Look closely at the photo: all that you see there, tourists
Not so many years ago, getting to know a destination meant doing it through an agency, using a **physical map** or taking a photography with our film camera . However, all these aspects have been transformed over time by the new technologies .
And while the Internet is now a window to distant countries and GPS our best ally, taking a picture and posting it on a social network like Instagram not only involves making a place known to the world, but also make it go viral with all its consequences.
Although it cannot be blamed for all the problems of current tourism, Instagram does represent one more portion of that great "Gruyere cheese" called tourist overcrowding (in the case of the famous social network, we could call it micro-overtourism , as journalist Amy Poulson recently baptized it). A fever that is a magnet for anyone who seeks to leave their mark in certain places by promoting a trend that can ruin any travel experience.
There are already 'Instagram tours' in Bali
Fortunately, all is not lost and the possibility of decongest the blue stairs of the blue town of Chefchaouen waves terraces of santorini Searching for the unknown is still possible in these following scenarios for influencers:
** SANTORINI (GREECE) **
In 2017, the mayor of Santorini (** Nikos Zorzos) ** shouted to the heavens before a Greek island that he couldn't take it anymore. With more than 2 million tourists spread over 76 square meters and all the water reserves exhausted, the most famous of the cyclades It is the perfect example of tourist overcrowding in the form of selfie-proof sunsets that have ended up drowning out part of its charm. However, have we ever stopped to think that there are other 200 islands in the archipelago of Zeus?
overcrowded Santorini
Though Santorini and Mykonos they are the two most famous islands of Greece, the Aegean Sea also reserves other surprises not far from the previous ones. Take up the classical culture classes in the Sacred Lake of Delos , where they say Apollo was born; feel like a celebrity in the anafi beaches , which emerged from the depths to spawn the Argonauts; or visit Ios, made up of 365 churches scattered between epic cliffs who guard the tomb of Homer.
Delos, Greece
**BALI (INDONESIA) **
In recent years, to mention balinese Already is not synonymous with wild paradise . The most famous island in Indonesia suffers from hordes of influencers that saturate temples such as the Gate of Heaven, in the Lempuyang temple , or the **rice fields of Ubud**.
The result is a posture culture which has even caused birth of instagram tours (with guides that instruct your clients about the best postures to appear in the photos) and swings in which to emulate the jump to some jungles that that still hide some unknown gems.
overcrowded bali
the known Island of the Thousand Gods concentrates much of the tourism in Kuta , to the south, and the area of ubud , in the center, although its northern area still contains inhospitable places for lovers of the unknown.
Pemuteran , to the west, with its fishermen's houses and diving areas, is the ideal oasis to connect with the nomadic peoples of Tenganan Pegringsingan , to the east, or the search for manta rays and secret waves in the ** Nusa Islands , also east of Bali.**
Nusa Penida, Bali
** VENICE ITALY) **
The city of canals is the most obvious example of the problems facing tourism in the 21st century: tourist overcrowding (writer Donna Leon knows this well) and a climate change that slowly submerges her heritage. So much so that the Venice government itself** will charge visitors a fee from July 1 this year**. A circus of selfies between gondoliers and fairytale bridges that cries out for immediate decongestion.
Beyond Venice, the people of burano , with their colorful houses and shops where glass is worked is the greatest reference.
However, let us not forget that Venice lies in an archipelago of 118 islands that offer different possibilities . And one of them is, without a doubt, the Sant'Andrea Island . Famous for housing the remains of an ancient fortress built in the 17th century, this historical jewel is the best threshold to secret beaches What cotoncello , or a cable Sant'Andrea that each spring hatches into hundreds of flowers.
Island of Sant'Andrea
** KYOTO (JAPAN) **
Along with the panoramic Fuji and Shibuya Cross , in Tokyo, the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine It is the most photographed place in Japan.
Famous after his appearance in the movie Memories of a Geisha , this construction in honor of Inari, patron saint of business, made up of up to 32,000 small torii represents the pinnacle of a city already infested with tourists who visit its hanamachis in search of geisha clueless or disturbed he exotic silence of the Arashiyama bamboo forest . Luckily, we are not going to be the ones who tell you where to find the secret Kyoto, but the city itself.
Pioneers in what demassification refers , the Kyoto authorities launched in 2019 the initiative Kyoto Tourism Navy , an application that predict crowds of different places in the city suggesting to the visitor alternative routes.
A genius that broadens horizons in tourist routes, bringing the traveler closer to places as magical as the rokkakudō temple , mecca of ikebana (or flower arrangements in the form of cherry trees that hatch in their entrails), Seikanji's , small and desert to which the crowds of the nearby do not reach Kiyomizu-dera ; or the distant sound of taiko drums shaking Kameoka , a town 25 kilometers from Kyoto.
Kiyomizu-dera
** PARIS FRANCE) **
According to a recent survey conducted by InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the 53% of Instagram photos with the hashtag #Paris include a snapshot of the Eiffel Tower . Iconic like few others, the most romantic monument in the world is just one of the many places in the Parisian capital that, along with Notre Dame or the Louvre Museum they suffer from constant overcrowding while other romantic squares and streets await out there.
Go to the mouffetard street, the oldest in Paris, and discover its organic markets and secret spots brimming with happy hour ale, or watch the bateaux mouche along the Seine from the Galán Verde garden, at the end of Île de la Cité . But if you are looking for absolute silence, explore Pere Lachaise , possibly the most beautiful cemetery in the world; or visit the Museum of Sex on the Boulevard de Clichy , that urban artery that represents the fine Parisian line between romance and perversion. Oh La La!
Rue Mouffetard, the oldest in Paris
** MACHU PICCHU, PERU) **
Yes, we know that traveling to Peru without visiting Machu Picchu is like a day in Valencia without trying paella or a New York without strolling through Central Park. Even so, the most important architectural complex in South America hides other most curious places beyond its ruins while promoting new measures for your visitors .
40 kilometers from the great Peruvian pride lies Choquequirao , a cousin brother site of Machu Picchu barely reached by the overcrowding. Otherwise, 3 hours by car you can discover the colca canyon , the deepest in the world or, if you prefer to stay in the surroundings, explore the Manuel Chavez Ballon Museum , totally hidden and the main ally to understand the history of a Machu Picchu that is not so interesting to those who only stick to selfies.
Choquequirao
**CHEFCHAOUEN (MOROCCO) **
if you write “Instagram” and “Morocco” in Google, the first place that will appear will be the town of Chefchaouen . Located in the bowels of the Rif, in the north of the country, this paradise painted blue is one of the top places on Instagram, with the hashtag #chefchaouen accumulating more than 631,000 mentions as of the date of this article . A whitewashed blue paradise where the Arab tradition coexists with instagrammable places (like a certain famous staircase), whose queues can ruin any travel illusion.
Sometimes, to avoid crowded places you have to get away. But others, just stay and set an example. Chefchaouen , in this case, it is a wonderful town, full of alleys full of customs, dates and citrus markets , or secluded bars where, secretly, they will offer you a harmless beer.
New ways of de-massifying through the contemplative search without making a photograph our main motivation in more local places like Plaza El Hauta and its nearby markets.
Because Marcel Proust already said: "The only true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in looking with new eyes."
Chefchaouen