Tourism Free areas.

The thing with many places is pick your timing. May Sept for many places in Europe. Last time i was in Madrid was mid September and there was a noticable differnece in the crowds. Weather was fabulous too still high 20s.
If you go to Iceland avoid the Blue Lagoon. It's crazy there are plenty of other natural hot springs to go to which are just a nice if not nicer.

There are ways to control it.

In Tokyo, there's an area which is a series of alleys and has loads of tiny bars (seating max. Ten people) on it. However, every bar has cover charges for foreigners and some of the bars are 'members only'. Some even flat out say 'no foreigners'. I wasn't paying a tenner to go into that so it worked.in my case.

In Cinque Terre national park they are now controlling the number of tourists that enter it every year. Thank God 'cos when I went there it was bursting at the seams.

It's all down to the human need to do something different which ironically is doing the same as millions of others.

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I’m down in Galway for the weekend. The place is still overrun with tourists (and crusties, but that’s for another thread). It got me thinking - should we create tourist free zones in cities?

The Italian government have admitted that Rome, Venice, and Florence have reached bursting point due to mass tourism. Dublin is becoming a city of hotels, and we have had to implement controls on short term apartment lets. Galleries and public spaces are inundated with hoards of Asian tourists bumping into people as they follow a person waving a flag. The whole thing has become a bit of a rat race to be honest.

Would local only pubs, streets, areas be a good idea? I can see the merit to be honest.

I'm fairly sure refusing someone from a pub based on nationality is illegal. We're not England in the 1950's

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I’m a proud Galwegian, Mattie. As local as Warty Nora drinking buck fast down the Spanish Arch and fighting Knacker Dwarf in Supermacs afterwards.

So you're a tourist in Dublin?

??

Tourists usually only congregate in certain areas of a city. In Galway its mostly just the city centre and lower salthill, you won't find many tourists in Rahoon or Upper Newcastle. In NYC it's mostly lower Manhattan and you certainly won't find many in say long Island city even though its a stones throw from midtown Manhattan. in New Orleans its French Quarter, in shanghai its the bund and so on.

If you visit Rome, Venice etc in middle of summer expect it to be packed. Visit in January or February when weather is nicer than our summer and there are barely any tourists or queues for big sites.

TuringBot47 wrote: »

Privileging cars?
Regardless of tourism, Dublin needs people who work and shop there and cars are a large part of that. There's plenty of people that aren't serviced adequately by a quality public transport system and pay extra to commute by car, or want to bring the car on saturday to shop.

It's easy to walk around Dublin, it's compact.
The only thing you're missing is patience.
Saunter around Dublin at leisure, take in the streets, don't worry about the traffic lights. The only change necessary is your state of mind.

Everywhere is well serviced in Dublin by bus, especially on saturdays it is completely viable as there isnt as much traffic.You can also cycle, or drive to a train or luas and park beside it. Really youre just trying to justify your own personal preference for driving in and everyone else having to suffer the presence of your enormous loud car dominating the city. if cars were banned from dublin city centre in the morning business and shopping would do just fine, in fact theyd probably flourish further.

Cars are a big problem in Dublin. Have you lived in any other mainland european cities? Dublins not the worst in that regard, thankfully city council are beginning to ban cars more and more from city centre streets, hopefully in a few years the entire city will be completely car free

riclad wrote: »

I do,nt think we are yet at the point where we are over run with tourist,s
,in some places in spain and italy local people are complaining,
there,s so many tourists people can hardly go for a walk or go shopping .
Air travel is cheaper than 10 years ago,
china is booming, millions of chinese tourist,s want to travel to europe ,
and they like to spend money.i cannot see car,s being banned from the city centre , the council need,s to collect business rates ,shops need customers .
IF people with cars cannot drive to the city centre ,they,ll shop online
or go to local shopping centre,s .
Theres already dozens of empty shops in the city center.
I think the long term plan is switch to electric car,s ,in 10 years time,
petrol or diesel car,s may be banned .

Where? Dublins retail economy is doing extraordinarily well and retail unit letting in the core commercial area is certainly very close to 100%.Even if you literally meant a dozen or so thats obviously a very tiny amount in a city the size of dublin. I guarantee you it would sustain if cars were banned completely and many cafes and bars and resttaurants would get much more service as their patrons could spill onto the streets. Maybe youd have a point in smaller towns, but dublin is a world of its own in this regard, not only does it not need cars, it would thrive without them

Seamai wrote: »

We decided to give dinner out there's miss and instead stopped in Salerno which was blissfully tourist free before returning to the chaos but local chaos in Naples.

Salerno is a little gem and yes thankfully largely overlooked by tourists. Long may it stay that way.

Best pizzas in the world there too.

2 examples , on a side street near mountjoy sq, there,s 3 small shops ,boarded up.
There,s a new apartment building 8 minutes walk from o,connell street
,at the ground floor theres a retail space for rent .
It has a large sign ,retail space for rent, phone no, ,... etc
Its been vacant for 12 months since the building was completed .
I,m talking about small shop,s in minor side streets .
i know grafton st, henry st is booming.
i read article in a paper ,has dublin too many cafe,s , restaurants .
it says many small shops are closing , they cannot compete with
online stores or amazon.
Why drive into the city centre to buy books or cd,s ,
just click on a website ,order online.
It says many streets have mostly restaurants, cafe,s , fast food outlets,

Small shops that sell book,s , cds are almost extinct in dublin.
if i cycled around dublin i could find dozen,s of small shops
that are boarded up.

Anyone who travels to a different country distant from their home is a tourist,
unless they are paid to do so like a soldier or a journalist.

Answer where ?, parnell st, side streets near mountjoy sq ,
many streets within a mile of the gpo,
walk or cyle around and see what you find.
An adventurer is a person who goe,s off the beaten track, to places or area,s where there are not 1000,s of tourist,s and doe,s not stay in 4 star hotels .

Yurt! wrote: »

If you think Dublin is a pedestrian friendly city compared to cities like Utrecht or Copenhagen, well, you haven't left your postcode all that often and it's a bit difficult to take you seriously

I'm well traveled and have been in Utrecht, a lovely university town with cafes along the sunken/recessed canal that goes through it.
So your presumption of me is way off.
I would've said Prague or Leuven were more pedestrianised.

But you're hardly comparing like for like. Comparing an old town with a capital city which also happens to be a major port and financial centre.

I've used public transport for 10 years, it sucks.
Long queues, pushing and shoving to get on, delays, strikes, anti social behaviour.
Then add to that if you have kids and a load of shopping in tow.

I didn't say Dublin was pedestrian friendly, but if you have an impatient state of mind it will feel worse.

Depends on where you go.
Henry st and Grafton st are pedestrianised.