22 tips for avoiding crowds at classic travel icons

Hop in an air balloon at sunrise before Teotihuacan opens (Dreamstime)

“I always travel in the shoulder season. I entered Park Güell in Barcelona at 7am and I had the whole place for myself for an hour.”

— Kate Hipkins

“Take advantage of your jet lag! Instead of trying to sleep, go on morning hikes and enjoy sunrises without tourists blocking your view.”

— Helena Lamers

“We always get up extra early to arrive before crowds start to gather and take breakfast with us to eat in case we have to queue.”

— Kellie Stanness-Witcher

“Early birds catch the worm and not the crowds – try to arrive as early as possible. If you need to buy tickets, do so prior to the day of visit.”

— Deborah Mead

Visit the Sistine Chapel when everyone else is busy listening to the Pope on a Wednesday morning (Dreamstime)

“The shrine Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto is beautiful. If you arrive when it’s busy, keep walking uphill and under the torii gates – most people give up after a while, so you can get some great photos.”

— Sue Stones

“The further from Beijing you get, the fewer crowds at the Great Wall, so try to visit a section of wild wall as it’s hardest to hike these parts.”

— Louise Clarkson

“Choose a day when there are lots of other events at another tourist attraction and your place will be empty. I also go really early or really late.”

– Adam Gleave

“I visited Petra during a World Cup football match and it was less crowded since everyone was watching the games.”

— Helga Boom

Avoid the crowds at Saint Mark’s Basilica by attending Sunday mass (Shutterstock)

“Ask around. A local told me to go to sulphur springs in Saint Lucia as they closed, when they let locals in for free and there’s fewer people.”

— Reggie Williams

Find yourself a guide, someone who was brought up locally rather than a tourism operator. You can usually find one through recommendations on TripAdvisor, and they will know the perfect time to avoid crowds. Had one in Venice and he was irreplaceable!

— Louise Frances

“Utilise the knowledge of a local (acquaintance, friend or guide). Once gained entrance to the Colosseum in Rome via the builders’ entrance, skipped all the massive lines of other tourists waiting outside.”

— John Mulligan

Caroline Lywood enjoying the quiet side of Angkor Wat (Caroline Lywood)

“Hike in the back way, via Little Petra. You arrive at the Monastery, then clamber down the 800 steps to the city – the views are amazing.”

— Claire Gray

“Use your angles. The outlying buildings and the mosque have amazing views without being overcrowded. Also, try to resist ‘sheep syndrome’ – hanging around places where a lot of other people are. Just because everyone is there doesn’t mean it’s any better than that which you can find yourself.”

— Melanie Marti

“If visiting the Grand Canyon head for the North Rim rather than the south (only open late May to early October). It gets only 10% of the visitors that the south receives, and the views are if anything more awesome because you are higher.”

— Sarah Wilkie

Walking the Camino de Santiago in Autumn will mean it will be much quieter (Shutterstock)

Reader Jane Nimmo in Banff National Park (Jane Nimmo)