Avoiding Mob Scenes

Italy in mid to late September. Should be shoulder season: temperatures cooler, crowds diminished, right? Well yes and no. In charming, tiny little Vernazza in the Cinqueterra we waited while a continuous stream of people descended the railway stairs for at least 10 minutes before we could even attempt to go up. The tiny main street was wall to wall bodies. Up above on the trails between towns it was bumper to bumper hikers. The reason? 4 cruise ships in the nearby port.

Crowds can be a fact of life for the most popular sights and can seriously diminish your enjoyment. Here are some tips to work around them…

• Get out early or see sights later. If you are fighting tourist crowds getting to a site when it opens is almost always a way to dodge the mobs. Most attractions start peaking with people from about 10:00 and start to diminish by around 4PM. Plan things to do that may be less mobbed in the middle of the day. In the Cinqueterra for example a daytime boat trip (they can only let so maybe people on the boat), a day on the beach, or a visit to a more inland winery would be possible good choices during peak mob times.
• Stay in the place you want to see. We had Vernazza and the trails between towns to ourselves before the mobs arrived (and after they left). Same with Dubrovnik – these places can be so much more charming when the hoards depart.
• Check out cruise ship arrivals in your planning. This was a new discovery for us, but we plan on using it extensively in the future. CruiseDig.com or Cruisetimetables.com allow you to look at how many cruise ships will be in port on a given day. For La Spezia (cruise port for Cinqueterra) for example, next week the number of cruise passengers varies from over 6800 on October 9th to 2080 on the 12th to 0 on the 14th and 15th. If you are going to be in a popular port you should probably consider planning around the big boats. To use this just search by port and they tell you the boats and number of passengers each day.
• Buy tickets far in advance. Even in what we thought was shoulder season it pays to buy well in advance. The Borghese gallery in Rome (don’t miss it) for example, sold out mid-week in late September. Much as it reduces spontaneity and flexibility may more places now require advanced tickets and planning.
• Travel off season. In March and April you will have the Cinqueterra to yourselves. The disadvantages can be fewer travel services (much of Croatian tourist services go into hibernation) and you might not be able to enjoy a dip in the Mediterranean, but off season can be a good choice for particularly crowded destinations if that’s an option for you.
• Plan your airports. Some airports handle things better than others, and it is not static. Last spring we got an email the day before departure that Schiphol Amsterdam Airport was having long wait times and to arrive 4 (!) hours early even for short internal European flights. They were not kidding – lines were unbelievably long – snaking around for what looked like miles outside the terminals. I would NOT fly out of there again until I verified that they have fixed their problem. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a site that collects and displays reliable wait times for international airports (there are quite a few for the US). If travelling internationally it is a good idea to check your airport’s website for how long ahead they want you there at the very least.
• Skip the Line Tours. In some places the ONLY way to get in is to pay a little extra for a “skip the line” tour. The Last Supper in Milan, for example is practically impossible to see any other way and you can combine it with a nice walking tour of town. This varies by attraction however – so if you have your heart set on a site, research in advance when and how to get tickets.
• Crowds = pickpockets. Get yourself a money belt, some pants with security features (like Aviator) and / or a pack / bag with security (Pacsafe), Keep your wits about you particularly in crowds.