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.
I love the point about the influencer economy turning every 'hidden gem' into a checklist item. It feels like the new challenge for travelers isn't just finding a place to go, but finding a place where you can actually breathe and connect with the surroundings. Thanks for sharing this perspective!
I just got back from Italy and a friend wants to get my feedback because he is looking to visit next summer with his wife and two college aged daughters. I really don’t know what to tell him. I don’t want to shit on his plans, but I would never travel to Europe in the summer.
Well, the best thing you can do is describe what it could be like/probably will be like so he can decide for himself. That's what I would hope a friend would do for me.
This hits a nerve because it’s not really about crowds, it’s about what crowds force you to become as a traveler. You stop noticing and start optimizing. Wake up earlier, book further ahead, move faster, tick things off. At some point the place disappears and you’re just managing logistics inside a very expensive system.
I’ve had both versions of the same place. Once in Kyoto where you’re shoulder to shoulder, phone screens everywhere, everyone chasing the same shot. And once where you turn a corner ten minutes off the main path and suddenly it’s quiet again and the whole thing feels real. Same city, completely different experience.
I don’t think the answer is better planning. That just turns travel into a more efficient version of the same problem. It’s choosing differently. Less obvious places, different timing, or just accepting that you’ll skip things entirely. The “must-sees” are often the least interesting part once they’re saturated.
Curious how you think about that trade-off. At what point does a place stop being worth it, even if it’s “iconic”?
Mats I love this response so much. I agree - I don’t think it’s better planning. There comes a point where you can’t optimize Kyoto, Venice, or Dubrovnik. It’ll come when destinations and investors/shareholders realize that destinations have a life-cycle, where there comes a point where tourists just say “it’s not worth it” and begin looking elsewhere. Where I get worried though, is that most do not invest in that type of data or information where they’d know when that happens…
I hate crowds and I hate being on holidays and surrounded by people. When we visited Japan, a couple of years ago, I decided to avoid the places which are tourists’ attractions. They are probably not the “places-to-see” on a guide but they are among the best experiences we had.
Our perception of a country has been forged by travel agents, travels guides and, in the last decade, social media. But every country has so much to offer which is, most of the time, just around the corner of a major attraction. It takes longer to find it, it implies to leave the most known tracks and get lost in a city. but it is so much worth your (holiday) time and effort 🫶🏻
Yep - just think about your own country - mine is the UK - and the number of people who just hit the Londons, Yorks, Cotswolds etc and know how much they have missed out on by ignoring the rest.
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.
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.
The Uffizi was a huge disappointment for me last year owing to the crowds - and to the behaviour of many picture-taking tourists. Not sure what the solution is but that sort of destination is now totally over run with the most crass sort of tourism. And that’s with timed entry and pre booking
One of the weird things is that when you go somewhere that other people don't know about, they don't care and you lose bragging rights. Nobody is interested in your photos of the "other" fountain on Instagram. Without realising or admitting it, many people travel to be able to share photos and tell others where they've been. I admit that I have been frustrated by the lack of kudos received when I've told people about the much harder trek that I did to Machu Picchu, rather than choosing the Inca Trail. Or my visit to a village in Puglia rather than my time in Florence, Tuscany. I think it's important to know why you're going before choosing where as it may have an impact on that choice.
It's one of the key threads in my book and something I address with my coaching clients - although not always related to travel. I am obviously passionate about the topic so look forward to your next piece.
"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 husband is a licensed guide in Rome and works at the Vatican every day. There is no longer an off season.
“Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded” -Yogi Berra
I love this quote.
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.
I love the point about the influencer economy turning every 'hidden gem' into a checklist item. It feels like the new challenge for travelers isn't just finding a place to go, but finding a place where you can actually breathe and connect with the surroundings. Thanks for sharing this perspective!
I just got back from Italy and a friend wants to get my feedback because he is looking to visit next summer with his wife and two college aged daughters. I really don’t know what to tell him. I don’t want to shit on his plans, but I would never travel to Europe in the summer.
Well, the best thing you can do is describe what it could be like/probably will be like so he can decide for himself. That's what I would hope a friend would do for me.
Sounds like a plan. And I’ll start out by asking him a lot of questions, to see what his thoughts are.
This hits a nerve because it’s not really about crowds, it’s about what crowds force you to become as a traveler. You stop noticing and start optimizing. Wake up earlier, book further ahead, move faster, tick things off. At some point the place disappears and you’re just managing logistics inside a very expensive system.
I’ve had both versions of the same place. Once in Kyoto where you’re shoulder to shoulder, phone screens everywhere, everyone chasing the same shot. And once where you turn a corner ten minutes off the main path and suddenly it’s quiet again and the whole thing feels real. Same city, completely different experience.
I don’t think the answer is better planning. That just turns travel into a more efficient version of the same problem. It’s choosing differently. Less obvious places, different timing, or just accepting that you’ll skip things entirely. The “must-sees” are often the least interesting part once they’re saturated.
Curious how you think about that trade-off. At what point does a place stop being worth it, even if it’s “iconic”?
Mats I love this response so much. I agree - I don’t think it’s better planning. There comes a point where you can’t optimize Kyoto, Venice, or Dubrovnik. It’ll come when destinations and investors/shareholders realize that destinations have a life-cycle, where there comes a point where tourists just say “it’s not worth it” and begin looking elsewhere. Where I get worried though, is that most do not invest in that type of data or information where they’d know when that happens…
I hate crowds and I hate being on holidays and surrounded by people. When we visited Japan, a couple of years ago, I decided to avoid the places which are tourists’ attractions. They are probably not the “places-to-see” on a guide but they are among the best experiences we had.
Our perception of a country has been forged by travel agents, travels guides and, in the last decade, social media. But every country has so much to offer which is, most of the time, just around the corner of a major attraction. It takes longer to find it, it implies to leave the most known tracks and get lost in a city. but it is so much worth your (holiday) time and effort 🫶🏻
Yep - just think about your own country - mine is the UK - and the number of people who just hit the Londons, Yorks, Cotswolds etc and know how much they have missed out on by ignoring the rest.
I’m Italian and living in Southern France and I can compile a very long list, in both countries, of « missed-out places » 🫶🏻
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.
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.
Have a look @Mara | The Nomad Dossier
The Uffizi was a huge disappointment for me last year owing to the crowds - and to the behaviour of many picture-taking tourists. Not sure what the solution is but that sort of destination is now totally over run with the most crass sort of tourism. And that’s with timed entry and pre booking
Timed entry and limited attendance; or it is not worth it. So many of these places simply evaporate under the weight of the crowds.
For Venice, I would recommend staying on Lido. It’s easy to get in on the vaporetto.
One of the weird things is that when you go somewhere that other people don't know about, they don't care and you lose bragging rights. Nobody is interested in your photos of the "other" fountain on Instagram. Without realising or admitting it, many people travel to be able to share photos and tell others where they've been. I admit that I have been frustrated by the lack of kudos received when I've told people about the much harder trek that I did to Machu Picchu, rather than choosing the Inca Trail. Or my visit to a village in Puglia rather than my time in Florence, Tuscany. I think it's important to know why you're going before choosing where as it may have an impact on that choice.
Glenda – you've inspired me to talk about this behavioral phenomenon in my next piece. Thank you!
It's one of the key threads in my book and something I address with my coaching clients - although not always related to travel. I am obviously passionate about the topic so look forward to your next piece.
https://substack.com/@untoldsorrento/note/p-194822964?r=7wpt4c&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
This is my latest article, I’d love it if you could read it. Let’s Connect!
Local high taxes for professional travel influencers who use foreign places for their business social media would solve parts of the problem.