CNN Article re Overcrowded Europe Desitnations

I saw this article and it was very interesting.

Glad that you posted.

The pictures say it all. Being jammed in with large crowds is not my idea of a good time. I'm looking forward to the day when I can travel off-season, and maybe even way off-season, especially southern locations. Yes, I realize it's crowded most of the time, but nothing like the summer tourist hordes.

I've been to Miami and Orlando several times. Ugh. zero.zero desire to go back to the traffic and crowds.

Phuket. Best name ever.

Yup, nothing like having the beach all tobyourself in February. The problem is certain parts of the world have become too affluent and certain parts of the world are too cheap. The only reasonable way to reduce tourism is to tax them away. Works for me.

Well, we head to Amsterdam next month, so thankfully low season! Plus wee are not partiers;)

Interesting list. Having already been to 5 of the 8, with no plans to ever go to 2 of the others, it would be easy for me to say “don’t go”….

My bottom line thought is that if I start to complain about overcrowded, it’s time for me to stay home. Instead I will just go to places that aren’t (yet) overcrowded.

Thanks for the article, TC.
If you are headed to one of those crowded venues, if you REALLY want to visit a place, definitely go, don’t be put off, but DO prepare for alternatives if your first choice of times or places isn’t available.

If you need tickets for an attraction, find out when they go on sale and buy ahead of time. This website and tour books will help.

France was a must see for me, so lucky we got to go in 1994 when I was much younger and stronger, so we won’t need to climb the Eiffel Tower this time. But if I really wanted to do that, I would research when the less popular times were, and go then.

I would talk to the hotel concierge and the locals and get their input, there may be something really incredible going on you’d much rather do.

If you can go in spring or autumn that may help with crowds, but if summer is the only time, then be prepared to make adjustments. Is it really busy at 7 am at the cafes? Maybe it’s not like that at 9 am (or vice versa). Can you be flexible?

We start our tour in Haarlem and Amsterdam next April, never been before. The historic sites, art museums and architecture will be our focus. In April, we will see beautiful flowering bulb gardens. The Red light district and the “koffeeshops” with pot for sale are not for us.

The worry with Amsterdam is, in 2024, there will be flight cancellations in the attempt to limit flights at Schipol airport. We hope our flight won’t be cancelled because of the Dutch people’s desire to reduce the pressures of too much tourism. Yes, I understand the reasons, too much is too much. I just hope we get to see it. We are aging and won’t necessarily get a chance to go again….

Having visited Amsterdam, Venice and Paris in late Dec/early Jan half a century ago, I'd be happy to return in the winter. Well, I don't care if I ever get back to Venice. We did have a few days in Paris Sept '22.

I have no desire to visit Miami. I don't particularly care for sunny, hot places, so should I ever visit the other places, I'd prefer the coolest times.

I do live in a sunny, hot place in the summer (arid SE Washington St) , but I work in my garden early morning, hibernate in the ac house during the day, and enjoy the warm evenings.

I've done a few on the list. The crowd is the style. Not terrible. And I love South Beach.

Funny that Amsterdam only targets the British Trustfund Brats. All the European brats are equally obnoxious. Just limit drinking to 25 and above and half will be gone. Or build a few more jails and lock up public intoxication until daddy comes and bails them out.

When I read articles like this it just makes me so happy that most of my int'l travel was before the more recent tourist hordes. Sure, there were crowds in the popular places (the common 'must dos') but nothing like today's crowds. And fortunately none of those places on the list are in my future. Either I've already been there and seen and done what I needed to, or they aren't of any interest to me.

But Nancy, in 1991 another whole experience opened up and it's not crowded ...... yet.

If you really want to go somewhere overly-popular, of course go ahead and go there, but do it with your expectations calibrated - don't expect your experience there to match the pictures (most photos you see on the internet and nearly all you see on "social media" are faked, heavily edited, and outright deceptive). OTOH I see no evidence of hamfisted photo editing in that last shot of the Rialto Bridge in the CNN article (and judging from the jackets and raincoats on so many participants, that photo wasn't even taken during peak summer season!).

And go not only with your expectations calibrated, but go smartly so you can minimize the negative aspects of that place being loved-to-death and maybe you'll get a glimpse of what it was like In The Before Times. Get up at oh-dark-thirty and be out there while all the instagramers and selfie-stick-wavers and cruisers are still fast asleep in their beds or lingering over the perfect latte-and-croissant. Don't go there between 10 am and 3 pm, when all the crowds of day-trippers have been deposited by boat, bus and social media for their quick drive-by experience. By all means, spend the night there, walk the quiet (maybe even empty) streets just after dark and just after dawn, that's when the magic hasn't been completely driven away, like shy hobbits who have been spooked by loud Big Folks.

And consider this radical thought: How did these places become so popular that nobody goes there anymore? (apologies to Yogi). Because people (people just like me and you) sung their praises everywhere for years, they became famous, literally sensational, and surprise, these places that used to be quiet, beautiful backdoors have become...well, you know. So maybe we shouldn't all brag loudly about every place we go to?

A handful of times I have found myself in touristically-obscure, but utterly spectacular places, destinations that were as scenic, interesting, enchanting, and appealing as anywhere on earth (really) - and nobody else was there. My spouse and I kept saying to each other, "pinch me, I must be dreaming...this place is incredible!...I can't believe it...why aren't there crowds of people here ruining it?"

Such places do exist, without crowds, and sometimes you might even be the only people there for miles around. You just have to do a little work to identify such potential places, take a little risk on going someplace your friends have never heard of, and get yourself there. In one of those places I so enjoyed visiting, someone had spray-painted this on a wall:

Don't tell anyone about (name of place). They'll just (&$!#% 🤬) it up!

Something to think about. I have told a handful of close friends about that place, but generally have avoided crowing about it on social media or even here, lest I be part of what turns the place sour. But the point I'd like to share is that there really are other equally awesome, equally unspoiled, and surprisingly untouristy places out there. You can indeed find and experience them if you choose to.

Or, just head to Venice in August, sleep in, at 2 pm get out your selfie-stick, and try to somehow squeeze yourself into that crowd on the bridge, good luck with that photo.

Have been to six places on that list and don’t have plans to return. I was in Athens when it was free to go up to the Acropolis and there were few people there. When I lived in South Florida Miami’s South Beach and art deco area had not yet been redeveloped and wasn’t safe to visit.

I’ll stick to renting a car and going to small towns not on most tourists’ radar during the low season.

I have been to all the places listed in the article and they were crowded, some more than others.

Still, I would not advise anyone that wanted to see the places to NOT go there because they might be crowded.

We visited Amsterdam last August after our Safari in East Africa and it was crowded, but it did NOT deter us of visiting all the sites that the planned to visit.

I lived in Southern Germany from 87-91 and have been to Venice about 5 times. It was crowded every time, but one time it was extremely crowded. We arrived there during an annual festival where they have gondola races. If you go to a busy place, do your research and don't go during such a festival.

geovagriffith, well I'll be a monkey's uncle. We also lived in Heidelberg from 87-91. The golden days of travel relative to today.

Venice will always be a favorite, special destination. And there’s ways to avoid the crowds by avoiding where they congregate during mid-day. Staying several days, putting away the phone maps, etc. and just wandering is a wonderful way to spend the mid-day until San Marco clears in the evening.

”Tourists who want to do their part to preserve Venice might also consider other, less-crowded European destinations that boast their own unique waterways. Known as the “Venice of France,” Annecy, a lakeside town in the French Alps, looks lifted from a fairytale, with cheerful houses perched alongside its network of canals.”

We have stayed in Annecy and enjoyed its beauty, but it’s hardly “a Venice”!

There’s so many”lesser” museums that are wonderful in Paris. See the major ones and then enjoy other activities on subsequent trips. The beautiful parks are usually still lovely to relax & enjoy the Parisian ambience.

Tax the he'll out of the tourists so only the ones with legitimate and deep interest go. If you are serious about reducing tourism, it's the only solution.

Mr E, I agree that something eventually needs to be done. Maybe it's higher taxes of some type, or more reservations to visit popular sites.

I don't worry too much about it cause I like the third of Eurooe thats still under visited.

It is almost always interesting to read articles pertaining to the varied aspects of traveling and keeping somewhat informed. My visits to those places listed are rather modest....Amsterdam and Paris, always in the summer or early summer.

The last time in Amsterdam was 2014, the last time at all in Holland was 2017 taking a day trip from Düsseldorf Hbf to Utrecht Centraal , then changing to the bus for Doorn .

No interest at all in Miami or Orlando. Venice and Athens.... not yet but are on the "bucket list" even though it means having to deal with the heat and the tedious issue of crowds.

Paris is another story, obviously. The summer heat factor along with the tedious crowds are no deterrent to preventing or discouraging my next visit in the summer of 2024, (they never are ), which due to the Olympics and their effects (eg, the high hotel rates, etc) demand extra efforts at disciplined planning. Regardless, it can be done going back to France , not only Paris itself.

It’s almost always about the cruise ships. A large city is fine as it can absorb people, excepting the bigger sites. But smaller places are overwhelmed when ships come in.