Escape the Holiday Travel Nightmares - 10 Cities to Avoid This Season
Escape the Holiday Travel Nightmares - 10 Cities to Avoid This Season - Overrun with Tourists - Venice
Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy, which can make visiting during the busy holiday season an overwhelming experience. The city's winding canals, gondola rides, and historic architecture draw over 20 million visitors per year - all crammed into a small island city built for far fewer people.
During the winter holidays, Venice's usual crowds multiply as tourists flock in for a Christmas market stroll or to ring in the new year. The congested streets and packed water buses make it difficult to take in the magic of the City of Bridges. You'll spend more time queuing up than soaking in the atmosphere.
Fellow travelers venting on forums complain of two-hour waits just to get into St. Mark's Basilica or the Doge's Palace. Museums reach capacity early in the day, causing many visitors to miss out altogether. The lines at the Rialto Bridge spiral out of control as waves of cruise ship passengers disembark straight into the tourist traps.
And the crowds aren't just an inconvenience - they're damaging Venice itself. The weight of all those footsteps accelerates wear and tear on historic buildings. Air pollution rises. Locals find themselves squeezed out of their city. UNESCO has threatened to add Venice to its endangered heritage site list if overtourism isn't better managed.
During the winter holidays, hotels jack up prices to take advantage of peak demand. An affordable room is hard to find last-minute. Restaurant reservations book out months in advance. You'll pay a premium to ride in a gondola or even just sit down for a coffee.
Venturing outside the main tourist zone offers little reprieve, as day trippers flood the back alleys hunting for Instagrammable shots. With so many bodies packed into narrow streets, pickpockets thrive. As evening falls, you'll be flanked by tipsy revelers no matter which direction you turn.
Escape the Holiday Travel Nightmares - 10 Cities to Avoid This Season - Expensive Airfare - London
With its iconic landmarks, world-class museums, and festive holiday markets, London shines even brighter during the winter season. But those eyeing a London holiday should gird themselves for sticker shock when booking flights.
Airfares to London spike in December, with roundtrip tickets running two or three times higher than during the off-season. Budget carriers like Norwegian Air offer some relief, but their bare-bones basic economy fares come with brutal baggage restrictions. Saving money means packing light and skipping frills.
Avoiding peak holiday dates could score significant savings, but London draws travelers year-round. Even January and February tickets run high. Transatlantic demand buoys prices, as Americans aim for quick weekend getaways while Brits living abroad long for a taste of home.
Digging deeper provides cost-cutting opportunities. Searching major London airports like Heathrow and Gatwick turns up the priciest offerings, given their prime locations. But expanding your search to Stansted, Luton, London City, and Southend can uncover more budget-friendly options. The tradeoff is those airports’ farther distances from central London, but train and coach connections trim the inconvenience.
Redeeming airline miles provides another money-saving tactic, though award space runs scarce over the holidays. Consider sweet spots like British Airways' distance-based award chart, where a off-peak Atlanta-London roundtrip costs just 30,000 Avios plus reasonable fuel surcharges.
Partner awards, like Delta to Virgin Atlantic, also hold promise. And don't forgetcash + points options, which let you pay a portion in cash and redeem a smaller amount of miles. Every mile and pound saved counts when London airfares skyrocket.
Flexibility also proves key. Shifting your dates by a few weeks before or after the holiday rush can lead to hundreds in savings. Contrary to popular belief, airlines don't always jack up fares for last-minute, midweek flights. Staying open to flying at less convenient times often pays dividends.
Escape the Holiday Travel Nightmares - 10 Cities to Avoid This Season - Endless Security Lines - Atlanta
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport frequently tops the list of world's busiest airports, handling over 100 million passengers annually. Many of those travelers just pass through ATL en route to other destinations. But the huge volumes create headaches for Atlanta-origination holiday travelers, who find themselves swallowed in endless TSA security lines.
What transforms security queues from a nuisance to a nightmare are the crowds of infrequent fliers. Families traveling once or twice a year aren't experts at efficiently removing shoes, separating liquids, and loading bins. Their unfamiliarity with procedures drags out the process, even with TSA PreCheck lanes available. Don't expect surly frequent flier road warriors to lend you a hand - they'll be too busy elbowing their way to the fast track.
TSA staffing shortages only exacerbate Atlanta's holiday congestion. Congress caps TSA staff counts, meaning the agency can't rapidly scale up for peak seasons. With more travelers funneled through static checkpoints, queues stretch out interminably. Signage pointing you to a "short line" offers false hope. There's no such thing as short when thousands flood the hallways.
Arriving excessively early helps avoid the worst holiday crowds. But who wants to cool their heels landside for 3+ hours before a flight? One traveler recounted her 90 minute early arrival in Atlanta resulting in a pathetically slow shuffle to her gate. Had she dallied any longer at IHOP, she'd have missed her connection. Such uncertainty breeds anxiety.
Some pin hopes on Atlanta's new security lanes using CT technology scanners. But their limited rollout will hardly dent holiday demands, especially if the glitchy units bog down processing. Until then, sardine-can conditions remain the norm at ATL.
If Atlanta connects you to your final destination, consider lobbying your airline for an alternative connection point. Even if it adds a stop, the time savings from dodging ATL's endless security waits could justify an itinerary switch. Pack your patience if you've no alternative but to face the seasonal chaos. Distract antsy kids and chat up your line neighbors - you'll forge holiday travel camaraderie in the congestion.
Escape the Holiday Travel Nightmares - 10 Cities to Avoid This Season - Gridlocked Highways - Los Angeles
The endless ribbons of freeway defining Los Angeles seem tailor-made for holiday gridlock. With visitors flocking in to soak up the California sun and locals clogging roads on shopping expeditions, LA's congestion shifts into overdrive come December. You'll quickly grow weary sitting stalled in traffic instead of strolling sunny strands.
Prime holiday attractions like Rodeo Drive and the Grove LA teem with crowds gawking at elaborate decorations and jostling for parking spots. Metro light rail reaches many sites, but connections require long walks that deter visitors weighted down by shopping bags. Rideshares surge in demand, with drivers canceling on you once mired in snarled roadways.
Locals try to avoid venturing far, knowing cross-town drives at peak times top two hours. Holiday parties fill calendars, but hosts advise reaching homes before early afternoon. Lingering over brunch risks being trapped on jammed freeways well past sundown. Abandoning vehicles is not unheard of.
Visitors naive to Los Angeles' sprawl plan packed sightseeing schedules spanning Santa Monica, Hollywood, and points between. But underestimating drive times proves folly. Savvy guests allow double the normal duration and avoid peak rush hours altogether. Moving in convoys with LA-dwelling friends helps navigate complex freeways and swift exits.
Palm tree-lined urban streets offer beauty but no open road respite. Stoplights every block make drag racing down Robertson or Wilshire more annoying than awe-inspiring. Pedestrian safety initiatives shorten crossing times, leaving you drumming steering wheels impatiently. The allure of cruising LA boulevards swiftly fades in the face of excruciatingly slow reality.
Escape the Holiday Travel Nightmares - 10 Cities to Avoid This Season - Frigid Temperatures - Chicago
Chicago glistens with holiday magic when dusted in snow and twinkling lights. But the Windy City’s bite can be brutally cold for those hoping to stroll Michigan Avenue or explore beyond downtown. Subzero temperatures and piercing winds often leave visitors shivering their way between attractions instead of reveling in the spirit of the season.
Locals sport parkas while trotting to work or waiting on platforms, but many visitors are caught flat footed in fashionable yet flimsy pea coats and leather jackets. Gloves, scarves, and wool socks get left behind by guests expecting sweater weather. Standing outdoors for the tree lighting ceremony or to watch the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival Parade becomes a lesson in endurance. Fingers rapidly grow numb clutching cameras and hot chocolates.
Venturing to iconic landmarks like Cloud Gate and the Lincoln Park Zoo exposes you to the full force of Chicago’s winter. The lakeside locale intensifies the cold: like the city isn’t nicknamed the Windy City for nothing. Temperatures feel far more frigid whipping across the open expanses of Grant Park or along Navy Pier. Exposed skin stings in the whipping gusts.
Locals try to dissuade holiday guests from long stints outdoors, instead pushing them to experience Chicago indoors. But you can only spend so many hours museum hopping and cocktailing at the Signature Room before cabin fever sets in. Hearty Midwesterner residents underestimate how oppressive continual shivering becomes for those not seasoned by Chicago winters.
By late December, many central Illinois towns average highs around freezing and lows in the teens. Factor in winds up to 60 mph off the lake, and Chicago’s “real feel” plunges far below zero. Holiday carolers and ice skaters risk frostbite on exposed ears and noses. Thawing out afterwards requires lingering in crowded, steamy cafés and pubs.
Escape the Holiday Travel Nightmares - 10 Cities to Avoid This Season - Cancelations Galore - Denver
Denver's location in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains blesses it with spectacular scenery but curses it with fickle winter weather. The Mile High City averages over 60 inches of snow annually, but holiday snow totals fluctuate wildly from year to year. Unpredictable storm tracks keep meteorologists guessing and airlines scrambling when flakes start falling. For holiday travelers, that often means disruptive flight cancelations that leave your Denver getaway plans up in the air.
Winter storms barreling down from Canada collide with moist Gulf air over the Denver metro area. The mixture produces prodigious snowfall that rapidly piles up on airport runways. As soon as visibility plummets and accumulations hit a few inches, the domino effect begins - the FAA mandates ground delay programs that soon turn into outright cancellations. Like that, your nonstop DIA flight transforms into a ticket to nowhere fast.
Travelers tell tales of hour upon hour wasted at the United and Frontier gates, only to surrender and trudge back down DIA's lengthy concourses. Some arrived at the airport before dawn, fought through check-in and security, and settled in at the gate with magazines and overpriced snacks. As hoped-for departure times came and went, optimism gave way to resignation. Eventually, gate agents corralled the restless crowds and announced blanket cancellations.
Front Range storms in recent years have forced DIA to completely shut down for multiple days straight. Thousands found themselves suddenly stranded, with all flights suspended until crews could clear the snow. Passengers slept on terminal floors when nearby hotels filled up. Rental cars vanished instantly, as others had the same escape idea. The train to downtown ceased operations too on some occasions.
Even smaller storms that only delay flights by a few hours create aggravations for travelers with tight itineraries. Misconnections abound as late inbound planes trigger cascading delays. Missing your international connection in Dallas or Chicago means waiting days for the next flight out. Holiday travelers have missed cruises, weddings, and family gatherings due to DIA storms.
Checking your airline's winter weather waiver in advance provides some protection by allowing rebooking without change fees. But reprotection comes with no guarantees - you're at the mercy of seat availability and agent generosity. Travel insurances specifically covering winter storms offer more robust cancelation and reimbursement provisions.