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Brighten Up: Amazing Rainbow Towns You Can Visit Around The World

Brighten Up: Amazing Rainbow Towns You Can Visit Around The World

Rainbow town

Why go somewhere over the rainbow when you can hang out inside of one?

There are some wonderfully colourful towns around the world where locals have taken it upon themselves to paint the town red, blue, green yellow… You get the picture.

Feast your eyes on the whimsical, beautiful exteriors of some of the world’s rainbow towns.

Kampung Pelangi, Indonesia

Image: Rumah Ceria / Flickr

Early in 2017, Kampung Pelangi, a ramshackle Indonesian village, wasn’t gaining much attraction from tourists — until locals were delivered a whole bunch of paint and asked to get creative.

Now, people flock from all over the globe to see the town, with the hashtag #kampungpelangi being tagged more than 21,000 times on Instagram.

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Houses, park benches, footpaths and bridges have all been jazzed up with a new rainbow colour scheme. Lonely Planet reports that the entire village makeover cost the Indonesian government an estimated $200,000, but it’s already paying for itself in the masses of tourists visiting in search of the perfect Instagram snap.


Guatapé, Colombia

You’ll find Guatapé in northwest Columbia, east of Medellin. It’s famous for its houses decorated in wonderful colour.

It’s never been clear exactly why the town is decorated this way, but we’re not mad about it.

Stubborn donkeys, sheep and priests are the most common emblem stamped on the side of the homes, but you’ll find designs with dragons, giraffes and zebras, too.

No trip to the area is complete without a day spent strolling through the colourful streets of Columbia’s most colourful town.


Pachuca, Mexico

Image: Wikipedia Commons

Pachuca, otherwise known as Pachuca de Soto, is a city of 320,000 people in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. It’s a vivid city with loads of history — the first  football club in Mexico was founded here, and less than 20km away from the city, the very first football match was played in the entire American continent.

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Though it’s most famous for the hillside neighbourhood of Palmitas, where over 450 families and nearly 2000 people have transformed their homes into a massive colourful display. It was done by The Germen Crew, a local youth group known for its street art and graffiti projects. It’s intended to bring the community together and discourage crime.

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Bo Kaap, Capetown, South Africa

Image: Wikipedia Commons

Bo Kaap is one of the most-photographed areas in South Africa. But the brightly painted houses and cobbled streets aren’t the only reasons to visit — this part of Cape Town is packed full of history and culture.

The brightly coloured houses throughout the streets are a recent innovation celebrating the district’s Muslim identity. Previously, all of Cape Town’s houses were painted white. Then, residents of Bo-Kaap began painting their houses in vivid colours in preparation for the celebration of Eid. The rest, as they say, is history.


Nyhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark

Image: Visit Copenhagen

Originally, Nyhavn in Copenhagen was home to a busy commercial port, which would dock ships from all around the world. The area was packed with sailors, pubs and alehouses.

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Today, the iconic old homes have been renovated, and swanky restaurants dominate the port — the perfect place to unwind by the canal, glass of wine in hand, soaking up the great food and incredible scenery.

(Lead image: Jiao Shen)

Check out Qantas flights and begin your next adventure.

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