Peak tourist? Views like Kirkjufell have brought tourism in their droves to Iceland.
Peak tourist? Views like Kirkjufell have brought tourism in their droves to Iceland.
You can leave Iceland off your bucket lists says the Airfare Watchdog, along with Hawaii and Berlin, while you're at it.
Budget air carriers have been a blessing for tourists and a blight on the cities they serve.
While the residents of Reykjavik, Barcelona, Venice may on tourism for their livelihood, they have mixed feelings.
Generations are being priced out of the neighbourhoods they grew up in and displaced by AirBnB lets.
Here are four cities that you can leave off your bucket lists and five 'alternatives' to replace them with - you'll save yourself some time, stress and holiday money along the way.
Poland's Bohemian capital: Shopfronts in Warsaw. Photo / Getty
Berlin was one of the first cities to say "nein" to AirBnB.
But the German capital, which originally cracked down hard on short term holiday lets, is now easing its restrictions. The locals aren't thrilled.
Why not instead take an ICE train five hours east into the Polish capital of Warsaw? While Warsaw is often overlooked for Krakow, its more cutesy neighbour to the south, it has just as much credentials as a gritty, artsy central European capital.
Tourists after a city break with some serious metropolitan 'street cred' should visit the party district of Praga.
It also helps that Warsaw is one of Europe's least expensive cities. You can stay in a hotel far more cheaply than bunking in a Berliner AiBnB.
Venice for Utrecht
The charming Canals of Utrecht are an alternative to Amsterdam or even Venice. Photo / Flip Van Der Valk, Getty
Tourists are looking like the Death of Venice.
There's not much space left on the island city and Venezia is starting to sink into the Lago under the pressure of its 20 million annual visitors.
Why not trade the canals of Italy for the Flemish waterways of Belgium and Holland? Bruges has its fair share of tourists, but Utrecht might be just right.
Navigable by boat or by foot this charming medieval city is full of Gothic spires and dreamy canals.
Just half an hour by train from Amsterdam, an equally canal-filled city, Utrecht is over looked as a Dutch destination.
Reykjavik for the Japanese Alps
Untouched Japan: Winter rural landscape at sunrise in Shirakawago. Photo / Wan Ru Chen, Getty
There's not a blade of grass on this rugged landscape of arctic tundra which hasn't appeared on Instragram at least once. As you stroll the streets of Reykjavik – all two of them – you may get the impression that the tourists outnumber Icelanders 2:1. (Over the course of a year, with an annual figure of two million tourists, it's more like 18:1.)
Overtourism is a real concern, as is the damage being done to the local ecology.
Instead, head four hours north of Tokyo to the remote yet accessible Japanese Alps.
Scattered with folk villages, natural hot springs and cheeky macaque monkeys , this is the old world of Japan.
Snows are heavy in winter and it is full of ski resorts. Hit the slopes and then unwind in an Onsen hot pool. You'll have the place virtually to yourself.
Hawaii for Puerto Rico
Forget about Waikiki, get some colour in Puerto Rico Photo / Martin Wheeler, Getty
Hawaiian air fares have taken a dive, as have hotel prices during the chaos of the Kilauea eruption.
There are still remote areas on the Hawaiian islands, but development is happening at an alarming rate. The locals are feeling particularly alarmed about the change they are seeing to the nature and culture of their islands in the name of the tourist dollar.
Puerto Rico is harder to reach, but far cheaper than Hawaii. Its luscious green countryside is relatively undiscovered, but equally appealing.
And after last years' devastating storms is welcoming of an influx in tourist spending. Cruises to San Juan have been used to inject life back into areas where residents are still without electricity.
