If you want to skip to the list go to 2:05. I just needed to address some of the issues in our original video in the 1st part.

As a Greek there are thousands of beautiful towns to visit, but I am scared to comment any place we enjoy out of fear these will turn into Mykonos

Short list of over-touristed places. Anywhere a cruise ship goes.

I have done three trips to Europe in the past 18 months. I go alone, as an elderly widowed man. My way: I ignore the famous sites, except art museums. Instead--if there is an empty street, I walk down it. If it begins to fill up with people, I duck down another empty, ancient street. Plenty of places to walk in Paris, Rome, Florence--if you simply duck into empty alleys, streets, lanes, rues, tiny piazzas. They are easy to find and you see what you'd never see otherwise.

As a hospitality worker in Prague, I feel like tourists are scared to step out of the historical city centre or they think there is nothing else to see beyond the bridge, the castle and the old town square (while locals avoid the centre at all costs). It’s two different worlds.

In Spain and Portugal they have converted castles and monasteries into hotels called paradores and posadas. Most are located in remote areas in between the major tourist destinations. We found them less crowded, full amenities including swimming pools and a restaurant serving regional dishes. We opted a package deal staying at several paradores on our road trip in Spain.

Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona! OMG, they are simply everywhere even in October!

I live in Prague and I gave up on trying to walk in city center. In summer / spring it is so overcrowded with tourists, that it is not possible just to walk even. I stay away from this area. But if you are coming to Prague and you want to enjoy it, my advise: explore Prague outside of Old Town. Trust me, there are so many beautiful spots here. All good restaurants, pubs, galleries, gardens, parks are outside. Vinohrady and Holesovice are the main spots for good food and bars if you are looking to try local cuisine or just to have some nice dinner / lunch. City center is unfortunately full of tourists traps, like overpriced food and drinks. And they are also not very nice to tourists.

There is overtourism in many great cities. But if you want to go to Edinburgh, or Florence, or any other great city, you don't want to go elsewhere. Just don't go during the peak season.

People saying Bruges is overcrowded are only half-right. You need to stay the night or 2 instead of just a day trip from 10 to 5. It’s literally empty in the mornings and nights, very authentic Belgium with no tourists. You MUST stay the night!

I love that you mentioned other places in Bavaria to go to besides the castles. For the list of little towns overrrun with tourists, Schwangau is packed all year round with tourists wanting to see Neuschwanstein castle. They even rush you through the castle to get as many tourists in, and I didn’t like the lack of time to absorb the vibes. Going to Ettal to see Linderhof palace was far less crowded . Plus I thought the inside was more cool than Neuschwanstein, the grotto was beautiful!

Oxford and Cambridge are sometimes just completely packed with tourists! I used to live in the UK (I'm from Canada) and I lived in a small city just south of Liverpool called Chester. It's an absolutely beautiful historic town, built by the Romans (the Roman wall still stands and circles the inner city). If you're travelling to the UK and want to go to a smaller city packed with history, but not packed with tourists, go to Chester.

Not a city but the Cinque Terre villages - I visited in mid may and thought I was going to avoid the worst, boy was I wrong. I wish I had spent more time in Genova which has tourists too but still feels like a real city for real people

My biggest travel tip is to always go during the off-season, term time or close to but not during peak travel times. It’s calmer, cheaper and an all around better experience.

I love your passion and been watching your videos for years. Thank you for everything you've done!!!

I went to Newfoundland and it was genuinely by far the coolest place I’ve ever been. People have a sort of Irish accent, with a Maine culture, with Icelandic/Norwegian geography. It was literally incredible and I have no idea why people don’t go there.

I agree with you completely!! everywhere is overcrowded and even the food scene has changed terribly in the big cities! We now go to the smaller cities in Europe and explore them and we travel during the later shoulder seasons. ie...March April in Budapest, Croatia, Montenegro. Saw what we wanted to see and still were shocked by the crowds. We wondered what the heck is it like in peak season.... definitely not for us.. Your videos and advice is always spot on! Thank you!!!

We visited Greece in Sept 2021. It was so nice to see all those islands before everyone started traveling again after the pandemic. It was a wonderful vacation.

literally the best travel channel, very thoughtful content

Wolter, great video as usual! I think you hit the nail on the head with many of these cities when you encouraged people to venture away from the main areas a few blocks to get out of the crowds and find cheaper restaurants. I feel like Prague is a great example of this. Many of the "authentic" Czech restaurants right on the old town square are overpriced and the food is not great. But there are many amazing restaurants all over the city with better food at better prices. Some of these are only a few blocks from the square. Over the past couple of years we have explored Prague and gotten to know the city better and it really is one of our favorite cities in the world. Even when crowded, we know where to stay and which restaurants to go to so that we are not overwhelmed. Keep up the good work!

As soon as you said "bachelor party" I knew you were going to say Prague.

San Gimignano, Italy is a small town that seemed overwhelmed with tourists when I visited last summer. It's a beautiful place, but the crowds everywhere kind of ruined it for me. I think there are probably less people on weekdays in the off-season, but I won't be returning any time soon.

Great advice and alternatives. As an older traveler, I saw this coming decades ago.

Thank you for this video. I found it very useful as I don't like crowds. Thankfully I did my travelling years ago but good to know for future trips. The best thing about Edinburgh is the last train out (old Glaswegian banter)🥰🥰🥰

What i found is doing a driving holiday around Europe is the best way to find places that you wouldnt normally go to and often you find the hidden gems of the countries. As we are based in the UK, taking the motorbike on the euro tunnel or ferry and then go explore.

In Poland, I recommend, for example, Toruń as a beautiful medieval city, very famous for its gingerbread (you can even take a short baking course there); Nicolaus Copernicus was also born there. Very atmospheric, they even have a leaning house there, somewhat reminiscent of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa :) There are tourists, because it is a famous place in the country, but there are no crowds. Even in summer, when Krakow, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Warsaw are flooded with tourists.

I’m going to Lisbon next month 😅 I’m a little nervous for the crowds, but given how much you’ve raved about it, I’m excited to go!

Are you in Brazil ? Very Nice! I live in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais and Ouro Preto isn't far from here )) I love this old town! ❤

We went to Mykonos in October and it was amazing. Basically no crowds, super pleasant weather and sunshine, and we got to stay in a place with a sea view for 200 a night that charges 700 a night in the summer! Also we had a lot of casual interactions with the locals and shopkeepers of the island and even though Greeks tell you not to go there the charming white lanes and the day trip to Delos made the whole experience super worth it.

As a londoner, my city should definitely be on the list.

Dr. Mark, great video and plenty of things to think about. I have been to Europe a couple of times in what would mostly be considered shoulder season (Oct/Nov) and you are right about Greece. While my wife and I did the Santorini and Mykonos islands, we ended up really loving Paros as our favorite. Also drove the mainland a bit and stopped in Nafplion which was our favorite just a couple hours from Athens. Florence is nice that time of year maybe just a bit cooler but not overcrowded. Would love to see some of the other places on your list though.

Thank you for your time and posting. Nuremberg Germany (Bavaria), I lived there for 3 1/3 years (US Army).

Really loved your t-shirt! I am Brazilian and I have lived in Minas Gerais for 10 years and this phrase in your t-shirt is so typical in MG: Whose son are you??? You really got the Minas´spirit!!!

I'm having second thoughts about naming these places but last summer we went to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. OK, the three capital cities, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius are great and not that crowded. I lot of the usual Russian tourists don't feel welcome anymore 🤔 but they're gorgeous and there are plenty of good accommodations. The jewels though are the smaller places; Tartu, Jurmala, Leipaja, Sigulda, Kaunus. I'd even recommend Klaipeda. The town itself is an OK seaport town but the jewel is that it's the gateway to the Curonian Spit which is another gorgeous nature, beach area. Also note that the Baltic beaches are great in summer. One of the few upsides of global warming is that the Baltic coasts are getting more comfortable even as the Mediterranean beaches are getting less comfortable. Hopefully not too many people will read this, but for the lucky few, lūdzu.

Great video! We were just in the Dolomites. Bolzano was really crowded!! Seis & Castelrotto were lovely & not crowded. Seceda was super crowded, but Alpe di Siusi was not overly crowded. 😁👍🏼

Great video, go to all of those places off season. Go 10 miles in any direction from them in summer and you're almost alone.

For Toledo, Spain, I highly recommend staying overnight there. day trippers usually pack the town 10am - 4pm, but you will really enjoy it if you arrive in the afternoon and leave the next day around noon time as you will have plenty of time to wonder around with much smaller crowd. It is such a gorgeous place after most of the loud day trippers have left and before they arrive!

I was just in Lisbon last week and it wasn’t that crowded. If you go to places like Sintra and Belem, go in the morning and you will beat most of the crowds. There were way too many Tuk Tuks. We mostly walked around. It was good exercise.

Loved your shout out for Rick Steves! His series is great!

You are so right. We just va,e back from Greece and went in May. Weather was great and also not too many tourists.

I have been watching you for around 2 years and so imagine my shock and absolute horror that I had forgotten to subscribe to you! I have now and it feels criminal not to have done so already! 😅 Edit: As an Edinburgh Uni student, I can definitely feel the accommodation issue

Luckily I can't stand the heat, and our kids are grown up, so we always holiday in the shoulder seasons, and always out of the school/college holidays. Another tip is that many of those cities are beautiful very early in the morning before the tourists appear. Sometimes we've had streets almost to ourselves with just the early morning traders around. Then we find a place off the main tourist drag, such as little local parks, to chill out for the peak of the day. I live in the Cotswolds, and it's hilarious to find the popular streets chock-a-block, then step one street away, on to a country walk and find literally no-one.

Beautiful to see our lovely and peaceful mineira Ouro Preto. Best salutations from one mineira in Croatia. Whatever you want to film here as well 😊 Dobrodošli! Have a nice stay.

OMG, I can’t believe you’re in Ouro Preto! Welcome to Brazil.

I've been to several of the places you've mentioned in Europe. My favorite place to go here in California is Yosemite National Oark, but it has gotten so bad during the Summer that the park has finally started to impose a reservation system, unless you have accomdations in Yosemite itself. You have to book a room a year ahead. I'd recommend the following. Go in early to mid May when the water falls are at their peak and everything is in bloom Book a year ahead to get a room inside the park and ONLY go during the weekdays. NEVER go near a holiday and if you are from outisde the U.S. you must plan this trip. Booking a year out. This is no longer a park to just daytrip into, unless you are doing so in late Fall or Winter. The other option is to go to Kings Canyon Sequoia National park 30 miles south which is rarely visited by the gig crowds and has the giant trees and a great canyon that rivals Yosemite.

I did my European touring 30 - 35 years ago. I did river cruises on small ships, some as small as 45 passengers, and I saw places as they really were, not the Disneyesque facade for tourists. I got to meet genuine residents, not the performers for thousands of visitors. Tour groups were small enough to go everywhere. I even experienced a place that no longer exists, Russia immediately after the fall of the Soviet government. I'm not fond of crowds, and I really didn't see any. When a city has to cope with the thousands that are disgorged by cruise ships every day, they cease to be real. My advice would be to seek out the smallest, locally operated tours and to go to places no one has ever heard of. You may still be able to find hidden gems and come home with unique memories.

Thank you for another great video! What first comes to my mind (biased, though haha) is Nida, Lithuania in Neringa western country region. I am sure you have heard of it once living and being a lecturer in Vilnius. It is a unique small city surrounded by the waters all around and the grand dunes of the Curonian Spit National Park right behind. It would be such an awesome video from there, also a great chance to revisit ever growing Lithuania (biased again!) 😄🙌

I like to go to places like this in February when it's nice and quiet and everyone is pleased to see you

Outside of the Christmas Market season and Oktoberfest, Munich isn't generally overtouristed. It is a busy city, and the central pedestrianised shopping street and Marienplatz do get quite crowded at the weekend, but you don't normally get problems. It is really easy to avoid the crowded areas (same goes for Vienna actually), and have a great time, even in the summer season. I don't agree that Edinburgh is generally overtouristed either, except in the Festival season.

Brugge has the same problem. Last time I visit it was to busy to see anything. As Dutch saying: Je kon over de hoofden lopen: It was that busy you could on their head to go some where.

I definitely agree with Prague. The main square can be overwhelming. I used to live in Munich. Weekends in the summertime near Marienplatz and on the U-Bahn can be quite crowded. Obviously, Oktoberfest is insanely crowded around the Theresienwiese.

Pisa in the summer is nuts with tourists. Parking issues alone are maddening. Instead of fighting that mess, go north to Lucca, easily one of the most amazing Medieval and Renaissance cities in the world; friendly, music everywhere; the best place to relax and take everything in. The key in Florence is to not do the tours. Get some of your tickets for places in advance and go at your leisure. Have meals before the peak times. That is especially the case in Rome.

On the point of Scotland, go to Glasgow, it's an excellent base for Loch Lomond, Argyll & Bute, and the Scottish Borders. It is consistently less crowded than Edinburgh and the hotels are generally more affordable as well (plus the people are friendlier 😌)

Nice, I live here and it's just madness trying to get the train to work in Monaco.

I like going to Rimini in Italy during the off season, & its lovely. I'd recommend this town to people.

Thank you! That's a great video, very informative! But I lived in Belo Horizonte and found Ouro Preto overcrowded, especially at the weekends. Tiradentes used to be, out of the festivals, easier.

For travelers to America who want to visit Alaska, rather than face the gauntlet of overcrowded gift and diamond stores in the major overtouristed cruise ship ports (Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Sitka). My suggestion is this. Fly up to Juneau, yeah you can spend a day or two, but you'll see what I mean very quickly. And docking in Skagway is even worse, they have a population that gets down to around 600 in the depths of winter. They can get four massive 2,000 to 3,000 passenger cruise ships at one time (over 10,000 people!!!) during the season. I lived in Alaska for 22 years. Trust me this is NOT the Alaskan experience. You won't be meeting many Alaskans. All the shore tours will be choked with people. So if that's what you want my next suggestion is not for you. So fly into Juneau. Then take the ferry to Haines. Haines is across the fjord from Skagway. It's 13 miles by water, 365 miles and two border crossings by car. They only get one or two cruise ships a week in the height of summer. But unless you have NO imagination don't take one. Do this instead: Get off in Haines and spend a week. Does this sound boring? Trust me it's not. This is the real Alaska. (Don't worry. There are a few gift stores.) I lived here for 22 years. This is what's in Haines. Mountains, two rivers, lakes, glaciers, the Lynn Canal fjord, a state fair near the end of July, a friendly community, Tlingit wood carving, totem poles all over the town, hiking trails, with spectacular views ranging from fairly flat to 4,000 ft. up from sea level. The first military fort in Alaska. River rafting through the bald eagle preserve. Other local tours. Two kinds of bears, and bear viewing tours in late summer. Moose! Whales in the fjord, sea lions, seals. Hundreds, and in November thousands, of bald eagles. Five kinds of salmon in the rivers. Grocery stores for every need. Excellent pizza and other restaurants. Fresh salmon, crabs, fish and chips. Three museums. Basically the area is a mini-version of the whole state, without the insane crowds. And if you get bored after all that, you can get a ferry to Skagway for a day trip, don't spend the night. Or an unforgettable flightseeing tour over Glacier Bay National Park. Or rent a car and drive into the Yukon Territory to Whitehorse, the capital, on one of the most mind blowing drives in North America. Or just rest! Truthfully the cruise ship experience does Southeast Alaska very little justice. But if you do this? Bingo! Life changed.

Florida summer is low season for most part. Hurricanes, humidity and thunderstorms

In NA it’s often wildlife that pays the price. I’d say all of Florida, Banff National Park, Arches National Park, Zion and Yellowstone fall into that category. Also some beaches in Hawaii.

I always visit in the off season. More peaceful and quiet.

Munich and Prague are both cities I'd love to explore in depth sometime but probably won't in the near future. On my trip to Krakow and Silesia, I might visit Ostrava, Czechia since it's close enough for a day trip and Moravia sounds like an interesting and less visited region. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more videos on lesser visited parts of Poland from you.

As I had said on your last video, in Edinburgh, Airbnb has caused a lot of problems for locals wanting a place to live. I also hate seeing tourists get ripped off in the 'tartan tat' shops. There's so much to do in the city that is free and lots of good local shops stocking better souvenirs that will last. (BTW your Berlin guide was great for my visit in March. Lots of good info & I saw so much.)

I just love Prague and it’s a familial city as my husband’s ancestors are from the Czech Republic. We visited last May with our adult kids and yikes, the crowds!! I don’t mind some as it can feel festive. I look for history, the arts,architecture and natural beauty and Prague has loads. The party vibe was so overwhelming and the bachelor groups were obnoxious- especially at 2, 3, 4 AM yelling, totally drunk in the streets. The weather was already warm and we had the hotel windows open. Sadly, we didn’t get much sleep there.

I appreciate the irony is not lost on you with you being a popular travel influencer with over 1M subscribers and playing a role in the overpopulation. I also grew up in Niagara Falls, ON, so I totally feel for the locals on this list. As for the list, in the past 6 months, I've been to Edinburgh (stayed in Glasgow) and travelled in December; Lisbon but visited in January; Hallstaat in May and stayed in Obertraun; and finally Prague having travelled in May. The best advice I hear you preach, and fully support, is trying to travel in the shoulder seasons, or off seasons. It makes for a better overall experience, but financially, and as a whole.

I work on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh weirdly there’s a window in late July which is a bit more manageable, more as folk who will visit are saving it for the Festivals in August, and there’s a small chunk of the city on their own holidays themselves. It’s insane most of the year now though (in the old town) tour groups especially

Tadoussac, Québec, 800 inhabitants, we get swarmed in summer and more than half the houses sit empty 6-7 months/year while locals can't find rental or homes

Great places in Fall and Spring: Mallorca…the small villages on the island like Arta. Bordeaux…beautiful, walkable. Granada, Spain. Malta, especially the outlying villages.

For Spain, if you're exhausted by the crowds in Seville/Cordoba/Granada, go to Jaen with an amazing cathedral, charming old town, and amazing castle with great views. If you're tired with the tourist crowds in Madrid/Barcelona, go to Zaragoza. There you'll see incredible architecture but far fewer crowds. If you want a whole trip but without over tourism, head to the Castilla y Leon region, where you'll find amazing cathedrals, ancient towns and a unique culture.

Living in Prague and our neighbours told us that they havent been to the city center in 10 years. It is impossible to walk, garbage everywhere, public transport packed, tourists screaming in public places, drunk idiots everywhere… locals complain that everything is in English and not in Czech. Customer service is extremely rude bc they dont need to hold customers - most of them come one time and go back to their home country again. Prices are so expensive… it is terrible. please just stay away OR behave respectfully! I am not interested in listening to screaming drunk tourists coming back to the hotel after heavy partying when I am on my way to a long workday 😡

Venice ... I was there last month on a rainy workday. So many tourists in this little streets 😱

I was told prague was overwhelmed with people so in my trip I went there from monday to thursday so it wasn't too bad in term of crowd, if I go there again one day I'll try to stick to these days again as well

Can confirm, driving in the fjords of Iceland (especially the north) is terrifying.

Amsterdam 100% deserves to be on this list, same for Venice, but at the same time they are already known for cities ruined by overtourism, so they're not really a shock. edit: sorry did not realize this was a part 2!

I went to Lisbon in March and I had an amazing time. It was busy, but not too much, a manageable amount of people. The weather was cool during the night but during the day it was quite hot, almost hitting 20°C at times.

Love the video, I recently traveled around Europe for two months. One place that was overwhelmed with tourists was Dubrovnik. It's a very beautiful place, but Split was much more comfortable to get around. One thing I have noticed from the last time I visited Europe in 2018 was the size of the tour groups, they seem so much bigger now. I was a little put out by the number of tour guides shouting information to their groups especially in cathedrals and places of worship, it seems so disrespectful. If you're not using bluetooth headphones, you need to limit the number of people in the group.

We went to Hallstatt. Arrived early in the morning, got out before lunch. Wasn't even that busy,and we had a good time

I think Bruges should be on your list. Absolutely stunning but completely over-run with tourists from about 11h00 every day as bus loads of day trippers arrive. St. Malo in Brittany is also stunning but not so bad as some of the other places you mentioned.

"I did my PhD in Brazil, in Lisbon" so, Dr Wolters doesn't know where Lisbon is?

I am so glad I got to see various parts of Europe in 1958 and then several visits to Italy through the 60's. I was actually able to enjoy Venice and Florence more than once. I've noticed that the pricing for B&B's even in Southern Italy is comparable to a modest hotel. I can understand a family opting for a holiday flat but for me, as a single, there's no real advantage, although I love to cook and shop in the local markets. I'm not sure what I'll do the next time I go. Probably a hotel. I actually like the anonimity.

Went to Lisbon this past Spring and it was so packed. I can't even imagine how it gets in the summer.

Traveling has become way too cheap. For many people these days it's a lifestyle. There are Europeans that fly to New York only for a weekend just for shopping.

Thanks for putting Munich on the list. It gets soooo full here in summer haha

Ahhhh shout out to Rick Steves!!! I watch his shows religiously 😭💕 with my grandma when she was alive

Naperville, IL is getting overrun!😂

we're spending two weeks in Tuscany end of September. An hour south of Florence....we will endeavor to visit during the week. Hopefully that will help. Siena, Assisi, Voterra, etc. we will try to get there early and be gone by early afternoon to hopefully beat the busloads...

Prague center is literally empty on October-November and on the 2nd half of January to April, you can visit the city during these months. I know that a lot of people come specifically on Christmas to see the markets, but markets are not that different from any other in European cities.

I was at Edinburg in an weekend in 2019 during Fringe festival and in Munchen 2 weeks ago during Euro 2024, so peak season for both, and they didn't felt as overcrowded as Barcelona at the end of October

I blame you, Rick Steves, cruise ships and Airbnb 😅

I'm always thankfully that only the die-hard traveller come to Australia, as an old bushie when travelling OS I head for the rural areas.

Another small town that's been rammed with overtourism is Windermere in the Lake District here in England. Personally, I prefer Keswick or Ambleside (both easily reachable by bus from Windermere train station) if I'm visiting the Lakes.

Bellagio on Lake Como is a no go in Summer. But there are loads of other more beautiful towns on the Lake (Varenna, Torno, Laglio, Rezzonico, Menaggio)

Loved Bratislava, Slovakia in May.! Was perfect and very few tourists.

PLEASE don't take this wrong. But in today's world, people like yourself making travel videos are what draws the attraction to these cities. Without the videos and social media and mass transportation the cities like Munich, Athens, Paris, Mykinos, would not be overwhelmed with tourist. But on the other hand, these cities benefit from the money generated from the tourist, and without the tourist would not do as good as they are now. Its a catch 22.

Recommended alternatives: Bari and Trani in Itali, Riga in Latvia, and the Nordic cities.

Best vlogger on KZfaq hope to see u un Oklahoma someday

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland is about to start a parking tax (as one needs to leave one's car there if you're headed up to the car-free villages of Wengen & Murren) because they're having trouble with the crowds for this small village/town. Bellagio, Italy. It's beautiful, fortunately I first visited it in 2021 as a post Covid "pioneer" and it was not too full, but September of 2023? Forget about it! We stayed half an hour and then headed to Varenna and Mennaggio. Varenna was gorgeous (but I hate to give that secret away).

Edinburgh mostly gets really mental around the Fringe, but I have experienced far worse in other places - although I live in Glasgow so it's not like I'm there all the time. It is pretty expensive, though.

It's just so easy to get to Europe from the states! Try Poland, lots to see and great food. In another direction try Peru, easy flight from the US also so much to see and eat! If you can I highly recommend traveling off season as well. Happy Travels everyone!😀🌍🌎🌏

I recommend Costa Rica in shoulder season. We traveled for approximately2 weeks from April 26-May 6, 2023. We had a personalized tour for 6 of us, low numbers of tourists and an overall great experience.

Good alternative Northern Italian places to go to are: Bergamo's Citta Alta, Parma, Bolzano, Merano. We always go in the spring or fall and aren't overwhelmed by crowds like in Milan or Venice. I wish that I'd seen Venice forty years ago. Went once in 2016; never again.