- Global tourism reached record numbers in the 2010s, according to The Guardian.
- The growth in tourism means destinations like Venice and Barcelona are more popular than ever.
- Other places, like Iceland and Dubrovnik, Croatia, have become "it" destinations thanks to pop culture, like the TV series "Game of Thrones."
- To combat overtourism, some locations have resorted to seemingly drastic measures, like Florence instituting fines for eating in the street, according to The Telegraph.
- Here are 26 destinations in Europe that could probably use a break from the crowds.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Venice is seen by many as the poster child for overtourism.
Countless stories have been written about Venice and overtourism. According to Deutsche Welle, the ever-dwindling resident population has long expressed fears of their city turning into "Veniceland." And then there's the impact of climate change, as evidenced by the worst floods in decades hitting the city in late 2019.
Venice is far from the only place in Italy struggling with crowds — the Cinque Terre has exploded in popularity.
To help curb numbers, The Local Italy reports officials in the Cinque Terre area have asked train companies to limit their services to try and stem the flow of tourists. According to Italian wire service ANSA, it has even been proposed by the governor of the area to monitor visitors' cell phones in the area "like in amusement parks" to combat overtourism.
Florence has taken the measure of fining people for eating and loitering in the streets.
One way the Tuscan city is fighting back against overtourism: a €500 ($555) fine for eating on the pavement and on doorsteps in front of shops, as reported by The Telegraph. But the crowds are still enormous: according to CNN, more than 10 million tourists visit Florence each year.
A beach on Sardinia has taken the extreme step of charging for admission.
One of the world's most beautiful beaches, as many as 6,000 people visit La Pelosa in the northwest of the Italian island of Sardinia every day in the summer months.
To help stem the tourism tide, CNN reports officials in the nearby town of Stintino plan to start charging visitors admission. Mayor Antonio Diana said the charge is expected to be about €4, or $4.45, to help cut tourist numbers to roughly 1,500 visitors a day.
Overcrowding is an issue on beaches throughout Europe, like many spots on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
Sun. Sand. Music. And people, lots of people. Ibiza may be legendary for those things, but people still live there, too — and not every resident wants to hear a thumping techno soundtrack 24/7 or wake up to people passed out in their garden, at least if a BBC story asking if the party is "over" for Ibiza is anything to go by. The Telegraph reports residents have even taken to the streets to protest the issue.
Mallorca's beaches are becoming increasingly popular — and locals aren't happy.
Mallorca is one of several places to take steps to combat overtourism by limiting the number of cruise ships that can visit, Conde Nast Traveler reports. Locals have been especially frustrated with raucous bachelor parties, according to The Express.
In Greece, Instagram has brought crowds to Santorini.
An Instagram favorite, there are concerns about the impact the sheer number of selfie-snapping visitors is having on locals' quality of life, according to Greek website and free magazine Greece Is. Some locals even say that to have an authentic Greek experience you should avoid Santorini or any Greek island with an airport, as Harrison Jacobs writes for Business Insider.
Social media has also helped make Mykonos an "it" destination.
When Business Insider's Harrison Jacobs visited Mykonos, he found his budget experience very different than it might be for a very wealthy person. But even some rich people are being turned off — as Business Insider reported, models Gigi and Bella Hadid have vowed never to return after they were robbed in 2019.
It's more than just Instagram that has driven growth in Iceland — it's also movies and TV shows like "Game of Thrones."
According to CNN, there are serious concerns about the environmental impact the increase in tourism is having in Iceland, a country with just 360,000 people. There are also concerns about the impact on quality of life for locals, and whether the tourism bubble could burst, according to Skift. Already, attractions like the Blue Lagoon have been called overrated by some visitors, as reported by Business Insider.
"Game of Thrones" has also led to a surge of visitors in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
To fight back against the hordes of smartphone and selfie-stick-wielding tourists, officials have capped the number of cruise ships allowed to dock each day, according to The Independent. Only time will tell if it'll be enough to stem the tide of visitors drawn to the city that served as the filming location for King's Landing in "Game of Thrones."
The German castle of Neuschwanstein looks like it belongs in a fairy tale, but the crowds are anything but.
Variations of "too crowded" feature in many TripAdvisor reviews. It's the most-visited castle in the German state of Bavaria, according to Deutsche Welle — drawing nearly 1.5 million people in 2018.
The island nation of Malta has seen an uptick in visitors after appearing in "Game of Thrones."
MaltaToday reports tourism in the island nation has doubled in the past decade, from 1.3 million arrivals per year to 2.6 million. That's a lot of people for a country which the CIA World Factbook says is slightly less than twice the size of Washington, DC.
The same goes for France's Mont Saint-Michel, the inspiration for Minas Tirith in "The Lord of the Rings."
Receiving about 2.5 million visitors per year, the headline from The Local France says it all: "Has Mont Saint-Michel become an overcrowded tourist trap?"
The article says the stunning castle complex is the most-visited attraction in France outside of Paris — which is saying something considering France is the most-visited country in the world, as reported by The Culture Trip.
Hallstatt, Austria also has a fairytale quality — and a crowding problem.
As Insider's Rachel Hosie wrote of the fairytale-like town when she visited: "Despite the adorable buildings and natural scenery of Hallstatt, I found it hard to enjoy it. I found myself craving space, peace, and quiet, and was desperate to find somewhere not rammed with people."
Crowds have been a feature of Munich's Oktoberfest for centuries.
Some numbers: Oktoberfest is the largest folk festival in the world, with more than six million visitors in 2019. At last year's edition of the annual event, 7.3 million steins of beer were guzzled, according to The Local Germany. There were also 45 reported sexual assaults, 263 physical injuries, 32 instances of someone using their beer mug as a weapon — and 96,912 cases of someone attempting to steal a beer mug.
Shocking as those numbers are, The Local reports that they are all mostly down from 2018's figures.
Barcelona has long been a tourist magnet.
"How tourism is killing Barcelona" is the headline of a sobering photo essay from The Guardian. In July of 2019, mayor Ada Colau pledged to try and reduce the number of tourists coming to the city by limiting the expansion of the airport and placing limits on cruise ships, as reported by Forbes. As the article says: "Put simply, Barcelona has no room to grow and people just keep coming."
Stonehenge is another place with a long tradition of attracting tourists.
Visitors to Stonehenge are damaging not only the environment, but the ancient site itself. The Guardian says there's a battle taking place over the future of tourism at the site.
In Prague, many young people go for the cheap alcohol.
A 2019 headline from The Guardian headline said: "The fall of Prague: 'Drunk tourists are acting like they've conquered our city.'"
The BBC reports that to fight back against too many drunken visitors, the city is working on banning Segways and "'beer-bikes," large trolleys ridden by several people at a time while they drink.
Low prices are also one draw of Budapest, especially for bachelor and bachelorette parties.
Low prices have long made Budapest popular with bachelor and bachelorette parties, according to CNN. But Deutsche Welle reports locals are getting tired of so many rowdy visitors.
Speaking of alcohol, Dublin is becoming increasingly packed.
There's growing concern about overtourism in Dublin, reports The Irish Times. The Sunday Times asked if Ireland has reached "peak tourism." The South China Morning Post goes further, saying: "The Irish capital is a drinker's paradise, but with the tourist hordes homing in, prices are shooting up and elbow space is going down."
In summer, Switzerland's Lake Lucerne can be jammed.
Crowding on the lake has been a concern for a while, according to Swissinfo. And it can get especially crowded during the summer when the weather is warmer.
The Vatican is an important place to many Catholics. And a very popular one.
Overcrowding has long been an issue in the world's smallest country, according to The New York Times. And the crowds can be enthusiastic, too — just ask Pope Francis, who this past New Year's Eve slapped a woman who grabbed his arm, according to CNN.
Amsterdam is taking steps to promote more sustainable tourism.
To protect workers' rights, tours of Amsterdam's well-known red-light district have been banned, as reported by Business Insider. Also, as Dezeen reported, the iconic "I amsterdam" sign was taken down in part because of concerns it was encouraging mass tourism.
Copenhagen is also promoting sustainable tourism.
Is Copenhagen a "victim" of overtourism? That's the question Lonely Planet asked in August last year. As The Local Denmark reported, the campaign "Wonderful Copenhagen" was launched in 2018 to encourage more visitors — then slammed for not encouraging sustainable tourism.
Bruges, Belgium has tried a number of solutions to combat overtourism.
According to The Telegraph, some of the solutions Bruges has tried to limit overtourism include a "hotel stop" that limited the number of hotels in the city center. A limit on second or holiday homes was also enacted, and it required all tour guides to be licensed. The result? A model The Telegraph says could also be applied to other places popular with tourists.
Lisbon had a moment last decade.
The Telegraph wrote: "Is overtourism turning Lisbon into the next Venice?" The Daily Beast said yes, as did The Nation. There's even a whole website called Lisbon Does Not Love Mass Tourism.
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