If your goal is to get paid to travel the world, it’s a wise idea to start an travel Instagram account to document your adventures. Whether you’re a travel blogger, a freelance travel writer, or just someone who loves to explore and wouldn’t mind a few perks along the way, a travel Instagram account will help you achieve your goals and make a pretty digital scrapbook of your memories.

These days it can be tough to grow your account. The algorithm can be fickle and impossible to master, and there are so many accounts out there you might feel like you’re just lost in the shuffle.

That’s where hashtags come in. You can use Instagram travel hashtags to help other people discover your account. People search for travel inspiration and things to do in a certain destination on Instagram, and you can use that to your advantage.

You can also use hashtags to find other accounts and interact with them. Remember, this is SOCIAL media. The entire platform is for connecting with other people, not just posting something and waiting for the masses to adore you.

The more engaged your account is, the better the chances are that you will be able to monetize your Instagram account or use it to leverage comped experiences or hotel stays. Travel hashtags will certainly get your name out there in the travel community!

I’ve been running a family travel blog and Instagram account for over a year now (come say hi!), and I’ve done extensive research on which hashtags to use on your travel photos. I’m going to share them with you so that we can all get out there and engage with each other!

This post may contain affiliate links which means if you use my link and make a purchase I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

INSTAGRAM TRAVEL HASHTAGS FOR YOUR NEXT GREAT TRAVEL PHOTO

TIPS FOR CHOOSING THE BEST INSTAGRAM TRAVEL HASHTAGS

1. Use location-specific hashtags.

When people are going on a trip, they search for their destination on Instagram. If you’re posting about that place and providing good tips, beautiful photos, and hidden gems, they’ll definitely want to learn more about your account.

So make it easy for those researching destinations by tagging and hashtagging the locations of your travels.

First check the local visitors bureau Instagram account and see if they have a branded hashtag. Next, look for the state or country’s branded hashtag.

For example, in Florida you can use the hashtag #loveFl to be featured by @VisitFlorida. Even if you don’t end up getting featured, other people that love Florida travel will be able to find you through that hashtag.

From there, use the related suggestions Instagram gives to find more local hashtags that other people are using. Type #loveFl in the search box, then when the results pop up, you might see a bar or related hashtags toward the top: #staysaltyflorida #visitflorida #pureflorida #sharealittlesunshine #igersflorida

I will click on each of these individual hashtags to see how many people are using them before I add them to my Florida-related hashtag bank. I usually aim for about 10,000 - 500,000.

Use too popular of a hashtag and your photo will disappear in the feed almost instantly. Use too unpopular of a hashtag and no one is actually checking it.

2. Use hashtags that tell what you do or who you are.

I love using family travel hashtags to find my community of fellow travelers and travel bloggers. It’s nice to participate in a community and support each other. I also get inspired by other family travel bloggers and hope I can do the same for them.

I start with a pretty general hashtag, then go down the rabbit hole from there. For example, I’ll look up #familytravelblogger, then discover hashtags like #parentswhowander #familytraveltribe and #goadventuretogether.

All of these describe me as a mom who travels, and some will describe that I’m a mom who writes about her travels.

You can use this technique for whatever niche you’re in: solo travel, adventure travel, female travel, etc.

3. Use hashtags to help your audience find you.

Ideally, the people who follow my Instagram and read my blog are parents who want to travel more with their kids. So I’m not JUST trying to attract other family travel bloggers and writers. I want to find moms and dads with young kids who aren’t necessarily traveling yet.

Screen Shot 2019-02-26 at 6.06.54 AM.png

So what I’m going to do is find hashtags that those types of parents will be using and searching. Parenting hashtags, hashtags about toddlers, hashtags about motherhood, etc.

I’ll start with something like "#momoftoddlers #momofthree #toddlermom or #sahmlife then do a deep dive into parenting, motherhood, and childhood hashtags. I have specific hashtag banks for motherhood (if it’s a picture of me or me with the kids), childhood (if it’s a post featuring my child or children), and ones about style if we’re showing off our outfits (rare…I wear the same 5 things over and over).

Some of my favorites are: #stopdropandmom #littleandbrave #runwildmychild and #memoirsofmotherhood

Really think long and hard about who you’re target audience is, and spend a few hours going down the Instagram rabbit hole figuring out what hashtags they’re using.

HOW TO HASHTAG YOUR TRAVEL PHOTOS ON INSTAGRAM

I think we all pretty much have an idea for how to use a hashtag, but I want to share a few quick tips for streamlining the process of selecting hashtags and saving them so I can just copy and paste when the time comes to post a picture.

In the Notes app of my phone I create a new note for each category of picture I might be posting. For me, those include: beach photos, kids on the beach, travel Florida, family travel, travel mom, kids traveling, parenthood/motherhood, and style. I’ll also create a new hashtag bank for a specific destination if I have a trip coming up.

Yes, I have a different set of 25-30 hashtags for each of these categories.

What I do is type a few periods on different lines, then start my hashtag list. It looks like this:

When I’m ready to post a photo, I choose a hashtag group, highlight it, copy it, then paste it in the first comment right after my photo is published. This makes my caption look cleaner, because some people find hashtags to be spammy or annoying to look at.

Each group of hashtags should have a nice mix of:

location / local hashtags
hashtags that describe your target audience
hashtags that describe your account and the photo

DON’T FORGET THIS TIP FOR BETTER INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT

So you want lots of likes and comments on your photo? Then you need to do the same! Spend a few minutes before and after posting your photo liking and commenting on other photos. These can be your own community (people who follow you and people you follow), people outside your community that you discover through the hashtags you’ve used, and people in your location.

INSTAGRAM TRAVEL HASHTAG CATEGORIES

Ok, we finally made it! Here are some fantastic travel hashtags for you to use! I’ve listed about half of them here, and I have at least 4 more categories of hashtags in the Instagram Travel Hashtag spreadsheet I’ve created for my email subscribers!

Not only will you get 200+ travel hashtag ideas, but you’ll also be able to see how many times each hashtag has been used to weed out the overused ones and find the sweet spot.

GENERAL TRAVEL HASHTAGS

#travel #traveling #travelblogger #travelpic #travelgram #travelblog #travelblogs #wanderlustlife #travelbloggerlife #tbloggers #travelinbetween #abmtravelbug #travelinspo #wheretogonext #livetotravel #wanderlust_tribe #wanderlusters #travelescape #exploreyourworld #exploreyourstate #exploreyourcity #exploreyourbackyard #bucketlistcheck #darlingescapes #takemeanywhere #travelnowlifelater #wandergram #welivetotravel #traveldreamseekers #sidewalkerdaily #travelgramcollective #wanderlust_tribe #thewanderingtourist #travelandexplore #theculturetrip #passionpassport #travelzoo #matadornetwork #athomeintheworld #bbctravel #liveyouradventure #cntraveler #fodorstravel #traveltuesday #wanderlustwednesday #lppathfinders

FAMILY TRAVEL HASHTAGS

#familytravel #familytravelblogger #familytravels #familytravelblog #familytraveltribe #familyadventures #familyadventure #travelfam #exploringfamilies #lpkids #wearetravelmums #familytravelmomen t#explorewithkids #tinybigadventure #raiseawildchild #kidswhoexplore #letthemexplore #wildandbravelittles #travelbaby #travelkids #travelmom #adventureswithchildren #exploringfamilies #parentswhowander #takethekids #goprofamily #gowithnugget #babycantravel #welltraveledkids #travelwithbaby #adventuringwithkids #familytrails #curiouslittleexplorers #travelwithtoddler

OUTDOOR TRAVEL HASHTAGS

#optoutside #findyouradventure #goneoutdoors #seeyououtthere #findmeoutside #nationalparkservice #findyourpark #nationalparkgeek #nationalparksusa #lovelifeoutside #outdoorsusa #radparks #wearehikers #hikingtheglobe #hikemoreworryless #getoutstayou t#seekthetrails #everytrailconnects #in2nature #outsideproject #idhikethat

…all these and more!

I’ve included how many photos are tagged with each hashtag along with 100+ MORE hashtags for you to use in my free spreadsheet of travel hashtags. Members of the A Mom Explores community get access to the hashtag spreadsheet (along with packing lists and other freebies) when you sign up for my newsletter!

If you still feel like you need more tips on getting the most engagement possible out of hashtags, you may consider taking the Hashtag Hero course run by Instagram Marketer Alex Tooby.

This course helped me realize that those huge popular hashtags weren’t doing me any favors, and helped me focus on how to use the right hashtags to gain targeted traffic and followers.

Read more about Hashtag Hero or if you’re looking for more guidance on growing your Instagram account with a strategy that works, try Infamous to Influential.

If you’re not ready to invest just yet, then start with the free 7-day Instagram Authority course. It will give you a better idea of what Alex’s teaching style is like and if it’s the right fit for you.