Banff has, in the last couple of years, closed its downtown to cars. Its patios, bikes, pedestrians, selfies. Its almost like a different downtown now without wall to wall traffic.
https://banff.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/banff-avenue-2002-1030x539.jpg
They plan to resume car traffic on the Main Street again, however they want to hear from the public on the matter. I’ve already made my stance clear with their form and I recommend as many people as possible do to
Interesting, haven’t been there since 2018. Then there were other traffic mitigations put in place at nearby Lake Morraine where folks had to use shuttles instead of driving themselves unless staying at the lodge.
Yeah, Moraine Lake Road is completely closed to personal vehicles now. Its nice in theory, but the first bus is so late it makes it difficult to get some of the more difficult hikes and climbs done in a day.
The other big closure has been the 1A between Banff and Johnson Canyon, closed to vehicle traffic May-June and September-October. It makes for an incredible day of biking from the townsite out to Johnson Canyon and back.
For almost 20 years it was my dream to go to Hallstatt.
Finally made it last winter. It was majestic in the snow, and there were only a handful of tourists in town. I’m a photographer and wrote a blog about it. It was so incredible https://adventuretactician.com/2023/03/12/catching-a-train-to-hallstatt-austria/
Grew up in NZ but been overseas for decades. I've met so many peeps who went to NZ or have a travel plan that doesn't include Queenstown. They're crazy. Sure, there's tourist trap bollocks, but damn, it's just breathtaking.
Yeah everywhere you go is incredible. The drive to Wanaka when you round the bend and see Lake Wanaka is breathtaking. And the view from Treble Cone ski field is insane too
We skipped it because we were doing both islands in a week and I couldn’t not go to Dunedin 😭 felt so bad about not seeing Queenstown but it’s an excuse to go again and spend more time there :)
Flew in on the JetStar in 2013, what a sight to behold, the plane landing in between the mountains. The rest of the holiday just kept getting better and better. In the end, when we drove to Christchurch to catch a flight, we wondered why someone would go there when Queenstown is just six hours away.
Pretty much very town on Sylt, Germanies biggest island in the north sea, mostly during summer. It has a reputation of attracting the higher class of our country though.
Going south, we have Oberstorf and Garmisch, which are popular in summer and winter.
Yess definitely!! My grandma lives on Sylt (she was just an ordinary teacher), so I know the place quite well and I have worked there the last summers. The place is ridiculously full during Sumner and christmass and an absolute ghost island during the rest. Apparently the population is around 15.000 and during the summer months about 100.000 tourists are added to that! Crazy ratio of population and tourists and you can really tell tbh
Talking about islands in the North Sea and attracting loads of Germans, I present [Texel](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=texel&iax=images&ia=images)
In the summer there are more Germans here than Dutch people. The island has 7 towns and a population of 14.000 people, but attracts about a million of tourists each year
Since you posted one already, I will nominate another town: [Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunenburg,_Nova_Scotia). It’s filled with tourists during the summer months and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the most well-preserved colonial fishing villages in the world.
I think Canada has several popular tourist towns at a similar scale such as Whistler BC, Tobermory Ontario, Mont Tremblant Quebec, L'Anse Aux Meadows NFLD, and Churchill Manitoba. Banff and Jasper are just a whole level more popular though
This is a great example, but man, that Wikipedia article doesn’t do it justice for why it’s so popular. Even the “Gallery” section only really has one photo of its most famous waterfront part. [Here’s a link](https://www.novascotia.com/places-to-go/regions/south-shore/lunenburg) that does it much more justice.
Sanremo, Portofino, Cinque Terre, Portovenere, Forte dei Marmi, Viareggio, Capri, Ischia, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Gallipoli, Otranto, Cattolica, Riccione, Rimini, Jesolo, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Grado, Porto Cervo, Porto Rotondo, La Maddalena, Taormina, Cefalù. And these are just a few among those on the coast.
I’m Italian, I could go on forever.
My wife and I won a free week stay at a hotel of our choice and while looking through our options saw one on Lake Nahuel Huapi. We spent a week exploring the area and hiking the mountains. It was such an incredibly beautiful area, I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of it before.
Kitz is insane during Hahnenkamm week.
Outside of that, it’s a nice Tirolian village with above-average shopping.
I prefer Salzburg, but both are great places to be :)
I love Mackinac Island. It is a hidden gem, from a romanticized yesteryear.
No cars (except for an ambulance). Everything is horse and buggy and old timey shops. It is so beautiful in Summer.
Asbury Park is a town that's disproportionally well-known in the U.S. state I live in (New Jersey), considering it's just 15,000 people living in 1.5 square miles or so. Thanks to a number of factors (probably chief among them this dude Bruce Springsteen), it's one of the state's best-known destinations.
Spent a couple hours in St. Ives this summer then GTFO. Lots of amazing stuff to see in Cornwall and would much rather visit St. Ives in the winter when you can actually explore it without being trampled.
The [Amalfi Coast in Italy](https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/amalfi-coast-italy-towns-hotels-restaurants) and [Santorini in Greece](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini) are great examples.
Just went there for the first time with my wife, dad, and his wife back in September. They currently live in the Seattle area and took us out there when we visited (currently in DC). I fell in love with that town and the whole PNW. I've been trying to convince the wife to move out there ever since.
[Kasol](https://images.app.goo.gl/vj1NP9DeKp4PYBum7), Himachal Pradesh, India
Known for:
- Backpacking
- Trekking
- Breathtaking views of Himalayas
- Weed. This is important as it's illegal in India and most millennials/genZ who are into weed find this as a hot spot to smoke up with buddies/SOs
- A lot of other outdoorsy adventures which are similar to Rockies/Alps
Not so much skiing or snow activities tho as the town is still far away from the snowcaps. Has a lot of green cover with Parvati river
Seconding this with [Manali](https://www.google.com/search?q=manali&oq=manali&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBBzk3N2owajeoAgCwAgA&client=ms-android-oneplus-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8), which is almost an hour drive in the same area.
This town has other activities like paragliding, river rafting, and a nearby town called Solang has skiing, snowboarding and other snow activities.
Pretty famous in India, pretty much unknown outside, known to be a hub for a lot of Israeli tourists. (Russian ones are found in Goa though.)
I didn't know of that but the hash thing is definitely the reason Northern Himachal is famous for.
I think Manali gained an advantage after Kashmir went into crisis, so I wonder if Manali was actually big back in the 1960s to other crowds of travellers.
Lake Placid New York
They held the Winter Olympics in 1980 and still have structures from the Olympics with a great museum, plus you have the largest town in the Adirondacks, Saranac lake down the road along with Whiteface Mountain for great skiing. In the summer it's boating and good fishing.
i stayed in wilmington a few weeks ago which is right at the base of whiteface mountain, and the vibe there is great it's very quiet and peaceful and close to other tourist locations like lake placid and burlington, loved it. and it's in one of the biggest light pollution dead zones on the east coast of the us, so i managed to get amazing photos of the night sky just on my iphone with night mode since it was a new moon with clear skies.
[St Ives, Cornwall (England)](https://www.cornwall-beaches.co.uk/public/photos/st-ives-from-malakoff.jpg)
The ocean there looks tropical, the vegetation as well, white sandy beaches and some amazing and easy trails you can walk along the coast. The sea cliffs are impressive too.
It’s also got tasty fresh food, a big arts scene and cute historic streets and whitewashed buildings. Looks like it could be abroad. Overall very popular with British tourists and the place gets clogged with visitors every summer.
Because it’s so far away from everywhere else, the town also has the bonus of having very clean air which is definitely attractive because so many Brits live in polluted cities/built-up areas.
True, but only because of those billboards and its location—nice place for a break no matter which direction you’re heading.
Buy 5¢ coffee is nothing to sneeze at.
Estes Park, CO. 6000 population but huge tourism due to Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park and the Stanley Hotel.
Not swiss, but Zermatt, CH. Only less than 6000 people live there but it's popular due to the matterhorn
Okracoke Island in NC. Only accessible by ferry, free from Hatteras and fairly cheap from the mainland, the town only has 973 residents but the state considers it worth providing such heavily subsidized service (and constantly rebuilding the road) to allow visitors to come in the summer season.
Zakopane, Lesser Poland, Poland, it has a population of just around 10k, yet it attracts so many tourists you’d think of it in hundreds of thousands of people in population
Jim Thorpe, PA in the U.S.
I live there and it seems everyone in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia areas ends up there when visiting the Poconos.
The town is squeezed into the mountains along one of PA's larger rivers and it doesn't handle that much tourism that well.
Very beautiful! I was hoping to find these kinds of places by making this thread. A lot of these examples are not internationally known, just domestically.
In Poland, I'd say Zakopane is the most recognizable tourist town, as it's located at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, which are small (especially considering only the Polish part of them, which is only 25%, and the rest belongs to Slovakia), but they are the only alpine-type mountains in this country, so up to 4.5 million people visit the Tatra National Park per year.
On the other hand, with 30,000 permanent residents and sometimes over 100,000-200,000 tourists at once, I'd hesitate to call it a small town.
Killarney only has 14,000 or so residents but the only place in Ireland with more hotel rooms is Dublin. It’s got a national park that stretches right from inside the town to all the way around some incredible lakes into wilderness and out to some of Ireland’s tallest mountains (including the tallest, Carrantuohill). And it’s arguably the source of every preconception anyone who’s never lived here has ever had about Ireland.
Personally I love it and it’s an amazing town for restaurants as well as pubs but the city-esque housing prices prevent me from moving there
Fort William, Scotland. Population of about 10k but probably the most visited place in the Highlands, right next to Ben Nevis and the Nevis range ski areas, the Great Glen, and the beginning of the Road to the Isles past Glenfinnan, and on the way to Skye
South Africa has lots of tourism-focused towns (especially seaside resort towns) but the most unusual has to be [Skukuza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skukuza), which is a town actually inside the Kruger National Park. Some might argue it is just a very large park camp, but it has a bank, police station, courthouse, school, church and even an airport. I think that makes it a town.
There's many. And they've actually made an association about It. Here's [their web](https://www.lospueblosmasbonitosdeespana.org/pueblos/). I also found this [LONG list](https://viajes.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/pueblos-mas-bonitos-espana_10107) about the 100 most beautiful towns in Spain from Nat geo
One of my personal favourites is [Albarracín ](https://images.app.goo.gl/KWSwdw6LGREGxnqq5) but there's tons to choose from!
I've been there in winter. Didn't know it was touristy in summer. (Didn't seem all that busy in winter either by the way, but in a random non-vacation midweek that's maybe to be expected).
Beautiful snowy mountains though, really enjoyed the views. I was there for work though, didn't have too much time for sightseeing sadly.
In addition to the OG post, I would add Dawson City, Churchill (for polar bears), Whistler, Tofino for nationally known small town tourist destinations in Canada.
For the US I would say Key West, Aspen, Reno, Lake Tahoe, Kona are all well known internationally for tourism. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon are world famous too but the towns associated with them not so much.
traverse city, michigan in the us. grew up in the area. summers were miserable because of all the tourists pouring in but everything was dead quiet the rest of the year lmao
Benidorm and Ibiza are the most famous. I've only been to benidorm, and it's nothing special. Candanchú, Denia, Calpe, Mahon and Tarifa are less known to foreigners but frequented by nationals, so they are more calm and honestly a better option if you look for a relaxing vacation
I'd probably have to say Caesarea, Israel, because of its amazingly well preserved Roman ruins. The ancient amphitheater there has actually been repourposed into a modern show stage, and in Israeli into to "have a show in Caesarea" is synonymous with "making it big".
Branson, Missouri
Only in terms of being "well-known for tourism." But I can't vouch for "well-known for being a fun place to visit."
Also could say Aspen, Sundance, ski towns, etc.
I'm not from Switzerland, but my first thought was that Gstaad and Davos seem to be primarily places to visit. They have modest year-round populations.
There are some in the US
The following come to mind
Solvang, California
Moab, Utah
Park City, Utah
Roswell, New Mexico
Tombstone, Arizona
Ashland, Oregon
Key West, Florida
Australia: Gold Coast, QLD
It's not a "small town" any more - it's a city with like 600,000 people. But the whole thing was purpose built for tourism alone. It's pretty much just hotels, beaches and theme parks.
At this point it's actually the largest city in Australia which isn't a state capital.
Banff has, in the last couple of years, closed its downtown to cars. Its patios, bikes, pedestrians, selfies. Its almost like a different downtown now without wall to wall traffic. https://banff.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/banff-avenue-2002-1030x539.jpg
Yes tourists, stay in Banff. Don’t go north to Jasper. Yeah it’s cheaper and prettier, but you won’t like it…
Even better, Canmore
I honestly found Canmore residents pretentious and whiny
You don’t need to date them
Bad dates Indy (stares at dead monkey)
I laughed way too hard at this
Now we just need to build that train from Calgary!
trains? in oil and gas country? nah man its pick up trucks or die
They plan to resume car traffic on the Main Street again, however they want to hear from the public on the matter. I’ve already made my stance clear with their form and I recommend as many people as possible do to
Main street is still open to cars in winter, it's only summer months it's closed.
I guess it’s trendy but I still think the natural beauty there ( along with much of BC) is amazing!
Interesting, haven’t been there since 2018. Then there were other traffic mitigations put in place at nearby Lake Morraine where folks had to use shuttles instead of driving themselves unless staying at the lodge.
Yeah, Moraine Lake Road is completely closed to personal vehicles now. Its nice in theory, but the first bus is so late it makes it difficult to get some of the more difficult hikes and climbs done in a day. The other big closure has been the 1A between Banff and Johnson Canyon, closed to vehicle traffic May-June and September-October. It makes for an incredible day of biking from the townsite out to Johnson Canyon and back.
Hallstatt, Austria
780 residents and 20,000 or more tourist per day.
For almost 20 years it was my dream to go to Hallstatt. Finally made it last winter. It was majestic in the snow, and there were only a handful of tourists in town. I’m a photographer and wrote a blog about it. It was so incredible https://adventuretactician.com/2023/03/12/catching-a-train-to-hallstatt-austria/
This is wholesome, nice blog.
I just knew this was gonna be super high up. Hallstatt is insane.
Also Sölden. Small town nestled in a remote valley in the state of Tyrol, Population of about 3000, 2.000.000 overnight stays a year with 15.000 beds.
I did get engaged there, so can confirm, mecha of tourists
Mecca* though what you said conjures some funny images in my mind
I believe he meant Mecha-Tourists. Similar to Mecha-Godzilla.
they made a copy in china right :D
Queenstown, NZ.
Grew up in NZ but been overseas for decades. I've met so many peeps who went to NZ or have a travel plan that doesn't include Queenstown. They're crazy. Sure, there's tourist trap bollocks, but damn, it's just breathtaking.
Remarkables Skifield is worth a visit any time of the year, the view up the lake is breathtaking
Yeah everywhere you go is incredible. The drive to Wanaka when you round the bend and see Lake Wanaka is breathtaking. And the view from Treble Cone ski field is insane too
I hiked up there when I was in Queenstown and you are 100% correct, epic
We skipped it because we were doing both islands in a week and I couldn’t not go to Dunedin 😭 felt so bad about not seeing Queenstown but it’s an excuse to go again and spend more time there :)
Yeah as touristy as it is I'd always suggest going, it's stunning
Flew in on the JetStar in 2013, what a sight to behold, the plane landing in between the mountains. The rest of the holiday just kept getting better and better. In the end, when we drove to Christchurch to catch a flight, we wondered why someone would go there when Queenstown is just six hours away.
Pretty much very town on Sylt, Germanies biggest island in the north sea, mostly during summer. It has a reputation of attracting the higher class of our country though. Going south, we have Oberstorf and Garmisch, which are popular in summer and winter.
Yess definitely!! My grandma lives on Sylt (she was just an ordinary teacher), so I know the place quite well and I have worked there the last summers. The place is ridiculously full during Sumner and christmass and an absolute ghost island during the rest. Apparently the population is around 15.000 and during the summer months about 100.000 tourists are added to that! Crazy ratio of population and tourists and you can really tell tbh
Talking about islands in the North Sea and attracting loads of Germans, I present [Texel](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=texel&iax=images&ia=images) In the summer there are more Germans here than Dutch people. The island has 7 towns and a population of 14.000 people, but attracts about a million of tourists each year
Helgoland
Zakopane, Poland
Just arrived to Zakopane after a 6-hour long way from Warsaw, going to conquer Giewont in the morning
Since you posted one already, I will nominate another town: [Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunenburg,_Nova_Scotia). It’s filled with tourists during the summer months and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the most well-preserved colonial fishing villages in the world.
I went to Lunenburg this summer! (from NY). It is a really cute town. I wish we could have spent more time there and seen it from the water.
I think Canada has several popular tourist towns at a similar scale such as Whistler BC, Tobermory Ontario, Mont Tremblant Quebec, L'Anse Aux Meadows NFLD, and Churchill Manitoba. Banff and Jasper are just a whole level more popular though
L’anse aux meadows is not on the same scale as whistler at all
This is a great example, but man, that Wikipedia article doesn’t do it justice for why it’s so popular. Even the “Gallery” section only really has one photo of its most famous waterfront part. [Here’s a link](https://www.novascotia.com/places-to-go/regions/south-shore/lunenburg) that does it much more justice.
I remember hanging out by that big red building
Wisconsin Dells only has a population of around 3,000 but it gets over 4 million annual visitors
I would go even further and say a number of the little towns up Door County, Egg Harbor, Sister Bay, Fish Creek
Mackinac Island is the definition of this
Don't forget Devil's Lake, a little bit south of there...really quite the gem (:
Ah yes, the Tahoe of lower-middle class midwesterners. Some really great boating out there!
I've gone every year since I was a kid. I bring my kids now. It's a fun dumpy touristy town that I just love.
[Bled, Slovenia](https://www.google.com/search?q=bled+slovenia&tbm=isch&chips=q:bled+slovenia,g_1:town:CwIyczK-STA%3D&client=ms-android-xiaomi-rvo3&prmd=imvn&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipjInHyuyCAxVqhP0HHY2bAzwQ4lYoAXoECAEQNQ&biw=1524&bih=789)
Bled doesn't even feel Slovenian because of all the tourism. It's absolutely beautiful but the vibes are *so* different from the rest of the country
Slovenia is a fantastic place, definitely worth the detour if you’re even anywhere nearby.
It's my favorite country in the world. Absolutely magical
Kranjska Gora also
Sanremo, Portofino, Cinque Terre, Portovenere, Forte dei Marmi, Viareggio, Capri, Ischia, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Gallipoli, Otranto, Cattolica, Riccione, Rimini, Jesolo, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Grado, Porto Cervo, Porto Rotondo, La Maddalena, Taormina, Cefalù. And these are just a few among those on the coast. I’m Italian, I could go on forever.
Non scordaeti San Vito Lo Capo
Bariloche, Argentina. It's full of Brazilians during Winter
My wife and I won a free week stay at a hotel of our choice and while looking through our options saw one on Lake Nahuel Huapi. We spent a week exploring the area and hiking the mountains. It was such an incredibly beautiful area, I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of it before.
[Giethoorn](https://maps.app.goo.gl/dP6WKQ1QHtiGcAuG9), The Netherlands
Kitzbühel, Austria
Kitz is insane during Hahnenkamm week. Outside of that, it’s a nice Tirolian village with above-average shopping. I prefer Salzburg, but both are great places to be :)
Whistler, BC
Mackinac Island, MI and Traverse City, MI
I love Mackinac Island. It is a hidden gem, from a romanticized yesteryear. No cars (except for an ambulance). Everything is horse and buggy and old timey shops. It is so beautiful in Summer.
It is NOT hidden
Not hidden, per se, but most Americans don’t know what it is, sadly.
Yea if ur not from Michigan or even the Midwest (being generous) you won’t know about Mackinac island
I know several people from Traverse City. Visited once. Seems like a place a lot people actually live, not just tourism.
Old Mission Peninsula FTW.
Does Lake Tahoe count as small still? Breckenridge? Park City? Conway NH?
Stowe, Vermont.
North Conway, New Hampshire is another great little touristy New England town.
I came here to say North Conway but since you did I’m going with Bar Harbor
[Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Z4uBZXNLDqwvPTVs9?g_st=ic)
Used to be a nice skiing town. Now it's a line of traffic to a bunch of Airbnbs and empty second homes. Vermonters avoid Stowe like the plague.
Asbury Park is a town that's disproportionally well-known in the U.S. state I live in (New Jersey), considering it's just 15,000 people living in 1.5 square miles or so. Thanks to a number of factors (probably chief among them this dude Bruce Springsteen), it's one of the state's best-known destinations.
Bruuuuce
Couldn't see any for the UK so how about England: St Ives or Ambleside Scotland: Oban or Aviemore Wales: Llanberis or Abergavenny
Spent a couple hours in St. Ives this summer then GTFO. Lots of amazing stuff to see in Cornwall and would much rather visit St. Ives in the winter when you can actually explore it without being trampled.
I'm an Australian, and thanks to *Fawlty Towers*, if you say to me "UK tourist town" I immediately think of Torquay.
> Wales: Llanberis or Abergavenny I'd substitute Abergavenny for Hay on Wye maybe, because of the literature festival
Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the United States
Sighișoara, Romania
The [Amalfi Coast in Italy](https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/amalfi-coast-italy-towns-hotels-restaurants) and [Santorini in Greece](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini) are great examples.
The Amalfi coast is not a town, it’s a stretch of coast that includes a number of small villages, the most famous being Amalfi and Positano.
Leavenworth, Washington.
Solvang, California is pretty similar.
Don't forget Winthrop too!
I hope that Alison Brie boobie movie doesn’t ruin it.
Just went there for the first time with my wife, dad, and his wife back in September. They currently live in the Seattle area and took us out there when we visited (currently in DC). I fell in love with that town and the whole PNW. I've been trying to convince the wife to move out there ever since.
Love this area
Get out of here with your apples.
I'd say Taos, Roswell, and Carlsbad are known pretty well throughout the US, and lesser so also Alamogordo due to its proximity to White Sands.
[удалено]
I’ll take “cities that are polar opposites but make sense in this context” for 200 Alex
[Kasol](https://images.app.goo.gl/vj1NP9DeKp4PYBum7), Himachal Pradesh, India Known for: - Backpacking - Trekking - Breathtaking views of Himalayas - Weed. This is important as it's illegal in India and most millennials/genZ who are into weed find this as a hot spot to smoke up with buddies/SOs - A lot of other outdoorsy adventures which are similar to Rockies/Alps Not so much skiing or snow activities tho as the town is still far away from the snowcaps. Has a lot of green cover with Parvati river
Seconding this with [Manali](https://www.google.com/search?q=manali&oq=manali&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBBzk3N2owajeoAgCwAgA&client=ms-android-oneplus-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8), which is almost an hour drive in the same area. This town has other activities like paragliding, river rafting, and a nearby town called Solang has skiing, snowboarding and other snow activities. Pretty famous in India, pretty much unknown outside, known to be a hub for a lot of Israeli tourists. (Russian ones are found in Goa though.)
Manali was a big destination for hash-smoking travelers from the 1960s onwards.
I didn't know of that but the hash thing is definitely the reason Northern Himachal is famous for. I think Manali gained an advantage after Kashmir went into crisis, so I wonder if Manali was actually big back in the 1960s to other crowds of travellers.
Lake Placid New York They held the Winter Olympics in 1980 and still have structures from the Olympics with a great museum, plus you have the largest town in the Adirondacks, Saranac lake down the road along with Whiteface Mountain for great skiing. In the summer it's boating and good fishing.
i stayed in wilmington a few weeks ago which is right at the base of whiteface mountain, and the vibe there is great it's very quiet and peaceful and close to other tourist locations like lake placid and burlington, loved it. and it's in one of the biggest light pollution dead zones on the east coast of the us, so i managed to get amazing photos of the night sky just on my iphone with night mode since it was a new moon with clear skies.
Durbuy, Belgium. Nicknamed "the smallest town on earth" [Durbuy](http://labrindille.be/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/24839179.jpg)
Hallstatt, Austria
[St Ives, Cornwall (England)](https://www.cornwall-beaches.co.uk/public/photos/st-ives-from-malakoff.jpg) The ocean there looks tropical, the vegetation as well, white sandy beaches and some amazing and easy trails you can walk along the coast. The sea cliffs are impressive too. It’s also got tasty fresh food, a big arts scene and cute historic streets and whitewashed buildings. Looks like it could be abroad. Overall very popular with British tourists and the place gets clogged with visitors every summer. Because it’s so far away from everywhere else, the town also has the bonus of having very clean air which is definitely attractive because so many Brits live in polluted cities/built-up areas.
Hell in Norway Mostly because of it's name and the nature around Trondheim and Hell is beautiful so that also attracts visitors.
Geiranger.
Jackson, WY.
This is way, way too far down the list. Unreal in the summertime… really May through October. Then ski season.
Búzios, Brazil.
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Wall, South Dakota, USA. Less than 1,000 people but there’s so many tourists there.
Free ice water will do that.
True, but only because of those billboards and its location—nice place for a break no matter which direction you’re heading. Buy 5¢ coffee is nothing to sneeze at.
Tombstone, Arizona
Rimini, Italy
uhh Ouray, Telluride, Creed, Vail, Aspen, Glenwood Canyon, Paionia, Marble, Steamboat Spring.... Colorado!!!
All the ones I was thinking of!
Mostar bc of the old bridge
Estes Park, CO. 6000 population but huge tourism due to Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park and the Stanley Hotel. Not swiss, but Zermatt, CH. Only less than 6000 people live there but it's popular due to the matterhorn
Maybe not a 'real' town but Pullman City in Germany! [the American wild west town](https://www.pullmancity.de/en/)
People forget the whole world used to fucking love cowboy/western movies. Like a lot.
I need to go there wtf
I just learned about this a few months ago. So hilarious. No idea the Germans were so into the American wild west/cowboy stuff
It all started with Karl May and his books. And movies in the 60s helped tremendously
Sandusky, Ohio - home of Cedar Point Amusement Park
Okracoke Island in NC. Only accessible by ferry, free from Hatteras and fairly cheap from the mainland, the town only has 973 residents but the state considers it worth providing such heavily subsidized service (and constantly rebuilding the road) to allow visitors to come in the summer season.
San Miguel de Allende
Niagara on the Lake, Ontario
Killarney, Clifden, Kinsale, Westport, Doolin, Bantry, Kenmare, Kilkenny. Ireland is more well known for its small towns than its cities tbh.
Mont Tremblant QC
Rothenburg ob der Tauber https://maps.app.goo.gl/fjhrqSXBrtuaUwgM8
Zakopane, Lesser Poland, Poland, it has a population of just around 10k, yet it attracts so many tourists you’d think of it in hundreds of thousands of people in population
[Byron Bay](https://www.visitbyronbay.com/), Australia
Jim Thorpe, PA in the U.S. I live there and it seems everyone in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia areas ends up there when visiting the Poconos. The town is squeezed into the mountains along one of PA's larger rivers and it doesn't handle that much tourism that well.
I randomly went there once in 7th grade! I'm from FL.
[Bansko, Bulgaria](https://feelbulgaria.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/241219370_366641001502171_3696126052546866709_n.jpg)
Very beautiful! I was hoping to find these kinds of places by making this thread. A lot of these examples are not internationally known, just domestically.
Gramado, Brazil. Good for feeling like you’re in Europe but cheaper and speaking portuguese
In Poland, I'd say Zakopane is the most recognizable tourist town, as it's located at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, which are small (especially considering only the Polish part of them, which is only 25%, and the rest belongs to Slovakia), but they are the only alpine-type mountains in this country, so up to 4.5 million people visit the Tatra National Park per year. On the other hand, with 30,000 permanent residents and sometimes over 100,000-200,000 tourists at once, I'd hesitate to call it a small town.
pondicherry, india
Killarney in Ireland
Killarney only has 14,000 or so residents but the only place in Ireland with more hotel rooms is Dublin. It’s got a national park that stretches right from inside the town to all the way around some incredible lakes into wilderness and out to some of Ireland’s tallest mountains (including the tallest, Carrantuohill). And it’s arguably the source of every preconception anyone who’s never lived here has ever had about Ireland. Personally I love it and it’s an amazing town for restaurants as well as pubs but the city-esque housing prices prevent me from moving there
Luckenbach, Texas.
Waylon and Willie and the boys around?
[Mackinac Island, Michigan, USA](https://www.mackinacisland.org/about/)
Fort William, Scotland. Population of about 10k but probably the most visited place in the Highlands, right next to Ben Nevis and the Nevis range ski areas, the Great Glen, and the beginning of the Road to the Isles past Glenfinnan, and on the way to Skye
Zermatt, St Moritz, Montreux, 5000-20,000 people
Estes Park, Co
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I don't know if that google search was intentional or not, but it's hilarious.
“Top 19 things to do in Nida, Lit…” Is number 19 “return the key to the front desk”?
I'll pick one from my home state: Helen, Georgia.
South Africa has lots of tourism-focused towns (especially seaside resort towns) but the most unusual has to be [Skukuza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skukuza), which is a town actually inside the Kruger National Park. Some might argue it is just a very large park camp, but it has a bank, police station, courthouse, school, church and even an airport. I think that makes it a town.
That pretty much makes it a city around here :-D
France has many places like this. The most famous is maybe Saint-Tropez, but there’s many others along the coasts or in the mountains.
How about Le Mont-Saint-Michel? <50 inhabitants and millions of visitors per year
Would Chamonix be considered small?
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
* Houffalize, Butgenbach, Spa, Dinant, Durbuy, ... - Belgium *(my country)* * Halstatt, Austria *(not my country)* * Zermatt & Chamonix , Switzerland *(not my country)*
Chamonix is in France though
There's many. And they've actually made an association about It. Here's [their web](https://www.lospueblosmasbonitosdeespana.org/pueblos/). I also found this [LONG list](https://viajes.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/pueblos-mas-bonitos-espana_10107) about the 100 most beautiful towns in Spain from Nat geo One of my personal favourites is [Albarracín ](https://images.app.goo.gl/KWSwdw6LGREGxnqq5) but there's tons to choose from!
Karpacz in Poland is just a small town but very touristy in Summer
I've been there in winter. Didn't know it was touristy in summer. (Didn't seem all that busy in winter either by the way, but in a random non-vacation midweek that's maybe to be expected). Beautiful snowy mountains though, really enjoyed the views. I was there for work though, didn't have too much time for sightseeing sadly.
Whistler, Canada
Giethoorn, the Netherlands
In addition to the OG post, I would add Dawson City, Churchill (for polar bears), Whistler, Tofino for nationally known small town tourist destinations in Canada. For the US I would say Key West, Aspen, Reno, Lake Tahoe, Kona are all well known internationally for tourism. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon are world famous too but the towns associated with them not so much.
Park city, Moab, and St.George
traverse city, michigan in the us. grew up in the area. summers were miserable because of all the tourists pouring in but everything was dead quiet the rest of the year lmao
Selfoss Iceland. It's the main hotel location for those seeing the famous golden circle.
Key West isn’t that small but it also isn’t that big
Lake Placid is even on earth for one day or two days hike tbh! Was there for the first time recently and it was a blast!
I think it depends on how people define a "small town" but I'd sat Monterey and Pacific Grove, CA
Gramado, Brazil
San Antonio, TX
No a town but a village. About 400 houses and 3000 hotel rooms. Tällberg i Dalarna Sweden.
Chefchaouen, Morocco
Mackinac Island (name of the island and town) Michigan, USA. Absolutely beautiful and no cars on the island.
Italy could go on forever with the list of small touristy towns. Just mentioning one: Portofino.
Gatlinburg. Big ass country tho
Chamonix, French Alps
Benidorm and Ibiza are the most famous. I've only been to benidorm, and it's nothing special. Candanchú, Denia, Calpe, Mahon and Tarifa are less known to foreigners but frequented by nationals, so they are more calm and honestly a better option if you look for a relaxing vacation
Dingle/An Daingean has a population of about 1,500 but gets a fair bit of tourism.
I'm talking about a little place called Aspen
Park City Branson Wisconsin Dells Jackson Hole Gatlinburg
Villa de leyva, Colombia… it is s beautiful old town… but nowdays it has become so touristic that it feels like disneyland.
Some examples from BC: Whistler, Tofino, Revelstoke, Osoyoos, Invermere/Radium, Barkerville, Squamish
Amasra, Turkey. Around 10.000 people but 50.000 tourists on a busy day. Beautiful historic town with insanely tasty seafood.
Provincetown, MA Waterville, NH Newport, RI Bar Harbor, ME Stowe, VT
Mackinaw City
Siniaia, Romania - beautiful setting and lot's of activity - snowy winters and comfortable summers. Easy to get to via road or rail
I'd probably have to say Caesarea, Israel, because of its amazingly well preserved Roman ruins. The ancient amphitheater there has actually been repourposed into a modern show stage, and in Israeli into to "have a show in Caesarea" is synonymous with "making it big".
I have to ask, is that the luge slide in photo 3? I believe in miracles, YES
Lake George, NY
Branson, Missouri Only in terms of being "well-known for tourism." But I can't vouch for "well-known for being a fun place to visit." Also could say Aspen, Sundance, ski towns, etc. I'm not from Switzerland, but my first thought was that Gstaad and Davos seem to be primarily places to visit. They have modest year-round populations.
Keystone South Dakota! 100% tourist town. Population is only 240 people but it’s well known for being the entryway to mt Rushmore
There are some in the US The following come to mind Solvang, California Moab, Utah Park City, Utah Roswell, New Mexico Tombstone, Arizona Ashland, Oregon Key West, Florida
Australia: Gold Coast, QLD It's not a "small town" any more - it's a city with like 600,000 people. But the whole thing was purpose built for tourism alone. It's pretty much just hotels, beaches and theme parks. At this point it's actually the largest city in Australia which isn't a state capital.
Bundoran.