Ten places in Europe ruined by overtourism (and where to go instead)

The Age

14-05-2025

Adorned with the prerequisite canals, bordered by shady arches and faded palazzos (as well as medieval walls and fresco-trimmed churches), this underrated city is less busy than Venice but shares its cicchetti culture as well as its watery thoroughfares. Stay at Palazzo Bortolan, with its roof terrace overlooking the river Sile. Doubles from €130 ($225), room only.
The overdone: Mykonos
Two million tourists per year flock to Greece's party island for pricey cocktails and posh meals but during summer, you'll need to book ahead and pay through the nose.
The alternative: Tinos
A ferry hop from its popular neighbour, Tinos, has been taking off for almost a decade, but it's never quite hit the big time. Larger, but with less tourists, it's great for 'some of the best local food and wine, excellent beaches and mountain hiking – though for clubbing, you'll need to head over to Mykonos,' says Peter Marston who owns the meticulously-restored Xinara House and Blacksmith's Villa, in a car-free village on the island. Three nights cost from $1430, self-catering.
The overdone: Cinque Terre
One-way routes and bans on thongs are just a couple of ways the authorities have tried to increase safety on the Cinque Terre's packed hiking routes, which connect its five cliff-hugging villages.
The alternative: Aeolian Islands
A sleepy Italian secret, this string of seven rocky outcrops is a ferry hop from Sicily. Like the Cinque Terre's villages, each island has a distinct character – from Salina's vine-crossed landscape to the wilds of Filicudi, which come topped by Bronze Age ruins. Outside of August, they're quiet too. Expect peaceful hikes to secret beaches along cactus-scattered cliff-side paths or, for something more extreme, head 400m up fumarole-topped Stromboli. On Salina, Hotel Punta Scario has rooms from about $430.
The overdone: Dubrovnik
It was already known for its August crowds, but these grew 3 per cent year-on-year in 2024, according to The Dubrovnik Times.
The alternative: Ston
Emma Heywood, founder of Undiscovered Balkans, recommends the town of Ston, on Croatia's Peljesac peninsula, as a worthy swap for the country's capital. 'It's known to Croatians as a mini-Dubrovnik, but without the cruise ships and yachts because one side is a protected marine park for oyster farming, and the other is salt pans,' she says.
It's also surrounded by walkable, rambling medieval city walls such as the Wall of Ston (the second longest in the world after the Great Wall of China). A week-long multi-activity holiday with the town as its base costs from $2455 per person, including activities and some meals, excluding flights.
The overdone: Lisbon
The once-quiet Portuguese capital has morphed into one of Europe's busiest cities, where visitors cram the trams and queue around the block for the Santa Justa Lift.
The alternative: Faro
It seems strange to head to the Algarve to escape tourists, but the region's working towns bear no resemblance to its busy resorts. Faro's photogenic Old Town is largely pedestrianised, cobbled and surrounded by ancient walls, but its churches and cafes are quiet and calm.
And while hundreds of Instagrammers take the ferry across Lisbon's Tagus River for social media-worthy dinners in waterside restaurants, from Faro you can hop to the breezy, white-sand beaches of the Ria Formosa islands and sunbathe in relative peace. Near the Old Town, Lemon Tree Stay has doubles from about $200 via booking.com.
The overdone: Mallorca
In 2024, well-publicised anti-tourist demonstrations proved that Mallorca had had enough. This year's campaign has already kicked off, with an open letter from seven local organisations urging visitors to 'stay home'.
The alternative: Santa Maria, Azores
For island life without the animosity, fly further. The tamest and sunniest of the wild islands of the Azores, Santa Maria is a place of empty beaches, clifftop viewpoints and a lovable 15th-century island capital, Vila do Porto. Here, the cobbles of Main Street are rarely troubled by more than an occasional ambling maxi-taxi while the handful of restaurants are mum and dad affairs. In the town, Charming Blue has rooms from about $270.
The overdone: Comino
The aforementioned Comino made headlines recently for its rat-infested beach and crowds of influencers.
The alternative: Lampedusa
It may be Italian, but Spiaggia dei Conigli, or Rabbit Beach, on Lampedusa is a mere hour from Comino by hydrofoil and regularly called the most beautiful beach in the world. Its A-list looks understandably draw holidaying hordes – but their numbers are now controlled by a bookings system in an effort to maintain its pristine perfection, as well as the loggerhead turtles who lay their eggs here. Nearby four-star Cupola Bianca has roms from about $230 a night.
The overdone: Barcelona
Violent (if you count water pistols) protests showed tourists exactly what city dwellers thought of them in 2024, but there were still 15.5 million overnight stays.
The alternative: Girona
It's only 40 minutes away by train, but Girona has escaped much of the tourist traffic. Far more walkable, it's a place to mooch along the river Onyar towards lunch at one of its increasingly lauded restaurants or spend long nights putting the world to rights in bars in ancient squares. There are museums and churches too (don't miss the Museu del Cinema). The city's chicest stay, Palau Fugit, has rooms from about $350.
The overdone: Nice
This Riviera city's mayor recently announced new legislation that he hopes will halve AirBnBs in its busiest neighbourhoods, stating 'I will not allow the people of Nice to be prevented from living in Nice!'.
The alternative: Toulon
An hour-and-a-half drive's west along the coast, Toulon has a long-standing image problem thanks to some ill-advised post-war architecture and its home as France's largest naval base. But visiting reveals Haussmann boulevards, a buzzy harbour lined with restaurants and a string of city beaches at Plages du Mourillon. Overlooking the port, L'Eautel has rooms from about $200.
The overdone: Ibiza
The party island has come a long way from its hippy roots, when pioneering ex-pats took pilgrimages to Es Vedra and traipsed into the interior to make calls from its only pay phone at Bar Anita. Now, only multi-millionaires can afford property and party goers pack the coastline.
The alternative: La Graciosa
Head back in time to the Canaries, specifically the lesser-visited island of La Graciosa, half an hour by ferry from Lanzarote. There are no paved roads on this tiny dollop, just long sweeps of sand bordered by neon blue water and linked by meandering hiking and biking trails.
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Don't expect glam hotels either. Instead, holidaymakers rent apartments in the island's two teeny towns, Pedro Barba, with its cobalt shutters and looping paths of palms, and slightly bigger Caleta de Sebo, where neat white terraces line sandy pathways towards the sea. Evita Beach has apartments from about $520 a night for a two-night minimum stay.