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As Europe braces for one more inflow of vacationers this summer season, the guides behind Intrepid’s new Unusual Day Journeys in Barcelona, Venice and Paris clarify why, fairly than turning away from the hotspots, we should always rethink how we discover them as an alternative.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in lengthy, slow-moving queues. Slim streets choked with headset-wearing cruise passengers. A sea of craning necks all vying for a greater view.
It’s a well-recognized scene: arriving someplace solely to search out it heaving with vacationers. You realise the photographs you’ve seen on social media have been taken at simply the proper angle to gloss over the handfuls of individuals ready for a similar shot, and also you’ve run out of fingers to depend the mass-produced memento retailers. The expectations you landed with deflate sooner than you possibly can say ‘want you have been right here’.
This isn’t an awesome expertise for travellers, however for locals it’s even worse. Residents can not discover or afford housing, day by day life is being disrupted and folks working within the tourism business usually aren’t paid a residing wage.
Regardless of doing every little thing to be a ‘good traveller’ – like not strolling in bike lanes or stopping abruptly on the street to test a map – it’s exhausting to shake off the guilt of visiting an oversaturated place. Chances are you’ll query whether or not you need to even be right here in any respect. Fewer vacationers, much less congestion, downside solved… proper? Not fairly.
Though overtourism comes with a slew of issues, we are able to’t overlook the constructive impacts of journey when it’s finished responsibly. Many communities depend on guests, and boycotting can have devastating penalties for individuals’s livelihoods.
In keeping with the workforce behind Intrepid’s Unusual Day Journeys – a brand new vary of adventures that work with locals to supply a unique perspective of widespread cities – a part of the answer lies in how we journey.
The realities of overtourism
With 80% of travellers visiting simply 10% of the world’s locations, maybe as a result of rise of social media ‘must-see’ developments and low-cost flights, it’s no shock that overtourism has grow to be a behemoth.
Whereas the problem has been gathering tempo for a decade, it captured world media consideration in 2024 and once more in 2025, when 1000’s of residents throughout southern Europe – together with Barcelona and Venice – took to the streets to protest in opposition to ‘touristification’. With blockades, water sprayed at guests and indicators saying issues like, ‘your Airbnb was my dwelling’, the scenario had reached breaking level.
Juan Sanchez, operations supervisor for Intrepid Day Journeys, has lived in Barcelona for seven years. Born in Buenos Aires, he visited heaps as a toddler as his grandparents have been Spanish. ‘A lot of the frustration that sparked the protests was concerning the ongoing price of residing and housing disaster. Some residents really feel like they’re dropping their rights in favour of tourism,’ he says.
However the difficulty is sophisticated. ‘Individuals blame tourism, that’s why they wish to eliminate vacationer lets (leases), however many individuals from different EU international locations work right here remotely on larger salaries and that’s additionally driving costs up.’
Venice faces related issues. Intrepid Day Journeys information Camilla Feiffer is a born-and-raised Venetian. Her metropolis has modified quite a bit over time, largely because of short-term leases and skyrocketing rents pushing individuals out. The inhabitants of the historic centre has dropped beneath 50,000 – the bottom in 300 years – but it sees round 30 million vacationers yearly.
‘Many individuals left when Airbnb took off,’ she says. ‘It occurred so quick, and the legislation couldn’t sustain. It destroyed town’s authenticity somewhat bit.’ Staying in domestically owned resorts is a technique travellers can relieve the stress, however Camilla is aware of the attraction of short-term lets all too nicely. ‘I’ve a household now, so I perceive it’s cheaper and extra sensible for a lot of causes. It’s troublesome.’
Metropolis authorities are making strikes to deal with overtourism. Along with banning massive cruise ships, loudspeakers and tour teams over 25 individuals, Venice expenses a day-tripper charge (EUR 5) throughout its peak season, which has been prolonged for 2026. Barcelona has doubled its vacationer tax, now one of many highest in Europe (as much as EUR 15 an evening), to fund inexpensive housing and deter guests – although Juan isn’t satisfied of the latter. ‘Most individuals can pay it anyway. In my expertise, nothing stops individuals from travelling.’
It’s a phenomenon often known as ‘Disneyfication’ – a sort of gentrification the place neighbourhoods are redeveloped to maximise tourism earnings.
Nevertheless, residents are nonetheless selecting to maneuver as a result of their cities don’t really feel like theirs anymore. ‘Some individuals suppose components of Barcelona are extra like theme parks now,’ Juan says. ‘A number of the new companies which have sprung as much as cater to vacationers are attention-grabbing, however the metropolis dangers dropping its persona. Huge teams block streets and make day by day life troublesome, and sure behaviours round nightclubs is inflicting pressure.’
It’s a phenomenon often known as ‘Disneyfication’ – a sort of gentrification the place neighbourhoods are redeveloped to maximise tourism earnings. Cheese retailers, butchers and bookstores – locations the place locals shopped for generations – are being misplaced to vacationer tuk-tuks and trinket stands. The consequence? The place is stripped of the very issues that drew you to it within the first place.
Paris hasn’t seen anti-tourism protests of the identical scale, however with round 30 million guests yearly and counting – primarily concentrated in central neighbourhoods – it’s feeling the pressure.
Intrepid Day Journeys information Cecilia Garcia Riglos moved to Paris from Buenos Aires in 2020 to pursue her profession as a visible artist after finding out at Ecole du Louvre. ‘There’s big frustration in Montmartre,’ she says, referring to the hilltop district well-known for its bohemian heritage. ‘There are corporations who deliver 60 vacationers directly, and the medieval streets aren’t made for big teams. Some individuals don’t present respect both. They take photos of locals with out asking and go away trash in all places.’
Residents hold banners with slogans equivalent to ‘Let Montmartre residents dwell’, and Cecilia tells me her teams usually ask what they imply. ‘Travellers are somewhat bit fearful of Parisians generally,’ she laughs. ‘However residents are simply attempting to guard the realm. French individuals love preserving their traditions. They’ve been preventing for his or her rights for hundreds of years.’
Learn extra: Tips on how to transcend Venice’s most well-known sights
We have to strike a greater stability
Isn’t the easiest way to curb the crowds, noise and air pollution simply to cease individuals visiting? It’s a good name – and generally essential to regenerate websites broken by heavy tourism, like when Thailand briefly closed Maya Bay in 2018. However after I pose the query to Juan, Camilla and Cecilia, all of them agree that it’s not essentially the proper strategy.
‘Paris lives off tourism,’ Cecilia says. ‘Throughout the pandemic, and the Olympics in 2024 [when strict security made the city hard to get around], many companies complained about how the shortage of tourism affected them.’
Camilla echoes this sentiment. ‘We noticed it throughout Covid. We’re not saying we don’t need vacationers, however it could be higher to unfold them all year long and past the well-known locations. Staying for one or two nights additionally helps you could have a extra significant expertise, as most individuals simply come for the day, stroll round and don’t actually assist town.’
Juan emphasises that tourism isn’t inherently dangerous. ‘Locals usually welcome guests with open arms. Barcelona has developed because of tourism, and persons are very conscious of its financial impression and the significance of cultural trade. The difficulty doesn’t come up merely due to customer numbers, however fairly the bulk visiting just some locations and the shortage of accountability from some corporations to deal with the issue.’
The mass tourism mannequin was designed to profit travellers first, not the hosts. However tourism solely succeeds when worth is shared.
Tourism is among the largest and fastest-growing industries on the planet. In 2025, it contributed USD 11.6 trillion to the worldwide GDP and supported 366 million jobs. However what occurs when most of that money fills the pockets of worldwide companies that don’t give something again to native individuals? As James Thornton, Intrepid’s CEO, places it, ‘The mass tourism mannequin was designed to profit travellers first, not the hosts. However tourism solely succeeds when worth is shared.’ Travelling the proper method – or with the proper firm – could be one of the vital highly effective methods to uplift communities.
So sure, it’s true there are many underrated locations that would profit immensely from community-led journey, which, in flip, would assist loosen the valve within the hotspots (Intrepid actively encourages travellers to contemplate these locations with its annual Not Scorching Listing). Nevertheless, there are nonetheless methods to go to widespread locations whereas lowering the detrimental impacts.
Day journeys that take you away from the crowds
Intrepid’s Unusual Day Journeys aren’t your typical metropolis excursions.
‘We labored with many individuals, from residents to college professors, to know the problems,’ Juan says. ‘These excursions genuinely assist redistribute tourism extra sustainably.’
Designed and led by native guides, every tour begins at an iconic a part of town, earlier than taking you to locations that highlight actual, native life. With a most group dimension of 12, you’ll take public transport and go to strange markets, streets and group hubs the place residents hang around on daily basis.
Unusual Venice
Camilla shares that vacationers usually neglect Venice is a residing, respiratory metropolis. Whereas most guests stick with the San Marco space, Unusual Venice goes behind the scenes to point out you ways all points of life occur right here. You’ll go to the Rialto Fish Market – the ‘coronary heart of town’ – the place you’ll uncover how locals store and what floating rubbish assortment appears like. You’ll additionally cross the Fifteenth-century St. John & Paul Hospital the place Camilla was born. ‘Persons are stunned to study that the hospital, which is a really lovely constructing, remains to be functioning. I additionally present them the boat ambulances and even a burial island behind the hospital.’
However Camilla’s spotlight is ingesting prosecco on the rooftop of a Gothic pallazzo. ‘It’s actually exhausting to entry rooftops in Venice, as most of them are non-public. Seeing town from a ship is superb, however we actually see every little thing up there.’
Unusual Barcelona
Unusual Barcelona goes actually off the crushed monitor. ‘We wish to present you the true Barcelona,’ Juan says. ‘You received’t see big landmarks – it’s the narrative of the tour that’s attention-grabbing.’ Highlights embrace a go to to Mescladis – a social enterprise that helps and trains migrants to search out work within the hospitality business.
Martin Habiague, director and founding father of Mescladis, thinks that, finished with integrity, this tour is strictly the form of various tourism mannequin we’d like. ‘When somebody shares a meal ready by an individual who got here to this metropolis carrying a lifetime of tradition, values and resilience – and who’s a key a part of the current and way forward for Barcelona – and understands the story behind that, one thing actual occurs. That’s tourism as connection, not displacement,’ he says.
You’ll additionally discover the El Clot neighbourhood – the place Juan lives – to style native merchandise within the ‘noisy and actual’ Mercat del Clot and learn the way Barcelona is planning for the longer term in Parc de les Glories – a brand new ‘inexperienced lung’ and public house designed to enhance city residing. ‘Once I requested my neighbours how they’d really feel in the event that they noticed a small group of vacationers strolling round, they have been stunned in a great way,’ he says. ‘They have been very open to the thought and mentioned it could be cool to point out how we dwell.’
Learn extra: Tips on how to uncover the true Spain, with out the crowds
Unusual Paris
On the Unusual Paris tour, you’ll wander the quintessentially Parisian quarter of Passy, which feels worlds aside from the Trocadero Esplanade – the traditional Eiffel Tower viewpoint – regardless of being only a kilometre (0.6 miles) away. ‘Getting misplaced in Paris is my favorite sport,’ Cecilia says. ‘I really like how the atmosphere can change utterly from one block to a different.’
You’ll cease by Passy Cemetery (the place modernist painter Edouard Manet is buried) for an uncrowded view of the Eiffel Tower, earlier than assembly distributors on the market – however solely after espresso and a brioche croissant at a particular creperie… the French know to by no means store hungry. ‘The expertise could be very intimate,’ explains Cecilia. ‘Locals are very completely happy to welcome guests because it’s much less frequent in that space.’
You’ll then proceed by gardens largely unknown to vacationers and wind by the passages of Rue Berton to get a really feel for what the villages surrounding Paris have been like earlier than being annexed into town in 1860.
Hope in rising consciousness
‘[These cities] have gone by many adjustments all through historical past, and that is merely one other part.’ Juan proposes. ‘What’s encouraging is that many people, organisations and accountable corporations are actively working to handle overtourism and create higher stability.’
Juan, Camilla and Cecilia stress that the overarching sentiment from locals they’ve spoken to is that they don’t wish to shut the door to guests, however they do need issues to alter. Extractive tourism that prioritises revenue, pushes communities out and solely generates worth for guests must cease.
These new Unusual Day Journeys won’t remedy your complete overtourism downside, however by working with locals, not in opposition to them, they might be a part of the answer.
Try Intrepid’s new Unusual Day Journeys in Barcelona, Venice and Paris and see these widespread cities with out the crowds.
