How crowded are the main tourist sites in Europe?

[Pauline]

An article in yesterday's Guardian (UK) says the main tourist sites in Paris and Rome are unbearably crowded because of extra tourists coming to Europe because of the low Euro.

The Guardian - Gaining currency: fall of euro has American tourists flocking to Europe, 5 June 2015

From the article: 'Further back in the queue, Rachel Tierney, an English major from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, said the impressionists at the Musée d’Orsay had proved tricky due to the wall of people taking selfies in front of the works of Degas. “You couldn’t see anything, we were 30 feet away from the pantings.”'

This doesn't sound like fun! I think the solution is to see the major cities and sites off season (if you can) and enjoy the smaller towns and countryside in the summer months (June - September).

Has anyone experienced the crowds already this summer?

 

[GailS]

I was in Rome last week and Venice for 2 weeks before that. I normally visit Venice the same time each year and it seemed more crowded than the past few years. Rome was also crowded but I haven't been there in recent years at this time to compare. I'm in Montalcino now before heading to Florence tomorrow. It doesn't seem much different in terms of the number of people in Montalcino than previous years.

 

[Shannon]

I noticed there were more Americans around on my trip this Spring - it didn't make anything more crowded where I was, but a lot of places I used to go where there were not too many Americans, there were... quite a few. Canadians and folks from the USA.

I wouldn't say anyplace was overrun (except Barcelona which is ALWAYS overrun) but I definitely noticed the increase in travelers from North America. So I guess the exchange rate is encouraging people to travel and this is fantastic!

 

[GailS]

Florence does not seem more crowded than normal. Lots of cruise ship groups during the day, much more sane in the evenings. Maybe the hot weather is keeping some folks inside rather than on the streets or in non-air conditioned sites.