The tormented villages of Instagram: Britain's four picture postcard towns that have the biggest over-tourism problem, according to locals...as they mull banning coaches
Proper news from Britain - News from Britain you won’t find anywhere else. Not the tosh the big media force-feed you every day!
They are Britain's most picturesque villages and towns that attract coachloads of visitors each year.
But families and businesses across the UK's tourist hotspots say they have reached breaking point over the mass influx of tourists bringing chaos to their doorsteps time and time again.
Particularly on bank holidays and over the summer, city dwellers and holidaymakers are quitting the hustle and bustle of their ordinary lives in search of a tranquil day out in Britain's tiny quaint villages.
But that tranquillity is being shattered by mobs of tourists packing out coaches and descending on picture postcard villages for the day before returning to their urban sprawls, perhaps unaware of the devastating impact they are having.
Overcrowding, parking disputes and brief whistle-stop tours without supporting the local economy are just some of the issues angering residents who say something must be done to stop visitors treating their homes like 'Disney World'.
It comes amid villages such as Bibury, Gloucestershire, once described by 19th Century writer William Morris as the 'most beautiful village in England', threatening to ban coaches in a desperate battle to combat over-tourism.
The increase of visitors is partly driven by so-called influencers promoting the tiny villages as perfect day trip destinations from big cities such as London on social media.
From pockets of the countryside in the Cotswolds to resort towns in the north and south of the country, MailOnline spoke to locals and businesses who laid bare just how bad it's become.
Bibury
Bibury is weighing up whether to implement a ban on coaches because of chaos brought to the idyllic spot by over-tourism.
The influx of tourists to the quaint village has become 'intolerable and unacceptable', councillors have said.
With its stone cottages, trickling river and charming pub, Bibury was described by 19th Century writer William Morris as the 'most beautiful village in England'.
It is most famous for its row of 17th century cottages on Arlington Row, but residents say their village of 700 people has increasingly become inundated with visitors.
For much of the year they claim it becomes like the Wild West, with cars and coaches bringing thousands of people into the tiny community.
Last year, residents said a lack of parking in the village led to angry clashes breaking out, with one telling the BBC he was kicked in the stomach and punched in the face as tempers flared.
Parish council chairman Craig Chapman said: 'Whilst the residents of Bibury acknowledge that we live in a lovely village, the pressures put on us by the sheer volume of tourists visiting and coaches bringing tourists has become intolerable and unacceptable.'
He added: 'Whilst this is the start of action, it is very positive and I am confident it will be appreciated by the community.'
Speaking to MailOnline about the proposals, resident and chairman of the Bibury Parking Working Group, Mark Honeyball, said: 'We're not saying we don't want tourists but we want the situation for them to be sustainable, manageable and more enjoyable when they visit.
'The current situation is very serious. There are safety issues. The primary focus is to maintain the status of the village. We don't want it to become a Disney World or anything like that.'
He added that reducing congestion was vital for everyone in Bibury but especially residents.
'We want them to be able to drive through the village without having a 45-minute delay, which can happen at times.
'The situation with the coaches is not safe. We haven't got the infrastructure here for them. They're causing damage to the old bridge in the centre of the village.'
Kevin Jee, a minibus driver and guide with London-based Go Tours, said: 'We think the proposal is a great thing. They're not planning to stop minibuses like ours, it's the coaches that could be banned.
'Something has got to be done. The bigger the coaches are that come here, the worse it gets.
'They could improve the plans by putting in another three or four parking bays for minibuses. Even if there was a charge, most businesses wouldn't mind that.
'They need bigger signs so people know where the bays are. To a certain degree, I can understand the large coach companies' frustration.'
Brian Skarda, who lives in one of Bibury's famous Arlington Row cottages, said he was 'pleased' with the progress, adding: 'The indications are that the council is going to remove the coach slots within two months.
'That will reduce the congestion by the Swan Hotel, which has been a problem in the village for many years.
'We've been talking about this for 18 months to two years and so we're looking forward to action taking place. After all the talking, we're now seeing some positive action for everyone's sake.
'It's needed because when the coaches come in, it's like having a cruise ship load of people.'
David Warren, general manager of The Twig cafe, is also in favour of the coach ban because they get better business from families rather than those coming on big buses.
'They don't spend a huge amount of time here as they are not given much time for each stop on their tour,' he said.
'Financially, we're better off with local people.'
And resident Michelle Holt said: 'I've lived here for 22 years. When I came to the village I knew it was a tourist attraction but, in a survey, it came out as having a good sense of community and that was one of the attractions.
'People really care about the village. We're all trying to protect it and keep that sense of community.'
She added that having too many visitors made it very awkward for residents at times and so changes were needed.
'We've had coach parties milling around our garden and some have literally been peering into our sitting room window. It feels so intrusive.
'We're really happy to share this beautiful village. We're so not anti-tourists at all but it's the volume of them that's the problem. In a village like this, of 600 people, we can have 10,000 visitors a day.'
After Bibury villagers called for action and formed a working group that included councillors and the police, Gloucestershire County Council has announced plans to tackle the problem.
Coaches could, in the long term, be banned from stopping and parking in the village although less drastic measures will be adopted initially.
The first stage, in the next two months, will involve changing the layout of parking bays to stop coaches from parking or waiting in the layby on the B4425, next to the Swan Bridge in the centre of the village.
The second stage will see further exploration of the introduction of restrictions on coach access to the centre of the village.
This would be dependent on the outcome of a legal consultation process that will start early in the summer.
Longer-term recommendations from the working group include looking into prohibiting coaches from stopping and parking in Bibury completely and improving signs to direct them away from its narrow lanes.
The group wants to see if there might be areas outside of the village where coaches could park.
It also wants to encourage tourists to use other ways of visiting Bibury, such as walking, cycling, using public transport or minibuses.
Salcombe
The stunning Devon town, dubbed 'Chelsea-on-Sea', has for years been mobbed by tourists and second home owners.
With its stunning turquoise waters and charming hillside vistas, Salcombe has been an iconic seaside destination for British families for more than a century.
But in recent years, the growing influx of holidaymakers and day-trippers has made locals' lives a misery.
Traffic congestion, pressure on parking spaces, packed bars and booked-out restaurants are just some of the complaints from the town's fed-up residents.
Many visitors say the town has become so popular they will no longer make the journey to the south Devon hotspot during the holiday season or at weekends.
Sky-high prices for accommodation, food and drink, and the 'thuggish' behaviour of younger people holidaying in the town, together with a lack of diversity, were among the other gripes of people we ran into this week.
One, retired airline pilot Robert Derham, 73, said: 'I've been coming here since I was a boy. It holds so many happy memories for me, but coming here now during the high season is a very different proposition to my childhood visits.
'In those days there weren't so many people coming here and there was plenty of space to park. We came down in my parents Morris Minor car and we could navigate the narrow country lanes very easily, but now cars are twice the size and in some spots it's very hard for them to pass each other, so traffic jams are common.
'It is still the most charming of places to visit, but I make sure I only come out of season when there aren't so many people and there is less traffic congestion.
'To be honest I hate mixing with people anyway so this is a good time of year to avoid the crowds .
'It is a very special part of the world and I have an affinity with it because of the many happy times I spent here when I was young.
'I wish they could do something to make it easier for visitors to park and charge less for it. It is too expensive.
'My other complaint is that unfortunately the place does seem to attract more and more younger people whose objective is to get as drunk as they can and behave like thugs.
'But today it is peaceful and glorious and there's nowhere else I would rather be.'
Retired airport worker Heather, 69, and a mother-of-three, said the local council would be wise to create an edge of town park and ride scheme and make the town itself a pedestrian-only zone.
She said: 'There is so much land around the town that it surely cannot be too difficult to operate a park-and-ride scheme here. I think it is time for some out of the box thinking to make it a more enjoyable experience for visitors because at the moment during busy periods getting in and out of this beautiful town is an absolute nightmare.
'I will only come here during the off-season and right now it is glorious and joyful.'
Another visitor for the day was retired BBC correspondent Nick Higham, 70. He and wife Debbie, 66, cheated any prospect of traffic congestion by parking their car on the other side of the estuary at East Portlemouth and catching a ferry across the water to Salcombe.
Mr Higham, who lives in London, said: 'I probably shouldn't advertise that because there are only about six spaces for parking over there but it was a wonderful way to get here.
'I love this town but I do think it can be a bit too busy during the holiday season.
'The only way of reducing the number of visitors is to make it more expensive for people to park their cars here, but I don't think that would be very fair. Perhaps a park and ride scheme would be preferable, although not necessarily attractive to locals.'
Wife Debbie, a retired exhibition organiser, said: 'It is such a very pretty part of the world. I love coming here, but only during the quieter periods.
'During the busy times, the town has been taken over by a younger lively crowd and it can get rather boisterous.
'It's a shame that so many properties here have become second homes and so many of the old guest houses have closed down. It makes the accommodation that is available now so much more expensive and it has pushed many of the locals away.
'But it is still wonderful to be here.'
Sue Osborne, 67, a retired book keeper from Guildford, Surrey, said she enjoys her trips to the town, but hates the crowds.
She said: 'I've been coming here since I was aged 10 and it was a lot less busy then. Whenever I come now I make sure it's in the off-season.
'We used to stay at the Marine hotel and it had its own parking, so that made life much easier for us, but the hotel has now closed and the car park is now a block of flats. Many of the small, old hotels and guesthouses have been turned into second homes , which only makes the accommodation problem worse.'
Michael MacDonald, 75, made the trip to Salcombe from further along the south Devon coast at Torquay.
He said: 'I've had a very enjoyable day here but to be honest I'll be happy to get back to Torquay. This town is too congested for my liking and it takes too long to get here by road. I have looked at using public transport, but it is almost impossible.'
Few business owners in the town have any complaints about the crowds, though, but many expressed their wish that it was easier for visitors to find parking spaces.
One, Roger Lidston, 70, who runs Bowers Wines in the bustling town, said: 'We need more parking spaces here and we need to do something about the traffic congestion, especially during the busy periods and weekends.
'We have to find a way of making it easier for people to get here and park up when they arrive.
'It's also a shame that so many hotels have closed down over the years and that has resulted in existing accommodation becoming more expensive.
'But it's a great town to have a business because we're very busy. We're open every day except Christmas day.'
Whitby
With its rich history and breathtaking scenery, the seaside town in North Yorkshire is among one of Britain's holiday hotspots that are routinely battling with mass tourism.
In fact, its become so bad that traders are even complaining that too many people are coming.
Whitby has been made famous by classic novels such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, while it also runs an annual goth convention.
On the surface, Whitby has done well with tourism but frustration has been simmering over the influx of holidaymakers as well as the rise in second home owners pushing housing prices up.
Traders in Captain Cook's old port of Whitby, North Yorkshire, say while they need visitors to survive the town is being over run and tourist traffic is creating a parking 'nightmare'.
Anne Brown, 65, who has lived in the area all her life, says tourism is out of control even though she works in a local shop which depends on tourism.
She added: 'It is too much. It has gone mad. There are too many holiday cottages, too many people and not enough parking.
'Weekends are crazy. We need tourists but Whitby has just got busier and busier and I don't know why.
'Parking is a nightmare. We need another park and ride on the other side of town and I don't know why they are dragging their feet because there is space up there.
'Most people don't seem to be using the existing one anyway and it is closed in the winter so it is a struggle to park.
'It is busy all year around with people stopping, day trippers. As soon as you get the sunshine Whitby will be busy whether it is the weekend or midweek.
'The only quiet days are when the weather is atrocious. Parking is a major issue and they are closing the marina car park which is a big car park so that will be another nightmare.
'I live out of town and struggle to park. The holiday makers have the cottages and railways and rent the houses and leave their car there all week.
'For locals like me, the parking spots don't exist any more - not since Covid. The motor homes are another bone of contention.
'They are ridiculous. The Abbey car park looks like a motor homes car park. They need a barrier up there to stop them.'
Other shop keepers agreed. Rachel, who works in the nearby Whitby Glass store, said: 'We get a lot of tourists. I think it has got a bit much really.
'There is not enough parking definitely. Park and Ride never seems to work. They don't use it. They come into town and park on any street anywhere.
'Some visitors have come in and said they don't come in any more in summer because it is too busy.'
Dave Clarkson, who has run Whitby Rifle Club, now a fully licensed bar, since 2004, is concerned another 125 parking bays are about to be lost to redevelopment.
'We have seen some big changes. Parking is a problem. We have got one park and ride for 600 cars but it is not enough.
'They have tried imposing extra council tax on second homes but that has not worked. If you are rich enough to buy a second homes you can afford the tax.
'Whitby has an all year round tourism season but it does not provide a lot of well paid jobs - not enough to afford a house.
'My son is in Newcastle because there is nothing around here for him. They have put a lot of signs up to stop motorhomes parking overnight. So they have started to clamp down.
'There is nothing worse than running a guest house and finding someone has parked a motor home in front of it.
'We have changed from a private club to fully licensed and it was not for the tourists coming in we would not be open.'
Michelle Dalkin, 49, who works in a local sweet shop, underlined they could not survive without the visitors, particularly with such tough completion.
She added: 'Bring it on. The more the merrier if you have a little shop. It never be too much if you want customers coming in but if you want to park in town it is nightmare.
'The town is full of holiday lets. There can never be too many day trippers if they are coming in the shop spending money. '
Jet shop boss Dominic Recchia sells jewellery hand made by his wife and daughter and theirs' is one of the few businesses that has remained independent rather than being bought up by a chain.
Parking is a problem that has turned into a major head ache for local traders but they could not survive without the tourists.
He said: 'You cannot park in a ten mile radius of Whitby in August when the Regatta is on. A permit for the local business park costs the best part of £1,000 a year.
'People rent their garages out for parking. There was one for sale on RightMove for £12,000 - just for a garage.
'We were up in the Peak District where some of the tourist shops are hardly taking anything. But you dare not bring your dog to Whitby in August because it would get stepped on.
'It can be unbelievable. Last year they closed the Swing Bridge to cars and buses because of the sheer weight of people and vehicles on the structure.
'Monday mornings are terrible for traffic. The whole street is just full of vans and lorries for deliveries. Only in in ten people walking past are potential customers but you need the footfall.
Stephen Leech his family and dog Holly had just been to Primrose Valley, Filey and were on their way home to Redcar when they stopped off in Whitby for fish and chips.
Sipping his tea, Mr Leech, 57, a train builder, said: 'It is nice when it is like this in the summer. We don't come when it is peak season. You cannot move and you cannot get parked.
'It is a shame because it is very dog friendly and I always get a free sausage for the dog. But it is a bit much in summer.
'I don't think you have to pay for the toilets as well. We pick and choose our times to come now. We even come in November because it is quiet.'
The family reckoned that resorts such as Whitby were likely to become more and more busy with people opting for staycations.
He said: 'This is the first time in 16 years we have holidayed in the UK rather an abroad. We used to go abroad because it was cheap but it is not any more.
'We went to Turkey last year and found the food and drink just as expensive as it is here - which might be why Primrose Valley was sold out when we were there.'
Pals Richard Nicholls and Phil Smith, from Newark, love the town but say their choice of stay is now entirely governed by parking.
Mr Nicholls, 73, said: 'It is a tourist spot so you have to expect everything to be centred around tourism. We are here for the week and it is our second time here.
'But parking can be difficult. We were lucky to find a nice big parking space where we were staying but we daren't move it now for the rest of the week.
'A lot of people do whinge about the parking fees. Which is why when I hire a cottage I make sure there is a parking space included.'
Nodding in agreement, Phil, 74, added: 'Saturday it was ram packed solid and parking costs and arm and a leg. I think banning coaches would be the mark of a nanny state and I cannot see that happening.'
Bourton-on-the-Water
Residents in the picturesque village dubbed the 'Venice of the Cotswolds' have been divided over calls for a blanket ban on coaches amid a battle with overcrowding.
Serious parking and congestion issues have led to enraged locals saying they simply 'cannot cope' with the huge influx of visitors.
The beautiful village, which is 15 miles east of Cheltenham and has a population of 3,000, was given the 'Venice' label because of the number ornate stone bridges over the River Windrush.
Tens of thousands of tourists flock to the village each year, but it became a 'free for all' when a coach parking site closed in 2023.
Some of the local villagers managed to convince the parish council to explore the radical solution of banning the vehicles from much of Bourton and introducing a drop off-point for tourists a 30 minute walk outside the village.
The proposed restrictions would not include public service buses for schools, sports and social clubs.
The village used to get around 3,000 coaches a year and last year 160,000 tourists visited the village by coach.
Residents say the village has been 'choked' but businesses have the opposite view.
Andrew Lund-Yates, 63, who bought the Old New Inn in 2018, said last year his pub and hotel would lose 10 per cent of its revenue if the plans were to go through.
He said: 'The council is interested in getting tourists out of Bourton, which is frustrating for businesses that have built them looking after tourists.
'Tourists are the highest spending visitor we have. My plan was built on coaches.
'Other businesses have limited options, the restrictions could mean the difference between them staying open and them closing.
'If the winter travel stops, smaller businesses might shut. We don't want to look like a seasonal seaside village. There is a lot of worry'.
Charles Watt, 67, who owns a gift shop in the village, slammed the proposed plan as 'ridiculous'.
He said: 'The councillors should be sacked. We'll lose a certain amount of business.
'It's so thoughtless. They have done nothing to come up with a solution. They have not helped at all.'
A trial will begin in the spring to allow coach drivers to drop off and pick up visitors from Meadow Way, a site 10 minutes from the centre.
