Why Overtourism Is Getting Worse
Overtourism — too many visitors concentrated in too few places — is accelerating. Santorini limits cruise ship arrivals. Barcelona residents protest against tourists. Dubrovnik caps daily visitor numbers to the Old Town. The pressure is real and the experience for visitors is increasingly compromised: crowds, inflated prices, and the creeping sense that a destination exists purely for tourism rather than for the people who live there. The good news is that for almost every overtouristed destination, there is a comparable alternative that offers the same essence of the experience with a fraction of the crowds.
Instead of Santorini — Try Milos
Milos is often called the most beautiful island in Greece — and unlike Santorini, it has not yet been overwhelmed by tourism. The island offers extraordinary volcanic landscapes, sea caves, dramatic rock formations at Sarakiniko beach, and some of the clearest water in the Aegean. Accommodation is a fraction of the Santorini price, the food is better and cheaper, and you are far more likely to feel like a traveller than a tourist. Ferries connect Milos to Athens (Piraeus) in around 3.5 hours.
Instead of Barcelona — Try Valencia
Valencia offers everything Barcelona does — Gothic architecture, world-class food, beach, culture, nightlife — without the crowd density or the relentless tourist infrastructure that has made parts of Barcelona feel exhausted. The food is better (Valencia invented paella, and the city takes that seriously), the beaches are less crowded, the old town is genuinely beautiful, and accommodation and restaurants are significantly cheaper. Valencia is also the home of Las Fallas festival in March, one of the most spectacular events in Europe.
Instead of Bali — Try Lombok
Lombok sits just east of Bali and offers a quieter, less developed alternative with comparable natural beauty. Mount Rinjani is one of the best volcano treks in Southeast Asia. The Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, Gili Meno) offer excellent snorkelling and diving with far fewer tourists than Bali's beaches. The south coast around Kuta Lombok has some of the best surf beaches in Indonesia. Infrastructure is developing but remains well behind Bali — which is the point. Accommodation and food are cheaper, and the island feels genuinely untouched in a way Bali no longer does.
Instead of Dubrovnik — Try Kotor
Montenegro's Kotor Bay offers a setting that rivals Dubrovnik — medieval walled city, Adriatic backdrop, dramatic mountains — at a fraction of the price and with significantly fewer visitors. The Old Town is UNESCO-listed and extraordinarily well-preserved. The hike up to the fortress above the city is one of the best urban walks in the Balkans. Montenegro as a whole remains one of the most undervisited countries in Europe, and Kotor is the perfect base for exploring the country's national parks, coastal towns, and wine country.
Instead of Amsterdam — Try Ghent
Amsterdam's canals, museums, and cycling culture are well known — but so are its crowds and rising costs. Ghent in Belgium offers a strikingly similar experience: medieval canal city, world-class art museums (the van Eyck altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral is one of the most important paintings in European history), excellent beer and food culture, and a vibrant university-city energy. Accommodation is cheaper, the streets are calmer, and the food and drink scene is arguably better. Bruges gets the tourist attention in Belgium; Ghent is where the locals go.
Instead of Paris — Try Lyon
Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France — more authentic, more affordable, and almost as beautiful as Paris, with virtually none of the tourist infrastructure that makes parts of Paris feel stage-managed. The old town (Vieux Lyon) is one of the best-preserved Renaissance neighbourhoods in Europe. The food is extraordinary and accessible — the bouchon (traditional Lyonnaise bistro) is a distinctly local institution that has no real equivalent elsewhere. Lyon is also perfectly positioned for day trips to Beaujolais wine country and the French Alps.
How to Find Your Own Alternatives
The pattern for finding alternatives is consistent: identify what you actually love about a popular destination, then look for other places that deliver the same thing with fewer visitors. Love Santorini's volcanic drama? Try the Azores. Love Bali's spiritual culture? Try Sri Lanka. Love Paris's art scene? Try Vienna or Prague. FigFinder AI can build a complete itinerary for any of these alternative destinations in seconds — answer a few smart prompts and get a full day-by-day plan with accommodation picks and booking links.
