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?

Lincoln Christmas Market is now cancelled permanently due to overcrowding/busy - it became very unpleasant.

I was at Whitby this weekend & it was probably the busiest I’ve seen it but without realising we visited on Steampunk weekend 😂 However it wasn’t dreadful & we did everything we wanted including coffee / restaurant (although we ALWAYS book for our fish & chips). Highly recommend the park & ride!!!

The streets around Goodison Park on the last ever Men’s match there in May. Took my Dad and I 25 minutes to walk from one end of Goodison Road where the fanzone is to the other end where our turnstile is. It was crazy.

was ‘quiet’ in Madrid last week. We rebooked tickets for the Palace but the queues weren’t horrendous. I expected it to be heaving but no.

Went to Rome earlier this month.. Mad busy but not as bad as I feared. No actual shuffling crowds, hardly ever anyway. Trevi Fountain was rammed but you could easily get round to the front and take pics. Ditto Vatican City. I think what helps is the Italians are efficient at managing/moving queues and you can buy skip the queue tickets. Would not go back at that time of year as it was too hot (the heat dome was happening) but the crowds wouldn't put me off. The size of the city means it is manageable.

At Ives in August , on the other hand, just awful. Hordes milling around and shuffling queues everywhere in a tiny town. Everyone seemed to have 2 or 3 dogs with them. Nothing against dogs but it added to the overcrowded feeling Would not go back there in high season in a hurry.

Edinburgh Old Town is horrendous now and will only get busier in August.

Agree - was on the High Street yesterday and couldn't believe how busy it was as the festival hasn't even started!

Will also agree with those who said Venice. I was there 25 years ago, so before insta and social media, and thought it was rammed then..... goodness knows what it's like now.

Couldn't agree more - always do my main trip in February/Easter or October

Istanbul. My only experience ever of not being able to cross a road because of the volume of people.

Another vote for Kyoto. Some streets were so busy when we visited that we were just shuffling along in a mass of people. I just felt like part of a problem that is making life miserable for people who actually live and work there.

Everywhere seems insanely busy to me. There are just too many people on this planet, full stop. In 1900 there were a billion human beings. By 1960 that had trebled to three billion. It’s now eight billion and we’re heading for ten. Africa’s birth rate is so high the African population is going to double - right in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year I went to Venice, but the sheer number of people ruined it for me. I couldn’t breathe or move. Right now, scientists are working on ways to slow and reverse human ageing. If they succeed, I just pray we colonise Mars, because there’ll be so many people life will become unbearable.

I’m convinced there is an intelligence in nature that we don’t understand. Humanity is becoming a threat to life on Earth, and I fear nature will retaliate in some way. Whenever a species gets out of control, nature ruthlessly destroys it. If we don’t control our numbers, nature will.

All of Norfolk’s seaside towns
cruise ship in August

I went to Venice in December and it was perfect.

I would second Dubrovnik and Birmingham Christmas markets!

DS (18) sent me a video of the 'strip' in Zante this summer. Obvs not 'naice' destination for the likes of 'us' but it was a sight to behold. Like Notting Hill Carnival but in 35 degree heat. Horrific. Shuffling along in a crush of very drunk sweaty people with smelly people falling into you and having your feet stamped on by high heels. DS loved it....

I'd like to add Las Ramblas, Barcelona in August and Winter Bastard Wonderland.

Lisbon at Easter - lost count of the number of those bloody yellow trams that went past with no room to get on! Still enjoyed it though - lovely food and nice atmosphere…

Sistine chapel is somewhere I wouldn't have minded going, (MN screamer types aside 😁😂) but I would probably get there early as I don't do long queues.

I am in lake Garda now and albeit busy it is not like that. Maybe sirmione in August on a Sunday is very busy but you can still walk around, traffic on the motorway is bad though, think London on a Friday evening before a bank holiday when loads are leaving but the towns albeit busy are not as crowded as Santorini

Surprised no one has said some of the beaches on the east coast of Sardinia, one we literally couldn't find space to put a towel down 😂
Ah memories of the Lincoln Christmas market, hideous

We’re coming to Limone next week, expecting it to be crowded…🙈🙈

Second Bourton-on-the Water. I went about 30 years ago and it was calm and pleasant. Visited again just after lockdown, and it was indeed nuts.

Also, Mont St Michel. A tourist attraction rather than holiday destination, at least for us as we didn't stay overnight. Absolutely rammed.

We were bold and visited Venice summer 2020. Magical. Basically empty. French borders were closed no cruise shops no international tourists just locals and a few Brits and Germans. Empty streets no queues anywhere. We can never go back as we want to remember it like that.

Mont St Michel in August and Borough Market on any weekend are always heaving but the absolute worst has to be Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. I went the first year it opened and it was fun. Went back couple of years later and it was horrifically crowded. People shuffling along besides wooden chalets selling overpriced tat and spending a fortune for a square foot of space on the tiny ice rink.

Edinburgh Christmas market on a Saturday, Princes St., in 2012. It was terrifying. It was just a mass of shuffling people and it was impossible to see the stalls. I was knocked sideways by a kind of wave, in turn I bumped into a man who lost his balance and he fell sideways into a stall. If that stall hadn't been there he'd have been trampled.

Bethlehem

I was in Paris last week and there was a three hour queue for Notre Dame. I really wanted to see it after the rebuild/renovation but wasn’t prepared to queue for three hours in the rain.

I am going to be in London in a few weeks, staying in Soho. I haven't been to London in over ten years, and I lived there for a decade in the nineties/noughties, so it will be interesting to see how it has changed! I live in a much quieter place now (Perth, Australia) so I hope I can cope with the crowds!