More News on Overtourism and its byproducts

Uzbekistan, here I come - my wife said OK!

David, I'm right behind you! That place has moved near the top of my list.

I just read the article on CNN and came over here to share it. David beat me to it!

I still remember visiting the Louvre back in February 2012 at the end of a trip to Nice and Marseille. I intentionally decided to fly in and out of Paris so I could take the train back up and visit the Louvre on a day it was open later into the evening. It was relatively quiet, but when I first went to the Mona Lisa room it was more crowded than I would have liked (though without the selfie sticks and many fewer smart phones). I went off to explore other galleries and came back later to a much quieter experience. It didn't strike me as much as other works-I was much more impressed with Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People on that particular visit-something I'd studied extensively in AP European History in high school so meant more to me than the Mona Lisa. Of course I'm still glad I had the chance to see it!

This is largely why I try to limit summer travels overseas, preferring to go in shoulder season. I know not everyone has that luxury, but that's my preference these days!

I visited the Louvre this year in February and it really wasn't that bad. Some areas had crowds, but no problem seeing the paintings I wanted to see and no problem moving around. Can't speak about the Mona Lisa though, since had no interest in that painting. Did walk by and take a picture of the people taking a picture. I was there for over 8 hours, started in the morning and it was also one of those nights where it was open late. I think the lower crowds allowed for the longer visit (lots of places to sit and rest).

Apologies, I still don't know how to quote on this site properly, but for the folks who mentioned Uzbekistan above I can confirm some of the sites there are amazing. At the time I was there in 2012 (when there were a lot more hoops to jump through for independent travel than there are now) I remember musing that if sites such as the Registan in Samarkand and Minaret Kalon in Bukhara were in Western Europe, there would be lineups a mile long to get in to see them, but thankfully, I had them all to myself. I sure hope things won't get to the point one day where it will become yet another place that is spoiled by overtourism. Thankfully, Central Asia isn't as convenient to get to!

Ssshhhhhhhhh.....

the humble water gun became the symbol of Barcelona’s anti-tourism movement

This Forum has LOTS of posts from people asking for raincoat recommendations. Will they become a bigger priority?

Will Rick start eliminating chapters from his guidebooks, dropping destinations where locals don’t want visitors?

Will his tours cease going to those places, as well?

Will squirt guns start being mentioned as potential things to deal with, along with pickpockets, purse snatchers, and taxi scammers?

I’m planning a trip that includes Paris with my son and his wife this September. Early on in the planning we made the choice to skip the Louvre due to the decreased experience the crowds produce. Plenty of other options in Paris. This confirms our choice.

The Louvre and Versailles are not fun on a hot, summer day. I spent as much time avoiding bumping into people as I did looking at the artifacts. Thank goodness our kids are on their own and we can travel the shoulder seasons, which are still busy but absolutely nothing like June-August, and the weather is far more pleasant. On a recent trip in early June to Yellowstone, the traffic was so bad at times we came to a dead stop. I asked a park ranger about this and she chuckled a bit and said, "This is nothing compared to what is coming this summer." Yowzah.

On the other hand, do we want to go back to the days when people only went to the beach on vacation and most of them never took a single plane trip?