I really dislike tourists.

No – that’s not entirely accurate.  But I hate the impact that tourists – disgorging from cruise ships and fleets of air-conditioned motor coaches – have on a once-lovely place.  It’s not their fault.  And if you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I encourage everyone to travel.

But it’s that yin/yang, good/bad thing.  There’s always a downside.  The one thing you can say about some of the world’s most visited places is that they are on everyone’s list for good reasons.  Many of them (though certainly not all) are worth the crowds, extortionate prices and the hype to see for yourself.

Venice, for example, has been a tourist trap for many hundreds of years.  There’s simply no place quite like it.  Or Prague.  Or Bruges.  Worth it?  Yes – if you do it right.

So what’s the trick to visiting these places at their best?  Here’s how:

1.   Timing.  A dozen or so years ago, I took a group to Vienna, where Schoenbrunn Palace is a “must see” for most people.  Similar to the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris, the beauty of these palaces is often obscured by the hordes of tour groups shuffling listlessly behind their licensed guide who mindlessly recites the spiel they learned in guiding school.  Consider that many cities have standard half-day tours: in the morning after breakfast, roughly 9am-Noon, and again after lunch.  That “magic hour” in the middle?  THATS’s when to go there.

I had adjusted my group’s timing to arrive at Schoenbrunn at 1 PM.  Lunch could wait till a little later. (Nobody starves on my trips!)  Our guide had never seen it so empty.  His awe and enthusiasm was an added bonus for all of us.

2.   Go where the big cruise ships are not.  It’s harder and harder to avoid the mega-ships.  (Carnival Corporation, for example, has nine different cruise brands, with more than 100 ships accommodating 200,000 passengers!).  But with a little internet sleuthing, you can often determine the schedule of ships in port, and try to visit on off days or times.

Arriving in Venice, a monster-ship dwarfs our favorite little luxury ship, the 88-passenger, Tere Moana

Or, do as my friend, Tommie, and I did many years ago when we were on a Greek island cruise.  We’d wait to see which direction all the tour buses went.  Then we would rent mopeds and go the other way.

3.   Stay overnight.  Many places such as Bruges, for example, are major day-trip destinations accessible from bigger cities like Brussels or Amsterdam.  But if you can arrange to stay a night or two, my advice is to get up very early and get out with your camera to capture scenes in the early morning light with nary a tourist in sight.  Go back to your hotel for a late breakfast, maybe visit the spa or stroll around a less-visited part of town. And then go back to the center in the evening when it’s regained its soul … the buses are gone, the tacky souvenir shops are closed, the locals are walking their dogs, and all is right with the world.

Scenes from Burg Square in Bruges: early morning, mid-day and nighttime

Idyllic, early-morning scenes of Bruges.

By the way … if you go to Bruges and spend the night, I highly recommend the Duke’s Palace Hotel!  Stunning!

The Duke’s Palace in Bruges

4.   Book a photo tour.   When I was in HoiAn, Vietnam, two of us went out early in the morning with a local photographer.  He knew the best places, he knew the locals, he knew the lighting.  He even taught me some things about apertures and F-stops (which I’ve long since forgotten).

Early-morning scenes of Hoi An, including an award-winner taken by my friend (at left)

It takes some creativity and energy to create a positive experience and come home with extraordinary memories.  Truth is, we’re all tourists to one degree or another and we make an impact wherever we travel.  Why not make it a positive impact?  Worth it?

You betcha!

What are your tips to avoid the masses and steer clear of the tourist traps?