Last Word: Escaping the Crowds

I daresay that people have grumbled for centuries that places just aren’t the way they used to be.

More than 25 years ago, I vowed to avoid major European cities in the high season. Venice remains incomparably beautiful, but I have come to appreciate the subtle and mysterious grays of early spring and late fall rather than the Canaletto blue of summer. This year, I had reason to be in Paris at the end of July, so, in the name of journalistic research, I decided to make a speedy round of the principal sights. The queue for Notre Dame was several hours long, while the boisterous crowd in front of the “Mona Lisa” stood 11 people deep. (A majority of viewers was more interested in taking selfies with the enigmatic lady than in actually studying Leonardo’s masterpiece.) Of late, two factors have exacerbated the situation. One is the exponential increase in tourism to Europe from newly prosperous Asia, and the second is the favorable exchange rate between the euro and the dollar.

Recently, I was contacted by one of the advisors in the Harper Travel Office, who expressed frustration at her inability to obtain last-minute reservations at my recommended hotels and restaurants. Her clients, she said, invariably wanted private tours with their own guides, but for places such as the Vatican, these were increasingly unavailable. You should tell people, she continued darkly, that if they want to take a trip to the Amalfi Coast next June, they’d better let us arrange it by September at the latest. I daresay that people have grumbled for centuries that places just aren’t the way they used to be. But in Europe, the time really has come to travel out of season, if you can, and to make reservations at least nine months in advance.