Jutting out into the ocean on the easternmost point of Australia, home to some of the country’s most lusted-after hotels, beaches and brothers (we’re looking at you, Mr and Mr Hemsworth), Byron Bay is barely a town that flies under the radar. So much so, that it’s just gained the title of Australia’s second-most beautiful town. A recent study by MortgageBroker.com.au analysed data from Instagram and Pinterest to identify the most beautiful towns and villages in Australia, and the rainbow region’s most well-known coastal town came in at number two. If you ask us, the research might suggest a little more about social media use than it does about the actual charm of a town, but it’s hard to dispute the beauty of Byron Bay.
According to social media data, Richmond – a historic town in southern Tasmania – is Australia’s most beautiful town, with 4,900,000 Instagram hashtags and 1,088 Pinterest pins. Tempted by a Tassie trip? You can read our local’s guide to Hobart over here – Richmond is just under half an hour’s drive from the state’s creative capital. And although Richmond scored a heap more social media attention than any other Aussie town, Byron came in at a close(ish) second.
Based on the data compiled in the report, Byron has been hashtagged on Instagram 3,300,000 times – that’s three million three hundred thousand posts. And although many of those may well have been of the Top Shop acai bowl, it’s also a credible case that Byron is one of the most beautiful, photographable towns in the country.
Byron was the only NSW town to make the list of the top 10 most beautiful towns in Australia according to social media, and though we agree that it’s worth a spot on the list, we’re also of the belief that a lot of other, less well-known NSW towns are up there among the country’s most stunning.
Western Australia is home to the highest number of the country’s most beautiful towns, with four of the top ten towns all located in WA. Taking third place on the list of Australia’s most beautiful towns is Noosa, with Port Douglas being the only other Queensland town to make the top ten.
Social media’s picks of Australia’s most beautiful towns and villages are as follows:
- Richmond, Tasmania (4,901,088 Combined Social Media Appearances)
- Byron Bay, New South Wales (3,300,991)
- Noosa, Queensland (1,701,024)
- Albany, Western Australia (1,301,019)
- Margaret River, Western Australia (875,014)
- Moonta, South Australia (768,310)
- Port Douglas, Queensland (562,077)
- Exmouth, Western Australia (443,979)
- Broome, Western Australia (433,983)
- Daylesford, Victoria (396,047)
You can read the full list and plan your next holiday accordingly over here.
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