When you think of lying on a beautiful beach in Europe this summer, your mind will likely wander off to the golden sands of somewhere on the continent. And, we all know that in 2022, the most vital element of the holidays are those shots for the ‘Gram with the ocean in the background, right?
But, if you’re not able to go abroad this summer, do not fret, as the beautiful Durdle Door Beach in the UK has just been listed as the second most Instagrammable beach in all of Europe, seeing off stiff competition from locations in Italy, Spain and Greece.
A study was carried out by The Thinking Traveller, finding that Durdle Door only ranked behind Étretat beach in Normandy when determining the top spots in Europe for that perfect snap.
To calculate this vital study, The Thinking Traveller ranked each destination by its number of Instagram posts. Étretat came out as top dog, with a healthy 406,321 posts and was commended for its “three arches and their adjacent cliffs, which tower over emerald green waters like nowhere else on the planet.”
Durdle Door’s picturesque beach on the Jurassic Coast came in close behind with 265,276 posts, garnering praise for “social media-worthy views of intricate limestone cliffs, alongside a historical arch that has origins dating back more than 10,000 years.”
Now, both of these spots are likely to have gathered a hefty dose of posts for historic reasons, with the pair being home to rock formations – “The Needle” in Normandy, and the limestone arches at Durdle Door – that are separate geographic tourist attractions from the beaches themselves.
While the UK’s Durdle Door Beach may have surprisingly made the top two, it’s no shock to learn that the country that featured the most in the top 10 was Italy, with four appearances. La Pelosa beach in Sardinia (109,135 posts) and Torre Lapillo in Puglia (95,083 posts) were snapping at the heels in third and fourth place, respectively.
It may well be chucking it down with rain in Britain as you look out the window, but now you’ll have that sweet reminder that when (or if) the rain stops, a trip to the second most Instagrammable beach in the whole of Europe is now an option.
Read the full study here.
The top 10 most Instagrammable beaches in Europe
1) Étretat beach, France (406,321)
2) Durdle Door beach, UK (265,276)
3) La Pelosa beach, Italy (109,135)
4) Torre Lapillo, Italy (95,083)
5) Navagio beach, Greece (80,824)
6) Cala Luna, Italy (75,012)
7) Punta Prosciutto, Italy (74,102)
8) La Concha beach, Spain (72,114)
9) Playa de Muro beach, Spain (70,831)
10) Porto Katsiki beach, Greece (55,496)