Most crowded

The Vatican Museum, mid-October 2014, shoulder to shoulder, or if you were my 5' tall wife, nose to armpits. She never wants to go back. On the bright side, it was that experience that taught us to plan ahead and look for days and times to beat the crowds as best we can, or maybe we started to preplan like that in the 90's when we made multiple Disney World trips, but we thought a museum like the Vatican would be more civilized.

Versailles in the summer ten years ago. It was a massive crowd standing shoulder to shoulder (and it wasn't in the Hall of Mirrors) and nobody could move in any direction so it was just a standstill for a very long time; so much so that if you were going to collapse you wouldn't fall to the ground because there was absolutely no room for movement. I remember at some point we eventually found an escape out a door that took us to the gardens. I've never been so relieved to get out of a venue. Clearly no fire marshall there.

I'm reading Kenko's comments and we both clearly had the same experience and PTSD from it.

Yep— Versailles on an April morning in 2018. So jam-packed that people simply could not move along into the next rooms of the palace. And with the clog of humanity—more and more people kept pouring into the palace and into the room we couldn’t get out of. The guards blew their whistles and shouted to the mob to “move along!” If you’ve ever read about dozens of people getting trampled to death in a crowd— this had all the makings of that type of setting.

I was so uncomfortable that I decided we just had to get out of the building and outside as quickly as possible before something catastrophic happened.

I still don’t understand how the system allowed so many people into the palace at once. I’m sure any nightclub as packed as Versailles Palace was that day would have been closed by the Fire Marshall or the police and then fined.

I agree with you Lane about the mascletá during Las Fallas, but it was even more crowded in Malaga for the opening ceremonies of the Thyssen museum when local officials, royalty, and Antonio Banderas paraded in front of the patio/plaza for the cameras and crowds. I imagine it was like the studio audience for the Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show but less restrained.

I shared a strip of raised concrete windowsill with a BBC photographer who was just as short as me, which turned out to be a very happy coincidence. Looking back on it now, I should have written it up as a meet-cute romcom. She had competitors clicking away who were lucky to be somewhat tall, and much badinage was exchanged in Spanish that I could not really follow. I'm also reflecting now that there was some honor among paparazzi at that time, because there were some parked cars and nobody climbed on top of them.

https://carmenthyssenmalaga.org/exposiciones-historico

Obama’s first inauguration.

1989 World Series Candlestick Park (the earthquake game) Sec 43 Row 21 Seat 14

Oakland Raiders vs New England Patriots 1976 at the Coliseum ( the Kenny Stabler 1 yard run game )

1972 Peace March San Francisco

I purposely travel off season so been lucky to have avoided huge crowds. That and no disrespect to Rick but also traveled in Europe before his guides became popular. Have photos of myself and 2 friends at Stonehenge one November with no one else there except 5 morons dressed in white robes who thought they were going to ascend into the heavens. All they ascended to was a police lorry.

My most uncomfortable moment was in the London tube system during the 2010 Pope Benedict visit. Big crowds came into London that day. The tube and its tunnels and walkways were wall to wall people, shoulder to shoulder, moving in mass. For me it was terribly claustrophobic. I just kept thinking that if there were any kind of incident we would all be trampled. Generally speaking I hate riding crowded, standing room, shoulder to shoulder underground subway cars anywhere.

I first visited the temples at Agrigento in September of 2019. I was overwhelmed by the number of visitors in the park. So many people. And it was very, very hot. The park is spacious so it wasn't claustrophobic but so many people all trying to see the same sites and get the same photos. It soured that experience and the beauty of the place for me. But I returned there in March of this year and the whole experience was so much better. Far fewer people and pleasant cooler temperatures.

The absolute worst for me was the Magic Kingdom in Disney World in late January 2024. We were there with our sons, DIL and granddaughters (aged 9 and 7). We watched the fireworks, which were fantastic, while standing at the end of Main Street near the castle.

Most people were leaving the park after the fireworks, but the park was open another two hours so a sizable minority were trying to get to other places in the park. Our group had reserved a time for the Snow White roller coaster after the fireworks, so we were heading to Fantasyland as the hoards were heading in the opposite direction to the exit. It was a solid mass of thousands of people jammed together trying to go in opposite directions. Fortunately, I don’t have claustrophobia, but I do have a fear of losing my grandchildren. It was truly awful.

However, there was one bright spot. Everyone was really civil and no one, and I mean no one, was pushy. Everyone moved slowly and politely forward as best they could. It was remarkable and gave me a really good feeling about people.

The Budapest St Stephen's Fireworks Display (20 August). But it only lasts about 2 hours, and as it is one of the greatest fireworks displays in Europe, and its mostly locals and mostly polite and forgiving it's not a bad thing.

The worst crowd I faced was in 2001 in Florence, Italy. My friend and I went to the Duomo for the Scoppia della Carre ceremony, which happens every Easter morning. Our landlady had told us the best place to watch it was the square right between the Duomo and the Baptistery. By the time we got there, a huge crowd had already formed. It was hard to see, but the procession slowly came towards the Duomo, then waited outside the doors. The “cart” was actually more of an ornate structure – it was roundish, with a dome, and looked very old. At 11 am, the priest saying Mass inside the cathedral releases a mechanical dove, which flies out into the square and ignites the fireworks attached to the cart. So for the next 15-20 minutes, fireworks went off, along with huge puffs of smoke and noisy explosions. It was slightly alarming at times, since the fireworks were practically on top of the huge crowd. At one point, an ambulance barreled its way through the swarm of people, barely stopping while people rushed to get out of its way.

Very crowded, and somewhat scary between the fireworks and the ambulance plowing through, but still worth it. Our landlady also bought us an Easter cake that was one of the most wonderful things I've ever eaten. It was bread-like; very dense and sweet and flavored with bits of orange rind, and covered with a rich, crusty sugared topping.

The Sistine Chapel in 2008 followed closely by the Vatican Museums and later that same trip, the Papal Audience at Castle Gandolfo. Being vertically challenged I never saw a thing at any of those places. If I didn't know the color of shirt my husband was wearing I would still be lost in the crowd. The Hong Kong subway in 1990 would be a close second. Except people were actually civilized.

My two worst were the Vatican in early January when staff was still on holiday and most of the museum rooms were closed and the crowd was running to the Sistine chapel, and the Paris airport in spring break when most of the employees were on strike and people were not only rushing to their planes in a packed crowd, but leaping over barriers, pushing other people aside, running up the down escalators, and even climbing over the median between the up and down escalators. No one was even trying to bring order to either situation.

A Saturday evening in mid December 2017, London, at the big Winter holiday festival held in Hyde Park near the Marble Arch...good grief, the crowd of people jammed into that tight space was hazardous if there had been a stampede, I couldn't believe they would allow that many people in the fenced off area, and we could barely move, much less could we get any mulled wine or food, so we immediately exited and went to a bar restaurant.

You have been warned:

https://hydeparkwinterwonderland.com

The Rome metro in 2001 - we wondered how we would get out after we got into the car. The dome of St. Peter’s a few years ago was really crowded. The performance of the three tenors on the Champ de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower in 1999 the night before France won the World Cup. That was insanely crowded. People were up in the trees to view the performance. Edited to add - Rome was in May and Paris in July. In Paris 1999, it was also the end of the Tour de France so very crowded. The three tenors concert was free so you can imagine that everyone who was in Paris wanted to be there hence the crowds.

Carnaval in Recife, Brazil. More than a million people crowded into a few city blocks in the downtown area. You really have to consider if you want to join the throngs, because once you're in them, it's not always easy to get out. At some points, I wasn't in control of my own movements, and was actually lifted off my feet by the crowd. Pretty scary at times.

Besides Mon Kok in Kowloon (Hong Kong) (January), I'd have to say Barcelona (early May), especially along Las Ramblas, but also at all the Gaudi sites.

Monet's house in Giverny in July 2015. You could only move in lockstep with the sweaty crowd. Couldn't move ahead or turn back and get out.

A day trip to Szentendre from Budapest on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon, the last weekend in the month. Absolutely mobbed. We took one look and turned on our heels..the only time we ever abandoned an activity because of the crowds.

Definitely the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel in 2005, as has been noted the vertically challenged have little to see but the rear ends of tall people.

But #1 has to be in Bangkok, Thailand riding the train on a Saturday in 2014 during the civil uprising. I swear half of Bangkok was riding to the central park where the protest was happening. The guide I hired for the day wasn't much taller than me, but he squeezed me in to a tiny space and kept people from suffocating me. He earned his fee that day!

Prague in 2004. Even way back then.
Bangkok's Grand Palace this past March. We just left.
The London Underground during rush hour.
A "Tang Dynasty " show somewhere in China.
The Vatican.
Barcelona in 2016.

Vatican museum and Sistine chapel, three times over the last 25 years, twice in June and once in January. Shoulder to shoulder, crowd barely moving. Glad I went but won’t go again.

The Vatican in September 2006 was the first experience of heavy crowds affecting the degree of how much I could enjoy a site. That was a once & done experience!

I’ve been in more crowded situations, but those were more by an intentional choice - the crowd enhances the experience! Here’s four that come to mind:

• The San Nicola festival in Bari, Italy
• The MITO sing-along in Torino, Italy’s San Carlo piazza
• The San Ranieri festival on the river in Pisa, Italy
• The Carnaval parade at Malaga, Spain

I have plans to attend two more major festivals in Italy & also some Christmas Markets - intentional. But I also purposely plan to stay away from very crowded tourist sites as I plan my trips. I’d rather see a lesser museum with no crowds than a packed museum, for instance.

I have been pretty lucky to avoid crowds for the most part, including the Sistine Chapel.

The most crowded place I can think of was in Venice during Carnival. Usually we avoided crowds by getting to St. Marks early, arriving shortly before sunrise and leaving by 8:30 or 9:00. One day we made the mistake of getting off the vaporetto at the San Zaccaria stop midday. Big mistake! I don't know what we were thinking. The crowds were unreal. You can see a picture here: https://mariematthews.smugmug.com/Venice-Carnival/i-qvgCtDD/A

@Marie M - What gorgeous photos of Carneval in Venice! How did you get these photos and still avoid the crowds? Was this in the early morning or did you go to places other than St. Mark’s Square?

@Mary. Thanks! (By the way, a couple of the photos at the end of that set are me in costume.)

We would arrive at St. Marks shortly before sunrise, usually just after 6:00 a.m., and leave by around 8:30 or 9:00. At that hour, mask people and photographers were about the only people around. Afterwards, we would stop at the Rialto Market, go back to the apartment, have breakfast and maybe a nap before heading out for other parts of Venice in the afternoon. In the late afternoon or early evening we would head back to either St. Marks or San Giorgio. I have no idea what possessed us that one day to get off at San Zaccaria in the middle of the day, but we learned our lesson quickly.

The most crowded places in a single country was clearly China. All the cities are jammed with people and no one wants to queue up.

Touring, more tourists will want to visit the key places. We were just in England and Westminister Abbey was jammed, even though we booked a specific time period.

Same in Rome with the St. Peter's and the Forum/Coliseum.
Venice always is jammed with tourists.

Oh, yeah, Westminster Abbey on a bank holiday weekend in April, 2010. I couldn’t see a thing (being vertically challenged, as well), and the crowds were so dense (in both senses of the word), and pushy, I left without even trying to see any more.

Two “I gotta get out of here “ moments I recall:

• The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on a Friday night in September 2017, when it was allegedly supposed to be less busy. People congregating in front of each artwork and 5’1” me being smothered. Hard to move around. We finally bolted after trying to see about 50% of the museum.
• The Book of Kell’s in Dublin, May 2023. Insanely crowded and so much of the exhibit was extensive written material on the walls that was challenging to read with severe crowding as we tried to make our way around. Very poorly curated, IMO, and the book itself anticlimactic.

Most crowded hike EVER for us in Europe was, surprisingly, Muottas Muragl to Alp Languard in Switzerland’s Engadine. Like a 6 kilometer conga line. Maybe just bad timing, a sunny day in September. Views fabulous, but so challenging with so many people!

The Vatican Museum in mid-October 2017--though from other people's comments it appears to be bad at any time of the year. I could hardly move and eventually my earbud could no longer pick up the tour guide. No desire to go back except maybe as part of a private before or after hours tour.

The London Underground on July 6, 2004. Opening of the Princess Diana Memorial and F1 drivers parade through the middle of London on the same day. It was so crowded that they were closing the gates of the station from time to time to control how many people were near the tracks. I have used the Tube many times since, but never in so crowded a situation.