Now that Instagram has updated its user experience (who is into the vertical option?), we decided to take advantage of the multiple ways the picture sharing app can be a great resource. And what’s on our minds 365 days of the year more than…travel!

Instagram is one of the first places we go when dreaming up our next vacation. It’s where we initially get inspired, but oh that’s just the beginning. Now with options like “Search Places” and “Top Search” you can open up a world (quite literally) of ideas about beautiful places to visit.

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On a recent late-night research tip, we clicked on a gorgeous picture under “Explore Posts”, and down the rabbit hole we went. Where did we go, you ask? We stumbled upon (and fell in love with) the historic seaside country of Portugal! And if we had to go anywhere first, it’d be the beautiful city of Porto. Here are a few must-do’s on our imaginary itinerary!

O! Galeria: a small gallery, every inch filled with color and culture!

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Castelo de Obidos: this castle overlooks the most picturesque town!

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Museu Colecao Berardo: a must-visit modern art museum!

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Igreja Capela Das Almas: this gorgeously tiled church is breathtaking – a photo must!

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How to Optimize Instagram’s Search Options:

– Use “Search Places” when you want to search a geotag. You can be as specific as a restaurant or as broad as “Portugal” and boom, beautiful places to visit are right at your finger tips. The auto search will also bring up an endless list of the most popular geotags related to your search. From cities, to airports to beaches, this is your easiest and best tool to use for building your itinerary.

– “Top” the first column under the general “Search” is often overlooked, but it shouldn’t be. Use this to find the top everything. After typing in “Portugal”, it brings up the top (aka most followed) accounts associated with the search, as well as the most tagged hashtags and the most popular spots geotagged in Portugal. How cool is that?

– Other new updates we’re loving? The “Trending Tags” section is a fun tool to use to stay on top of trending stories and hashtags. It’s great to reference for ideas on what to post that day (when you’re stuck in an Instagram rut!) and ways to be a part of a larger conversation within the app. We also love that you can now directly send or share an Instagram with a friend without having to screenshot the image and text it to them – or worse, type their handle into the comments section (because who really likes to have a personal conversation in the comments section of someone else’s Instagram??). Ha! Just click the little arrow next to the comment symbol on the Instagram you want to share with your friend and you’re golden to dream up the next place you want to travel to together!

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If you’re planning to head to Portugal (and not just dreaming like we are), here are some awesome Portuguese Instagrammers to help you plan your itinerary! They’re amazing accounts to follow even if you’re not jetting to the charming country anytime soon.

Instagram Accounts To Follow:

@iter_miguel
@hmiguelsousa
@fabiobf
@lopesrute
@catdinis

image 1, 2, 4, 8 @hmiguelsousa // 3 via @victoriacher // 5 via @dani3e // 6 via @drcuerda // 7 via @fabiobf // 9 via @lopesrute // 10 via @iter_miguel

What do you think?

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3 Comments

  1. As someone who is very interested in traveling within the next few years, I found this post to be very inspiring in finding places that are currently trending. There is a sense of comfort in knowing others have or will travel to these exotic places on Instagram!