North Coast 500 is Instagram's favourite UK tourist route
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Scotland's most popular touring route, the North Coast 500, is also a hit with users of social media service Instagram.
With restrictions on overseas travel leading more Britons to discover or reacquaint themselves with the country's attractions, vehicle finance specialist Anglo Scottish Asset Finance has compiled a list of some of the best – and most Instagrammable – driving locations in the UK.
As well as searching out the most picturesque driving locations to find the most photogenic driving locations in the country, its researchers have also analysed Instagram hashtags and search engine data from SEMrush and Google Trends to find which location is the most sought-after.
The NC500, whose circular route beginning and ending in Inverness takes in some of the most spectacular scenery of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross-shire, emerged a clear favourite and the UK’s most tagged route on Instagram.
The NC500’s undisturbed landscapes, white sandy beaches and rolling highlands make it a perfectly-Instagrammable drive, and one with plenty of varied photo ops.
This is reflected in over 340,000 posts under the #nc500 hashtag alone, which is more than three times the number of posts for its nearest rival, Northern Ireland's Giant's Causeway, under its most popular hashtag, #causewaycoast.
The NC500 also received a further 137,000 posts tagged #northcoast500, and another 32,110 under #nc500route, making it one of the most popular drives in the world by Instagram hashtag volume.
This is the equivalent of 991 posts for every mile of the 516-mile total.
The NC500 was popular in search engine queries too.
According to SEMrush, there were over 122,000 searches related to the North Coast 500 in the last 12 months.
The latest endorsement for the route comes just a few weeks after the NC500 was named Scotland's most romantic journey.
The Highlands' North Coast 500 tops travel site's St Valentine's excursion wish list
