whatever happened to overtourism?

crowds at Rome's Trevi Fountain (c) 2020 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Overtourism was travel's biggest problem in 2019. I took the photograph above when I visited Rome in 2019 while on a walking tour of the city. The first time I came to the Piazza di Trevi in 1978, there might have been a half dozen tourists viewing the fountain. When I returned in 2019, the crowds were so thick that tossing three coins in the fountain would have been nearly impossible.

Scenes like this were rampant throughout the world as recently as last year. Do you remember the crowds at...

Venice's Piazza San Marco — passengers from massive cruise ships occupying every square inch of the square, queued in endless lines just to enter the Basilica and the Doge's Palace.

London's Crown Jewels in the Tower of London — after standing in line for a chance to see these royal treasures, being rewarded with just a very few seconds in front of the jewels as the moving conveyer took you relentlessly by.

Paris's Mona Lisa, star attraction of the Louvre — after enduring snaking admission and security lines and following signs to the "Jaconde," finding yourself in a gallery filled with hundreds of tourists jammed around a rather small painting on the wall.

lines at St. Catherine's Palace (c) 2020 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

We've experienced all of this. We've seen the lines to get into St. Catherine's Palace (pictured above) and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. We've been jammed into crowded galleries at Vatican Museum in Rome and Versailles outside Paris. We've witnessed thousands of tourists in front of the Main Gate to Buckingham Palace to view the Changing of the Guard.

We can help our clients skip lines, enjoy exclusive access to experiences most tourists don't know about, or even score private visits before or after public visiting hours — when travel comes back...

But for now in 2020, the problem is no longer overtourism. The issue is Covid-19 and the need to practice social distancing. What will world travel look like once we have developed an effective vaccine? Do we need to reimagine travel? This article from The Guardian makes one argument. What do you think?

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

seeing the Mona Lisa after hours

by Werner Willmann - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1145981

What if you could get up close and personal with the Mona Lisa? What a different experience it would be to visit the Louvre after hours, avoiding the mob scene you see in the photo above...

What if you could visit Giverny before it opens to the public? Imagine how enjoyable it would be to explore his gardens, photograph the bridge over the lily pond, and walk through Claude Monet's house without the crowds of tourists...

What if you could enjoy these exclusive experiences without paying thousands of euros for the privilege?

Here's the secret: these experiences are included if you book a cabin on Tauck River Cruises' Impressions from the Seine: Paris to Normandy. Just ask your travel advisor to find a date that features the after-hours Louvre visit (as the Louvre is closed on Monday). All-inclusive fares for this eight-day river cruise start at $4,390 per person, and they include virtually everything.

And if that were not enough, Tauck is offering great round-trip air fares from select US and Canadian gateways to Europe through the end of February... for trips through the end of August, 2020. I've put the fine print below*, but this is a great value!

business class - $2990 pp
premium economy - $1690 pp
economy - $790 pp

I'll be taking my first Tauck River Cruise in April, traveling from Amsterdam to Basel, and we are really looking forward to the experience.

*The Fine Print: Take Off With Tauck is valid on trips departing March 1 through August 31, 2020 as indicated: valid on all Tauck Europe land trips, European river cruises, Tauck Bridges Europe trips, and Europe small ship cruises (Note: Venice & the Dalmatian Coast small ship cruises departing March 1 through September 30, 2020). Above trips must be booked January 9 through February 29, 2020. Tauck’s air package is available to all guests departing from select US and Canadian gateways to Europe; available for new bookings only (subject to availability). Air must be booked with Tauck, and a deposit is required at the time you make your booking. Air is refundable up to 60 days before departure. Premium Economy cabin is offered on trans-Atlantic flights and select carriers only. Not combinable with other offers.

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

postcard from Paris | Napoleonic throne

Napoleon's throne (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

The Louvre is one of the largest museums in the world — as well as one of the most visited. Visitors typically follow the crowds, flocking to see the Louvre's two most celebrated objects, the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. I remember, back in the 70's, actually being able to view the Mona Lisa — but a typical visitor's experience is now seeing the crowds gathered around a small painting in the middle of a large gallery.

My inclination is always to avoid the crowds, to take the path less travelled, to go places that most don't even know about ... and in the Louvre, that would be the Napoleonic Apartments. Located in the Richelieu Wing, you'll discover memorable examples of Second Empire decorative art ... including this throne. One of the Louvre's best kept secrets, you'll enjoy opulent rooms that rival Versailles ... without the crowds.

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit our website.

four tips | avoiding overtourism

tourists exploring the grounds at Cliveden (c) 2018 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Overtourism affects all of us when visit popular tourist destinations. Europe had 671 million visitors in 2017, the eighth year of sustained growth in its tourism industry. We've all experienced the loathsome effects of too many visitors in the same places — long lines in front of the pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, huge crowds crowding the Piazza San Marco in Venice, a precious few seconds on a moving conveyer in front of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. Overtourism also means crowded airports, long security lines, and wasted time in immigration.

Here are my top tips for avoiding overtourism. Short version — be a contrarian.

(1) Avoid high season. Unless you have school-age children, don't travel in the summer. I can guarantee that Italy will be hot and crowded in June, July, and August.

(2) Visit when everyone else is staying away. For instance, many visitors deserted Paris during Sunday "Yellow Jacket" protests on the Champs Elysées. Hotel occupancy went way down, and some of the more popular tourist sites were closed. I would see this as the perfect opportunity to avoid the Champs Elysées, explore less-known parts of Paris, and plan a Sunday day trip to Versailles, Chartres, or Giverny. Are you a nervous traveler? Just engage a knowledgeable tour guide, and you'll be kept far from any affected areas.

(3) Arrange for special access. Sit in Churchill's chair in the War Rooms (while the crowds filing past the plexiglass window wonder what kind of VIP you are) or witness the Changing of the Guard's concert from inside the Wellington Barracks (with nobody between you and the troops). Visit the Vatican Museum before it opens to the crowds (and without waiting in line). Yes, you'll pay for the privilege — but that's what keeps it exclusive.

(4) Get off the beaten track. You might explore the English countryside as the ten (10) tourists pictured above are doing at Cliveden. Ourisman Travel has partnerships around the world with companies that know their destinations like locals ... because they are locals! Special bonus feature after the break — the outline of a 10-day, 9-night off-the-beaten-track itinerary in Portugal and Spain, suggested by our friends at Made for Spain, completely customizable. Contact us to plan this trip!

one of Time's 100 greatest places in the world

façade of Hôtel de Crillon (c) 2018 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

This week's issue of Time Magazine published its list of one hundred of "the world's greatest places" (Vol. 192, No. 9-10, pp 72-96). The first of the places listed? Hôtel de Crillon, the elegant palace hotel right on Place de la Concorde, right at the foot of the Champs Élysées. The largest square in Paris, its view encompasses the Arc du Triomphe to the west, the Louvre to the east, and the French National Assembly directly across the Seine to the south. The most convenient location in Paris, no less than three metro lines assure quick connections to most anyplace you might want to visit.

What about the Crillon? Time wrote the following:

Few hotels have a history as rich as Hôtel de Crillon, which was commissioned as a palace by King Louis XV and once hosted Marie Antoinette's piano lessons. Last July, the residence — now owned by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts — re-opened after a four-year renovation that brought modern amenities like central air-conditioning while preserving its iconic 18th century finishings, including gold ceilings, grand staircases and marble walls.

I had the privilege of staying at the Crillon last April. A truly stunning hotel, I spent two nights in a Grand Premier Suite whose living room is pictured below. Elegantly residential, it felt like an apartment, not a hotel room. I even had a peak at the Eiffel Tower through the windows. Consult your Virtuoso and Rosewood Elite travel advisor to make this booking — you'll receive complimentary breakfasts each morning of your stay, a $100 food and beverage credit, early 10 a.m. check-in, late 4 p.m. check-out, and a great chance of getting an upgraded room when you arrive.

copyright  (c)  2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit our website.

are fast track tickets worth it?

no lines at dawn (c) 2018 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Questions like this come up frequently on travel forums: "Are Fast Track tickets worth the extra cost?" This is what a recent visitor to fodors.com was wondering about. He's heard about the L-O-N-G ticket and security lines at Europe's most popular attractions. Is it worth paying extra to avoid the long lines, he wonders?

Here's how I calculate the cost/benefit ratio.

(1) Think about a typical trip to Europe. Add up the cost of your airfare and hotels, trains and transfers. You're spending thousands of dollars on your bucket list trip. For the sake of argument, let's assume the trip costs $5,000.

(2) Let's make another set of assumptions: you have six full days on the ground and spend 8 hours a day sightseeing. This means your trip costs about $104 for every sightseeing hour.

(3) If you've seen the lines at Europe's popular tourist destinations, you know can easily waste hours of your precious time doing and seeing nothing. Each wasted hour costs you $104.

Now, let's consider the value proposition of the Paris Pass. It includes unlimited travel, zones 1-3, on the Paris Metro, RER, and buses. It includes a Museum Pass, covering entrance fees at many of the most popular museums and attractions in Paris. (Benefit: you don't have to stand in queue to buy tickets). You also get Fast Track entry at the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, and Centre Pompidou.

If you plan to maximize your museum visiting over the days of your Museum Pass, it won't cost you a euro more — but even if you enjoy a very leisurely vacation, it's totally worth paying to skip the ticket lines.

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

how to explore the byways of Europe

Roman amphitheater in Verona (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all right reserved

Excellent advice was offered in today's column by Rick Steves in many Sunday newspapers: avoid destinations congested with tourists and look for what he calls back doors. In Steves' words, "Many travelers go to crowded, touristy places — then complain about the crowds." Here's my takeaway from his article.

Seek out secondary destinations. Rome is a very crowded tourist destination, and the Colosseum has long ticket lines. If getting up-close-and-personal with an ancient Roman colosseum is on your bucket list, consider the smaller (and very walkable) town of Verona in northern Italy. Pictured above is the Arena di Verona, a historical colosseum minus the crowds. You can even attend live opera there in the evening.

Avoid (what have become) tourist traps. While the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay are both world class museums in Paris, you'll have to contend with the crowds. If you want to check the Louvre off your bucket list, enjoy the spectacular but relatively empty Napoleonic bedrooms and avoid the hundreds of tourists pushing up in front of the (tiny) Mona Lisa. If you love the French impressionists, visit the lesser-known Marmottan Museum (that houses the world's biggest collection of Monet's art).

Spend the night in destinations that are crowded during busy daytime hours — but are perfectly delightful in early morning and evening. Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a cute little town near the French Riviera. The pedestrian pathway through the town's center is inundated by day with visitors from bus tours and cruise ships ... but if you spend the night at Virtuoso hotel Le Mas De Pierre, you'll have the town practically to yourself.

Look for ways to skip the lines. Google secret entrances to the Louvre; you don't have to queue up in front of the pyramid. Purchase museum passes — or timed admission tickets — and bypass ticket lines entirely. It's even possible to arrange private tours before and after regular hours for many popular attractions.

Best of all, you don't have to figure this out on your own. Together with our trusted Virtuoso travel partners all over Europe, we get you Insider Access. Do you want to plan a trip that maximizes your precious time? that explores the byways of Europe? that takes advantage of the lesser-known back doors that local experts know best? Just drop us an email, and we'll help you Discover More.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

three underground experiences in Paris

the Louvre (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Sometimes the most exclusive travel experience is the one you didn't even know existed. Here are three "underground" touring possibilities in Paris.

(1) The sewers of Paris. I've done this. Wasn't planning to, but when I came across the entrance years ago, I decided to go underground and have the experience. Worth it? NOT! Unless you have a fascination with all things having to do with civil engineering, it's not much to write home about. I suppose Parisian sewers smell the same as any city's sewers...

(2) The Eiffel Tower. Did you know there's an underground exhibit at the Eiffel Tower? You'll enter through a secret military bunker ... but most interesting are hydraulic lifts designed by Gustave Eiffel. Elevators that go straight up and down are commonplace, but Eiffel faced an engineering challenge: how do you operate an elevator that ascends at a slant? The exhibit will show you exactly how, and when you exit, you'll be at the front of the lines to take the elevator up!

(3) The Louvre. I never knew this was even possible. Like all museums, the Louvre has countless artistic treasure that are not on exhibit, and these reside in secret underground vaults. Our travel partner NoteWorthy can obtain exclusive access into these vaults. Along with your NoteWorthy guide and a curator from the Louvre, you'll be able to tour these vaults, far from the throng of tourists crowding in front of the Mona Lisa.

How many of these underground experiences did you know about?

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

skipping the queue | what's it worth?

from commons.wikipedia.com, photo owned by the Saeima Chancellery and used by permission

Here's a long line winding around the corner in Saeima, Latvia. Why so many people in queue? They've come for the Night of Museums, an annual event held across Europe. The following equation describes the phenomenon we're seeing here...

free admission = lots o' people = long queues

... which brings up a question I just responded to on fodors.com: "Just wondering if it is worth buying skip the queue tickets for Versailles." My short answer: Yes!!! Read on for my long answer...

Life is short... Thus begins the provocative headline on a recent advertisement I saw, but I disagree with the ad's conclusion: "Life is short: you should be playing the world's finest golf equipment!" NOT!!! Life is a gift, I would say, so make the most of the time with which you've been blessed!

This is especially true of travel. Say France is on your bucket list, and visiting Paris and touring Versailles are something you've been looking forward to for years. So you plan your trip, spending thousands of dollars on flights and hotels. What that nets you is time in France; you've essentially bought 3 or 5 or 7 days to explore Paris and to experience all it has to offer.

So how do you want to invest your precious time? You could spend hours of your vacation waiting in queue: an hour in line at the Louvre, an hour at the Musée d'Orsay, another hour at Versailles. That time adds up, and you will have squandered that most precious of resources, your leisure time. If 5€ could buy you an extra hour to sit outside a café, sip your cafe au lait, and watch as Paris walks by your table — wouldn't that be worth it?

So, yes, skip every queue you possibly can. Buy your tickets in advance. Get the Paris Museum Pass that gets you right in. Ask your travel advisor about engaging expert guides who can help you experience so much more while making much more efficient use of your time. (And while we're on the subject of queues, get Global Entry and TSA pre-check to avoid those lines as well — the best $100 you can ever spend).

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

exclusive access to Europe's attractions

"Chateau Versailles Galerie des Glaces" by Photo: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles looks just like the picture above (if you could visit without the crowds). Having time alone in the chateau would hint at the elegant lifestyle of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. Space and sunlight, gleaming mirrors and soaring ceilings, and tall windows looking out over manicured gardens all speak to the unparalleled luxury enjoyed by the 18th century French aristocracy.

But this isn't how most tourists experience Versailles. For a sense of the more typical visitor experience, click here. How different when you're in a hallway crammed shoulder-to-shoulder with tourists casually dressed in shorts, t-shirts, and sneakers with cameras around their necks. Not the travel experience that many luxury clients desire.

What's the alternative to the thundering herds? If you're looking for an experience you'll always cherish (granting you bragging rights for the rest of your life), we can arrange exclusive access to many Europe's most popular tourist attractions such as Versailles, the Sistine Chapel, the Louvre, and Buckingham Palace. Our Virtuoso tour companies and on-sites can provide the treasured memories you're looking for. Just drop us an email if you'd like to explore the possibilities.

copyright (c) 2015 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Eiffel Tower | how to skip the line in Paris

One of the most popular attractions in Paris, the Eiffel Tower draws big crowds and l-o-n-g lines to purchase tickets. But don't spend hours of your previous time in Paris queuing up to go up the Eiffel Tower. Visitors to Paris can now purchase your tickets online. Just go to this website to make your purchase.

And don't wait in line to get museum tickets to visit the Louvre or the Musee d'Orsay, two of the most popular museums in the world. Buy a Paris Museum Pass - prepaid admission for 60 attractions - for either 2, 4, or 6 days. You won't necessarily save money unless you really rush through museums and try to see as much as humanly possible. However, you'll save time as you won't have to queue up in long lines to purchase tickets everywhere you go.

See more, wait less! Hope these tips help on your next visit to Paris.

copyright (c) 2014 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Gulbenkian Museum | a Lisbon must-see

On the advice of one of my clients, we visited the Gulbenkian Museum today during our tour of Lisbon. Clearly one of the most outstanding museums I have ever visited, I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Calouste Gulbenkian made his fortune in the petroleum industry, playing a critical role in forming some of the world's most prominent oil companies. Retaining a 5% interest in the companies he put together (he was known as Mr. 5%), he became an incredibly wealthy individual. Spending a lifetime assembling an art collection of over 6,000 pieces, Gulbenkian bequeathed his art to his nation, Portugal, upon his death. One thousand works are in the museum's permanent collection.

While the scope of the Gulbenkian's art collection rivals that of the Louvre, the scale is ever so much more manageable. You can get an overview of the entire museum in just an hour, although longer visits would be well worthwhile. Instead of glazing over the thousands of relics from Egypt you might find at the Louvre or British Museum, visitors can view a few dozen exquisite pieces on display. Persian carpets, Mesopotamian and Greco-Roman artifacts, far eastern art pieces, illuminated manuscripts, Lalique creations, and a representative collection of 15th - 19th century western paintings make for a stunning experience.

Gulbenkian Museum (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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a great new way to see Paris

The blog French Journal passed along a very interesting bit of news for tourists visiting Paris starting July 15, 2007 (the day after Bastille Day). According to an article in The Washington Post, over 20,000 bikes will become available for rent at nearly 1,500 bike stations all over the city. And the best part? The first half-hour is free!

This should diminish the number of cars on the road, make the metro less crowded, and generally make life more pleasant for everyone. The side benefits are unambiguously good: less pollution, less emissions of greenhouse gases, and less demand for petroleum products.

Imagine pedaling from the Eiffel Tower along the Seine, across the river, through the Louvre, back to the Seine, across to the Ile de la Cite, and finishing at Notre-Dame. A long walk becomes a great bike ride. C'est la vie!


If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.