Let me be upfront: none of these countries is bad. They’re beautiful, historic and full of great food. My reason for crossing them off is narrower. In peak season, in their most famous spots, the experience has become so crowded and so managed that I no longer think it’s worth the trouble.
This is an opinion piece, so take it as one. I’ve tried to back each point with public data from 2024 to 2026, and I’ve noted where the picture is mixed. Several of these places are working hard on the problem, and that’s worth knowing before you book.
Italy: Venice and the Price of Admission
Venice is where the overtourism debate got real. The city introduced its day-tripper access fee in 2024 as the first initiative of its kind aimed at managing overtourism in a major historic city.[1] In 2026 the fee ran for 60 days, from 3 April until 26 July[2], and brought in over €5 million, with more than 650,000 paid vouchers issued.[2] Visitors who skip the booking risk a fine of up to €300.[3]
The fee hasn’t fixed the crowding, which is my main objection. Venice’s new mayor said in July that the current €10 fee had failed to deter enough visitors on peak days,[4] and the city is now considering a charge of up to €30.[4] To be fair, the data isn’t all bleak. An average of 11,326 tickets were sold per charging day in 2026, a 32.3% decline compared with 2024.[4] Still, a city that needs a reservation and a QR code just to walk its streets on busy days isn’t the spontaneous wander I want from a trip.
Spain: Barcelona, the Islands and a Welcome Wearing Thin
Spain is the biggest tourism machine on this list. Over the course of 2024, 94 million tourists visited Spain, compared with a population of 48 million.[5] The trend hasn’t slowed. Almost 66.8 million international tourists visited in the first eight months of 2025, a record that beat the previous year’s equivalent by 3.9 per cent.[6]
Locals have made their frustration obvious. In Barcelona, some 26 million tourists swelled a population of 1.6 million in 2024, and a city survey showed 31% of residents considered tourism damaging, the highest figure on record.[7] In June 2025, the protests were part of the first coordinated effort by activists across southern Europe’s top destinations,[8] and some protesters in Barcelona and Mallorca sprayed tourists with water guns.[8] Most of these demonstrations are about housing and cost of living rather than hostility toward individual visitors. Even so, I’d rather not add to the pressure in the hottest months.
Greece: Santorini When the Cruise Ships Roll In
Santorini shows how small an island can feel when thousands arrive at once. It covers just 29 square miles and has around 25,000 permanent inhabitants.[9] On July 23, 2024, a local councillor announced that 17,000 cruise passengers were due that day,[9] and the post caused an uproar. In high summer, visitors cram the narrow cobblestone streets and queue for hours in the heat for the famous caldera sunset.[9]
Greece has responded, which deserves credit. A daily cap of 8,000 cruise passengers and a tiered levy of up to €20 per person are now in force for 2026.[10] For a family of four calling at Mykonos, Santorini and one other Greek port in August, those fees stack to roughly 180 euros.[11] The caps may well make the island more pleasant in the coming years. For now, though, I’d rather spend my money on a quieter island, or on Santorini outside June to September, when the fee drops to €4 off-peak.[12]
Croatia: Dubrovnik’s Walls and the Daily Cruise Surge
Dubrovnik’s Old Town is stunning, and it’s tiny. Research published in 2025 suggests that when cruise passengers and day trippers are included, annual visitors exceed 2.5 million, around 25 times the city’s permanent population of just over 40,000.[13] This isn’t a new problem. In 2017, UNESCO warned that the city’s heritage status was at risk because of visitor numbers and cruise ship management.[14]
The city’s answer is its “Respect the City” plan. It aims to limit the number of cruise visitors in the Old Town to 4,000 at any given moment.[14] Dubrovnik also caps cruise ships at two at a time.[15] Enforcement is the weak point, though. One crowd-planning guide concedes that enforcement of the 4,000 limit is imperfect,[16] and it notes that a typical summer day sees 2 to 5 cruise ships delivering 5,000 to 12,000 additional visitors between about 9am and 4 to 5pm.[16] Walking the Stradun shoulder to shoulder isn’t why I travel.
The Netherlands: Amsterdam’s Tourism Tug of War
Amsterdam has spent years trying to rebalance its relationship with visitors. The results are mixed. Despite measures to curb tourist numbers, overnight stays increased by three per cent in 2024,[17] and residents filed a lawsuit against the city council over overtourism in 2025. When locals go to court over visitor numbers, the city is telling you something about how welcome you are.
Visiting also costs more than it used to. Amsterdam maintains a 12.5% tourist tax,[18] which adds a noticeable amount to a hotel bill in a city that was never cheap. Amsterdam isn’t the worst offender here, and the evidence is thinner than for the other four places. It’s still on my list, because I can get canals, museums and good beer in less strained Dutch towns.
None of this means these countries are off limits for everyone. If you go, travel in shoulder season, stay overnight rather than day tripping, and book early where reservations are required. Cities like Venice and Dubrovnik are clearly trying to manage the crowds, and some of the data suggests it’s helping a little.
For me, the question comes down to what I want from a trip. I’d rather visit a lesser-known place at full price in peace than a famous one in a crush. The best trips I take from here on will probably be the ones nobody’s posting about yet.
