TIMED TICKETS AND GOOGLE’S POPULAR TIMES

The problemisn’t just too many people. It’s too many people in the same place at the same time.

“Overtourism is a massive problem but it’s pretty misunderstood,” Reck said. “It doesn’t just mean too many people going to a certain place. It means there are too many people there at very discreet time points. It’s like the Uber surge.”

But if you tell an attraction in advance when you’re coming, they’ll let you skip the line. That’s the whole point of timed ticketing, which distributes crowds evenly throughout the day. If you buy tickets ahead, your visit will be less stressful and you’ll reduce your tourist footprint.

Reck notes that you can also get a sense of when restaurants, attractions and other sites are least busyusing a feature on Google.com and Google Maps called “popular times.” The popular times feature generates a little bar graph showing busiest and least busy times as part of the information provided in response to a search.

Google’s popular times data for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, for example, showsmidday weekdays are “a little busy,” but weekends 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. are “as busy as it gets.” The Van Gogh Museum, like a number of attractions, also offers advice on its website about the most and least crowded times to visit.

THE OFFSEASON

The surest way to avoid crowds and save money is to plan your trips for the offseason.

If you don’t mind sightseeing in chilly weather, head to Europe or New York in January, when prices are low andmuseums are emptier. Go to the beach in September when the water’s still warm but the crowds are gone. Avoid popular destinations during holidays and summer vacations when you’ll be competing with kids out of school and everyone else for expensive