Gary’s Q&A

Listener question & Gary’s response · Transcript passage

Kyle Dunham asks Many of us have probably seen videos circulating of protests in Spain and other places against excessive tourism. My wife and I just enjoyed a few days in the lovely city of Prague, but the crowds on the Charles Bridge and other places were difficult to navigate. What do you think has caused the seeming spike in tourist crowds, and do you have any recommendations for would-be tourists who would like to see popular places without somehow contributing to overcrowding and more angst on the part of residents? Thanks for all the work you do, Gary!

The problem of overtourism isn’t a problem of too many tourists. It is a problem of too many people visiting the same place at the same time.

For example, you visited Prague. Prague is a great city and I’d never suggest that you not visit. However, the vast majority of visitors all visit in the summer. Moreover, they tend not to visit anywhere else in the Czech Republic because most of them don’t know of anywhere else other than Prague.

The same thing plays out all over the world. People tend to go to major cities that have cruise terminals or international airports.

Barcelona is great; however, the city of Girona, less than an hour away by train, is a place where I spent three months and loved it.

In the Czech Republic, Cesky Krumlov is a fantastic city, but not nearly as many people know about it. Likewise, Kutná Hora, Olomouc [?olomouts], and Tel? are fantastic places to visit, but hardly anyone goes there.

My suggestion is very simple. Either go at a time of the year that is off-peak season, which, to be honest, is usually a much better experience, or find out-of-the-way places that don’t get as many visitors, which is also usually a better experience.

This holds true pretty much everywhere in the world, not just Europe.…and on a related note, I have a photo I took in Prague of the Charles bridge and everyone always asks how I was able to get a photo with no people on the bridge. The answer is simple. I was jet lagged, couldn’t sleep, so I went to the bridge just after sunrise and no one was there.