San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is a popular spot for snap-happy tourists. Photo / 123RF

These days, social media is just as important as the trusty tour guide for providing wanderlust inspiration.

The seven wonders of Instagram have now been calculated according to hashtags, and the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and the Golden Gate Bridge are the most popular.

Rounding out the top seven most Instagrammed tourist attractions are the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Notre Dame in France, the Alhambra in Spain and Peru's Machu Picchu.

The research by CEWE Photoworld revealed that, although only built as a temporary structure, the Eiffel Tower trumped all of the other superstructures with 3,103,675 hashtag mentions on the social media site.

The locations were identified using Trip Advisor's top 25 travel destinations of the world, as voted by the public, which were then converted into the top travel destinations according to the most hashtagged check ins on Instagram.

Out of the seven most popular locations, four are located in Europe and just three on the list were built before the 19th century.

Meanwhile, Machu Picchu with a total of 657,743 hashtags was the only historic ruin on the list.

Bethany Griffin, Online Marketing Manager at CEWE Photoworld, said: 'With over 195million Instagram mentions for #Travel, #Travelgram and #Travelling alone, it just goes to show that travel is at the heart of photo memories.'

Travel Blogger, Becky Padmore of Global Grasshopper said: 'Having visited all of these it's no surprise these sites are the Seven Wonders of the Social World.

'They're equally stunning and all look great in photos.'

The seven most Instagrammable views

1. Eiffel Tower, France #3,103,675

Initially built as a temporary exhibit for the 1889 World Fair, this French icon shows the enduring appeal of art nouveau architecture.

2. Big Ben, UK #2,210,667

The distinctive bell within the newly named Elizabeth Tower is recognised worldwide.

3. Golden Gate Bridge, USA #1,433,961

Opened in 1937, this striking suspension bridge totals three miles in length.

4. Burj Khalifa, Dubai #1,384,612

Proudly crowned as the world's tallest building in 2009, the Burj Khalifa stands a whopping three times taller than the Eiffel Tower.

5. Notre Dame, France #1,169,500

The world famous cathedral is referred to as Notre Dame de Paris which translates to "Our Lady of Paris".

6. The Alhambra, Spain #676,305

One of Spain's most enchanting Unesco sites, this half-palace, half-fort means 'Red Castle' in Arabic.

7. Machu Picchu, Peru #657,743

Machu Picchu is one of the most important archaeological sites as evidence of the urban Inca Empire.