Europe’s bucket-list destinations before they were RUINED by mass tourism

Europe without the queues

Every summer millions of visitors from all over the world flock to Europe to experience its incredible history, dazzling culture and delicious food. As they queue for an overpriced gelato, many probably find themselves wondering what the continent was like before the hordes of tourists arrived.

Click through this gallery to see photos of your favourite European attractions as they looked before tourism...

1856: Charles Bridge, Prague, Czechia

The sandstone Charles Bridge in Prague was built in medieval times to connect the old town with Prague Castle and was the only way to cross the Vltava River until 1841. For most of the 7.4 million visitors who descend upon Prague each year it still is, especially so they can rub the statue of St John of Nepomuk to bring good luck and ensure they return to Prague.

This photo taken in 1856 shows that the bridge has changed little over the centuries. Other than the number of visitors crossing back and forth, of course.

1870: The Colosseum, Rome, Italy

The Colosseum in Rome is the most popular tourist attraction in Italy with an estimated 12.3 million people visiting in 2023 alone. But when this photo was taken in 1870, the once-mighty stadium lay abandoned and empty.

It had been treated as a quarry for marble and stone for over 1,000 years. And with Rome, a battleground in the war for Italian unification during this turbulent period, even the young aristocrats on their Grand Tour of Europe had stopped calling by to admire the ancient ruins.

1870: Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland

The Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps is the mightiest mass of ice in Europe. Covering a staggering 66 square miles (171sq km) it has always attracted tourists, including these smartly dressed chaps in 1870. Sadly, the glacier has lost almost two miles (3.2km) of its length since this photo was taken, and by 2100 scientists predict that it could shrink by a further eight miles (13km).

c.1870: Pompeii, Italy

People travel from all over the world to visit the vast archaeological site at Pompeii, drawn by the terrible story of a Roman city perfectly preserved under ash after Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. The labourers seen here worked for Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli.

Fiorelli became director of excavations in 1860 and is credited with bringing order and clarity to the process. It was also his idea to make casts of the poor souls who had perished by pouring plaster into the hollows formed in the volcanic ash where their bodies had disintegrated.

c.1870: Cologne Cathedral, Cologne, Germany

The studded Gothic spires of Cologne Cathedral boast one of the longest overall construction times in world history. The foundation stone was laid in 1248, but war and financial difficulty caused constant disruption.

The building was practically abandoned during the Reformation in the 16th century, and it would be 300 years before a pair of plucky architects took up the mantle once again, using drawings that were already five centuries old. After 632 years the cathedral was finally completed in 1880, roughly a decade after this photo was taken.

1880: Sorrento, Italy

These days, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast have become cluttered with bars and hotels offering Aperol spritzes as the sun sets over the Tyrrhenian Sea. But back when this photo was taken, it was still a place of quiet reflection for the likes of Byron, Keats, Goethe, Nietzsche, Ibsen and Ivanhoe author Sir Walter Scott. After the construction of the first coastal road connecting its colourful villages and towns in the mid-19th-century, it began to draw visitors on the classic Grand Tour, and its tourist appeal has never waned.

1880: Carros de cesto, Madeira, Portugal

Wicker basket sledges known as carros de cesto have been carrying people down the steep slope from the hilltop village of Monte to the streets of Livramento in Madeiran capital Funchal since the 1850s. The baskets are mounted on two wooden runners that are greased with tallow to make them go faster and guided by drivers called carreiros.

Today, the sledges provide a thrilling ride for tourists. But back when this photo was taken in 1880, they were a necessary way of getting from A to B in Madeira – very quickly!

1884: Temple of Apollo, Corinth, Greece

This photo of a lone visitor at the Temple of Apollo in Corinth, in the Peloponnese region of Greece, is truly evocative of a time past. It was taken in 1884, 12 years before excavations on the site of the ancient Greek city of Corinth began, led by a group of American archaeologists based in Athens. The excavations revealed the remains of other temples, villas, a theatre, shops, public baths, pottery factories, a gymnasium and a large triumphal arch, confirming the city’s importance in the ancient world.

c.1885: Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK

This imposing concert hall in Kensington was built as a tribute to Queen Victoria’s late husband, Prince Albert, and opened in 1871. For over 150 years it has played host to concerts and performances by everyone from Jimmi Hendrix to Adele, and, of course, the famous BBC Proms.

In 1901, the Royal Albert Hall also hosted the world’s first bodybuilding contest, just 16 years after this photo was taken. Contestants posed in leopard-skin outfits and were judged by Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

1886: Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany

This fairytale castle famously influenced the design of castles in early Disney movies – and by extension the modern Disney logo. But its real-life history is much less magical. It was built on the orders of King Ludwig II of Bavaria – a dreamer sometimes known as 'the mad king' – with a deliberately medieval aesthetic atop a vertiginous rocky ridge.

Construction started in 1869 and Ludwig hoped, extremely optimistically, to move in within three years. He died in 1886 – the year this photo was taken – with much of the building still obscured by scaffolding.

1887: Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

It’s hard to believe now, but when the Eiffel Tower was finally completed in 1889, it was not loved by everyone. In fact, the French novelist Leon Bloy called it a "truly tragic street lamp".

The general public disagreed, with just under two million of them climbing the tower the year it was opened. Now considered a symbol not just of Paris but of France as well, the Eiffel Tower attracts nearly seven million visitors a year.

More fascinating facts from the incredible true story of the Eiffel Tower

c.1890: Sankt Goarshausen, Germany

Sankt Goarshausen is a pretty town set on the banks of the Rhine in the Middle Rhine Valley of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is watched over by the imposing Katz castle, built by Count Wilhelm II of Katzenelnbogen in the 14th century.

Today, it is a popular stopping point for river cruises, along with Lorelei on the opposite shore. When this photo was taken sometime around 1890 the castle was still in ruins after being bombarded by Napoleon in 1806.

1890s: Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France

The Palace of Versailles was the principal residence of the French kings from the time of Louis XIV to Louis XVI and was so ornate that it was considered the model of the ideal royal residence for over a century. After the French Revolution, it was decided that the palace should become a museum devoted 'to all the glories of France', and it was first opened to the public in 1837. Here we see a scattering of visitors in the 1890s, but today there are many more – close to 15 million each year.

1890s: Caernarfon Castle, Caernarfon, Wales, UK

Sitting on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, Caernarfon Castle forms an imposing backdrop to the natural harbour at the mouth of the River Seiont.

The castle was built in 1283 on the orders of King Edward I, and was besieged three times during the English Civil War in the 17th century. It finally surrendered to Parliamentarian forces in 1646, and by the time this photo was taken in the 1890s it had fallen into disrepair. Extensive restoration and conservation work saw the castle go on to become one of Wales' most popular tourist attractions.

c.1890: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey

This photo taken of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul by photographer Jean Pascal Sebah in the 1890s is proof of how little things really change. To this day its vaulted interior remains beautiful and richly decorated.

Merchants still stand outside their stalls beckoning you to stop and peruse their goods. And cafés still serve strong Turkish coffee and offer hookah pipes to suck on. The only differences are the goods on sale. Souvenir fezzes and ‘I Heart Istanbul’ T-shirts were few and far between in the 19th century.

1890: Canals of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The picturesque canals and colourful merchant houses of Amsterdam may be Instagram-friendly today, but when this photo was taken in 1890 the famous city was spiralling into decline. The Dutch Golden Age of the 17th and 18th centuries was well and truly over and international conflicts with England and France were taking their toll. Thankfully the arrival of railways and the opening of new museums at the start of the 20th century put the city back on the path to the prosperity it enjoys today.

1890: Coffee houses, Vienna, Austria

Vienna’s gilded coffee houses are so integral to the fabric of the city and its history that, in 2011, UNESCO added Viennese Coffee House Culture to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. With their intricate Baroque interiors, marble-topped tables and ritualistic waiter service, these were places to discuss ideas and philosophise, not just drink coffee and eat Sachertorte.

Here we see a group of local intellectuals in a Vienna café discussing the politics of the day in 1890. Or perhaps discussing whose turn it was to pay the bill...

1890: Nyhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark

Nyhavn is a colourful waterfront area in Copenhagen that dates back to the 17th century and is today one of the city’s liveliest entertainment districts. Its brightly-coloured old townhouses are home to bars, cafés and restaurants, while historical wooden schooners sit anchored against the wharf. Little has changed since this photo was taken in 1890, except that the traditional ships were brand-new working vessels, and the rowdy bars were full of sailors celebrating survival on the rollicking waves of the treacherous North Sea.

1890: Waterfront, Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is the European city that seems to be topping everybody’s wish lists at the moment and it’s not hard to see why. The colourful Portuguese capital is bursting with history, charm, authentic cuisine and the haunting sounds of the local fado music.

Built on a beautiful natural harbour, it was a key starting point for the navigators who set off to explore the New World in the 16th century and returned bearing great treasures. But by 1890, when this photo was taken, the city’s golden age had long passed.

1894: Tower Bridge, London, England, UK

Tower Bridge in London is such an iconic part of the fabric of the English capital that it is hard to believe that it was only opened in 1894. Here we see the grand structure on the day of its inauguration on 30 June, when it was declared open by the Prince and Princess of Wales with great celebrations. It remains one of the most recognisable – and most photographed – attractions in London.

c.1895: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

Chaotic and intoxicating Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia and is a melting pot where East meets West. It has always been that way, as we see from this photo taken around 1895. Boatmen gather in the shadow of the city’s iconic Hagia Sophia mosque to transport people and goods from one continent to the other, a journey made so much easier today after the Bosphorus Bridge was opened in 1973.

1895: Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

Even before 30 million visitors began descending upon Venice each year, this magical city on the water was accustomed to crowds. Here we see gondolas crammed in front of the Rialto Bridge to celebrate one of the city’s fete days in 1895.

These flat-bottomed boats were once colourful and richly decorated but a law passed in the 16th century stated that all gondolas must be painted black, as competition between the local nobles to have the fanciest boat was deemed unseemly. They remain that shade to this day.

1895: Mundal, Vestland, Norway

Mundal is a small community that sits beside the water of Fjaerlandsfjorden. It was settled during the time of the Vikings and now serves as a base for hikers who walk the trails that branch out along the fjord and up the surrounding mountains.

Times were difficult when this photo was taken in 1895, and many of Mundal’s citizens chose to emigrate to America for a new life rather than farm the difficult soil. Among them were the family of Walter Mondale, US Vice President under Jimmy Carter, who opened Fjaerland's first road connection in 1986.

1897: Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa began tilting by the time the first storey was completed in 1178 and has been sloping an extra 0.05 inches (1.27mm) per year ever since, although efforts to stabilise it have reduced the incline.

That hasn’t stopped an estimated 500,000 people climbing the 251 steps to the bell tower each year. Or the nearly six million tourists who visit the Square of Miracles in front of the tower and have their photo taken pretending to hold it up. Photography was still a new-ish medium when this photo was taken in 1897, and the bemused locals simply looked straight at the camera.

1897: Promenade, Cannes, France

Boulevard de la Croisette stretches along the golden shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and is the heart of the glitz and glamour of modern-day Cannes. It’s home to France’s version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Chemin des Etoiles, where the great and good attending the Cannes International Film Festival leave an impression of their hand-print in the pavement. This photo taken in 1897 shows that it has always been a popular place to promenade, though back then there were far fewer people wearing a lot more clothes.

1897: Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK

No visit to London is complete without seeing Buckingham Palace. It has been the London residence of British monarchs since 1837 and the guards that protect it, wearing red uniforms and tall bearskin hats, are famous around the world.

This photo shows Queen Victoria reviewing a parade during her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The edifice appears darker than it is today; it was refaced in Portland stone in 1913 by Aston Webb to provide a fitting backdrop for a grand monument to Queen Victoria.

These are the oldest photos of the UK

1899: Canos de Carmona, Seville, Spain

The Canos de Carmona is a Roman aqueduct built during the 1st century BC to supply spring water to the ancient Roman city of Hispalis, or modern-day Seville. In its heyday it transported around 177,000 cubic feet (5,000 cubic metres) of water and was still being used in 1912, well after this photo was taken. The aqueduct was demolished after locals complained it was being used as a haven for criminals, and today only three small segments survive.

c.1900: Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain

These days tourists flock to the Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastián for its thriving foodie scene, moving from one pintxo bar to the next before heading to one of the city's award-winning restaurants or fabled food societies. But when this photo was taken at the turn of the 20th century, it was the curative powers of its sea waters that drew visitors, including European royalty. Here we see the first Royal Bath House, built in 1894 and enjoyed by Queen María Cristina of Habsburg-Lorraine, the second wife of Alfonso XII.

1900: Mont-Saint-Michel, France

Those that have queued for hours to visit Mont-Saint-Michel in sweltering summer heat would give anything for a scene such as this, taken on the beach in front of the medieval abbey at the turn of the century. These days, that same stretch of sand sees up to 2.5 million visitors a year line up to shuffle through its narrow lanes and inch along its ramparts. Such is the overcrowding that, in 2023, the French government actively campaigned for tourists to visit other parts of the country instead.

1900: Windmills of Zaandijk, The Netherlands

For visitors to rural areas like Zaandijk in Zaanstad, traditional windmills make for an evocative backdrop to holiday photos, especially if they are surrounded by tulips. But when this photo was taken in 1900, they were used to help control and prevent flooding in the region, pumping water out of the lowlands and back into the rivers beyond the dikes so that workers like this young lad could farm the land.

1903: The Acropolis, Athens, Greece

Frederic Boissonnas was a Swiss photographer who fell in love with Greece and its people and made it his life’s work to capture the country on film. He made several trips to the mainland and islands between 1903 and 1933. The images Boissonnas took, like this one of the Acropolis in 1903, helped to raise awareness of the country across Europe, effectively kickstarting the Greek tourist industry, and to preserve images of local life and labour that would otherwise have been lost to time.

1905: St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

As you shuffle your way through St Peter’s Basilica with the 25,000 other daily visitors, it can be easy to overlook what a mind-blowing sight this mighty place of worship must have been when it was completed in 1615. For close to 400 years, St Peter’s was the largest church in Christendom. Here, viewed from the Tiber near Castel Sant'Angelo in 1905, it appears like a beacon of light in otherwise bleak surroundings.

1905: La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Construction had already been underway for 23 years when this photo was taken beside the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 1905. Designed by eccentric Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, it remains the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. It was Gaudí’s most audacious and spectacular creation, with the current scheduled finish date set for 2026 – the centenary of his death.

1907: Montmartre, Paris, France

Now a charming quarter full of cafés and patisseries, the Parisian suburb of Montmartre was once a rustic village where people eked out a modest existence. It was blighted by a huge gypsum quarry (now Montmartre Cemetery), which kept rents low and attracted the less fortunate, who could not afford the ever-increasing cost of living in Paris. Among them were artists like Modigliani, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso and Van Gogh, who all set up studios here, creating the bohemian atmosphere that visitors so love today.

1910: Old Town, Dubrovnik, Croatia

At times, it can feel like every tourist in Europe is crammed into the old walled city of Dubrovnik in Croatia, especially during the summer. Thanks to the city’s undeniable beauty – and starring role in the smash hit TV series Game of Thrones – the 'Pearl of the Adriatic', as it was dubbed by Lord Byron, welcomes around 1.25 million tourists each year.

It wasn’t always this way. When this photo was taken in 1910, Dubrovnik was still known by its historic name of Ragusa, and was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

1930s: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is the jewel of Germany’s famous Romantic Road – a biscuit-tin jumble of brightly painted half-timber houses, cobbled streets and market squares, all enclosed within sturdy walls.

Roughly two million people squeeze into the town’s tiny flagstone lanes each year, mostly on day trips. It’s a far cry from the 1930s when this photo was taken, and farmers would still drive their cattle through the centre of the town.

1935: Palma, Majorca, Spain

Before hotels and mass tourism arrived on Spain’s magical Balearic Islands in the 1950s, Majorca's unique culture had changed very little over the centuries. This 1930s photo shows women dressed in traditional costume with striped shawls and 'rebozillo' headscarves, a common sight until tourism began to develop on the island under Spain’s fascist regime as a much-needed source of revenue.

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