The Tiger and Dragon pagodas in Kaohsiung
In ancient times, sailors knew a distant destination from the stories brought by other sailors. Centuries later, exotic echoes would come through books like Arabian Nights or Gauguin's art, with his Polynesian paintings. And although in the 20th century the Travel agencies they would already launch the hook to different countries of the world through their catalogues, in 2020 Instagram is the application that allows us to discover new places before stepping on them.
According to a recent study by eDreams, a 55% of Spanish travelers already choose their next destination through a photo discovered on the famous social network . A trend that explains the massive success (and consequent overcrowding) of the "trulli" of Alberobello, in Italy; or the monumental Gate of Heaven in Bali. Places that, until instagram boom , they went unnoticed on any popular tour.
A double-edged sword whose main challenge is to promote responsibility as the best form of prevention against overtourism and climate change both in well-known destinations and in these following “instagrammable” places far from the tourist circuits.
Will you keep the secret for us?
** PEACOCK TEMPLE (Karnataka, India) **
Further, much further south of the Taj Mahal, the state of Karnataka It is consolidated as one of the most interesting destinations in India. From the 350 temples of the hampi complex until the technological city of Bangalore , there are hundreds of places to discover, including one of the possible future “gems” of Instagram: the temple painted in the colors of a peacock that is part of Basadi Betta , a monumental complex housed in the psychedelic peaks of the Mandharagiri Hills.
The Peacock Temple in Karnataka
** TIGER AND DRAGON PAGODAS (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) **
Any traveler touched by bad luck must travel to Taiwan , that distant eastern island that despite belonging to China evokes a unique, singular world. You just have to get to the city of Kaohsiung immerse yourself in the Tsoying district and reach a Lotus Lake to which one of the great icons of the country looks out: the tiger and dragon pagodas built in the 70s in honor of Confucius.
Two seven-storey towers whose tour begins through the dragon's head who guards one of them and ending by the tiger . Only in this way, according to legend, will every visitor find the good luck they came for.
The Tiger and Dragon Pagodas in Kaohsiung
** ELTZ CASTLE (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) **
When we think of Germany and castles, the first thing that comes to mind is, without a doubt, Neuschwanstein , the famous "Castle of the Mad King" that inspired Disney for the creation of Sleeping Beauty.
However, the country where the Grimm brothers were born also hides other fairytale castles such as Burg Eltz , a construction located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and embraced by the Moselle river whose symmetry fits perfectly with the Instagram squares.
Eltz Castle
** GUADALEST (Alicante, Spain) **
The province of Alicante is an expert in popularizing places “instagrammeable”. From the Red Wall of Calpe (whose neighbors have had to say ENOUGH!) to the blue doors of Portitxol, in Xàvia, through the Laguna Rosa de Torrevieja, every year the famous Costa Blanca seems to outline new goals for every summer influencer.
And this year, we think it's time to Guadalest . Nominated to the list of 7 Rural Wonders of Spain in 2019 , Guadalest is a small inland town not far from Benidorm that revolves around a tower, the Castell de Guadalest , standing at 500 meters and converted into a perfect viewpoint of a valley conquered by a reservoir surrounded by citrus and palm trees.
Guadalest
**BUTTES-CHAUMONT PARK (Paris, France) **
The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Champs-Elysées... There are so many icons of Paris that any visitor can overlook the presence of one of the most beautiful urban parks in Europe.
commissioned to build by Napoleon III in today's 19th arrondissement , to the north of the city, Buttes-Chaumont is all we can ask of a corner worthy of Instagram: the Greek charm of the Temple of the Sibyl , the Rosa Bonheur bar lanterns , or tropical trees under which to open a bottle of Chardonnay on a spring picnic day.
** FLOYD'S PELICAN BAR (Negril, Jamaica) **
As if from a movie set water world it was treated, Floyd's Pelican Bar It is a floating hut two kilometers from the Jamaican coast of Negril where having the best cocktail is compatible with a unique snapshot. A Caribbean genius founded almost two decades ago by Floyd Forbes , a local who limits his life to chatting with tourists and throwing fish at the pelicans who come sniffing around every morning.
** TAM THANH MURAL VILLAGE (Da Nang, Vietnam) **
Urban art has become one of the most fascinating tools when it comes to create awareness and reinvent the life of different communities . The most curious example took place a couple of years ago through an initiative brought from South Korea that shook the life of the quiet fishing village of Trung Thanh , in central Vietnam, giving rise to 100 colorful murals that, sometimes, are confused with the color of their lanterns and the blue of the sea. A secret place not far from, paradoxically, the most photographed place in Vietnam: the colonial town of Hoi An.
Tam Thanh Mural Village
** SANTA CATARINA PALOPÓ ( Lake Atitlán, Guatemala )**
We all know what a good door can do for our fans. However, they sure didn't know this one yet. Africa? The aforementioned Vietnam? No, in Guatemala! Specifically in Santa Catarina Palopo , a small town on the shore of the famous Lake Atitlán that this year decided cover its facades in blue motifs to attract tourism and, in this way, find an alternative source of income to bad harvests. A young blue world that coincides with the election of the Classic Blue as the official color of 2020, according to Pantone.
Santa Catarina Palopo
** HERMITAGE PAVILION (Pushkin, Russia) **
Saint Basil's Cathedral. The Red Square in Moscow. Again, Saint Basil . There is life beyond the bounds of Moscow or St. Petersburg. And one of them lies 24 kilometers from the latter and is called Pushkin . A city that, in addition to having the honor of being the first in the world to have an electricity network, has different corners of golden opulence where the famous Anastasia would dance before taking refuge in the Hermitage Pavilion . An old recreation area that precedes the Palace of Catherine the Great, an empress who in the 18th century would completely reinvent the monumental scene of the entire St. Petersburg area.
The opulence of the Hermitage Pavilion in Pushkin
** BAATARA GORGE (Tannourine, Lebanon) **
Beyond Beirut, considered the "Paris of the East" , Lebanon reserves for the bravest travelers one of the great natural complexes of the Middle East. Specifically in Tannourine , to the south of the capital, lovers of hiking will come across, after a steep route, the Baatara Gorge , a gorge sealed by three natural bridges of Jurassic origin that, during the thaw, is let down by a spectacular 100-meter waterfall.
** PICO SAO TOMÉ (Sao Tomé and Príncipe) **
When it comes to Africa, not all eyes are drawn to Mount Kilimanjaro. Just head to the superlative west of the world's largest continent to find Sao Tome and Principe, an archipelago of two islands which, possibly, will soon become the next best thing of honeymoons.
Or at least, that's how it should be when this Atlantic paradise has ecolodges in unique cocoa plantations, dream beaches, colorful markets or, above all, that Pico Sao Tomé lost in the clouds crying out for a #nofilter.
Sao Tome Peak, in Sao Tome and Principe
** DRAGON'S HEAD (Mornington Peninsula, Australia) **
An hour and a half drive from Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula It unfolds on different beaches that reveal a most curious silhouette at dawn. Specifically in the beach 16 , is "Dragon's head" It is consolidated as one of the secret jewels of the west coast of Australia, especially when the tide goes out and the most daring photographers dare to challenge the corals that guard it.
Dragon's Head, or the Australian natural dragon's head