Bright stars are in the shadows
Despite our large dairy industry, Kiwis have never been ones to follow the herd without question, so it came as little surprise to learn that the vast majority of us would avoid holidaying somewhere we know is overcrowded.
Stuff’s recent travel survey found that
85 per cent of New Zealanders would reconsider visiting a destination if it was suffering the effects of ‘‘overtourism’’, and that makes sense.
Heading to a southern Thai beach that’s been inundated with tourists since a certain film starring a certain Oscar-winning actor came out so it’s more like a sandy Piccadilly Circus than the secret tropical haven depicted on screen, is inevitably going to lead to disappointment.
As is fighting your way through a scrum of camera-toting fellow tourists to set eyes on a famous monument only to be shoved out of the way by those hellbent on doing the same.
The trouble is, when we’re shelling out a decent chunk of our hard-earned cash on a well-earned holiday, we want to be sure we’re going somewhere good.
Too often we fall into the trap of thinking that only places that receive zillions of tourists fall into that category.
I’ve been guilty of this myself many times. There was no way I was going to get to the end of my three days in Paris without seeing the Mona Lisa and trying one of the famously thick, rich, mascarpone- and whipped cream-topped hot chocolate at Angelina. When the former wound up involving queuing for hours on the Louvre’s frigid forecourt, only to discover I’d never get close enough to Da Vinci’s tiny masterpiece to see it clearly without risking getting stamped underfoot, and the latter meant I couldn’t afford to buy dinner, I realised my approach to travel had to change. Spending the next day in the outer suburb I was staying in, I had a castle almost to myself and had a three-course meal for a couple of euro more than the previous day’s hot chocolate.
Brian Johnston shares his tips on secret parts of some of the world’s most visited spots on pages 4-6.