Want to avoid crowds in Europe? Look for what a destination is missing

It’s not what San Sebastian has that makes it special – though, it does have plenty. Still, you could argue that it’s what this northern Spanish city doesn’t have that really seals the deal.

San Sebastian doesn’t have an airport. I mean, there is a San Sebastian Airport, but it’s not in San Sebastian, it’s in Hondarribia, on the French border, about a half-hour drive away. And even then, it’s only a small provincial airport with flights to a few Spanish destinations and seasonal connections to the UK. The nearest large, international airport is in Bilbao, more than an hour away.

San Sebastian is not particularly well-connected.Credit: iStock

And then there’s something else San Sebastian doesn’t have: a cruise terminal. Ships can go into Bilbao, again more than an hour’s drive away, or they can go into Bordeaux, which is even further. But there are no commercial passenger vessels darkening the harbours of Donostia.

This may seem incidental or even trivial, but it makes a difference. No airport means no mass arrivals of budget airlines. No budget airlines mean no partygoers coming over for the weekend from the UK or Ireland, hordes of people celebrating stag do’s and hens nights and whatever else in a place with more bars per square kilometre than any other public facility. In many ways, San Sebastian is made for these sorts of visitors. But they don’t arrive.

No cruise terminal, meanwhile, means no large groups of tour passengers making their way en masse through the city’s narrow Old Town streets. You get small groups of tourists on local food tours and the like, but there’s none of the noticeable ebb and flow you get when a huge cruise ship pulls into the local port.

San Sebastian isn’t exactly undiscovered, but it’s not as overrun with tourists as some of Europe’s other cities.Credit: iStock

San Sebastian lacks this connectivity. It’s tricky to get to, a little annoying in some ways. And even still, the city is suffering under the weight of its own popularity, as stories of its gastronomic excellence and physical beauty have gone far and wide. Imagine what it would be like with better transport options?

In that way, San Sebastian is luckier than other tourism hotspots around Europe. It’s luckier than Dubrovnik, and Prague, and Barcelona, and Venice, and Amsterdam. All those destinations have big international airports or cruise terminals or both.

It’s luckier than Berlin and Rome, Santorini and Ibiza, Lisbon and Nice, which are notoriously overrun.

Europe has something of a tourist problem, and that problem is caused in large part by visitors all wanting to go to the same places at the same times, and being able to do that quickly and cheaply. They want historic places, charming places, but also famous and easily accessible places where you can tick off the highlights in a couple of days.

If you’re planning a trip to the continent, your mission should be to steer clear of these hotspots and spread the tourism footprint. It should be to spend a little longer getting somewhere, and then spend a little longer when you’re there.

It’s tempting to book Ryanair flights or Vueling flights and go to multiple places quickly and cheaply. But true travel success in Europe comes in the ability to resist.

Instead, look for places that don’t have those magical elements, the airport and the cruise terminal; admittedly, no mean feat in a continent that is so well-connected.

I don’t want to specify too many of these cities or towns because that would go against the point of this column. The idea isn’t to go where someone has told you, but to look for places that maybe no one you know has ever been.

Find regions in popular countries such as Spain and France and Italy that aren’t visited as often because they’re a little harder to get to, or they don’t offer big-ticket tourist items.

There are so many of these places – the tourist trail is so narrow, barely anyone strays from the well-known path. Get an hour outside Paris or Rome or Barcelona and I guarantee you can discover a place with barely another foreigner around.

Will you remember the Colosseum, or will you remember the pasta dish at the Italian agriturismo in the middle of nowhere? Will you be truly moved and inspired by the Eiffel Tower, or by an unplanned adventure in a little village in the French countryside? I’m telling you, it’s always going to be the latter.

Of course, San Sebastian doesn’t really fit within these parameters. It’s not unknown, or untouched, or anywhere near “off the beaten path”. Paths have been beaten to this city for some time now.

It does demonstrate, however, that if you apply just a little more time and effort than everyone else to get to a destination, you will reap the benefits. And then, figure out how you’re going to get home.