Places you’ve been which have been insanely busy

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Friends have just come back from Santorini and they said that in one town (I can’t remember the name), they were literally queuing to walk around. They couldn’t actually walk, but just shuffled along behind the people in front. It’s my idea of hell. My parents said similar about the old town in Barcelona and parts of Lake Garda. Where have you experienced this?

I think there is a lot to be said for visiting places out of season. I went to Santorini a few years ago at the end of October and there was plenty of space for everyone. When people say how incredibly crowded it is, I don’t recognise that description. The weather was great in October too. I don’t really understand why anyone would go anywhere near the Med in the summer months. Whenever we’ve gone to European resorts, we’ve gone in May half term/Easter hols/October half term. No crowds and much lower risk of extreme temps/wildfires.

Rome, probably the busiest city centre if any capital I’ve been to. I don’t go to touristy places anymore during the school holidays - I’d rather take a chance on getting shitty weather than dealing with huge crowds. It’s cheaper too, of course.

I went to Santorini about a month ago and a guide was saying how quiet it had been in recent weeks. I have a photo of an empty sunset street in Oia shortly before sunset! I’ve since seen photos of what it is usually like and am glad to have missed the crowds.

i had the opposite on the Amalfi coast, Ravello wasn’t too busy but Positano and Amalfi were rammed. The Italian tourist board are running a campaign to encourage people from visiting more than the same 10% of Italy, I hope it works!

Florence.

Worm’s Head in Gower. It was a weekday and it wasn’t even the school holidays. In fact anywhere in Gower at the moment. Mumbles for instance.

Also agree with Lake Louise, it was insanely busy.

Also the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Rammed with people taking selfies or on guided tours walking backwards.

I echo the pp who said Notting Hill Carnival. A long time ago now, but I was on the inside of the parade loop and at one point was carried along squashed in a crowd. I’d left a street about 30 mins before a fatal stabbing and later got separated from friends when the crowd heading to the tube station suddenly turned and surged back towards us as someone was waving a gun around. Never been back!

I always wanted to go to Santorini until I saw a news article about how overcrowded it's become.
I really wish I'd gone years ago before it became so popular 😭

Kyoto

I forgot to mention one of my favourite Greek island spots - Hydra - it’s not on any package trips and has no big hotels, so has always been lovely , even in July and is traffic free with lovely upmarket main port - went last July and it seems it has allowed some smaller cruise ships in 2 or 3 days a week - this is a modest sized port with no beaches , you have to get little boats to the beaches ( which are pebble ones) - consequently 3 days out our 7 it was totally rammed in the day and you couldn’t even get on the boats to go to beaches and was 43 degrees!! Utterly spoilt it for us - we won’t go again without checking cruise itineraries before we go - and we have been 5 times .

Port Isaac
Bourton on the Water
Valetta, Malta
Blue Lagoon, Malta
Bath
Central London/Covent Garden
Oia

Sheringham, Norfolk, seafront on a hot weekend. 🤣

He was living/working there so not exactly a tourist!

Malaga City, the streets around the old town were heaving.

The Charles Bridge and surrounds in Prague.

Agree with PPs re: Florence and Whitby.

The room/queue/bundle/ to see the Mona Lisa....and then it was really underwhelming!! (Although that was 20 years ago, I guess they might have improved the queuing system
...but I suppose they can't do much about the picture! )

The Kiss in Belvedere Palace was much more civilised!

London at Christmas and Whitby in the summer holidays

We found this too. Decided to visit a lot of the old town and Fushimi Inari Shrine at night - much much better!

He was living/working there so not exactly a tourist!

When he goes back to visit "his" island he would be a tourist....I spent 2 months a year in a bit of a France every year as a dc, it didn't make me a bloody local!

I've been to many places and never experienced anything like santorini....was horrendous. To walk from one end of the street to the other was a queue and just shuffling along. If someone stopped to look in a shop whole line stopped. Had to queue to take a picture. Also went to mostar and that was similarly very busy....but once out of the main street not so bad.

I was going to say the same. It was awful.

Dubrovnik - horrendous. Couldn’t wait to get out of there!

@mamabluestar Saltburn by the Sea. It’s been ruined now. I know of many other places on the North East coast that were once unspoiled and are awful now.

I forgot Vatican City and also any Indian train.
Dubrovnik is fine in May - I've been a couple of times and not found it ultra busy. Just a lot of hen parties!

Vatican City.
Dubrovnik.