Europe is so over - or not

Why did you want to visit the Louvre?

Because everybody does?
Etc.
Erc.
Etc.
... the whole range of must-see philosophy, or:

Because you're a real art lover??? Want to see some special gems??

Why going to Stonehenge?
(and not to Avebury?)

Why is the Abdijbier (Westvleteren, Belgium) very expensive? And people are queing for it?!
(it has some fame because ...?.. Nobody knows, it's pretty bad beer. )

Read Somerset Maugham about why some books/authors are popular and others are not.

And so on.
Many people doný choose deliberately but are looking for famous/status/many visitors. Or as esp Americans do: it should be big.

Do you realize, by the fact that you go there, it also makes it even more crowded for other people?

Yes, this is a shock - compared to the sixties - but not if you have not been to Mars in the mean time... and saw changing the world.

I agree in many ways Europe is over. I first traveled Europe in 1967 by car in middle range comfort on $10 a day including petrol. In 1968 $1,000 left me with $50 left after three full months that took me from Gibraltar to northern Norway and from London to the Peloponessus via the length of Italy.
Since 1967 I have made 32 return trips to Europe, themost recent in October and November 2012. On the 2012 adventure my wife and I agreed that after a journey this year we will not be returning to Europe.The cost of a barely comfortable (not luxury) journey is far more than its worth. Italy, Spain & Portugal were almost affordable only because we had home exchange stays for most of our time in those countries elsewhere in Europe other than the Czech Republic and Hungary had prices 3to 4 times North American levels for inferior quality everything..

Our son (who has made more than dozen trips Europe including three on his own) & daughter-in-law in in December 2011 collected a new Volvo sports sedan in Sweden and then drove from Gothenburg Sweden to friends in Alkmaar, Netherlands ultimately turning around in Bruges, Belgium and then back to Gothenburg said gasoline (petrol) cost them nearly $1,000 US. In October 2012 our son & his wife flew to to Paris for 10 days before traveling to Barcelona to board a 14 day trans-Atlantic cruise Their conclusion and ours too is that Europe's heavily islamized crime ridden cities are not worth the $100 -$200 a night cramped tired hotels, the 10-20 Euro attraction admissions, outrageous road tolls, the restarants 20-30 Euro go away hungry meal prices, universally slow surly service, the lousy weather, the crowds, and outrageous transport costs

This Novemberour kids will celebrate their anniversary by going to Hawaii for three days and then board a trans-Pacific cruise to Australia for 2 weeks where their hotel and car rental costs will be half those of off off season Europe.
For other than the first or second time visitor Europe in my view on other than a home exchange basis is no longer worth the cost, the low quality tired accommodations, the outrageously expensive famine restaurant portions, and the cost of getting around, and no trains in Europe long ago ceased being inexpensive.

Hi,

It is not just Europe that suffers like this, your own nation is a costly place to visit as are so many others. I never travel the states due to cost. I had last year to go to New England for a funeral. My stay was outrageously expensive and then I had a barman tell me that my tip was not big enough in a very rude manner.

The principal currencies of oh so many years ago are now not so strong and are partly to blame for the difficulty in affordability. But anyone with half a brain would understand that business people want more and more profit, capitalism rules and prices rise. I do not know of a "developed" nation that is cheap to travel. To be honest I do not want cheap travel if the cost is to impoverish locals. I do however wish to pay reasonable prices for reasonable return. Tell me you get that anywhere in a rich nation.

As for Europe being dangerous due to being heavily islamised I find the comment breathtaking. No murders in the States then? No one bombs marathons, enters schools with weapons or decides to snipe innocent folks going about their daily business? The world is becoming more dangerous and costly and it is not just Europe.

I had a barman tell me that my tip was not big enough in a very rude manner.

What you do when that happens is - you smile very sweetly, say "Oh, I'm sorry, please give it right back and we'll do something about it." Then you pocket it, and walk out.

The problem as I can see, and not only in this thread, is that many people living outside Europe have a skewed and restricted picture of Europe. In topics on WE branch at least 90% of visitors ask the same typical questions about the same typical places like London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice, etc. Only in recent 10 years they've added Prague and Krakow plus a few others.
With a few rare exceptions, even in this thread, countries that are discussed are France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands. Someone has mentioned here Modlova and Albania. That is still today cosidered very adventureous by most Americans or Canadians.
Europe is about 50 countries. Those 90% of typical travellers think and talk about 6 or 10 of them. I've travelled for 35-40 years and still haven't managed to see them all, and I know there's so much left to discover.

Has anyone here considered visitng Caucasus, the other end of Europe?
Two weeks ago I returned from a trip to Georgia.One of the oldest civilisations in Europe, a country that became Christian in 4th century (2nd in Europe). There're historical monuments from 6th, 8th 12th century. There're places that are mentioned in Greek mythology (Kolkhida/Colchis - the destination of Argonauts and place of Amazons). The legend of Saint George has spread from Georgia to most of Europe, including England where St George became saint patron of the country.
Georgia was probably the first country to produce wine, 3-4000 years ago. Food is very good, culinary traditions are very old and rich (read about supra). Georgians are extremely friendly and hospitable people. The landscape is beautiful and varied, the highest mountrains of Europe with green valleys and rivers, and the vast coast of Black Sea.
The country is still very cheap, very safe and easy to travel. Europe, at least in that part, is not over yet and far from it. Actually, there're hardly any westerners there, which for a visitor like me is quite nice. I too, like OP, don't like to travel with big crowds.

Hi,

Hmm go-2, I could never do that I obviously was not brought up correctly. I did say something, but not as you advise. Suffice it to say he could not get away from me quick enough and kept clear every time I ventured there after that. Apparently I should have "voluntarily" tendered 20% of the bill on top.

Only an American would bitch about the portion of food in Europe. I've never found this an issue but that said I am not use to shovelling mountains of food in my gob. Eating less is healthy.

This is a pretty nordamericano-centric POV. As an American living in France for quite a few years, I could switch out the word "Europe" for most any place in the world, and could tell a similar story. Times have changed and this is Older Travellers, not Older Fogies. OP travelled here in May/June, which should have been much better than July-August (how glorious your rant would have been if you had done Paris then!), but we had the worst spring since the 11th century. And it sounds like Paris was where it got crowded not northern Spain. Go figure.

And then I think about a bumper sticker I saw on a car in Oregon (US state, pacific northwest -- quite picturesque) back in the 70's: "Welcome to Oregon. Now please leave!" If the internet existed back then, would we have seen 'USA is so over - or not'?

Try Budapest, preferably in spring. Not discovered by the hordes yet (although it soon will be, when word gets out). It's a very beautiful city and I imagine the rest of the country must be even touristy and, possibly, beautiful.

That last should have read 'even less touristy'.