Report: Americans are “Everywhere”

There's another similar thread a bit further down -https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/the-steady-rise-of-americans-traveling-to-europe

And here is my take on the situation from that thread -:
Many Americans coming to Europe will generally be looking for something different from their holiday than will Europeans in Europe and it’s much the same in reverse. The distance travelled means that people will be looking for experiences they won’t get at home and that’s generally history and different cultures. Most Northern Europeans travelling around the Mediterranean are looking for sun and beach holidays (obviously some are admiring the Alhambra and the Colosseum as well). US travellers wanting sun and sand will generally gravitate to Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean rather than the Med. Europeans heading to North America will mostly be going to a handful of cities or the great outdoors (apart from Florida of course).
One factor I’ve noticed is that different nationalities tend to want to go to specific locations in European countries. It seems that pretty much every American needs to go to Bath, the Cotswolds, York, Edinburgh and Skye as well as London, but large parts of the UK are ignored. (I need here to make the point that many regular posters on here are willing to and do discover many other areas). For some inexplicable reason visitors from the Far East all want to go to Bicester to visit a discount fashion mall and many Japanese are obsessed with seeing anything to do with Beatrix Potter in The Lakes.
But this is still a bit marginal - I’ve seen plenty of mention of Cornwall in the last few years but I’m typing this whilst looking out on a perfect Cornish beach scene at the height of the season and I’ve hardly seen or heard an American in the last 10 days.
Some of these locations are big enough to cope with a significant influx of people and others not so much so. The likes of London, Paris and Rome can cope but not so much the likes of Skye. There are similar pressures at the Cinque Terrace and the Amalfi coast in Italy. I would encourage anyone coming to Europe to please come but encourage you to travel the road less travelled - you’re welcome from the locals will be that much warmer and you will feel that you’ve seen the real country. The Cotswolds, whilst nice enough, really are not the best expression of the British countryside. There’s a reason the Cotswolds are designated as a National Landscape and not a National Park like many other areas.
There was one American I saw this morning. My daughter-in-law and I went on a tourist fishing trip and one of the 10 of us had an American accent. For some reason she declined to actually fish but still made a point of giving the skipper a £20 tip. The only other tip he got was a packet of jelly babies from a 7/8 year old boy. I hadn’t even thought of a tip on top of the £48pp the trip cost.*

David, we certainly didn’t see (or hear) an overwhelming amount of Americans in Wales this past month. Germans, French, and Dutch (and folks from other parts of the UK) far exceeded visitors from the U.S.A., at least where we went.

Johnew52, thanks for noting that thread from a week ago. That’s the Wall Street Journal reporter and article I was just learning about. It took Apple News (and me) a week to catch up.

I do want to add that, if over half of the 340 Million Americans now have a passport, and only 24 Million trips to Europe were taken last year, then only about 14% of Americans went to Europe, if everyone just went once in the year. Either other continents are getting a lot more American visitors, or more Americans are staying home than traveling abroad. I’m not certain that we’re “everywhere.” American TV, music, and fast food, maybe, but not every person.

Definitely agree. Most recently I’ve enjoyed Sicily and Romania, and am heading to the Baltic States next month. And London later this year, but as noted, it’s big enough to welcome everyone. But the thing is, it’s easy for people like me to say skip Florence and Venice and go to Romania, because we’ve already seen Florence and Venice years ago. If you haven’t been, you want to go, and that’s completely understandable. Speaking of Cornwall, back in May 1972 you would have seen an American family exploring in their rental car, including 10 year old me, enjoying castles and fish and chip plates for 20 p. But that was as unusual then as now (my dad was a prof doing research in UK).

For some reason she declined to actually fish but still made a point of giving the skipper a £20 tip

That’s amazing! I’d figure that a “fishing tip” was where to go, or when, or what type of lure to use, but not a gratuity!

Get off the beaten path! It's not hard and the rewards are immediate
and obvious. Go places where that stringer for The Wall Street Journal
has never heard of and would never imagine going.

At the same time, I wouldn't send travelers elsewhere if their dream has been to see the Colosseum, the Uffizi, Westminster Abby, the Louvre, the Eiffel, Sagrada Família, or any number of other most-visited attractions in most-visited cities? It's their dream, their money, their time, and whatever we can do to help them fulfill their wish list and have a wonderful trip - crowds be damned - is fine with me. Sometimes there's some managing of expectations, as far as crowds and heat, but I sure I wouldn't tell them to throw in the towel and go somewhere not on their personal must-see list. I definitely wouldn't want them to feel less-than on these forums because of choices not off the beaten.

David is correct to the point that Americans arent very creative in their destinations. Americans make up 3% to 7% of European tourism, depending on how you count it. But thats the average across the continent. My unscientific guess is half or more of the American tourists are in 4 countries; France, Italy, Spain and England. The other half is in the other 40-something European countries. They sure arent in, or spending much time in, the part of Europe I live in and visit.

But I tend to agree with Kate people should go to what interests them and where their dreams are. I also hazard to guess those encouraging tourists to go to the Roman ruins in Bulgaria instead of Rome have themselves been to Rome, are glad they went to Rome, exempt themselves from their advice and didn't get to Bulgaria until a decade later.

Maybe the tip was meant for the fish! ;-)

I appreciate the good points John made above about why people travel to some places rather than others. The only beach destination I've sought out in Europe was Normandy. If I want to frolic in the surf (avert your eyes) I'll go south from here, not east. For me Europe is about the places and things I studied in history and art history classes many years ago. I'd love to have them to myself but I know better. Luckily I can travel outside of summer, and I still have the energy to scratch the travel itch. And I've come to appreciate the way Europeans manage civilized living together in much denser places than most Americans could handle.

As for the 18-24 year olds, go for it! Experiences over things. I'll never forget my moped trip across northern France at age 19. And I'm grateful that now I can afford trains and hotels and premium economy.

In July when Paris sizzled , I saw numerous, numerous Americans of all ages from college student groups to senior citizens on the Champs Elysee, where tourists can be expected to be and at other "tourist" sites

I won't say Americans are everywhere , even in Paris relative to other foreign tourists, such as staying Gare du Nord.

Like last summer the city in Germany, where I see Americans, more than any other city, is Munich. Not Berlin, not Hamburg, most definitely not in eastern Germany where apart from Dresden they are not to be seen in any numbers.

Even in the most frequented cities, there are places where Americans are scarce. Last year in Paris and in Rome we stayed in very nice neighborhoods just slightly off the usual tourist haunts and I don’t recall coming across any English speakers.

I haven't been to Europe recently but in the last 10 years I have only had the pleasure of talking to one American during my travels. We hiked the last half of Red Tarns (Mt Cook/Aoraki NP in NZ) together.
I have been on the road travelling for 2 weeks in Western Australia and South Australia so far and haven't met any. Met none earlier this year during a week at the huge Tamworth music festival but there were some American performers.
Last year met none during 4 trips in NZ and Australia.
5 days in tourist hotspot Kalbarri and I met Dutch, Brazilian, German, Austrian, British, Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Belgian, French, Italian, Canadian, Kiwis ... but not a single American.
Hobbiton. We had Brits, Chinese, Czechs, Spaniards, Japanese. No Americans.
Are you guys avoiding me? Do I need to change my deodorant? Interestingly Americans are the number 2 nationality visiting NZ yet I couldn't find any except for that one on a steep lonely track in the Alps.

I also hazard to guess those encouraging tourists to go to the Roman
ruins in Bulgaria instead of Rome have themselves been to Rome, are
glad they went to Rome,

I am thinking the same, Mr. E. We are blessed with a lot of well-traveled posters on these forums who, having already covered many most-visited places/attractions, have had interest in poking other corners on successive trips. Bigtyke, I'll agree with you too that it's often not difficult to find quieter-but-interesting corners in very busy cities. You just have to allow the time + have the interest in making it happen!

Kate, I went to the most popular places between 1980 and about 2000 and I am happy that I did. Wanting to see Athens and Rome is natural if you have any interest in where civilization and culture originated. The only suggestion I might make after now regretting that it took me so long to look further than the obvious, is to mix it up a bit. To borrow from the previous post, Rome for 5 full days and Bulgaria, including Roman Bulgaria, for 5 full days. Some of its pretty fascinating and devoid of overtourism. Most people have never heard of Serdica (Sofia), Philippopolis (Plovdiv), Nicopolis ad Istrum, Diocletianopolis (Hisarya), Augusta Traiana (Stara Zagora), Odessos (Varna), Villa Armira (Ivaylovgrad), Heraclea Sintica (Petrich), Castra Martis (Kula), Novae (Svishtov), Pomorie Tomb (Pomorie).

In Spain there were plenty in the usual places like Madrid, Seville etc but we didn’t run into any in Salamanca, Oviedo, Zaragoza, Tossa de Mar, Llastres, etc.

David in Seattle—that is very true about Iceland and why we try to go further out there.

My husband leaves this weekend for a sailing trip and he is the only American. That was also the case when he did this same trip 2 years ago.

Americans are really thick on the ground in Bordeaux. The Bordelais seem to be ambivalent, generally, about our presence here, but they all love me. Make of that what you will.

Not implying that anyone who has posted feels this way at all, but I don't feel like I'm some separate entity from the mass of American tourists that has grown and grown over my past 40 years of Europe trips.

I have spent more time vacationing (or traveling I suppose you could call it) in Europe in my life than all but a tiny fraction of people who visit. I do tend to travel to more out of the way places, but that's because I've been to all the busy places. So it's hard to fault people for wanting to see Big Ben or whatever.

By all rights, I have had my turn many many times over, and I'm not some special sunflower who is categorically better or different than other people who are also checking into a hotel and looking at a museum and going to a guidebook recommended restaurant. So if anyone should stay home, it's probably me.

But of course I'm not going to do that, because I like going to Europe, and you know, YOLO. Can't begrudge anybody else for enjoying what I have found to be massively enjoyable :)

But I am certainly happy to now finally have freedom to travel the whole calendar, not just during school breaks. Maybe it'll be mobbed in Florence in February too, but at least I get to find out for myself

Hank, perfectly said.

I am a bit surprised that so many Americans are being identified on the streets of Europe. I live in the middle of a tourist district and I very rarely am aware of American tourists as I have to hear them talk or see their left hand or watch them eat to begin to guess that they are Americans. Even then I bet im wrong half the time. Tonight when the couple sat down next to me and orderd a beer they did it in absolutely flawless American English. But before I could say Howdy, they began talking to each other in a Slavic language. Go figure ...

Thinking about the topic I realized I haven't positively identified no more than 3 Americans in 3 weeks and 1 was in Ukraine.

Heck I was on a boat last night with maybe 100 tourists for the fireworks show. Not one American was obvious. 7 Asians from not less than 3 countries, quite a few French, a few languages I didn't recognize so im guessing Nordic, a few Germans, Hungarians from out of town and local. No native English speakers. But I suspect at least 3 that I just missed, cause those are the odds I think.

The observations are neither good nor bad. I dont really care where the others are from. People are people.

People are people.

I like that. :O)

How do Americans’ left hands distinguish them from other people?

she declined to actually fish but still made a point of giving the
skipper a £20 tip. The only other tip he got was a packet of jelly
babies from a 7/8 year old boy. I hadn’t even thought of a tip on top
of the £48pp the trip cost.*

We were on a Rhine river cruise in May 2025 and the cruuse director made a point of mentioning that the majority of guests were Canadians, followed by Brits, Australians and then Americans. Where the Americans made themselves noticeable was at the end of the group tours included with the cruise when they always tipped. No other nationality did that I ever noticed. I discussed the tipping culture with the 2 Australian couples we made friends with and happily it's still a foreign concept to them.

That same trip we added on a few days in Switzerland and an owner of a bakery assumed I was American until I corrected her. She openly wondered to me where all the Americans were.

The Dordogne region in 2024 in October was mainly French tourists, and in Mexico City in February this year we hardly ran into any Americans, but there seemed to be more tourists from more countries than I'd ever experienced before.

How do Americans’ left hands distinguish them from other people?

Half the world wears the wedding ring on the right hand. If its on the left, that eliminates half the possibilities. Google search:

Left-Hand Countries: Most of North America, the United Kingdom,
France, Italy, and large parts of Asia traditionally wear the wedding
ring on the left hand.

Right-Hand Countries: Many nations across Central and Eastern
Europe—including Germany, Russia, Poland, Norway, Austria, and
Greece—traditionally wear the wedding ring on the right hand.

Not that people cant and dont buck convention.

At the Mercure hotel in Arras, France some Americans were there whom I saw at dinner, the bar and their checking in /out. Like other nationalities they always started out with English without the slightest attempt at French. The other nationalities did likewise, be they British, Dutch, German, Mercure has a restaurant attached to it, every night the guests were almost always British, a few Americans too but primarily British.

On the Champs Elysees in July (mentioned above) where I had not been in decades, it was easy to spot out Americans and they were there in large numbers. American accented English I definitely heard along lots of Spanish and Italian, Russian, along with the Asian languages, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese.

Fred, I learned proper European hotel etiquette from watching Fawlty Towers, so you would be pleased upon seeing me in the hotel.

The interesting thing about that WSJ article was that Americans tend to spend far more per day than other foreign visitors..

Danged if we do and danged if we don't.

Americans have long been accused of not being well traveled and not clueing in to other cultures.

Then when Americans do start traveling more - getting excited about exploring art, history, cultures, and languages - we are despised for that as well.

An interesting factoid is that for Italy, foreign tourism accounts for 6.0% of the GDP while in the U.S. foreign tourism accounts for 0.6% of the GDP (those numbers are for foreign tourism specifically.) So that means the impact of foreign tourism on the economy is TEN TIMES greater in Italy than in the U.S. That is pretty significant!