The beautiful village of Oia on the Cycladic island of Santorini is the most popular village in the world, according to the number of picture-sharing posts on social media.

Compiled by the UK-based price comparison service and switching website, uswitch.com, the list of the 40 most beautiful villages around the world also features highly-placed Folegandros, a tiny island village in the southern Cyclades. 

Based on the number of combined posts on Instagram and Pinterest, Oia, with over 1.6 million posts, also occupies the top spot in Europe. Renowned for its whitewashed buildings, beautiful sunsets and azure blue sea, Oia’s tally of 1,612,671 combined posts is over 80% more than the village of Furnas in the Azores, placed 10th.

Folegandros is ranked 11th place on the world list (7th most popular in Europe), with over 150,000 combined posts. In contrast to Santorini, Folegandros is relatively untouched by international tourism. Its wild natural landscapes and peaceful atmosphere make it one of the most desirable places to visit.

Europe dominates the global list with six entries in the top ten: Oia, Greece, Göreme in Turkey (counted as both Europe and Asia), ranked 3rd, Hallstatt in Austria, 4th, Vernazza in Italy, 7th, the serene village of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, ranked 9th, and Furnas in the Azores, Portugal, 10th.

Second place behind Oia is Halong Bay in Vietnam, with 1,168,018 posts, popular for scuba diving, hiking and rock diving. Mission Beach in Queensland, Australia (ranked 5th), Wanaka in New Zealand/Aotearoa (6th), and Shirakawa-Go in Japan (8th) complete the top ten.

Renowned for picture-postcard villages, 11 of the top 40 villages are in the United Kingdom – four each in Wales and Scotland, and three in England. 

With information from uswitch.com and moneyreview.gr.