These Popular Destinations Are Struggling With Overtourism — and Experts Recommend Staying Away in 2026
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Fodor’s has released its annual No List for 2026, highlighting eight destinations where tourism is placing unsustainable pressure on local communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure. But this is not a call for a boycott. Rather, it’s a reality check wrapped in responsible wanderlust, a gentle nudge to ease up on certain spots and give them the breathing room they desperately need.
Longtime favorites like Venice and Barcelona are conspicuously absent this year. Not because they’ve solved their overtourism problems, but because the usual suspects often pull focus from other hotspots in equally urgent need of relief. Here are the eight destinations that made the 2026 list and why they’re asking travelers to reconsider.
Antarctica: The Last Wilderness Under Siege
Antarctica doesn’t need marketing campaigns or tourism dollars. It doesn’t need tourists at all. Yet from 2023 to 2024, the continent received 120,000 visitors, a number projected to double by 2033.
“Unfortunately, in the last quarter century, Antarctica has been moving more toward mass tourism instead of the traditional ecotourism world,” says Mike Gunter, professor of political science at Rollins College who studies ecotourism and environmental policy.
Jessica O’Reilly, associate professor of anthropology at Indiana University and an advisor to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, warns that “The environment is fragile, and it’s a rare environment. That’s why people want to go there, but it’s also why it can’t really sustain high numbers of tourism.”
At the moment, there are no caps on visitation in Antarctica. Many cruise lines are members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, or IAATO, but this voluntary body has no authority to cap visitor numbers. A growing concern is vessels that choose not to join IAATO at all.
The bottom line? Antarctica isn’t meant to be on anyone’s bucket list.
The Canary Islands: Paradise at Its Breaking Point
In the first half of 2025 alone, the Canary Islands welcomed 7.8 million visitors and processed more than 27 million airport passengers, a 5% increase over the previous year. In May, thousands marched through the streets under the banner “Canarias tiene un límite,” which translates to “The Canaries have a limit.”
Tourism contributes more than a third of the islands’ GDP and employs roughly 40% of its population, yet success has come at a price. Housing has become a flashpoint, with young people finding it almost impossible to rent or buy homes. Water scarcity looms, and imagine wading into what should be crystalline waters only to realize that 100 million liters of untreated or barely treated sewage gush into the sea every day.
“We are losing our identity, culture, and ultimately our right to exist as a community,” says ATAN, one of Tenerife’s oldest environmental groups. “Tourism has become unlimited, mass-oriented, and largely low-cost party tourism that doesn’t come to truly discover the islands, but to consume a fake backdrop.”
Glacier National Park: Melting Away Before Our Eyes
Of the estimated 150 glaciers ringing Glacier National Park’s peaks in the early 20th century, only 27 remain. Those are expected to disappear by 2030. The park is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, and visitors are urgently swarming to see the glaciers before they’re gone.
Already one of the country’s most visited national parks, Glacier saw around 300,000 more visitors in 2024 than 2023. The result? Traffic congestion on the iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road, faster garbage accumulation, greater wildlife disturbance, and increased carbon emissions.
Michael Jamison, Northern Rockies campaign director for the National Parks Conservation Association, notes a “sustainability paradox” in which “increased visitation itself contributes to the degradation of the places people are coming to visit in the first place.”
There’s a “staggering disconnect” between the surging interest in “last-chance tourism” and the lack of concern over the negative environmental impacts associated with it. “At no point in the history of Glacier Park have so many existential threats intersected all at once,” says Jamison.
Isola Sacra: A Mega Port Nobody Asked For
Italian authorities have greenlit a new port project in Isola Sacra, a quiet coastal district near Rome, where mega cruise ships over 230 feet high and 1,150 feet long, capable of carrying up to 6,000 passengers, will dock. The project is a joint venture between Royal Caribbean and British investment fund Icon Infrastructure.
Long-time residents have formed Tavoli del Porto to fight the plans. “Only together can we stop these projects that threaten to destroy a delicate ecosystem of dunes, wetlands, agricultural land, unique vegetation, and terrestrial and marine animal species,” activists say.
More than 105 million cubic feet of sand would need to be extracted to create a deep channel for ships. Experts warn this will exacerbate coastal erosion, devastate a nearby protected natural area, and cement over large swathes of coastline. Historic structures including traditional stilted fishing huts are at risk.
The disruption from thousands of cruise passengers heading to Rome, a city already struggling with over 35 million tourists a year, will be enormous. Yet despite numerous objections, the Environmental Impact Assessment concluded with a favorable opinion in November 2025.
The Jungfrau Region: When Paradise Gets Too Popular
More than 1 million people visited the Jungfraujoch, dubbed “the Top of Europe,” in 2024, up 5.1% from the previous year. The Eiger Express now whisks visitors from Grindelwald to the Eiger glacier’s edge in just 15 minutes. For locals, that convenience comes with consequences.
Mico Witzke, who manages Restaurant Eigernordwand above Grindelwald, says the shift is about guest behavior as much as numbers. “There are far more day visitors now, and most guests stay only one or two nights before moving on. Many don’t even realize where they truly are. They just go where all the other tourists go.”
Matthias Michel, who runs Hotel Fiescherblick, notes that “While a few years ago we still had an off-season, that’s hardly the case anymore.” Day visitors use tourist infrastructure without paying the local visitor’s tax, and consumption is limited to big railway company outlets. “Small actors like your average Grindelwalder have little direct gain. That stirs some resentment in the community.”
Housing is becoming scarce as homeowners choose Airbnb over long-term rentals. “Maybe we should start thinking about residents and tourists in equal measure,” says Witzke.
Mexico City: When “Kill a Gringo” Becomes a Protest Slogan
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On July 4, large protests erupted in Mexico City against gentrification, short-term rentals, and rising rents, with demonstrations turning violent. Foreign tourists were harassed, windows were smashed, and signs reading “Mexico for Mexicans” and “gringos out” appeared throughout the city.
Many point to Airbnb as contributing to housing displacement. Inside Airbnb estimates there are over 25,000 short-term rentals in the city. After the pandemic brought digital nomads seeking cheaper living costs, Airbnb listings shot up by 35%.
“Simply put, Airbnb should be banned from Mexico City,” says Natalia de la Rosa of Club Tengo Hambre food tours. “It’s a platform that incentivizes evictions and tears at the social fabric of communities in neighborhoods.”
Complaints include landlords preferring foreign renters, apartment prices listed in dollars instead of pesos, and long-term residents being evicted to make way for higher-paying tenants. Neighborhoods like Condesa, Roma, and Polanco have been criticized as “neo-colonies” where wealthier outsiders reshape the landscape.
New rules cap short-term rentals to 180 nights yearly, but they don’t take effect until after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Mombasa: Kenya’s Coastal Canary
Kenya’s tourism industry hit a record 2.4 million international arrivals last year, but the country lacks data on its carrying capacity. The canary in Kenya’s coalmine is Mombasa, which now hosts 70% of tourists visiting the coast.
Overtourism has left the city grappling with depleting resources, overcrowding, poor roads, littered beaches, polluted oceans, and endangered shorelines. Tourist exit surveys warn that Mombasa is in danger of losing its attraction.
Juliet W. Muchiri, a tourism lecturer at Presbyterian University of East Africa, says overtourism can be tackled when officials acknowledge the need for comprehensive management. “This necessitates ongoing carrying capacity studies to ascertain the maximum number of visitors that Mombasa can sustain without jeopardizing its social cohesion, environmental integrity, or cultural authenticity.”
Dr. Edwin Muinga, founder of Clean Mombasa, cites poor garbage disposal and sewage treatment systems polluting marine areas. “People connect raw sewage into drainage systems and flow directly into the ocean, killing the mangrove and fish. Locals have been complaining, but no mitigation has been undertaken.”
Montmartre: Paris Loses Its Village Charm
Some 11 million visitors now throng Montmartre’s Sacré Coeur basilica each year, more even than the Eiffel Tower. The influx has spread beyond typical tourist haunts to previously quieter spots.
Rémy Knafou, professor at Paris 1–Panthéon Sorbonne and author of several books on overtourism, notes that “At night, the Place du Tertre is completely invaded by café and restaurant terraces. Some of the population is protesting, discretely, politely, but firmly. It is therefore possible to speak of overtourism.”
Locals find the situation “unlivable.” Real estate prices have skyrocketed 35% in just the past year. The local pétanque club was expelled from the space it had held since 1971 to allow a luxury hotel to expand.
An ongoing pedestrianization project has led to massive roadworks stretching over “several months and even several years.” Elisabeth, a 40-year Montmartre resident, says “When the town hall says it’s giving the neighborhood back to residents, it’s hypocritical. It’s all being done to make it easier for bars, restaurants, and some businesses, but there’s nothing for residents.”
Knafou warns Montmartre may be “progressively emptied of its population,” contributing to a loss of authenticity already seen in Venice or Bruges.
The Bigger Picture
Fodor’s No List for 2026 serves as a gentle but pointed nudge to ease up on certain spots for now, not forever. The key issues highlighted, the overtouristed sites, the fragile ecosystems, and the communities struggling to stay afloat, are faced by just about any destination that prioritizes tourism above all else.
As travelers, we have a responsibility to consider the impact of our wanderlust. That might mean choosing a different destination, traveling during shoulder season, staying longer in fewer places, or simply being more mindful of our presence in someone else’s home. The No List isn’t about shutting down travel. It’s about encouraging us to travel better.
