I am going to 2 places on the list. Hoping to do a week in Bali for rest and relaxation. We stay in Nusa Dua which is on the east coast. Beach is lovely and there are no signs of all the rubbish that you see on the west coast. The Balinese are beautiful gentle people and they rely on tourism.

End Of August I am off to Japan. Have never been before. I do realise that it has now become a really popular destination.

What is really sad is reading how 60% of apartments in Lisbon are now holiday rentals. I refuse to use airbnb or vrbo. Will always stay in hotels who employ locals.

I never look at stuff like that. Especially one from a travel website. If anything I'd look at government advisories. But I am boring and go the same places over and over. And I know they are OK.

Plus you need to understand. For example, Puerto Vallarta which is in the state of Jalisco Mexico gets advisories. But the areas of concern are a good 8-10 hour car ride away up on the border of the next state.

And I only saw this post because you put it in the Lounge. I never read this "Travel Tips" branch.

I would go to Japan. I would visit Mexico again but probably not Oaxaca. I visited in January 2020 as part of a month-long trip. Oaxaca felt more "gringo-ified" than nearby Puebla then, as I mentioned in my trip report. It was more noticeable in the historic central plaza areas and less so out of the center.

I've been to Indonesia and to Bali but did not stay in the beach resorts popular with Aussies.

I've been "over" Europe for some time.

These kinds of lists I classify as "clickbait" and don't pay them much attention. I'm sure that we all could nominate places that are worse than those listed.

The most annoying phrase ever uttered about travel "you should have gone X years ago when it was less crowded" I have been to many of those places and yes, I have no desire to return to some of those. Just returned from a month in Mexico and didn't find Oaxaca overrun , despite it being the run up to the Day of the Dead celebrations. Merida in the Yucatan was a different matter. It seems to be crammed with either US expats or tour groups from Asia or Europe. I wouldn't return.

There are many places I would now avoid like the plague because of over tourism but would still visit thither places within the country. Luang Prabang in Laos is a prime example, another Siem Reap/Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Both suffer from way too many visitors and are now quiet unpleasantly crowded. I would however visit plenty of other places within those countries.

Our last trip to Japan I didn't enjoy as much as the first, due in no small part to the influx of Chinese , Korean and Taiwanese tour groups. I wouldn't visit China on ethical grounds , but Taiwan and Korea we loved - may be it is all about the tour groups than the places?

Wouldn't it be great if we as travellers, could visit all these wonderful places without the inconvenience of crowds of tourists getting in the way? I am off to play my copy of the 10cc album "Bloody Tourists" :p

is it possible for a locality to limit the number of “tourist rentals?” If it doesn’t then that sends a definite message. I am currently in Egypt and the number of visitors at what some would call the “must see” sights is not surprising and does not make some of the places nicer to visit IMO and in fact, makes them less attractive.And yet here I am doing exactly what I do not like. i have often enjoyed visiting places in the so-called “off” or “shoulder” seasons but there are some things I am interested in attending and contributing money to the local economy when I do so that do not happen in those less-visited times.

there are a lot of people who visit places and suffer no more “inconvenience” than picking up the remote and diving into YOUTUBE.

is it “the same” as a “real” visit? No but in some cases perhaps a way to know what to expect and possibly avoid.

There are governments which promote tourism, a good example is the Tren Maya which was an AMLO pet project despite being opposed by many internal enviromental groups in Mexico. I wonder if the train's opening had anything to do with crellston's experience in Merida and Izamal, which are both on the route from Cancun Airport.

We passed several Tren Maya stations during our time in the Yucatan , all off which seemed to be in inconvenient locations way outside of the towns, few seemed to be using them and I don't think much is in operation yet. I did try booking a train, one of my fav travel methods, but gave up as it was too hard. The Mexican government don't make it easy!

Government promotion (interference?) in tourism seems to be a double edged sword - on the one hand promoting the hell out of country and then comparing of the effects of overtoursim when they are successful. Every where seems to want to attract the high spending end of the market and deter the riff-raff. New Zealand being a prime example. I guess it is very much a case of "be careful what you wish for!

Hawaii is apparently doing the same thing, very high taxes/resort fees/hotel and overnight parking rates. Now they are bemoaning the drop in hotel occupancy.

Oh wow. Ngl I really wanted to go to Bali and Thailand (specifically Koh Samui).. now I’m seriously reconsidering this idea. Thanks for such a great article!

The best time to go to Bali or Thailand was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.

I have dear friends who go to Thailand every winter for 2-3 months. They have been doing this for years. Actually to Pucket not Koh Samui. So even more "touristy" -lol.

The "best" time to go to most places was 20 years ago. Things never stay the same; populations of countries other than North America and Europe are getting richer and travel more and more so that is hardly surprising that many places are getting overrun. Should we begrudge this? Perhaps, but I am sure the locals of the developing countries concerned, welcome the increase in wealth that tourism brings. It is only the wealthier, developed nations that can afford the luxury NIMBY attitude.

Hopefully rain will solve the Sicily problem. As for some of these others places (Mt. Everest is only 1 of several examples), climbing and trekking fees should be paying for garbage & trash removal. The tourist economy could care less for the locals living in a place -- locals should be pushing back to create a healthy balance. I live in Miami and Miami Beach was overrun at various times for 'Spring Break' -- little did I know we had tickets to a show during one of the busiest weeks this spring but it worked out. After a few 'bad' years and 'bad' events, new policies were put into place, $100 parking and other policies were instituted to reclaim the city.

We can never go back, but I am sure for first timers visiting many of these places are still wonderful. Definitely go to Agrigento though perhaps not at the height of summer.

I stopped reading Fodor’s articles long ago as I didn’t find them particularly well researched and just seem like someone’s bias. Just perusing this thread validates my feelings. I was in Japan this past May. It was my third trip there and while there are more tourists there than there were 25 years ago, it is by no means too crowded and it is just as magical as it was on my first visit long ago. The most crowded place we encountered was the Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, and the vast majority of people there were Japanese who most likely live in Tokyo as it is the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. I don’t doubt that places like Bali are much more over touristed than the last two times I was there, but I certainly would not listen to some nitwit keep me from going somewhere I want to.

Mrs P,
My wife once dropped a possession of hers just as the crowds were descending at that crossing! We bent down to fetch it just in time.
God's sense of humor in a relatively harmless way.
I am done. the little Yoyoka on the drums

Japan this past May had about 3.7 million foreign visitors for the month
Japan in 2001 had 4.7 million foreign visitors for the year
and yet it can still be magical

The part of the article about Japan is true.
The image at the top is at Sensoji in Asakusa, Tokyo

Sensoji was ridiculously crowded but we went on a Sunday and it seemed like most of the people there were Japanese. No place else in Japan came even close to the crowds there.

Don't take up fishing. Most beachside conversations start with, "You should have been here yesterday . . . "