How to go viral in the travel photography niche on Instagram
What 800+ viral travel photography reels have in common: what they show, how they start, what they sound like, and who posts them. Real numbers from Aubrium's library.
Space photos shot through the creator's own telescopes, set against NASA's, under the line "My Telescope vs NASA". The caption names the telescopes behind them. That comparison reached 34.6 million views from a page with 93,088 followers.
Night skies, wildlife, cities and storms all live in this niche. In Aubrium's library it holds 800+ viral reels. The middle reel of those 800+, by account size, came from an account with 13,170 followers, and 210+ crossed a million views. Here is what they share. What kind of reels go viral has the patterns across niches, and every niche we looked at has the rest.
Montages lead viral travel photography reels, at 40%, and stories travelled about as far, 26 times their creator's followers against 25. Faces are absent from 74%, text appears on 73%, and a song plays on 55%, well above the library's 37%. 40% come from accounts under 10,000 followers.
Aubrium's library, 31 October 2026.
What kind of travel photography reels go viral?
Montages, at 40% of viral travel photography reels. Stories follow at 17% and tutorials at 13%.
Reach is flat across the top. Montages reached 25 times their creator's followers, stories 26 and transformations 25. Tours went 29, but there are only 21 of them. Voiceovers over footage, only 19 of them, sat at 13.
Do you need to show your face?
No. 74% of viral travel photography reels never show a face, and 47% have no person in them at all. The faceless ones went further, 24 times their creator's followers against 17. Only 11% have someone talking to camera; the view is the subject.
Should travel photography reels have text on screen?
Most do: 73%, nearly all of it a light line, at 69%. Heavy text is rare at 5% and went least far, 16 times followers. The 27% with no text went a touch further than a light line, 25 against 22.
Trending song or your own sound?
A song, and more often than across the library: 55% use one, against 37% overall. Songs and own sound both reached 20 times followers. Audio borrowed from other creators went furthest, at 33.
What hooks work for travel photography reels?
31% skip the hook, and those reached 23 times followers. Curiosity gaps are the most common hook, on 19% of all these reels. Aspirational lines went furthest, at 40, though only 26 reels use one, and questions came next at 28. The middle hook is 8 words, and hooks of 13 to 20 words sat lowest, at 11. Six from photographers on the road:
- Curiosity gapText on screen
Capturing the Milky Way
- QuestionSpoken
You hate the rain? Yeah. How could anyone hate the rain?
- RelatableText and spoken
Take your camera...
- QuestionText on screen
WANT TO TAKE SUCH PHOTOS WITH YOUR PHONE?
- RelatableText and spoken
One of my favorite things to photograph are seemingly boring scenes like this.
- AspirationalText on screen
we should go to alaska to see aurora one day
Polished, or filmed on your phone?
Polished, at 87%, but reach was level: 22 times followers for polished reels, 21 for the 12% shot plainly on a phone. Pace split them more. Slow reels, 20% of the niche, went furthest at 28, fast ones reached 23, and the medium pace 19.
Can a small travel photography account go viral?
Yes. 40% of viral travel photography reels came from accounts under 10,000 followers. Under 2,000 followers, the middle reel reached 106 times its following; at 50,000 to 100,000 followers, 12.
Your next travel photography reel, by the numbers
40% are montages
Stories went about as far: 26 times to 25.
74% never show a face
47% have no person in them at all.
73% put text on screen
Almost always a light line; heavy text is rare.
55% use a song
Against 37% across the whole library.
8 words, the middle hook
Aspirational lines went furthest, at 40 times.
73% ask for nothing
Let the view do the asking.
Keep reading
The hooks have a page of their own: the best hooks for travel photography reels. Close by: how camera gear reels go viral, what goes viral in photo editing and what goes viral in wedding photography.
Questions people ask
What travel photography content goes viral on Instagram?
Montages lead, at 40% of viral travel photography reels in Aubrium's library. Stories, at 17%, travelled about as far, 26 times their creator's followers against 25.
Do travel photographers need to show their face?
No. Faces are absent from 74% of viral travel photography reels, and those reached 24 times followers in the middle, against 17 with a face.
How many followers do viral travel photography accounts have?
The middle viral travel photography reel came from an account with 13,170 followers. 40% came from accounts below 10,000 followers.
Should travel reels use trending audio?
More than half do: 55% of viral travel photography reels use a song, against 37% across Aubrium's library. Audio borrowed from other creators went furthest, at 33 times followers.
Should travel photography reels be slow?
Slow reels went furthest: 20% of viral travel photography reels move slowly, and the middle one reached 28 times its creator's followers, against 23 for fast ones.
How we did this
We looked at every travel photography reel in Aubrium's library on 31 October 2026: 800+ reels from 600+ creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached far more people than its creator has followers. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's travel photography niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.
Format, faces, text, sound and hooks are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
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