I first landed in Central Europe in 1964. I was in the USAF at Hq. Europe in Wiesbaden, Germany. I had an old VW that I drove to every country in Europe except Portugal and Finland (some trips were by train, and necessarily by air to Berlin). I would venture a long weekend trip to Paris if I had $45 in cash. That included petrol, hotel, food and not a lot of any of them. Hotels were $3 for a 3 star and $5 for a 4 star (altho somewhat higher in Paris & lower in small towns). It really was only 20 years after the end of the war. We could stand then in front of the Mona Lisa or any great painting in any great museum for minutes without being bothered by a person nearby. How things have changed.
In the years between, I travelled on business constantly throughout the U.S. and Canada and later Latin America. Then I spent almost 20 years in nearly every country and region of Asia. But my obsessions are opera, great art and cycling and I longed to return to Europe.
Last week I returned from cold, chilly and so-crowded Paris after a trip to Aquitane, Provence, Girona, Barcelona, Basque country (esp. Bilbao) , Biarritz and Paris. How crowded was it? It was so crowded that the fellow who shot himself in the head at the altar of Notre Dame had to stand in a long and slow line to kill himself. Had he not declared his fatal displeasure pre-gunshot, it might have been thought he could not stand another line-up.
The Louvre info. desk told me they average 26,000 humans a day there and 10 million per year. I loved places like the town of Sarlat and getting back to the large impressionist paintings at the d'Orsay. But Sarlat was virtual pedestrian gridlock & the Orsay was literal human gridlock. I even counted 30 women in line for the washroom.
I find it impossible to feel the history or art in such conditions. I am so lucky I was able to travel when I was young.
My age will decide much for my future plans but I cannot think of anywhere in Europe to visit where crowds would not be such a problem. I hate to even mention it publicly, but Bilbao was a really wonderful place with few tourists.
I suppose one is never really satisfied. A few years ago I was on a small isle off the coast of Banda Aceh. The so-called "bungalows" were just shacks with a grungy mattress, holey mosq. net., small fan and short ladder to reach all this bliss for only $7 (which was rather high). I was quite shocked when they showed me my bungalow and said "...but there is no bathroom." "Oh yes there is. You just go down this (steep) mountainside path in the dark at night about 150 metres and go left 30 metres and there it is." During the night I was awakened often by a colony of about 12 monkeys jumping on the roof. In the early a.m. I looked out to see a large monitor lizard and a wild pig both exit from under my lodging. But upon walking down to the sea, I found myself in a kind of Eden. Admittedly, it was not crowded although the non-humans neighbours could be noisy at times.
i have to agree with you. The last time i travelled in Europe was in 1968 and it was still uncluttered, easy to get around, and not too crowded. I had a brief stay in Greece in 1977, and the pollution was so bad, even then, i could hardly wait to get out! Now the high cost of everything keeps me from even considering a trip there... well maybe to Spain. Perhaps you should consider travelling in some of the lesser known eastern Europe countries, that were not accessible when you first travelled.
JK you say in 1964.you could stand in front of the Mona Lisa or any great painting in any great museum for minutes without being bothered by a person nearby.
The difference isn't recent; when I was there in 1984 all that had changed.
I remember Athens and Istanbul in 1969 - 71. When I returned in 1999 I found quite different cities. Time doesn't stand still. I return to Istanbul often - and the rest of Turkey - but enjoy it differently these days.
Perhaps some of your disenchantment with Paris was because it was cold, chilly and so-crowded - plus, you expected to find it the same as before?
I've just come back from a very sunny trip to Spain (Andalucia) and loved every moment in spite of the crowds.
Yes...agree with #1...go to Albania or Moldova and see how many tourists there are.
For that matter,go to at least 50% of the towns,cities and rural areas of any European country,and you won't see a foreign tourist at all...especially out of season.
Of course if you choose the most touristy things in the most touristy countries,you are going to meet....other tourists.
How many people travelled in 1964, not to many, that was the time europeans started to go on vaccation in Europe, over seas was way to expensive, I imagin that's true for the US too, back then you even had to learn a little of the laguage cause nobody would speak english or any other common language you could use.
My parents and I were often looked at like exotic animals, people never had seen blond hair or any foreigners for that matter when we came around the corner in our old VW beetle.
Now you have cheap flights across the pond, people in other places (China, India) are making more money and travel too, since Europe is high on agendas for a lot of people it's now wonder it's getting crowded, if you send the people going to the Louvre in a year to Mongolia or Namibia you would hardly notice that there are so many tourists, but Europe is pretty crowded by people living here alreay, throw in the tourists and it's getting over crowded in some places, but like luca wrote if you get of the beaten path you have a lot of places that hardly see any tourist at all.
Its all in the timing and choice of where to go, I find that the majority tend to go to the well travelled, possibly the best, places but almost totally ignore the rest of the country. Examples are Vilnius which is fantastic but overcrowded by tour groups and Kaunas which is not as pretty but just as interesting and Edinburgh, beautiful but cold, busy and pricey and Glasgow warmer ( I mean the people) not so obviously pretty but a great place to visit. I declare a prejudice since I am Glaswegian but I am making the point that if you go to the second or third favourite city it can be just as good. Sadly JK you seem to have just discovered the old idiom that the past is a foreign country.
A friend from Solomon Islands is living and working in Germany. He finds the crowds totally spoil the experience of visiting something like a great Cathedral in Europe. Coming from a country with only half a million people, it would be overwhelming.
World population has more than doubled since 1964 (not that much in Europe though, but still), and tourism has grown to become massive.
Europe is still my favourite continent for travel and living. It has much more to offer than any other continent. I like South America and parts of Asia too.
Last week I spent in Aix en Provance, quite a lively middle sized city. I also went to a couple of small towns in the area, Ventabren, a very picturesque town lying on a hill, with small winding streets. I also visited Vauvenargues, where Pablo Picasso spent his last years and where he's burried. Both places very quiet, surrounded by beautiful nature, and not a single tourist in sight.
The weather was nice too, 24 C, sunshine.
On Wednesday I'm flying to Georgia - that's Europe too. Good food and wine, amazing old history and culture, and I don't expect any crowds.
Europe is not over - it's just different, like the rest of the world.
It was possible to drive across Iran to Afghanistan to Pakistan and India in 1964. It was possible to live in a hut on a beach in Goa and wake to the sound of nothing but waves. It was possible to buy a ticket to Australia for £10.
In 1964, the main way to stay connected was letters (yes, real letters, on flimsy blue paper). Phone calls had to be booked in advance...
The world changes - thankfully. And Europe still has its treasures.
trusted partner
