5 Great European Cities to Visit Before Tourists Ruin Them

Book your flight while they’re still cheap and peaceful.

Photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash

Here’s the typical life cycle for tourist destinations in Central and Eastern Europe.

• 1. Undiscovered. A beautiful and fun location that barely any tourists consider visiting. As such, it’s peaceful, affordable and the locals are excited to welcome anyone who comes to explore.
• 2. Up-and-coming. Perhaps this city features in a popular TV show, movie or a list like this for a mainstream publication. People research the cost of flights and accommodation, give it a shot and are delighted with their stay. They tell their friends and word gets around.
• 3. Overrated. Maybe a year after becoming a popular tourist destination, things start to change. Prices go up. More strip clubs and tacky bars appear to accommodate the stampede of drunken bachelor parties arriving every weekend. It’s no longer peaceful or affordable, and the locals hate what tourists have done to their city.

I’m not sure if ‘life cycle’ is the right term because ‘overrated’ destinations never recover (except briefly during the pandemic).

RIP to Krakow, Budapest and Dubrovnik which have all transitioned from Step 2 to Step 3 in recent years. These cities and many…