The comments over there are loaded with complaints about how terrible it is to travel in Europe these days — now that it's too cheap to filter out the riffraff, now that influencers pose on every corner, now that AirBnB has locals repurposing their homes to accommodate all who want flood into whatever town might seem at all picturesque.
There's also someone who wonders why "The White Lotus" encouraged travel, given that the hotel guests on the show were awful people. But it's always those other people who are the "tourists," while you yourself will be the "traveler." Maybe so, and good for you, but those other people will pack the narrow streets and make it difficult for you to absorb the charm you're so well-suited to absorb.
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* In the first season of "White Lotus," there is a honeymoon couple, and the wife's mom shows up for some insane reason. She's brilliantly horrible, played by Molly Shannon. You should be lucky enough to have Molly Shannon as your mom, hounding you on your honeymoon.
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What proof is there that this HBO TV show was the proximate cause of Americans vacationing in Sicily this summer?
@Dave
People like to think they've figured out a more sophisticated destination that puts them ahead of the crowds, so it must have been the TV show that tipped this louts off about this out of the way place.
But crowds are looking to avoid crowds. The crowd is always moving, seething and oozing into more and more places.
It's wonderful that people's tastes are still so heavily determined by something as pedestrian as cable television. It's comforting in fact. A hint at the old normalcy. It's comforting.
I learned some time ago, to visit places during the times of year when most others would never think of doing so. I would not go to Italy in the summer. In fact, we're talking with a personal guide in Italy now and looking at going to ______ next ______.
But I do the same thing now domestically. I was in Napa in December a year ago and we had a wonderful time. Had some great personalized tastings, enjoyed the small towns in the valley dressed up for Christmas, without the masses of people. Got into restaurants easy enough. Likewise, did Sedona in the peak of summer. So hot no one wanted to be there. We had a great time.
I wouldn't go to Bar Harbor in the winter, but I would no longer go there in the fall, either. Too bad for that. But I got to see New England in the fall many times years ago. Before it became insane.
Yes, for whatever reason, Sicily seems to be the destination of choice this year. We know four people that are planning to go this September/October. Maybe many of the crowds will have dissipated by then.
My general rule, though, is that "If you've heard of a place, it's already too late to visit". Pisa? Forget it. Amalfi Coast? Packed full of Brits. Capri? Don't get me started. Matera? It was Disneyfied long before James Bond set foot there.
But, if you go literally 20 km in the other direction, you will find peace, quiet, and far more interesting sites. Our holidays tend to be on bicycle, where we spend a few weeks rolling from place to place with panniers on the back carrying our clothes and a few bike tools. Nice, slow way to travel, and you tend to avoid the big attractions because it's too much hassle. We've seen parts of the world literally within a half-hour's drive from major sites that are far more interesting and enjoyable.
This is why off-season travel is the way to go-- cheaper everything, less crowds, usually cooler weather.
The dirty secret of crowds is that many people like being part of them.
Sports, concerts, Vegas, Venice, cruises, "mostly peaceful protests," etc.
'It was still stunning and we had some special moments, but it was crazy busy with loud and sweaty tourists packed into narrow streets. It made it difficult to feel the Italian charm.'
I wonder if Aiden and Laura considered the possibility that at least some of those loud and sweaty tourists were thinking the same thing about them. Probably not.
Nobody goes to Sicily, it's too crowded.
So go to Corsica instead.
If you simply must have your own photo of the Eiffel Tower, or a selfie in a Venetian gondola, go crazy and fight these horrible crowds. If you want to actually see Europe without them, go to Eastern Europe. And not just Prague and Budapest - wonderful as they are - well, before the tourist hordes discovered them too, anyway. Go to Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Poland...and Czech and Hungary away from Prague and Budapest. They are wonderful.
Go to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia instead of the Scandinavian countries and their crowds. Pretty much same -same, and just lovely.
Need to see the famous Greek and Roman monuments? - well sure, go to the source and mill with its mobs of tourists. Or avoid them and go to Aegean Turkey. Wonderful Greek and Roman ruins on par with many in Greece and Italy. Or, even better, go further East and South in Turkey. You will meet the nicest, most hospitable people on the planet.
Whenever I want to leave the crowds, I go to Europe. Not many people live there. And they have few attractions. Usually, I go in August.
See that, Low=brow sarcasm is easy!
My father was in those parts in late 1944 and early 1945. He flew out of Corsica and (very near the end) Fano on the mainland. We have photos of some of his lodgings, and of his R&R visits to Capri, and the Riviera. (Not to mention BDA photos of some his targets, and a nice list.)
I've been to Rome (briefly, as a child) and have spent a few nights in Venice, but would love to see Florence (at least!) and perhaps visit some of the places he went. Just not in the summertime.
Paul Theroux, travel writer extraordinaire, did his own Grand Tour of the Mediterranean during the winter months, and always found quiet and solitude during those times. He did observe that Germans were notable by their presence during those times, however.
"The Pillars of Hercules" is the Theroux title Bob refers to. Always enjoy Theroux, myself.
I even read his brother's novel, "D'Arconville's Cat," but recall almost nothing about it.
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