribe to Vagabrothers, and turn on notifications
for more travel videos all summer long.
There is a link to our website in the info box of this video
where we've posted a Google Maps that has all of these locations.
So if you need directions to get the photo, head to the website.
Without further ado,
these are the most Instagrammable places on earth and how to get the perfect shot.
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram
First up: Machu Picchu.
The Lost Citadel of the Inca made headlines around the world in 1911
when American Explorer, Hiram Bingham, published the first photographs of a major
archeological discovery using his Kodak Panoramic camera, O.G. Instagrammer.
Most get the shot from the Caretaker's Hut, which has great views but is also insanely crowded.
A better option is to head to the quarry where it's easier to get an unobstructed view. Protip:
Most people wake up at 4:00 in the morning to try to get there early.
Little do they know, everyone's waking up at 4:00 in the morning.
So you're just going to stand in line in the darkness waiting for a bus.
It sucks. You shouldn't do that.
What you should do is sleep in and head up to Machu Picchu in the afternoon
when there's fewer crowds, better light and plenty of alpacas.
Number 2: the Canadian Rockies.
For those of you who blame Instagram for the downfall of travel,
let's talk about Spirit Island in Alberta, Canada.
Swarmed 365 days a year by camera toting tourists,
it's actually not Instagram's fault entirely.
It's probably Kodak's.
In 1960 Kodak advertised its new Colorama film by hanging a
gigantic photo of Spirit Island in Grand Central Station in New York City for 40 years.
Talk about gaming the algorithm.
As a result, these days it's nearly impossible to get the shot to yourself.
There's a 90-minute boat tour that takes you there for 15 minutes only,
or you can get a camping permit,
canoe there, and spend the night.
An easier and even more popular option is to go to nearby Lake Louise,
famous for its turquoise waters and iconic red canoes.
The crowds are intense,
but the lake is big enough for you to find your own quiet corner.
Perfect for a clean shot or maybe even enjoy some nature.
The Eiffel Tower is perhaps the most recognizable building in the world.
So if you don't want to be "tres cliche`" you might have to get " un peu creatif."
Most people snap a photo straight down the Champ de Mars.
But a better angle is across the Seine in the staircase of the Palais de Chaillot
Get there at dawn for no crowds and a backlit Eiffel Tower
Number 4: Los Angeles, California.
Millions of tourists come to LA every year to visit places
they've seen in the movies, from the Hollywood sign to the Griffith Park observatory,
and the Santa Monica Pier.
But Instagrammers have their own monuments....
in particular the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or LACMA.
Specifically, they come for the streetlight installation out front,
a pillar of many Los Angeles girls' Tinder profile.
Come at night when the crowds are gone and the lights are on.
But come before sunset if you want to see the museum.
It closes early, but it's totally worth it.
A new classic is the Venice sign because Venice is so hot right now.
To get this shot, you're going to need to walk into the middle of the street.
So wait for the 22nd crosswalk and please do not get hit by a car or an electric scooter.
Speaking of Venice, what better place for a romantic photo than the original Venice in Italy?
Most tourists jostle for a spot on the bridge above the Grand Canal.
So if you want it to yourself, you're going to have to get there before sunrise.
Another option is to take a canal ride, 80 euros for a half hour.
It's not cheap, but if you want to get that shot
and truly experience what it's like to travel around Venice in a canal boat,
it's totally worth it.
Other good photo spots include Punta della Dogana,
which sounds like a place in Star Wars
or Burano Island for Venice vistas without the crowds.
My best photos were taken wandering the residential area of Venice at dawn.
Nothing cooler than watching the city wake up.
The New York City skyline is world renowned for good reason.
But taking an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower{ Empire State Building}
is going to cost you at least fifty seven dollars,
not to mention your precious time.
For a better and cheaper shot, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
down under the Manhattan Brooklyn overpass, a.k.a. Dumbo,
to the corner of Washington and Water Street for a classic New York City shot for free.
Number 7: Taj Mahal.
Built to celebrate love, the Taj Mahal is now one of the most photographed buildings in the world.
The classic shot is right down the middle of a garden,
but you're going to need to be the first one there
if you want that shot without millions of people in the background.
Another option is to frame the mausoleum from the archways of nearby buildings.
Even better, cross the river at dawn and get the backside of the Taj Mahal
with locals and the river in the foreground
Now some say that the sun never set on the British Empire,
but in London during the winter, the sun sets pretty early,
and there's a lot to see with not a lot of time.
Of course you want Big Ben, the iconic tower on top of the Palace of Westminster
But you don't want to take a selfie up your nostrils just to get the clock tower in frame.
So walk across the Bridge of Westminster, and wait for sunset.
Just cross your fingers that there's actually sunlight.
Alternative photo locations include the colourful houses of Notting Hill,
the Georgian town houses of Kensington, and
the ever-changing street art of Shoreditch.
Number 9: Singapore.
Here's a question.....
Why are influencers always location tagging Singapore when the photo was obviously taken in LA?
Short answer: they're trying to tag one of the world's most connected cities
where everyone is always on their phone.
But if you do physically go to Singapore,
money shot is from the infinity pool on the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
Unfortunately, it's now open only to guests.
If you don't have the cheddar to stay in the fancy hotel,
go right next door to the cloud forest at
Gardens By The Bay, a.k.a. the Avatar Trees
San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, the Victorian houses.....
You can get the Golden Gate shot from the Welcome Center on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge
just above Fort Point or across the bay to the
Battery Spencer Observation deck on the Marin Headlands.
Beyond that you have the Painted Ladies made famous by Full House
Sutro Baths, a great spot to catch a sunset and
Twin Peaks, not the TV show, the two mountains in the middle of the city with great panoramic views.
But the real shots are from one of San Francisco's many secrets swings
Good luck finding out where they are.
Number 11: Big Sur, California.
From San Francisco drive south to Big Sur,
a cliffside stretch of California coast that's maintained its rustic charm,
thanks to its inaccessibility.
Point your camera in any direction, and you've got Instagram gold,
but the most popular shot is of the Bixby Bridge.
Get the shot by going just north of the bridge down by the cliffside,
but be careful because the cliffs are unstable and prone to landslides.
Also popular is the waterfall at Pfeiffer Beach.
You can't get down to the beach itself,
But there is a very nice view if you hike along the north side of the cove.
Often dubbed the last wild place in the Americas,
Patagonia is a rugged wilderness at the bottom of South America.
It bridges two different countries, and it's known for its natural beauty and endless solitude.
So make sure you bring a tripod so you can get a selfie of you staring into the distance thinking deep thoughts
What we call the "default contemplative."
Something like this
The classic Patagonia shot is of Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torres,
which you might recognize from the logo of the clothing brand Patagonia.
But getting there ain't easy.
So don't just roll up with your camera and selfie stick,
it's a serious full-day hike that should not be undertaken without preparation, proper safety equipment, and
plenty of camera batteries.
Hot girls and hot-air balloons... that's probably Cappadocia in Turkey, a place that's pretty unreal,
even without the balloons.
The fairy chimneys at nearby Gorham National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with insane rock structures,
beautiful houses, and intricate churches carved into the rocks.
The balloons go up at dawn when the wind is still.
You'll have to be up early if you want that shot.
Scout your location the night before
so you know where to be at sunrise.
Or you could do as the pros do and just
Photoshop a few hundred extra balloons in there.
Haters will say it's Photoshop, but hey, it is.
Speaking of buildings carved into rock structures, none to beat the majesty of the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.
This 2,000 year old trading city was made famous from Indiana Jones The Last Crusade,
and is now a mecca for adventure photographers worldwide.
The shot you want is the Al-Khazneh or
treasury building best captured during the golden hour,
by candlelight during the Petra by night show, or
via Al Koffer trail, a two-hour hike which ends right above the city for that perfect vertical perspective.
Dubai the land of superlatives has no shortage of stunning shots.
From the world's tallest building the Burg Khalifa, the world's most luxurious
hotel, the Burj Al Arab, and the world's largest man-made island,
the Palm Jumeirah, which to capture properly you have to shoot while skydiving from a helicopter
wearing black ripped jeans with white sneakers and a helmet.
Just saying, if you don't do that, how can you really capture it?
Cape Town is one of the most naturally beautiful and photogenic cities on earth.
For the classic photos either take the cable car up Table Mountain for the shot
overlooking the coast and Lion's Head or
hike up Lion's Head Peak and get the photo of Table Mountain.
But be forewarned the Lion's Head hike is not easy. It's not a cakewalk.
So bring tons of water and make sure that your instant outfit is on fleek.
If you want to snap a selfie with a penguin, head to Boulder Beach.
Who doesn't want a selfie with a penguin?
I mean seriously. Then wash it all down with some Pinotage at one of the city's many wineries.
Bonus points if you go to the winery with the ducks.
Like this video if you know what I'm talking about.
But this video would be severely lacking
if we didn't mention the one place every Instagrammer seems to be going.
That is Bali, and why not?
UNESCO protected rice terraces, beautiful Hindu temples, stunning beaches,
plus more yoga and açaí bowls than a beauty blogger knows what to do with. Hashtag #blessed
But let's be honest.
If you really want it to work, you need to rent a villa with a pool,
find an Instagram model, and borrow a puppy because puppies always work on Instagram. Trust us.
While you're at it, check these shots off of your Instagram bucket list: the whitewashed
roofs of Santorini, Greece; the winding back streets of the blue city of Chefchaouen in Morocco,
the giant cliffs and fjords of Throadtunge, Norway.
While you're up there, you might as well get a photo of the red coastal cabins in the
Lofoten Islands in the Norwegian Arctic and the classic Multnomah Falls just outside of Portland, Oregon.
But the entire Pacific Northwest is totally Instagrammable.
All you need to do is find a cabin with some pine trees,
make a little fire and you're gold.
However, few places capture the beauty of our planet like the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
But how do you capture a canyon that is so grand, almost too grand to fit in your camera?
One tip is to go to Horseshoe Bend.
It's a lookout spot where you can frame your subject in the foreground,
the giant panoramic view of the canyon in the backround.
This is not just ideal for selfies,
it's also good for perspective.
Putting someone in the foreground shows you just how big the canyon really is.
And because the viewpoint looks over a bend in the river,
you're able to see both up and down the river,
making it look like it was taken on a fisheye lens.
Another American classic is California's Yosemite National Park,
a.k.a. the screensaver on your MacBook.
The rock climbers' havens of El Capitan and Half Dome are household images.
So if you want something different, do the
Clouds Rest hike, which is going to take you above the valley for panoramic views.
Oh, what about New Zealand?
Sure, you could bungee jump off Nevis,
take a ride on the Shotover Jet or spend a sunset with the Lone Tree on Wanaka Lake
But the real Graham hammers are not in Auckland or in Wellington,
they're in Hobbiton, the real-life film set from the Lord of the Rings.
So take off your shoes, grow out your feet hair,
and grab a pint at the Red Dragon because we are going to Middle-Earth.
Lastly, no other nation on earth has been altered by the unholy trinity of Instagram,
Hollywood, and cheap airfares like Iceland- a tiny island in the North Atlantic of just 330,000 people.
It has seen annual visitors go from just 80,000 people per year in the 1980s to 4.4 million in 2014.
That's over ten times the local population.
Iceland's lunar landscapes are a photographer's dream,
but unfortunately, it's viral popularity on Instagram has led to over tourism.
You can escape the crowds on the northern or eastern coasts,
snap a shot at the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall in the south,
and swap out the shot at the Blue Lagoon for a photo of a secret hot spring like....
well, never mind.
Some things are better kept secret.
Alright, ladies and gentlemen, that was our guide to the most Instagrammable places on earth.
What are yours? Share your favorite Instagram spots in the comment section below and
tag us with your photos on Instagram @Vagabrothers, and let's ask you a question.
Do you think that Instagram has changed travel for the better or for the worse?
Let us know what you think and how each of us can make a difference as an individual traveler.
As always, if you enjoyed this video,
you know what to do...
Give it a big thumbs- up, share with your friends,
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Oh, yeah, so follow us, follow us, follow us.
In the meantime, stay curious, keep exploring,
and we'll see you on the road.
Peace.