Whenever family and friends visit me in the Mother City, I truly get excited about showing off the landscape, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Robyn Simpson. I’m the proudest Capetonian on the block. An absolute must-see is Chapman’s Peak Drive, and as it turns out, Instagram agrees.
Research involving over seven million Instagram hashtags was used to determine the world’s most breathtaking road trip routes. No surprise here, ‘Chappies’, which winds between Noordhoek and Hout Bay along the Atlantic Coast right at the tip of the country’s south-western coast, made the cut.
According to Getaway Magazine, Pentagon Motor Group calculated the number of pictures shared per mile of a road trip journey. Then, the route with the most Instagram pictures per mile was crowned the most picturesque in the world.
Chapman’s Peak is a 9km (5,5 mile) route with 3,425 pictures shared per mile – #winning!
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Boasting 114 curves and a 593m high southerly extension of Constantia Berg, the rocky coastline unfolds breathtaking views all round, writes Getaway Magazine’s Zimasa Katamzi.
Fun fact: the iconic road was first built in 1922, but has had some work done to make it more travel and tourism-friendly. It took seven years to complete all of the major work the road needed for tourists and locals to enjoy it to its full capacity.
Australia’s Great Ocean Road ranked up an impressive 1 321 570 hashtagged images on Instagram, meaning that nearly 8 418 pictures are taken per mile. While statistically this makes the stretch the ‘most beautiful road trip route in the world’, we’re firmly backing our beloved Chappies as the true champion.
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Here is the full list of Insta’s most picturesque road trip routes:
- Great Ocean Road, Australia – 8 418 pictures per mile (1.6km)
- Big Sur, USA – 5 226 pictures per mile
- Jebel Hafeet, United Arab Emirates – 4 840 pictures per mile
- Hai Van Pass, Vietnam – 4 298 pictures per mile
- Chapman’s Peak Drive, South Africa – 3 425 pictures per mile
- Blue Ridge Parkway, USA – 1 148 pictures per mile
- Going-To-The-Sun Road, USA – 940 pictures per mile
- Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland – 853 pictures per mile
- Olympic Peninsula Loop, USA – 798 pictures per mile
- Icefields Parkway, Canada – 781 pictures per mile
- Route 66, USA – 780 pictures per mile
- Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, Austria – 677 pictures per mile
- Pacific Highway, Australia – 657 pictures per mile
- Tioga Pass, USA – 533 pictures per mile
- Military Road, UK – 483 pictures per mile
- Cabot Trail, Canada – 466 pictures per mile
- Hana Highway, USA – 345 pictures per mile
- The Atlantic Road, Norway – 294 pictures per mile
- Causeway Coastal Route, Northern Ireland – 244 pictures per mile
- North Coast 500, Scotland – 226 pictures per mile
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Picture: Cameron Gouws