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The dream of chic Italian travel is basically crowd control at this point.
Summer has barely begun, and already mobs of eager tourists pack shoulder to shoulder, squeezing through narrow streets in Positano, crowding train platforms in Cinque Terre with large backpacks, and congregating aimlessly around fountains in Rome, in what some critics have referred to as their worst nightmare.
The enormous crowds flocking to Europe in the summer are not new, but recent viral footage shows swarms of people across Italy’s hot spots causing human traffic jams, blocking streets to take photos, congregating aimlessly, and leaving some locals trapped in their homes.
The scene looked less like a romantic Italian dreamscape or scene from “Under the Tuscan Sun” and more like waiting in line at Space Mountain.
“We have reached our limit,” one resident wrote on Facebook in response to the alarming videos of the Positano crowds. “As citizens, we have to lock ourselves inside our homes.”
The tourism boom has been worsening each year, and residents are naturally at their breaking point.
“For the Mayors and administrators of the Amalfi Coast, they like this mess; otherwise, they would have already issued orders to civilize this mass tourism,” said local resident Antonio Attianese.
But Positano isn’t the only Italian city getting a glimpse of summer crowds.
In Rome, travelers describe their May vacations as “not for the weak,” as crowds fight for a glimpse of the Trevi Fountain — not an unusual spot for crowds, but some people swear that visiting in months like October or January will help you avoid the mess. Some even take it to extremes, recommending a 4 a.m. visit, spawning several responses of girls alone posing for a picture-perfect photo to post.
Thanks to TikTok and Instagram, dreamy European summer destinations have become more visible than ever. But because everyone wants the same Aperol Spritz or Limoncello experience, tourists are increasingly funneling into the same handful of destinations, streets, restaurants and viewpoints.
And it’s not just Italy.
In Spain, frustration over mass tourism has escalated dramatically. Locals have been notoriously vocal about their discontent with the mass invasion of people, staging protests and squirting water guns as a symbolic gesture to “cool down” tourism.
Protests were particularly widespread in Barcelona, where residents are angered by the rising rents driven by the influx of travelers using Airbnb.
“The squirt guns are to bother the tourists a bit,” Andreu Martínez told the Post. “Barcelona has been handed to the tourists. This is a fight to give Barcelona back to its residents.”
Still, the contempt doesn’t deter wanderlust travelers.
Italy remains one of the most visited countries in the world. In 2025, the boot-shaped country reported roughly 185 million total visitors, an increase of 9% from 2024.
But with the influx, travelers are discovering that the reality of a European summer vacation can involve packed ferries, impossible reservations, fighting for a spot at the beach, and sweating through crowds just to snap a photo at the same scenic overlook everyone else saw on TikTok.
Some are championing the road less traveled.
“We went to the ‘popular’ Instagrammable ones, and the crowds were overwhelming,” said one user on TikTok.
“But then when we went to take a breather down a side street, we found ourselves basically in a little square in a local neighbourhood,” she continued. “It wasn’t anything special, but I felt like I was experiencing the culture for what it actually is, not what social media wants us to see.”
While there are benefits — tourism has been thought of as a way to bring commerce and opportunity to destinations — the overcrowding visuals are jarring.
And if May already looks like this, travelers may want to brace themselves for what happens when August hits.
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