Planning a trip to Big Sur next year? You should reconsider, travel magazine says
Big Sur is the crown jewel of California’s rugged, majestic coastline: a seemingly uninhabited stretch of land that draws visitors from around the world to appreciate the beauty and, yes, snap photos.
But if you were planning on going to Big Sur in 2020, Fodor’s magazine wants you to think again.
The iconic destination recently made the travel magazine’s “No List,” of places that travelers should avoid. Also on the list are destinations like Barcelona, Spain; the island of Bali, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple and the Galapágos Islands.
“As we depart the 2010s, a period that gave rise to influencers and forced us to grapple with our carbon footprints, and set sail for the ‘20s, we at Fodor’s are asking ourselves a simple question: How can we be better travelers in the decade to come?”
The magazine listed Big Sur as one of its “Places that don’t want you (or want you in smaller and better doses).”
“Big Sur is becoming overwhelmed,” Fodor’s wrote. “Locals lament the lack of public bathrooms and the disgusting roadside consequences of the scarcity of these facilities, not to mention the illegal camping occurring in a state where the deadliest and most destuctive wildfires get deadlier and more destructive each year.”
But Kirk Gafill, president of the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce, told the Mercury News that the idea that Big Sur is being overtouristed is “in no way in line with the facts.”
“There are no facts on the ground or original research or reporting that suggests the overall Big Sur ecosystem has been impacted by visitation,” Gafill told the newspaper.
Tensions between locals and tourists in Big Sur have become more visible this year.
In July, an “Overtourism is Killing Big Sur” banner appeared on the Bixby Bridge, a tourist hotspot.
A now-deleted Instagram account called @bigsurhatesyou, run by a Big Sur local, took screenshots of Instagram posts in Big Sur and called users out for violations beginning in the spring. Another, similar Instagram account called @bigsureducates is still active and started posting in mid-May.
Fodor’s said it uses the No List to highlight ethical, environmental and political issues that “we’re thinking about before, during, and long after we travel.”
Other destinations that Fodor’s cautioned travelers about include the Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland and Hanoi Train Street in Vietnam.
