We’re all used to visiting our favourite cities in the daytime, but as the day draws to a close, you shouldn’t have to stop exploring.
We wanted to discover which locations are the most popular by night, to help inspire our future getaways. To do this we explored Instagram data to reveal the places, in the UK and further afield, with the most night-time-related hashtags to crown the most popular and photogenic cities to visit by dark.
The most beautiful cities by night
UK towns and cities
Unsurprisingly it is London which ranks in first place, offering visitors beautiful sights both in the day and at night. Whether you’re wandering over one of London’s many well-lit bridges, or admiring the London Eye light up the capital’s skyline, you can discover more about the city with our things to do in London guide.
Scottish cities also prove popular for night-time exploring, with Edinburgh and Glasgow both ranking in the top five best cities by night, alongside Manchester and Liverpool.
UK towns / cities |
Instagram hashtags |
London |
231,000 |
Edinburgh |
4,300 |
Manchester |
2,000 |
Glasgow |
1,900 |
Liverpool |
1,400 |
Bristol |
1,400 |
Brighton |
1,100 |
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
1,000 |
Belfast |
875 |
York |
562 |
Birmingham |
515 |
Sheffield |
301 |
Nottingham |
173 |
Bournemouth |
148 |
Leicester |
106 |
Southampton |
44 |
The top three towns / cities in the UK
London
Edinburgh
Manchester
Global top 20
If you're looking to explore cities under the stars outside of the UK, we've also investigated the most beautiful cities by night across the globe. Check out Premier Inn hotel options at your nearest airport here.
Paris tops the list of most popular cities to snap in the evening time, with over 1,000,000 hashtags.
The next most popular night-time cities in the world are London, Athens, Rome and Warsaw, each with over 160,000 hashtags.
Top global cities |
Country / region |
Instagram hashtags |
Paris |
France |
1,000,000 |
London |
United Kingdom |
231,000 |
Athens |
Greece |
182,000 |
Rome |
Italy |
174,000 |
Warsaw |
Poland |
160,000 |
Budapest |
Hungary |
98,600 |
Dubai |
United Arab Emirates |
71,500 |
Lyon |
France |
66,500 |
Toulouse |
France |
63,700 |
Berlin |
Germany |
63,200 |
Bordeaux |
France |
52,400 |
Amsterdam |
Netherlands |
51,500 |
New York City |
USA |
50,000 |
Florence |
Italy |
46,200 |
Marseille |
France |
44,700 |
Bologna |
Italy |
43,000 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
42,700 |
Turin |
Italy |
40,800 |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
35,800 |
Milan |
Italy |
35,500 |
Top 20 cities in the USA
As the day draws to a close in the US, New York becomes the most popular city in the country for night-time Instagramming, as well as the world. It’s a great time to take a stroll through the city, with key tourist attractions from the Empire State Building to Times Square lighting up the night-time skies. In second place, Chicago is another favourite option for evening snaps, with Las Vegas, Boston and Seattle also making up the top five.
City |
Country / region |
Instagram hashtags |
New York City |
USA |
50,000 |
Chicago |
USA |
11,600 |
Las Vegas |
USA |
5,900 |
Boston |
USA |
3,700 |
Seattle |
USA |
2,500 |
Los Angeles |
USA |
2,400 |
San Francisco |
USA |
2,300 |
Vancouver |
Canada |
2,300 |
Quebec City |
Canada |
1,200 |
Atlanta |
USA |
831 |
Houston |
USA |
735 |
San Diego |
USA |
718 |
Ottawa |
Canada |
707 |
Dallas |
USA |
694 |
Washington |
USA |
633 |
Detroit |
USA |
538 |
Austin |
USA |
460 |
Nashville |
USA |
384 |
Denver |
USA |
373 |
Portland |
USA |
320 |
New York
Chicago
Las Vegas
Top 20 cities in Europe
As with the most beautiful cities at night on a global scale, Paris once again takes the top spot as the most popular city in Europe to visit after dark. Athens and Rome also rank highly, with Eastern European countries Warsaw and Hungary completing the top five cities with the most night-time hashtags.
City |
Country / region |
Instagram hashtags |
Paris |
France |
1,000,000 |
Athens |
Greece |
182,000 |
Rome |
Italy |
174,000 |
Warsaw |
Poland |
160,000 |
Budapest |
Hungary |
98,600 |
Lyon |
France |
66,500 |
Toulouse |
France |
63,700 |
Berlin |
Germany |
63,200 |
Bordeaux |
France |
52,400 |
Amsterdam |
Netherlands |
51,500 |
Florence |
Italy |
46,200 |
Marseille |
France |
44,700 |
Bologna |
Italy |
43,000 |
Turin |
Italy |
40,800 |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
35,800 |
Milan |
Italy |
35,500 |
Thessaloniki |
Greece |
34,500 |
Palermo |
Italy |
34,000 |
Brussels |
Belgium |
31,800 |
Vienna |
Austria |
31,400 |
Cities in Australia and New Zealand
In Australia and New Zealand, it’s dark while those in the northern hemisphere complete their days in the light, but our research shows that even at night-time, these cities are hugely popular with visitors. Sydney had the most ‘#[city]bynight’ hashtags (15,600) while Australian cities Melbourne and Brisbane followed behind to make up the top three.
City |
Country / region |
Instagram hashtags |
Sydney |
Australia |
15,600 |
Melbourne |
Australia |
9,200 |
Brisbane |
Australia |
7,100 |
Perth |
Australia |
2,200 |
Auckland |
New Zealand |
1,700 |
Adelaide |
Australia |
843 |
Gold Coast |
Australia |
213 |
Top 20 cities in Asia
Dubai typically sees between 8 to 10 hours of sunshine a day, however the popular tourist destination in the UAE also topped our rankings of the most beautiful cities by night in Asia, with 71,500 hashtags. Tokyo, Singapore and Bangkok also ranked highly, each with over 20,000 hashtags for their cities in darkness.
City |
Country / region |
Instagram hashtags |
Dubai |
United Arab Emirates |
71,500 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
42,700 |
Singapore |
Singapore |
23,500 |
Bangkok |
Thailand |
21,800 |
Hanoi |
Vietnam |
16,300 |
Hong Kong |
Hong Kong |
13,000 |
Shanghai |
China |
11,500 |
Manila |
Philippines |
11,200 |
Seoul |
South Korea |
5,800 |
Osaka |
Japan |
3,900 |
Abu Dhabi |
United Arab Emirates |
3,200 |
Mumbai |
India |
2,100 |
Beijing |
China |
1,800 |
Kuala Lumpur |
Malaysia |
1,700 |
Jakarta |
Indonesia |
1,100 |
Delhi |
India |
802 |
Phnom Penh |
Cambodia |
611 |
Tehran |
Iran |
436 |
Riyadh |
Saudi Arabia |
333 |
Hiroshima |
Japan |
194 |
Top 20 cities in South America
Sao Paulo was the most popular South American city for night-time hashtags on Instagram, likely thanks to its lively nightlife and beautifully lit city skyline. Other particularly popular cities for this area of the world at night-time included Buenos Aires in Argentina and Caracas in Venezuela.
City |
Country / region |
Instagram hashtags |
Sao Paulo |
Brazil |
6,800 |
Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
2,300 |
Caracas |
Venezuela |
1,600 |
Lima |
Peru |
1,100 |
Santiago |
Chile |
953 |
Bogota |
Colombia |
906 |
Quito |
Ecuador |
586 |
Cordoba |
Argentina |
415 |
Medellin |
Colombia |
318 |
Brasilia |
Brazil |
303 |
Fortaleza |
Brazil |
256 |
Cali |
Colombia |
225 |
Rio De Janeiro |
Brazil |
191 |
Salvador |
Brazil |
173 |
Maracaibo |
Venezuela |
162 |
Recife |
Brazil |
150 |
Arequipa |
Peru |
133 |
Guayaquil |
Ecuador |
114 |
Valparaiso |
Chile |
53 |
Mendoza |
Argentina |
29 |
Cities in Africa
Known as the gateway to Morocco, it was Casablanca that ranked as the most beautiful city at night in Africa, with 25,800 hashtags - considerably more hashtags than any other African city analysed. Cairo, Egypt and Rabat, Morocco followed behind in second and third positions each with over 3,000 hashtags.
City |
Country / region |
Instagram hashtags |
Casablanca |
Morocco |
25,800 |
Cairo |
Egypt |
4,100 |
Rabat |
Morocco |
3,100 |
Algiers |
Algeria |
2,500 |
Cape Town |
South Africa |
2,400 |
Luanda |
Angola |
641 |
Lagos |
Nigeria |
635 |
Kampala |
Uganda |
356 |
Johannesburg |
South Africa |
118 |
Alexandria |
Egypt |
53 |
Dar Es Salaam |
Tanzania |
26 |
Pointe Noire |
Republic of the Congo |
15 |
Brazzaville |
Republic of the Congo |
8 |
Khartoum |
Sudan |
8 |
Kano |
Nigeria |
4 |
Addis Ababa |
Ethiopia |
2 |
Kumasi |
Ghana |
2 |
Feeling inspired for a city break by night? Check out even more ideas for a weekend getaway over on our short breaks pages and make the most of your favourite cities in the night-time.
Methodology
- We counted the number of Instagram posts which used the hashtags ‘#[city]bynight’ for 253 cities and towns across the globe to reveal the most popular cities by night.