My travel destinations always avoided popular locations. Instead of Paris or Milan, I traveled to Cameroon, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Yemen, and many similar very off the beaten path destinations. The travel was highly rewarding, culturally enriching, and very photogenic. I don’t like dealing with crowds of rude, ignorant tourists. Give me camping and trekking through the Sahara Desert anytime.
I have never visited Rome, but I have been to Gaziantep. I’ve never been to Venice, but I have been to Noumea. If a destination is even mentioned in Condé Nast or the Travel section of the NYT, I don’t go there.
If you want a real antidote to overtourism, go to Falerii Novi Walls — just about an hour from Rome. Almost nobody goes, yet it feels like stepping into a time machine: intact Roman walls, ancient gates, silence, open countryside, and that eerie feeling of walking through a lost city outside the tourist script. It’s the kind of place that reminds you travel is still about discovery.
A fascinating piece — which I came to randomly thanks to the algo and which caused me to subscribe. I live in France and out of a maybe-misguided desire to be helpful, I regularly read a very large FB group for travelers to Paris. All of the tension your post describes is present in that group. Everyone wants to stay in the 6th (to the point that people asking about other arrondissements are discouraged). Everyone intends to go to Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Shakespeare and Co. Everyone competes for reservations at a handful of restaurants that the group has effectively transformed into cantines for Americans. And yet: The vast majority also express a desire to go or eat somewhere "not touristy," as though they are starting to sense that their strategies don't serve them. I often wonder how many manage to do it.
As an older traveller, my tolerance for crowds has diminished. I visited the Louvre years ago and I probably won’t return. In Paris, there are small museums and lovely parks in residential arrondissements to visit. Better yet, there are so many smaller French towns to explore. Younger people often want to be where the action is. Not so great for the residents! Fifty years ago, fewer people had the financial means with which to travel. Now, they do. Crowds are inevitable.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently because I'm currently in Hokkaido during shoulder season. Ski season finishes in March, and summer season doesn't start for another two months. So, for all the (real) over-tourism issues in Japan, I've run into zero crowds and only a handful of other tourists the last two weeks. It's great!
And yet... there's a reason people come to Hokkaido during those seasons. It's not cold or warm enough to do a lot of the activities the area is known for, and it's not as picturesque without the snow. Walking around Sapporo, I couldn't help but think the city would have been so picturesque two months ago.
Am I having a good time? Yes. But the "shut up and go during shoulder season" advice ignores the (often very real) reasons that a place is popular during that time. And for every *cool* off the beaten path spot, there's a town like the one I'm in now which is just... kinda boring.
Great post, thank you. My husband is Venetian and works in Venice (we live outside, to my relief). Every day these past two months he comes home and says Venice isn't as crowded as it normally is this time of year. But give it time. Venice also has put day-tripper fees that is hard to tell if it's helping crows control with those who live nearby.
My advice to some who want to avoid crowds, is to do your best to avoid touristy destinations. For example, Venice and Verona aren't the only cities in Veneto- explore more off the beaten path areas like Valdobbiadene to enjoy some Prosecco. Or enjoy Lake Garda in the off seasons when it's more quiet. Italy is full of smaller towns that offer much and cost less.
But yes, regardless, it's important to do some research wherever you head to. And as frustrating as crowds are, the frustration will be less if you plan ahead.
Discount airlines are the worst thing to ever happen to Europe. Peasant chavs shouldn't be allowed to live their council housing. "Indians" should not be a meaningful category of tourist for any country. Etc.
Historically, my only time to travel abroad has been in the month of July. Europe had been on my list for literal years, but the high cost and rumors of sardine-like crowds made a life long bucket list location less than idyllic.
After two years of neither of the above improving, I moved some things around and we traveled to Rome, Paris and Brussels earlier this month.
The Trevi Fountain being roped off was disheartening and we had to hack our way onto the Eiffel Tower Summit visit. But, I’m certain that our window was a much better experience than anything summer travelers experience.
I am thankful that I had the flexibility to visit in an off window - I know not everyone has that ability. But it’s so worth it if someone can swing it. I’d even consider a shorter, less dense trip would be worth it in a non-summer window.
Thats such an interesting evolution, that the highly sought out tourist place actually ends up developing a reputational risk bc it’s SO sought out. Makes total sense though
Super piece! I’ve been showing people around Rome for twenty-five years and am a firm believer that there is no bad time to come, only bad ways of doing it! Also I find people often have a misguided idea of what “off season” is. For example spring weekends are busier in much of Rome than a July Sunday.
Our family has navigated Italy from its southernmost tip in Pozzallo, Sicily, all the way up to the Austrian border at Brenner, and from the eastern docks of Trieste to the western shores of Finale Ligure. We didn’t just visit Italy; we moved through it with nothing but backpacks - using trains, buses, and ferries.
Venice, Milan and Florence was indeed the least interesting part. I am not saying that it is _punishment_ to go there - but once in Italy I just would not waste my time on these towns, cities.
In Riona Sanita (Naples - but not the touristic part) a complete stranger lady cut her own pizza in half and offered a great chunk to my 5 years old - because we had to wait 'too long' for our own pizza. There are vulcanoes, ancient ruins, catacombes literally everywhere..
Was at Giverny the 1st week of April, it had just opened for the season and we were there at opening time. The line was SO long!! The crowds SO bad, even in the gardens it was shoulder to shoulder. The guidebooks say it takes about 90 minutes for the full visit. We were in and out in under 40. Literally intolerable. Fortunately I had been with my dad 25 years before. That is how I choose to remember those gorgeous gardens and the house. This visit was a nightmare. I will never go again and wouldn’t suggest anyone go.
"Crowds become the experience."
The destination doesn’t change. The conditions around it do.
At some point popularity stops adding value and starts eroding it.
Off-season. Bring an umbrella.
There's a destination ad campaign in this idea somewhere.
Haha!
My travel destinations always avoided popular locations. Instead of Paris or Milan, I traveled to Cameroon, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Yemen, and many similar very off the beaten path destinations. The travel was highly rewarding, culturally enriching, and very photogenic. I don’t like dealing with crowds of rude, ignorant tourists. Give me camping and trekking through the Sahara Desert anytime.
My travels have been similar to yours.
I have never visited Rome, but I have been to Gaziantep. I’ve never been to Venice, but I have been to Noumea. If a destination is even mentioned in Condé Nast or the Travel section of the NYT, I don’t go there.
This is how I feel about Instagram.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It’s so rare I meet people who understand this issue.
“Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded” -Yogi Berra
I love this quote.
If you want a real antidote to overtourism, go to Falerii Novi Walls — just about an hour from Rome. Almost nobody goes, yet it feels like stepping into a time machine: intact Roman walls, ancient gates, silence, open countryside, and that eerie feeling of walking through a lost city outside the tourist script. It’s the kind of place that reminds you travel is still about discovery.
A fascinating piece — which I came to randomly thanks to the algo and which caused me to subscribe. I live in France and out of a maybe-misguided desire to be helpful, I regularly read a very large FB group for travelers to Paris. All of the tension your post describes is present in that group. Everyone wants to stay in the 6th (to the point that people asking about other arrondissements are discouraged). Everyone intends to go to Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Shakespeare and Co. Everyone competes for reservations at a handful of restaurants that the group has effectively transformed into cantines for Americans. And yet: The vast majority also express a desire to go or eat somewhere "not touristy," as though they are starting to sense that their strategies don't serve them. I often wonder how many manage to do it.
As an older traveller, my tolerance for crowds has diminished. I visited the Louvre years ago and I probably won’t return. In Paris, there are small museums and lovely parks in residential arrondissements to visit. Better yet, there are so many smaller French towns to explore. Younger people often want to be where the action is. Not so great for the residents! Fifty years ago, fewer people had the financial means with which to travel. Now, they do. Crowds are inevitable.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently because I'm currently in Hokkaido during shoulder season. Ski season finishes in March, and summer season doesn't start for another two months. So, for all the (real) over-tourism issues in Japan, I've run into zero crowds and only a handful of other tourists the last two weeks. It's great!
And yet... there's a reason people come to Hokkaido during those seasons. It's not cold or warm enough to do a lot of the activities the area is known for, and it's not as picturesque without the snow. Walking around Sapporo, I couldn't help but think the city would have been so picturesque two months ago.
Am I having a good time? Yes. But the "shut up and go during shoulder season" advice ignores the (often very real) reasons that a place is popular during that time. And for every *cool* off the beaten path spot, there's a town like the one I'm in now which is just... kinda boring.
Local high taxes for professional travel influencers who use foreign places for their business social media would solve parts of the problem.
Great post, thank you. My husband is Venetian and works in Venice (we live outside, to my relief). Every day these past two months he comes home and says Venice isn't as crowded as it normally is this time of year. But give it time. Venice also has put day-tripper fees that is hard to tell if it's helping crows control with those who live nearby.
My advice to some who want to avoid crowds, is to do your best to avoid touristy destinations. For example, Venice and Verona aren't the only cities in Veneto- explore more off the beaten path areas like Valdobbiadene to enjoy some Prosecco. Or enjoy Lake Garda in the off seasons when it's more quiet. Italy is full of smaller towns that offer much and cost less.
But yes, regardless, it's important to do some research wherever you head to. And as frustrating as crowds are, the frustration will be less if you plan ahead.
Discount airlines are the worst thing to ever happen to Europe. Peasant chavs shouldn't be allowed to live their council housing. "Indians" should not be a meaningful category of tourist for any country. Etc.
Historically, my only time to travel abroad has been in the month of July. Europe had been on my list for literal years, but the high cost and rumors of sardine-like crowds made a life long bucket list location less than idyllic.
After two years of neither of the above improving, I moved some things around and we traveled to Rome, Paris and Brussels earlier this month.
The Trevi Fountain being roped off was disheartening and we had to hack our way onto the Eiffel Tower Summit visit. But, I’m certain that our window was a much better experience than anything summer travelers experience.
I am thankful that I had the flexibility to visit in an off window - I know not everyone has that ability. But it’s so worth it if someone can swing it. I’d even consider a shorter, less dense trip would be worth it in a non-summer window.
Thats such an interesting evolution, that the highly sought out tourist place actually ends up developing a reputational risk bc it’s SO sought out. Makes total sense though
Super piece! I’ve been showing people around Rome for twenty-five years and am a firm believer that there is no bad time to come, only bad ways of doing it! Also I find people often have a misguided idea of what “off season” is. For example spring weekends are busier in much of Rome than a July Sunday.
Our family has navigated Italy from its southernmost tip in Pozzallo, Sicily, all the way up to the Austrian border at Brenner, and from the eastern docks of Trieste to the western shores of Finale Ligure. We didn’t just visit Italy; we moved through it with nothing but backpacks - using trains, buses, and ferries.
Venice, Milan and Florence was indeed the least interesting part. I am not saying that it is _punishment_ to go there - but once in Italy I just would not waste my time on these towns, cities.
In Riona Sanita (Naples - but not the touristic part) a complete stranger lady cut her own pizza in half and offered a great chunk to my 5 years old - because we had to wait 'too long' for our own pizza. There are vulcanoes, ancient ruins, catacombes literally everywhere..
Was at Giverny the 1st week of April, it had just opened for the season and we were there at opening time. The line was SO long!! The crowds SO bad, even in the gardens it was shoulder to shoulder. The guidebooks say it takes about 90 minutes for the full visit. We were in and out in under 40. Literally intolerable. Fortunately I had been with my dad 25 years before. That is how I choose to remember those gorgeous gardens and the house. This visit was a nightmare. I will never go again and wouldn’t suggest anyone go.