# Too many darn tourists



## Packerjohn (Aug 22, 2018)

Have you read some of the news stories about local people in some "hot" tourist places just fed up the the tourists?  I am talking about Venice, Barcelona, Cornwall, England & Amsterdam just to name 4 places.  

Venice has cruise ships coming in & when the tourists land there is just no room to walk.  

Barcelona has had protest marches by the locals to keep the tourists out.  

Cornwall, England is thinking about a tourist tax.  Amsterdam has about 18 millions tourists each year & the locals are not happy.  

Seems that only hotels & restaurant owners are happy.  The streets are crowded, the beaches are running out of room & there are line ups everywhere.  

We were in  Italy a few years ago in May hoping to "beat the rush".  Not a chance.  Lineups everywhere.  Does such news make you want to stay home or at least keep away from these tourists "hot spots"?  

I have seen some of the modern cruise ships in place such as Puerto Vallarta & Sydney, Nova Scotia.  They scare me.  They are 10 stories high & the length of 2 city blocks.  They seem like cities floating on the water.  I often wonder about the waste & sewage from these ships carrying over 7,000 passengers.  

What in the world is happening?  Doesn't anyone work anymore?


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## Falcon (Aug 22, 2018)

I  luv  the cruise ships and have been on several.  They  seem to have solved most of the problems  of which you speak.

It's a wonderful  break  for most folks  no matter what age.  Some  cities and/or towns  WELCOME  the ships AND the passengers

with open arms.


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## hollydolly (Aug 22, 2018)

I know what you mean Packerjohn... London is a nightmare, trying to get to work is horrendous...all year round!!


We bought a house on a gated community abroad...never occurred to us that half the owners would rent their homes out to visitors..so while we lived there full time, the constant rumbling of suitcases being hauled by strangers and their kids coming through our private gates, got to be very irritating .

Our fault for not doing our homework properly obviously... because we too are tourists in other countries..and yes we've noticed particularly over the last few years that everywhere just seems to be a lot more crowded than ever before!!

BTW Cornwall ( only one of many holiday spots in the UK) ..would have a flaming  nerve charging a tourist tax..it's almost as expensive as London to take a holiday there...with much less amenities!!


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## Lara (Aug 22, 2018)

Well FINALLY I'm making the world a better place....I've never been to Europe and have no plans to go .  I've never been on a big cruise ship either but I've been to many of the Caribbean islands, by plane. I felt that *I* wasn't welcomed there but my *money* was. 

One time, I spent a week with my children in St. Thomas and I thought it would be fun for my children and I to to experience the culture so instead of getting a taxi from our hotel to the shopping area, we boarded one of those cute little local open-air roof-topped buses (no windows). There were two seats where a local was sitting in the middle. I asked politely if she would mind moving over so I could sit there but she ignored me. She wouldn't even look at me so I stood the whole way. 

The next day we called for a taxi and I shared my experience with the driver. He said, "That's because the locals want you to spend your money on taxis. I was shocked that he was so blatantly honest and shocked at the lack of humanity.

I also noticed the locals were so friendly down at the harbor marketplace where the cruise ships come in but inland not so  much.


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## Lara (Aug 22, 2018)

Maybe tourists are flocking to holiday destinations before terrorism gets worse. 

Or maybe it's the baby boomer population having retired with money to spend and time to spend it. 

Or maybe it's social media and everyone taking travel pics with their iPhones that's making them all want to travel to get their selfies.


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## C'est Moi (Aug 22, 2018)

Apparently foreign visitors have discovered that they can rent RVs in the USA and see the national parks and other attractions.   Many complaints on the RVing forums about all the prime camping spots being taken by the vacation rentals and all the national parks/forests being overrun by foreign tourists.   So it sounds like a better economy is allowing people to travel.


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## Don M. (Aug 22, 2018)

Luckily, I spent almost 4 years in Europe, while in the USAF, from 1961 to 1965.  I learned to speak German, and traveled extensively all over Europe.  Back then, it was quite nice, and not crowded with tourists.  Now, that is history.  We flew over there about 7 years ago, when my wife's mother passed away, and it was a far different Germany than I saw decades earlier.  

Anymore, we just limit our "travels" to our local area...visiting the kids and casinos, and about once a year we go to Las Vegas....at least that city is well equipped to handle massive numbers of tourists.


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## RadishRose (Aug 22, 2018)

It will never happen, but I've always yearned to visit Europe, not just for a week but at least a month or maybe two.  That ship sailed some time ago and maybe it's for the best. I couldn't take crowds and standing in line now.


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## debbie in seattle (Aug 22, 2018)

I live in Seattle and it’s crazy during cruise season here, doesn’t have to be abroad.


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## Kadee (Aug 22, 2018)

The Gold Coast which is Queensland (Australia) can be a nightmare this time of the year in certain places like theme parks and Surfers Paradice https://www.destinationgoldcoast.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItLHGt_CB3QIVlHZgCh0TlgRnEAAYASAAEgKX7_D_BwE
Which is about 30 km from where we stay each year for a month much quieter here at Coolangatta 
This area is tropical so their average winter daytime temps are mid 20’s compaired to where I live it’s lucky to get to 10c during the day.


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## jujube (Aug 22, 2018)

Hey, I spend eight months of the year in the Orlando Florida area.  Talk about tourists?  We have tourists.  Lots and lots of tourists.

The rest of the time, I'm in the North Carolina mountains, where all you see are us Floridians trying to get away from the tourists, but becoming tourists ourselves.  Oh, the irony......


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## Manatee (Aug 23, 2018)

We have found that smaller cruise ships are better.  Check them out on: http://cruisecritic.com


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## Packerjohn (Aug 24, 2018)

Where I live in the middle of the country, all the people we know are all going to British Columbia this summer regardless of the fires there.  I am so glad that I am going to Quebec the opposite direction.  Don't like to follow the lemmings & the "Me Toos".


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## C'est Moi (Aug 24, 2018)

Packerjohn said:


> Where I live in the middle of the country, all the people we know are all going to British Columbia this summer regardless of the fires there.  I am so glad that I am going to Quebec the opposite direction.  Don't like to follow the lemmings & the "Me Toos".



I have never been to the western provinces though I'd love to do so someday.   I love the Maritimes, however.


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## Packerjohn (Sep 4, 2018)

Right now we are staying in The Plateau area of Montreal.  This is a Air BnB place & we enjoy the beautiful park next door called "Laurier Park".  No tourists here which is fine with me.  However, down in the old part of Montreal at Place D'Armes, it is a real zoo.  Thousands of tourists lined up to get into the Basilicia Nortre Dame.  Many tour groups from China & many seniors following a tour guide with a flag.  We have found very few tourists our age traveling independently.  We wonder why?


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## Keesha (Sep 4, 2018)

:shussh: Not many tourists because people don’t realize just how lovely Canada is. 
Lets keep it that way:hide: lol


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## Camper6 (Sep 4, 2018)

I get a kick out of this.

Complaints about tourists and every website and newspapers are offering deals and inviting them.

i told my friend I would love to go to Italy to see the Roman ruins.

He said save money. Take off your clothes and stand in front of a mirror.

I didn't have a comeback.


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## hollydolly (Sep 4, 2018)

Keesha said:


> :shussh: Not many tourists because people don’t realize just how lovely Canada is.
> Lets keep it that way:hide: lol



LOL...I think people realise Canada is beautiful, but they just don't want to have to travel for hundreds of miles between each beautiful site...especially in the snow...:rofl:..both my husband and Daughter have visited Canada on many occasions..one spent a lot of time in Lake Louise, while conversely the other in the cities..  WE also have relatives in Toronto


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## Don M. (Sep 4, 2018)

Keesha said:


> :shussh: Not many tourists because people don’t realize just how lovely Canada is. Lets keep it that way:hide: lol



There is a "triangle" in Western Canada....stretching from Jasper, Alberta, West to Kamloops, and back SE to Banff, that has some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world.  Halfway between Banff and Jasper is the Columbia Ice Field, where tourists can go onto the glacier.  If I were filthy rich, I would have a Summer home in Kenora, Ontario, or Edmonton Alberta, and a Winter home in Las Vegas.


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## oldman (Sep 4, 2018)

Packerjohn said:


> Have you read some of the news stories about local people in some "hot" tourist places just fed up the the tourists?  I am talking about Venice, Barcelona, Cornwall, England & Amsterdam just to name 4 places.
> 
> Venice has cruise ships coming in & when the tourists land there is just no room to walk.
> 
> ...




Peple like to travel year round. Believe me; I am very sure about this. As a pilot for 34 years, I can tell you that my planes were probably averaging about 90% full overall. So, you take a B-767 that seats close to 300, well, you do the math. 

And, BTW, you are a traveler yourself. You think people are going to stay home so that you may be able to travel in peace? It’s actually getting worse as airlines are adding planes to their livery, so that they may carry even more tourists and business passengers. The problem that airlines are now facing is getting more qualified pilots. In the next 10 years more than 25% of pilots today will be retired while the airlines are now looking for an additional 20,000 “experienced” pilots. 

Airports are busting at the seams so much that many are in expansion programs. Some are even building new airports and from my viewpoint, there are many airports that should be replaced due to old technology and that too darn small. Additionally, Air Traffic Controllers are in demand. Next to having experienced pilots, having ATC’s is probably just as important. I was always able to tell when I had a newbie guiding me in or taking me out. 

You may as well capitulate to the idea that over-crowding at the more popular tourist sites are only going to get worse. Heck, according to Condé Nast Traveler, thousands are traveling to even the less popular travel sites. I logged over 10,000,000miles in the air. I enjoy being home, but my wife wants to travel. Thank goodness we get free air travel.


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## RadishRose (Sep 4, 2018)

[h=5]Giant cruise ships banned from historic centre of Venice[/h]


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## Keesha (Sep 4, 2018)

hollydolly said:


> LOL...I think people realise Canada is beautiful, but they just don't want to have to travel for hundreds of miles between each beautiful site...especially in the snow...:rofl:..both my husband and Daughter have visited Canada on many occasions..one spent a lot of time in Lake Louise, while conversely the other in the cities..  WE also have relatives in Toronto





Don M. said:


> There is a "triangle" in Western Canada....stretching from Jasper, Alberta, West to Kamloops, and back SE to Banff, that has some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world.  Halfway between Banff and Jasper is the Columbia Ice Field, where tourists can go onto the glacier.  If I were filthy rich, I would have a Summer home in Kenora, Ontario, or Edmonton Alberta, and a Winter home in Las Vegas.



Well this is true hollydolly BUT some of the traveling routes are breathtakingly beautiful. You see all kinds of bears, rams , mountains with mountain goats. The Banff springs are amazing. 
Yeah ok. We have a very spacious country but there are worse things to have like lots of snow :lofl: 
Ok! OK! Check.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Sep 4, 2018)

I haven't been out of the country but even smaller attractions in the US can become over crowded. This past June my daughter and I traveled up through the New England states. We stopped at Bar Harbor Maine. It was wall to wall people. We just got pushed along on the sidewalks. It took us about an hour in traffic to get out of there. Also stopped at a national park. Some of the side parking lots were filled to capacity just to view the scenery and that was in June. I can only imagine what the rest of the summer was like. Of course the two of us were part of the problem.We all want to be the only ones enjoying the sights and in this day and age it just can't be.


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## treeguy64 (Sep 4, 2018)

I'm glad I traveled the world as a young guy and saw what I wanted to see, except for a very few spots I had on my list.  Even then, the places I went to were hardly ever crowded, as I never was attracted to most of the "must see" spots.  The two notable exceptions:  When I rounded the corner, and there stood the Coliseum!  When I got off the Metro, went up the stairs, turned around, and there stood the Eiffel Tower! Yeah, those two tourist spots were truly impressive, truly worth seeing, for me.  I have no great desire to ever leave the US, again, but my woman wants to see Costa Rica, so we'll be there next year, for a bit.


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## Camper6 (Sep 4, 2018)

I don't like travelling because I don't like strange airports.  

You spend more time there than you do in the plane and I can't stand going through security.


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## RadishRose (Sep 8, 2018)

No tourists here, yet.






You can navigate the 360 feature.


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## oldman (Sep 8, 2018)

Holy Cow, RR! That cruise ship is unbelievable. I have never been on a cruise, but it's on my bucket list, so it will probably happen soon. I just don't know where my wife wants to go to. It's just unbelievable how something that large stays afloat. I guess it's like a B-787 or an Airbus A-380, which has a gross take off weight of about one and a quarter million pounds (625 ton).


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## RadishRose (Sep 8, 2018)

oldman said:


> Holy Cow, RR! That cruise ship is unbelievable. I have never been on a cruise, but it's on my bucket list, so it will probably happen soon. I just don't know where my wife wants to go to. It's just unbelievable how something that large stays afloat. I guess it's like a B-787 or an Airbus A-380, which has a gross take off weight of about one and a quarter million pounds (625 ton).



It does look overly huge, I agree.  But they are gigantic.


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## squatting dog (Sep 9, 2018)

RadishRose said:


> No tourists here, yet.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Sure... but part of the reason has to do with the local population.


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## RadishRose (Sep 9, 2018)

squatting dog said:


> Sure... but part of the reason has to do with the local population.


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## Packerjohn (Sep 11, 2018)

This morning we are heading for the Gaspe part of Quebec.  Funny thing is that once you are out of the old part of Montreal & old part of Quebec City, there really are no tourists around except the locals.  I think the trouble is that there are too many guide books telling everyone where to go.  If you go where the guide books tell you to go, then you will meet all the other tourists who have also read guide books.  By the way, I heard that on the Alaskan Cruises there may be 3 huge cruise ships in the port of some small little community.  It must be terrible!


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## oldman (Sep 11, 2018)

I think my wife wants to go visit the Columbus Zoo in another week or so. I have looked at it online and I am also excited about going. I love the animals, although I wish that they could all be in their natural environment, even though some are better off in the zoo. My wish is that someday I could travel to Africa and go on a picture taking safari.


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## Packerjohn (Sep 11, 2018)

My wife & I backpacked for 5 month when I was in my late 50s & she was in her 60s.  It's a trip we will never forget.  We went overland from Kenya to South Africa.  It was a trip of a lifetime & well worth it.  Just go before it's too late.


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## Capt Lightning (Sep 20, 2018)

The Shetland Islands (north of Scotland) has beep water harbours and can accommodate  large cruise ships.  This confuses some tourists because it's nearer to Norway than Great Britain.  When the ships arrive, the population of the island doubles.  This doesn't help everyone, as all meals are provided on board, so few people dine on the island.  The only people who seem to benefit crafts people who sell designer  knitwear etc..

The western isles of Scotland are also overloaded with tourists and athave called for a tourist tax in places.


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## Lethe200 (Sep 26, 2018)

When we retired, people kept asking us if we planned to travel a lot - specifically meaning trips abroad. We said no, for right now we're going to spend time in surrounding local areas we never had the chance to explore before. 

When you're working and commuting, you live for those 3-day weekends. So does everyone else, and so traffic is as bad as weekday rush hour commutes. Everybody's trying to ski in Tahoe or wine-taste in Napa at the same time as you.

This was our chance to visit weekdays, avoid rush hours both morning and evening, and leisurely explore the area for 3-5 days without crowds.

We do make longer trips elsewhere, but we still enjoy our local trips. We have yet to run out of new things to do and new places to go! We have friends in Sonoma County who are astonished when we tell them about the many things they haven't discovered yet, even though they've been there almost 20 yrs and love to drive/bike around their gorgeous county.

I tell folks since we live in an area where people come from all over the world to spend a few precious vacation days here, only getting to see and do a few highlights, it only makes sense for DH and I to explore our state as we never had time to do, before.
_
Mendocino Coast, Northern CA
_


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## StarSong (Sep 26, 2018)

I've lived in Los Angeles for nearly 50 years and in Hollywood for a good part of that time.  Tourists are part of the landscape.  Most of us embrace them and relish their delight at our city, and love their enjoyment of seeing things in person that they've known from movies or TV.  I've guided more than one foreign tourist up the back way so they could get a great view and spectacular pictures of the city and the Hollywood sign.  I treasure being able to do so and am sure they hold the experience equally dear.  

I can only imagine how they tell the story: "And Fran - this woman saw us standing in the middle of Beachwood Drive trying to get a shot of the sign.  She said, 'Get out of the street, put your kids into your rental car and follow me if you want a great photo!'  Frannie, no lie, she took us up these windy roads and brought us into her BACK YARD where we shot these pictures.  I even used her bathroom!  Here's a photo of her with our kids and the sign right behind them, big as life!"

My take: I see people standing in the middle of a very busy road, dodging traffic while trying to get a shot of the Hollywood sign.  I pull over and tell them that if they want to invest 20 minutes they will get a view few professionals can access.  I have them follow me and when I lived there I took them into my yard, but nowadays I bring them to a vantage point that only people in the neighborhood know about.  They are thrilled and I have gotten to spend some time with charming, grateful tourists.  I tell them a very easy route to take to get back to Hollywood proper and we say our goodbyes. It costs me nothing to be a good host for my fair city.   

When traveling we have encountered amazing people who have quite literally gone out of their way to walk us to a train station, have translated for us, paid our subway fare when we didn't have any Euros, showed us their favorite local restaurants, and so forth.  In turn, we are generous tippers (even in non-tipping countries), sample local cuisine at small eateries, praise their cities and countries, and respectfully avoid their commute times.  

When traveling on a cruise ship we go to (non-chain) port restaurants and small pubs despite having paid for all meals on board.  We generally travel during low and shoulder seasons.  Europe is chilly in November but a whole lot less crowded.  

Los Angeles locals know better than to hit Disneyland during summer, weekends, or school vacations.  We use beaches other than Malibu, Venice and Santa Monica during prime summer season.  Coexisting with tourists requires patience, planning and an attitude of gratitude that people are interested (and spending money) in your city.

My grandmother used to tell me, "If you can't be a sport when you go  out, stay home."  Words to live by whether in your own town or traveling  afar.


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## RadishRose (Sep 27, 2018)

SS, This is such a nice post, I loved reading how kind and helpful you are to tourists in Hollywood! You certainly are a good tourist yourself and it's nice to be reminded how nice other people can be to us when we're traveling. Thanks for sharing.


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## StarSong (Sep 27, 2018)

Thanks for the kind words, RR.  We have had very good experiences with tourists visiting our country and likewise have been treated well in various locales, whether within or outside of the US.


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## Packerjohn (Oct 10, 2018)

Read yesterday that if you plan to visit "The Isle of Skye" in Scotland, you have to reserve a hotel room at least 6 month ahead of your visit & if you want a meal in a restaurant there you had better make an advanced reservation or you go hungry.  Then there is the story about a certain beach in Thailand where they filmed a movie called "The Beach".  Well, it has been over run by massive tourists that the local authorities have had to put if off limits due to the environmental damage.  Go figure!


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