The best selfie spots in the world share one trait: the backdrop does the work, so a phone at armโs length still brings home a picture people ask about. These are the six most spectacular selfie spots we would put on any list of the most Instagrammable places in the world. For each one you get the exact place to stand, the month and hour that make the shot, and the rule that catches visitors out.
Quick answer
The six most spectacular spots in the world to take a selfie are Australiaโs Lake Hillier, Boliviaโs Salar de Uyuni, Peruโs Machu Picchu, Venice, Arizonaโs Antelope Canyon and Keukenhof in the Netherlands. At every one of them, timing decides the shot more than the camera does, and two of them ban the kit most selfie-takers pack.
1. Lake Hillier, Australia โ The Pink Lake from the Air
Best Time to Visit: a clear, calm day with the sun high enough to light the water. The Australian summer, December to February, gives the longest days for flights.
Exact Selfie Spot: a window seat on a scenic flight over Middle Island, with the lake, the strip of eucalyptus and the Southern Ocean in one frame.
Lake Hillier sits on Middle Island, the largest island of the Recherche Archipelago and 11 km off the coast of Cape Arid National Park. It is about 600 metres wide and shaped like a footprint. Scenic flights from Esperance are the practical way to see it, so this is the one aerial selfie on the list. Its colour comes from salt-loving algae, chiefly Dunaliella salina, which produce beta-carotene in sunlight. Against the dark green bush and deep blue sea, even a muted pink stands out.
- Dress for contrast: white or neutral clothing keeps the lake as the colour in the frame.
- Go wide: the 0.5x lens fits the lake, the island edge and the ocean behind you.
- Film first: shoot a short video or Live Photo and pull the sharpest still afterwards, because the aircraft keeps moving.
- Kill the glare: hold the phone close to the window and shade it with your hand to cut reflections.
The catch: Tourism Western Australia says Lake Hillier is no longer the bubblegum pink of older photos. A major rainfall event in 2022 diluted its salt, and the colour cannot be guaranteed. It may return as salinity rises, but nobody can predict when.
2. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia โ The Mirror of the Sky
Best Time to Visit: December to April for the mirror, when rain leaves a thin layer of water on the salt. May to November is dry, with white hexagonal crust. Go at sunrise or sunset for low, warm light.
Exact Selfie Spot: a stretch of flooded salt well away from the main tour tracks, where no tyre marks or footprints break the reflection.
Salar de Uyuni on Boliviaโs Altiplano is the largest salt flat on earth, covering roughly 10,000 square kilometres. NASA notes that the rain falls mostly in the southern summer and turns the surface into a giant mirror. With no landmark in sight, the person in the picture becomes the landmark. In the dry months the flat is better for perspective tricks than reflections, because the horizon runs dead straight in every direction.
- Bring props: a toy figure, a bottle or a hat placed close to the lens makes a person far behind it look tiny.
- Get low: hold the phone just above the water line to double the sky in the reflection.
- Use the self-timer: put the phone on a bag, set a ten-second timer and stand still for a sharp mirror image.
- Wear colour: red or yellow reads clearly against white salt and blue sky.
The catch: the salt crust is sharp and the water is cold and briny. Skip the barefoot shot and wear waterproof boots, then rinse them afterwards.
3. Machu Picchu, Peru โ The Ancient Wonder
Best Time to Visit: May to September, the dry season. Book the first entry slots from 06:00, when mist often lifts off the terraces.
Exact Selfie Spot: the Guardhouse (Casa del Guardiรกn) on the upper terraces, the postcard angle with Huayna Picchu rising behind the citadel.
A selfie here works because of scale: the stone city fills the middle ground and the peak behind it fills the sky. Entry is by timed ticket and circuit. Circuit 1 routes reach the upper viewpoint, and Circuit 2 also passes the classic photo. The Sun Gate (Inti Punku) sits on Circuit 1, Route 1-C, which runs only in high season with entry between 08:00 and 11:00. There is no evening hike to it. Our Peru tour with two days at Machu Picchu includes a guided visit and a second entry the next day. For a longer trip, you can put Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls and Rio in one trip. Browse all Peru holidays for other routes.
- Frame the peak: stand slightly left of the terrace edge so Huayna Picchu sits over your shoulder, not behind your head.
- Use a friend: have them shoot from one terrace lower to stretch the ruins out behind you.
- Keep the mist: cloud drifting through the ruins adds depth, so wait a few minutes before giving up on a grey morning.
- Stay on the paths: climbing or sitting on the walls is not allowed.
Camera rules: selfie sticks and tripods are banned inside the site. Tripods are allowed only with written authorisation from the regional culture office in Cusco. Plan on handheld shots or a friend.
4. Venice, Italy โ The Floating City
Best Time to Visit: April to June or September to October. Walk out before 7am for empty bridges and flat, soft light.
Exact Selfie Spot: the wooden Ponte dellโAccademia, facing east down the Grand Canal towards the dome of Santa Maria della Salute.
Venice has no cars, so every street backdrop is water, stone or a boat. The Accademia view is the one most people recognise, and it needs no zoom. The smaller canals give a quieter, more personal frame: a gondola mooring post, a peeling doorway or a humble bridge. Cannaregio and Dorsoduro are residential, which means washing lines, local bars and far fewer people in the background.
- Look for reflections: after rain, puddles in the campi act as mirrors for the facades above.
- Shoot candid: have a friend catch you crossing a bridge or waiting at a water-bus stop.
- Put the light behind the camera: in the morning, face west so the sun lights the buildings rather than your back.
- Get lost on purpose: the best frames sit a few turns off the signposted route between Rialto and St Markโs.
The access fee: in 2026 day visitors paid โฌ5, or โฌ10 if booked late, between 08:30 and 16:00 on 60 set days from 3 April to 26 July. That scheme has ended for the year. Overnight guests are exempt, and the 2027 dates have not been announced, so check before you go.
5. Antelope Canyon, USA โ The Flowing Stone
Best Time to Visit: roughly mid-March to early October for the light beams, which reach the canyon floor from about 10:30 to 13:30.
Exact Selfie Spot: inside Upper Antelope Canyon, standing just to the side of a light beam so it falls between you and the camera.
Flash floods cut this slot canyon through sandstone near Page, Arizona, and the walls curve in bands of orange, red and violet. The famous beams come through narrow gaps overhead when the sun is high. A silhouette against a beam is the classic selfie here, with the swirl of rock doing the rest. Guides sometimes toss a handful of sand into the beam to make it visible. For a wider trip, a Las Vegas stay works as a base for the Southwest, and there is more route advice in our guide to USA holidays from the UK.
- Warm the tones: a warm or vivid photo style brings out the red of the rock without heavy editing.
- Shoot upwards: tilt the phone to include the sliver of sky and the height of the walls.
- Expose for the beam: tap the brightest part of the screen, then pull the exposure down so the beam does not blow out.
- Keep moving: groups follow the guide in sequence, so take your shot when the guide stops the group.
Camera rules: dedicated photography tours were discontinued in 2018. Standard tours do not allow tripods, monopods or selfie sticks, so the shot is handheld.
6. Keukenhof Gardens, Netherlands โ The Explosion of Colour
Best Time to Visit: the 2027 season runs from Thursday 18 March to Sunday 9 May, 08:00 to 19:00, with last entry at 18:15. Tulips usually peak in mid-to-late April, depending on the spring weather. Arrive at opening.
Exact Selfie Spot: the windmill at the edge of the park, which looks out over the striped bulb fields beyond the fence.
Keukenhof in Lisse covers about 32 hectares and is planted with around seven million bulbs every autumn: tulips, hyacinths and daffodils. Unlike the other five spots, the colour here is designed, bed by bed. That makes it the easiest place on the list to frame a face against a single solid colour. The windmill adds height and a view of the working fields that supply the bulb trade.
- Dress simply: white, denim or a pale single colour lets the flowers carry the picture.
- Kneel on the path: a low angle fills the foreground with blooms without stepping into a bed.
- Layer the frame: find flowers both in front of and behind you for depth.
- Hire a bike: cycling the lanes around Lisse shows the fields at full scale.
The catch: the bulb fields outside the park are private farmland. Photograph them from the road or cycle path and never walk into the rows.
The best selfie spots in the world compared
Getting in and the paperwork for a British passport, side by side.
| Spot | How you reach the shot | Ticket or fee | UK passport entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Hillier, Australia | Scenic flight from Esperance. | The flight only. | Free eVisitor online, or an ETA through the app (service fee may apply). |
| Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia | 4ร4 tour from Uyuni town. | Tour price. | Visa-free for up to 90 days. Passport valid six months from arrival, with two blank pages. |
| Machu Picchu, Peru | Train to Aguas Calientes, then bus or walk up. | Timed hourly entry by circuit, US$60 for foreign adults. | No tourist visa, usually 90 days in any 180. Passport valid six months from arrival. |
| Venice, Italy | Train or plane, then water bus or on foot. | Free to wander, except on day-visitor fee days. | Schengen: 90 days in 180. Passport under 10 years old and valid three months after you leave. EES biometric registration at the border. |
| Antelope Canyon, USA | Authorised Navajo tour operator only. | Tour price plus US$15 Navajo Parks fee per person. | ESTA or visa before you fly. |
| Keukenhof, Netherlands | Lisse, between Amsterdam and Leiden. | Park ticket. | Same Schengen rules as Italy. ETIAS is not yet in operation. |
How do you take a better travel selfie?
A few habits improve a shot at any of the best photo spots in the world, and none needs extra kit.
- Use golden hour: the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset give soft, warm, side-on light that flatters faces and lifts texture in stone and water.
- Raise the angle: hold the phone slightly above eye level. Save the 0.5x lens for landscapes, because it stretches faces at armโs length.
- Dress against the backdrop: neutral clothes in front of busy colour, and one strong colour against a plain landscape.
- Check the rules before you pack: a mini tripod and a Bluetooth remote beat a selfie stick where they are allowed, but some protected sites ban both.
- Stay safe: keep to marked paths, step back from edges and water, and watch your bag in crowds while you frame the shot.
Each of these places rewards planning more than luck. Pick the season first, then build the flights, hotels and entry tickets around the hour you want to be standing in the right spot.
