Overtourism used to sound like a complaint from grumpy locals with excellent timing and no patience. In 2026, it looks much more official. Across Europe, Asia, and Latin America, authorities are using fees, caps, rental limits, cruise restrictions, and tougher enforcement to slow the parts of tourism that hit hardest: housing pressure, clogged streets, overstretched heritage sites, and ecosystems that would quite like a day off.
This is not a list of countries shutting the door. It is a list of places where the welcome mat now comes with fine print. In several cases, the measures are city-, island-, or site-specific rather than nationwide, but they will still shape how travelers experience these countries in 2026, from Amsterdam flats to Mount Fuji trail gates and Venice day trips.
1. Spain
Spain keeps landing at the center of Europe’s overtourism fight because it is attacking the pressure points residents complain about most: illegal short-term rentals and overcrowded urban hotspots. Reuters reported in May 2025 that Spain ordered Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 listings, and in July it reported that another 54,728 listings had been identified without the now-mandatory official license number under legislation enacted on 1 July 2025. By January 2026, Reuters said Ibiza’s short-term holiday rentals had almost halved in 2025 from a year earlier as the crackdown started to bite.
The traveler takeaway is simple: Spain is still open, but the era of shrugging at loosely regulated holiday lets is ending. That matters because much of the anger in Barcelona, Ibiza, and Mallorca is tied to housing rather than beaches alone. Fewer illegal rentals will not magically solve the problem, but the direction of travel is clear, and 2026 visitors are walking into a country that is policing tourism supply more aggressively than before.
2. Italy
Italy makes this list because Venice has now baked crowd control into the 2026 calendar itself. On the city’s official access-fee portal, Venice says the 2026 access fee starts on 3 April and applies only on selected marked days. It is a very Venetian way of saying, “Yes, the entry experiment is still here.” This follows earlier expansions of the fee system meant to target peak day-tripper congestion in the lagoon city.
That matters beyond Venice because Italy has become one of the clearest symbols of Europe’s pushback against crowd surges. When a destination as famous as Venice starts charging on designated high-pressure dates, it sends a message to every casual day visitor who thought spontaneity was still free. In 2026, Italy is not banning mass tourism, but it is very much done pretending there is no cost to it.
3. Greece
Greece has chosen a fairly blunt instrument for its busiest islands: cruise fees. Reuters reported that Greece would introduce a 20-euro levy on cruise passengers visiting Santorini and Mykonos during peak summer months, with officials also planning to regulate how many cruise ships arrive simultaneously at certain destinations. Later, Reuters reported that parliament approved the cruise-arrival levy, confirming the policy had moved beyond talk and into law.
That approach makes sense in places where the problem is less “too many tourists everywhere” and more “too many people arriving at once.” Santorini in particular has become the poster child for postcard beauty meeting physical limits. Greece is still chasing tourism revenue, naturally, but in 2026 it is also charging the most overloaded cruise stops for the privilege of being swarmed.
4. The Netherlands
The Dutch entry here is really Amsterdam, which has been steadily turning the screws on nuisance-heavy tourism. The City of Amsterdam says it already has a ban on new tourist shops, restrictions on holiday rentals, and restrictions on new hotels. Reuters reported that the city would no longer allow new hotel buildings except in replacement cases with no net increase in sleeping capacity. That is not subtle policy. That is municipal side-eye with paperwork.
The 2026 twist is even tighter control on home rentals. Amsterdam’s official housing pages say that from 1 April 2026, in some central neighborhoods and the Oude Pijp area, homes may only be rented to tourists for up to 15 nights per year instead of 30. For travelers, that means fewer casual short-let options in the areas that were already feeling squeezed hardest.
5. Japan
Japan’s overtourism battle is no longer a niche Kyoto argument or a social-media fight over photo spots. JNTO’s statistics portal tracks the monthly visitor surge into 2026, and the figures announced by JNTO show that Japan welcomed a record 42.7 million international visitors in 2025. Once numbers hit that scale, pressure points stop being theoretical.
Mount Fuji is where the crackdown becomes wonderfully concrete. On the official Yamanashi Yoshida Trail rules page, the climbing fee is 4,000 yen, the entry gate restriction begins at 2 p.m. for those without hut reservations, and climbers must go through a reservation process that includes rule acknowledgment and equipment checks. In 2026, Japan is still inviting the world in, but at Fuji, at least, it is done indulging the flip-flops-and-vibes school of mountaineering.
6. Indonesia
Indonesia makes the list because Bali has gone from muttering about bad visitor behavior to formalizing the response. The official Love Bali FAQ says foreign tourists must pay a levy of Rp 150,000, and Bali’s tourism office said in March 2025 that it had begun destination inspections to verify levy compliance. Another official notice in April 2025 said the levy voucher would become a requirement for boarding-pass issuance, which is a neat way to make sure people stop “forgetting.”
Bali is also pairing the fee with conduct rules. An official April 2025 notice said tourists must behave respectfully, pay the levy, and follow specific cultural and legal guidelines while visiting the island. Bali is still selling paradise, obviously, but in 2026 it is doing so with more guardrails and less patience for chaotic behavior.
7. Croatia
Croatia’s crunch point is the coast, where tourism money has collided hard with housing. Reuters reported that Croatia approved draft laws to clamp down on short-term tourist rentals, raise taxes on rental properties, and shield long-term residential housing, while Dubrovnik had already moved to restrict new private rental permits in its historic Old Town. The city’s “Respect the City” effort has long been about balancing visitor flows with resident life, and the mood has only hardened since.
The 2026 angle is regulatory muscle. Croatia’s tourism ministry has pointed to the EU’s short-term rental data regulation applying from May 2026, which should make it easier for authorities to identify unregistered listings and enforce local rules instead of relying only on sporadic inspections.
8. Peru
Peru’s overtourism problem has one giant stone face: Machu Picchu. The official Machu Picchu portal says that since 1 June 2024 the site has operated with 3 new circuits grouping 10 routes, while UNESCO documents describe a variable-capacity strategy of up to 4,500 people per day, with a maximum increase to 5,600 during high season. That is a famous wonder being managed like a finite organism, not an infinitely reloadable app.
The rules on the ground are equally strict. The official code of conduct bans oversized bags, food, alcohol, and a long list of other habits tourists tend to invent five minutes before entry. Reuters has also reported both overcrowding worries and disputes tied to the electronic ticketing system. Peru is still trying to keep Machu Picchu accessible, but in 2026 the site is being channeled, counted, and monitored with much less wiggle room than the old free-for-all fantasy suggests.
9. France
France earns its place here because Cannes is bringing one of the sharpest 2026 cruise restrictions in Europe. AP reported that starting in 2026 the city will cap daily cruise disembarkations at 6,000 passengers and cut the number of very large cruise ships, with larger vessels required to anchor offshore and tender passengers in. For a Riviera city built on glamour, that is a surprisingly practical sentence.
The important detail is timing: this is not a vague plan for some distant sustainability brochure. The Cannes measures are part of the live 2026 travel landscape, and they reflect a broader French Riviera mood that cruise-driven surges are no longer automatically worth the trade-off. France will still receive mountains of visitors, obviously, but in at least one of its most famous coastal playgrounds, the port gates are getting narrower on purpose.