I first noticed the phenomenon in Seville cathedral. A tour group trailing behind an umbrella-wielding guide were put on the spot. Quite literally. The guide pointed to a particular flagstone and said: “This is where you take your picture.” And they all did. And the next group, too.
That was before Instagram and the trend for bucket lists, so I don’t think either of these can be entirely to blame for the threat to some of the world’s most popular tourist sites, as a new Abta survey has suggested. Instead, they have simply exaggerated a human trait to the point where those favoured sites can no longer cope.
The US national parks have always had a neat way of protecting their real treasures: no roads, no waymarkers, often not even any recognisable footpaths. On one recent trip, I visited Crater Lake, Oregon, and felt the great hole we had come to see might have been filled with all the tour buses. A few days later, I trekked out into the Sawtooth Mountains wilderness area in Idaho and for three days didn’t see another human. The scenery was better, too.
For every Instagram honey pot, there are dozens of alternatives – here are just a few:
Swap: Yellowstone national park
For: Stanley, Idaho
Thousands of folk clutching their phones, waiting for an unreliable fountain to erupt. There are a lot of undervisited hot springs and geysers around the world. My favourites, not so far away from Yellowstone, are scattered around Stanley, Idaho. Drive down Highway 21 and you can lie in a hot waterfall at Kirkham or soak at Sunbeam while ospreys snatch salmon out the river.
Swap: Liguria’s Cinque Terre villages
For: Sestri Levante
One of the most Instagrammed pictures of all time must be the view of Manarola in Liguria’s Cinque Terre villages. I imagine the queue for that particular spot must snake back to the French border. And what have they come to see? Wonderful vernacular coastal architecture. Nothing that can’t be found from Cornwall to Albania. Even the Cinque Terre have nearby alternatives: try Sestri Levante, Porto Venere and Camogli.
Swap: New York
For: Chicago
Looking for a towering cityscape full of cultural surprises with a waterfront and continent behind? Chicago gets 5 million fewer visitors a year than New York, the most Instagrammed city on Earth. Istanbul and Vancouver have the same type of geography, as does Hong Kong – with more skyscrapers.
Swap: Venice
For: Padua
Venice is now a no-go zone for anyone who wants to enjoy Venice. During the Iraq war, I sneaked off from journalistic activities and strolled around Basra’s old town, a definite alternative candidate – although possibly not everyone’s idea of a weekend getaway. How about Bruges, or Giethoorn? In Italy I would just head up the road to Padua.
Swap: The Taj Mahal
For: Orchha
Before you die, it is not essential to see the Taj Mahal, that over-rated pile of Italianate wedding cake. India has so many less well-known architectural gems: the palaces of Orchha, the terracotta temples of Azimganj in Bengal, and all of old Calcutta – only 2% of tourists get there.
