12 tiny villages which are drowning in tourists

It is most definitely possible to have too much of a good thing. Too much chocolate, too much beer – and, if you are an intriguing destination that is big on prettiness but small on actual size, too many people.

Witness the curious case of Lavertezzo, a village in the southerly Ticino region of Switzerland which - in the summer of 2017 - became overrun with visitors after an online film montage, describing it as the “Maldives of Milan”, went viral.

Cue biblical numbers of travellers rushing north to jump into the clear waters of the River Verzasca (above), copying the antics of the four young Italian fun-seekers seen in the video. Locals complained about the incomers leaving rubbish and parking badly.

Of course, Lavertezzo is not the first tiny dot on the map to be the victim of its own good looks. The following villages and small towns can also be very crowded at certain times...