February 17, 2016
In a move that we have long wished for, the authorities who govern the ultra-popular Cinque Terre national park on the gorgeous, formerly unspoiled Ligurian Coast have announced limits of 1.5 million visitors per year starting in 2016.
Cruise ships and bus tours disgorge thousands and thousands of people per day onto these helpless little villages, which were once completely cut off from the outside world. Their unique culture has all but disappeared under the daily onslaught of tourists who for the most part are just “checking another item off their packed list” of places to “see,” and not really experience. We applaud this move and wish it would carry over to more places in Europe. Swarms of people who don’t know or care about the cultural or historical significance of a place just end up cheapening that place for those who do care.
Cinque Terre, you’re the first. Vatican Museums, can you please be next?