I just spent 4 days in rome in at an air bnd. And 7 days on a cruise through grece. My wife and I and our 4 kids loved it except the crowds. We were tourists so we accepted it... but... for the locals not involved in tourism it must be terrible. I also wonder if by allowing so much tourism these destinations might be filtering out those with limited time but a lot more money to spend. I know I felt like I wasted a ton of time in lines even though we threw money at the problem whenever we could. The Vatican museum was just too crowded... period. The Roman colosseum and the forum seemed ridiculous til we got to the acropolis. Which was so crowded it defied my imagination. The traffic in athens was close to intolerable. (for some reason the center of town was shut down. as I said we got around most problems to some degree by throwing money at the issues. or instance skip the line guides who we then abandoned once we were in. For normal tourists those lines and those crowds in hot sun? but... for the locals it must be terrible. As far as the greek islands. I suggest a late september visit if you are going for the ambiance and beauty. If you are going to party... I am not sure. I did not see nearly as many young tourist women in greece as I did in rome. Not that I was looking because I am married... but I saw a ton of pretty women dressed in hot weather clothing.
National Lampoon's European Vacation Part 2... did you and your family sport your MAGA Hats and shirts?
Worth going to places I know have less crowds at any one time: eg in March went to Egypt. Saw the big museum in cairo and the pyramids, no waiting, very few other tourists. ( tourists staying away due to terrorist fears: but really no problem) But still had issues with touts.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/...marches-spread-across-europe-venice-barcelona When I was there... I thought the amount of tourists (including my family) was unacceptable for the people living there. Which what prompted my post to this thread... It seems many Europeans were thinking the same thing... https://www.theguardian.com/travel/...marches-spread-across-europe-venice-barcelona Other demonstrations have taken place across southern Europe. Last month in Venice – which sees more than 20 million visitors a year and has just 55,000 residents – 2,000 locals marched through the city, voicing anger at rising rents and the impact of huge cruise ships and the pollution they cause to the city’s delicate environment. ... n Venice, the mayor’s office has also been attempting to tackle the problem. In June it said it would introduce a ban on new tourist accommodation in the city centre, and “people counters” have been installed at popular sites to monitor overcrowding. drinking on the street at night. Similar measures have been put into place in Milan – which introduced a summer ban on everything from food trucks to selfie sticks in the Darsena neighbourhood. In Dubrovnik, another city where cruise ships unload thousands of visitors at a time, the mayor has introduced cameras to monitor the number of visitors in its Unesco-listed old town, so that the flow of people entering can be slowed – or even stopped – once a certain number is reached. Meanwhile, the mayor ofpopular Croatian party island Hvar has pledged to put an end to debauchery by mostly British tourists by slapping them with huge fines.