Queenstown
New Zealand’s adventure capital – and the country’s coolest and hottest destination all in one – majestic and photogenic Queenstown tops the list with an impressive 1.7 million appearances on Instagram.
A photography lover’s dream, Queenstown sits on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, with The Remarkables mountain range – and other peaks beyond – providing a breathtaking panoramic backdrop.
Be sure to pick up your copy of the November issue of MiNDFOOD, which is our Queenstown special.
Find out what else is in the latest edition here, on sale from Monday.
Check out 25 things to do while in Queenstown
Wanaka
About an hour’s drive up from Queenstown is fellow lakeside beauty spot Wanaka, with almost half a million photographs attesting to its splendour.
Another gateway to the Southern Alps and the adventure-filled valleys contained within them, Wanaka is often seen as Queenstown’s little sister, offering a more laid-back and serene experience – popular with both international and Kiwi visitors alike.
Hobbiton
The famed movie set of The Hobbit is one of the jewels in New Zealand’s tourism crown.
One of the country’s most visited attractions, it’s also one of its most photographed, clocking up 376,000 instances on the “Gram”.
Milford Sound
A photographer’s dream, Milford Sound and its iconic Mitre Peak are vast and otherworldly in their seemingly endless scale.
Dramatic and striking in any weather conditions, it’s surely impossible to take a bad photograph here, which perhaps explains why over 300,000 images of the stunning fiord have been shared on Instagram alone.
Taupo
Thanks to the mountains and skifields to the southwest, the geothermal curiosities to the northeast, and Lake Taupo in between, Taupo is New Zealand’s fifth-most Instragrammed location.
Taupo’s enormous lake and much of its surrounding land is sacred and belongs to local iwi, so a visit here is as much a cultural and spiritual experience as it is a scenic one.
