P o l i n a

P o l i n a is a travel-based Instagram account run by Russian shop owner and blogger Polina Burashnikova, who lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Although the majority of her posts are taken from her hometown, she also goes on trips to a range of different cities, including Moscow, London, Cambridge, Palma de Mallorca, and Venice. Descriptions attached to each photo come in both English and Russian, while she currently has close to 350,000 followers.

A clear emphasis on Polina’s Instagram page is breakfast and brunch in various locations across the world. She takes stunning birds-eye view photographs of table spreads, featuring pastries, fruit, coffee and juice, either taken in cafes or hotels. They are always very aesthetically presented, often adopting a minimalist approach, and give a good idea of the type of food available to eat across different cities.

Another good feature of the Instagram account is the ‘Stories’ at the top of the page that are divided into various cities and countries. These include the UK, Sicily, India, Iceland, Las Vegas and Dubai. The ‘Stories’ act like a mini travel guide, with a mix between photos, videos and video blogs describing her travels to a particular place. I found these very informative, presenting a brief overview of what to expect from a trip to each of these destinations.

However, one drawback to Polina’s account is that the focus is very much on luxury travel, often staying at the most expensive hotels in each city and going out for posh breakfasts and lunches. This means that for the regular backpacker, her page would not be a good indication of where to visit and stay whilst travelling to that specific location.

David Jones

I am a professional travel writer and travel enthusiast who traveled the world twice, so I am sharing my firsthand knowledge about everything related to travel and spending time abroad.