This city forest is located in the Little Carpathians and stretches across the northern parts of Bratislava. Its relative proximity to the city centre allows many residents and tourists to visit “real” nature for various reasons.

1. Raw nature within city dwellers’ reach
2. Rare winter popularity
3. Endless sceneries to photograph

Escaping the city into “real” nature

The endless depths of the woods and unlimited space to explore is what people mostly seek when visiting Mestské Lesy. It is about being able to enjoy wildlife just a few kilometers away from the city centre. Commercial and urban-life components, such as restaurants, events or architecture, play a minor role compared to the vast number of pictures with hashtags relating to “nature”, namely 52% of all posts¹.

This contrast to typical urban life seems to have gained massive popularity among Instagram users in the last couple of years and particularly during the pandemic. Numbers show that the volume of photos posted in Mestské Lesy grew by 194% from 2018 to 2020, while, in places like Horský Park or Medická Záhrada, it only increased by 13% and 16% respectively. The city forest was possibly the most visited location for Bratislava residents to escape the burden of lockdown restrictions.

Nature lovers peaking in autumn and winter

Mestské Lesy also stands out for its unique seasonality. Even though posts of public parks are most frequently shared in autumn, this location is the most visited natural spot in the winter months. 7% of all posts included winter-related hashtags, in comparison to just 2.7% in Horský Park. Additionally, the Google Vision pattern recognition tool marks 8.3% of Instagram posts from Mestské Lesy with the “snow” label.

Touring through the depths of the woods

The forest’s size and versatility offer a wide range of activities to visitors. They particularly come here for a longer stay to practice their favourite sport or explore the woods. That explains the even ratio between posts shared on weekdays and the weekend when people usually have more time to dedicate a whole day to a trip to the forest.

Users love to pursue their active hobbies here – cycling, hiking, jogging and much more. Mestské Lesy is second to none in Bratislava when it comes to such activities as cycling and hiking, as they require a lot of space and a natural environment.

A nature photographers’ haven

The most popular subject of posts from Mestské Lesy is the surrounding nature itself rather than other people, dogs or food. While the photography category does not rank particularly low, the majority of photographs includes natural aspects, such as plant, tree, wood, and even trunk or twig².

Simultaneously, of all the locations examined, the city forest has the lowest ratio of likes per post – just 45 compared to 77 for Horský Park and 87 for Medická Záhrada. This leads to the conclusion that genuine pictures of nature are simply not as popular on Instagram as pictures of smiling faces and nicely presented food. None of these or similar subjects was found in the 50 most common labels.

What else to know about Mestské Lesy

1. The forest has the lowest share in the “happiness & love” category. The prevailing mood here seems to be thoughtfulness while being alone in the woods.
2. One user seems to enjoy photographing Mestské Lesy noticeably more than others. He published 57 pictures from this location. That amounts to 12% of all posts.
3. Many users like to put their bikes into the spotlight – Google Vision recognizes small details such as bicycle wheels, frames and other “equipment and supplies” in a number of posts.