Skip Barcelona for Valencia – and six other swaps to avoid the holiday crowds

How can you beat the crowds on your next getaway? Try a ‘destination swap’, for starters...

Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences. Photo: Pól Ó Conghaile

Helen Coffey
© UK Independent

Travel is back with a bang, and though many tourist-starved destinations will be giving thanks for an uptick in visitors, in others, the balance has tipped swiftly from “just enough” to “overwhelming”.

The blight of overtourism seems to have returned. Places struggling under the weight of their own popularity have once again been forced to implement strategies aimed at curbing visitors, from Barcelona reducing the number of cruise ships that can call at its central port, to Venice saying it will finally introduce new taxes for day trippers.