Vacation season in full swing Popular tourist beaches are completely overcrowded

Vanessa Büchel

23.7.2024

Mega rush: Visitors can hardly find a place on the beaches of the German Baltic Sea.
Mega rush: Visitors can hardly find a place on the beaches of the German Baltic Sea.
Picture: IMAGO/Chris Emil Janßen

All cantons are now in the school vacations. The vacation season is in full swing and in many places in Europe, sun-seekers can hardly find space on the beaches. The Baltic Sea in particular is very crowded.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • There was a huge rush on the beaches of the Baltic Sea at the weekend.
  • Drivers heading north had to be patient.
  • There was - and still is - congestion at the Gotthard portals in the south.
  • The reason for overcrowded beaches is the school vacations in European countries.

In Mallorca, people are currently demonstrating against mass tourism. Bays on the popular vacation island have been flooded with tourists for some time now. In many other places in Europe, too, mass tourism has long since become part of everyday life.

Particularly during the peak summer holiday season, beachgoers can hardly find a place to stay. This was the case on the German Baltic Sea, where there was a mega rush at the weekend.

Bild cites the start of the vacations in many German states as the reason for the overcrowded beaches. With the exception of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, everyone is now off school.

If you wanted to get a spot in the super summer weather in Binz on the island of Rügen, Warnemünde, Timmendorf Strand or between Scharbeutz and Haffkrug in Schleswig-Holstein, you had to be early. You could hardly see the sand for all the towels and parasols.

Drivers need a high level of stress resilience

In this country, all cantons now have school vacations. Many Swiss people are also drawn to the seaside. Italy, Spain and Croatia are popular destinations every year.

The current rush is also reflected on social media:

According to Bild, the ADAC is warning of a large wave of travelers heading to the Baltic Sea. "Drivers in the north need a high level of stress resilience, as vacation traffic is increasing massively," the daily newspaper quotes ADAC spokesperson Christian Hieff as saying.

It's no secret that there are also regular traffic jams south of the Gotthard tunnel during vacation periods.

After travelers already had to wait in front of both portals at the weekend, the new week has also begun with waiting times in front of the Gotthard north portal.


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