bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Santa Maddalena is covered in snow, which ⁠only enhances its picturesque charm. It is drawing a growing number of visitors, something locals describe as a mixed blessing.
The village, home to fewer than 400 people, is nestled in the heart of Italy’s Dolomites, with a jagged mountain backdrop highlighting the diminutive church tower.
Named the most beautiful village in South Tirol by Geo magazine, Santa Maddalena is located within the Unesco-listed Puez-Geisler Nature Park between Villnoss and Val Gardena.
Nonetheless, it is increasingly overrun with ‌tourists, from nearby European countries and as far away as Beijing, China.
Han Gengai and Li Shangxi, two students from the Chinese capital, came after seeing a picture online of the 3,000-metre (9,800-foot) Geisler mountains. Han, 24, says, “I knew immediately: I have to go there.”
Back when people used to send postcards, this would have been an ideal motif. Now, fans like Han call it highly “Instagrammable”.

In search of the perfect photo
That search for an image has sent Instagrammers to the lonely lighthouses of Brittany, the Dynjandi waterfall in Iceland, Ireland’s dramatic Cliffs ⁠of Moher – and this remote valley in the Dolomites.
Most visitors do not linger in Santa Maddalena, but simply head up to the church, take a few photos with their phones, maybe ‌a selfie, upload them, then head off again.
There are tens of thousands of pictures of Santa Maddalena on Instagram, TikTok and Flickr.
It’s a beloved image on RedNote, China’s version of Instagram. “Everyone knows the picture,” Han says.
Peter Pernthaler, mayor of the main municipality of Villnoss, attributes ‌this to the fact that a Chinese telecommunications company used the Alpine panorama in an advertisement a few years ago.
“That’s how the whole mess ⁠started,” he says. And now, people are ⁠really suffering.












View this post on Instagram























A post shared by RADKA | adventures, hiking & traveling (@radka_balazikova)



The price of fame
The downside of Santa Maddalena’s new-found fame first became apparent when tour buses began blocking the valley’s narrow roads.
Now, even travel agencies in Verona, 200km (124 miles) away, are offering tours: Romeo and Juliet in the morning, Santa Maddalena in the afternoon.
And the fee of €250 (US$295) for a bus parking space is not putting off any tour operators. The same applies to cars. When the car parks are ‌full, people ‌find a spot – anywhere, anyhow – in the village.
The situation is most acute at the hilltop church, a 15-minute walk from the village.
Although a barrier restricts access, some visitors ignore ‌it and drive up anyway, despite the road being reserved for residents and guests attending weddings or funerals.

‘It’s worse than in Venice’
In pursuit of the perfect photo, many show little restraint. Fences are climbed, ⁠meadows trampled, rubbish left behind. For some, even paying less than €1 to use a toilet is too much.
For a time, a handwritten sign in three languages stood ⁠at the Obermesner farm beside the church: Privatbesitz – Privat – Privata. It did little to help.
“Not even that stops people. They come into our kitchen with their mobile phones,” says the farmer’s daughter, who prefers not to give her name.
Others wander into the barn. The cattle from the Fallerhof farm below are now probably ‌among the most photographed in Europe. That led ‌the farmer to use ropes to cordon off the property.
“It’s worse than in Venice,” the mayor says. “People have no manners. Privacy is no longer respected at all.”
However, the municipality wants to put an end to this soon: for €20,000), the access road to the church and the village will be blocked by a state-of-the-art barrier system, including cameras.
It is scheduled to go into operation in May at the latest.
“We hope that this will get things under control,” Pernthaler says. “But we’re not sure.”
Local residents are welcoming the plan for now, with one posting on Instagram: “I live here and this is the best news! Influencers ruined our paradise with drones, private taxis and LITTER! It is clearly posted that no drones are allowed but they send them up anyway. No respect.
“We welcome you but please respect our mountains and heritage.”


Chinese shoppers are Asia’s biggest airport spenders, study finds

Tokyo Skytree tower closed after 20 trapped in lift for 5 hours

Divers recover bodies of Chinese tourists who died in Russia’s Lake Baikal

Thailand sees Lunar New Year travel boom as Chinese tourists back in droves

Tourism

How tourists are overwhelming a tiny village in Italy for the perfect photo

The picturesque village of Santa Maddalena, in Italy’s Dolomites, is drawing hordes of visitors from all over the world, but the overtourism is affecting its residents. Photo: Christoph Sator/dpa

Santa Maddalena in a remote valley of the Dolomites, in Italy. Photo: Christoph Sator/dpa

Santa Maddalena village is equally pretty in the summer. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese tourists flock to South Korea for beauty treatments ahead of Lunar New Year

Tourists walk through Myeong-dong in Seoul, in September 2025. A rising number of  Chinese tourists are visiting South Korea for skin treatments. Photo: The Korea Times

A woman walks past a street billboard advertising double-jaw surgery at a subway station in Seoul. Photo: AFP

A post on Diav Clinic’s Instagram account promoting a skin-whitening treatment. Photo: Instagram/diav_clinic_cn

2016 trends, from Pokemon Go to poke bowls, as looking back 10 years goes viral in 2026

People play Pokemon Go in Hong Kong on July 25, 2016, the day it was released in the city. The online game was one of the hottest trends in the city 10 years ago. Photo: Nora Tam

Song Joong-ki in a still from Descendants of the Sun. The popular K-drama helped fuel a travel surge to South Korea in 2016. Photo: Blossom Entertainment

A still from Ten Years, which won best film at the 2016 Hong Kong Film Awards.

People gather to play Pokemon Go in Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong, on July 28, 2016, a few days after the game’s release in the city. Photo: Sam Tsang

Poke bowls were all the rage in 2016 as people leaned into health-adjacent concepts. Photo: Getty Images

Runners at the Hong Kong 100 in 2025. Endurance running events took off in Hong Kong in 2016.

Sound therapist Martha Collard performs a gong bath at Red Doors Studio, in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong.

YouTube star IShowSpeed’s Africa tour offers a ‘different narrative’ from TV stereotypes

American YouTube, Instagram and Twitch megastar IShowSpeed meets fans in Accra, Ghana, during his Africa tour. The influencer has shown a modernising continent, and has taken in the odd football match along the way. Photo: AP

IShowSpeed holds onto the top of a car in a motorsport arena in Johannesburg, South Africa, on January 2, 2026, during his tour of Africa. Photo: AFP

IShowSpeed meets fans at Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, during his tour of Africa. Photo: AP

Vietnam bans vapes, will fine tourists up to US$78 and jail e-cigarette traders, producers

Vietnam has announced a ban on the sale and use of vapes. Photo: Shutterstock

A man smokes a disposable vape. Tourists caught vaping in Vietnam face a fine, while those found selling the e-cigarettes face much bigger fines and jail terms of up to 15 years. Photo: Reuters

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Santa Maddalena, a photogenic village in the Italian Dolomites, has to endure hordes of unruly visitors showing up just to take a photo


Santa Maddalena, a photogenic village in the Italian Dolomites, has to endure hordes of unruly visitors showing up just to take a photo.


European travel

RedNote

Italy

How tourists are overwhelming a tiny village in Italy for the perfect photo

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Santa Maddalena, a photogenic village in the Italian Dolomites, has to endure hordes of unruly visitors showing up just to take a photo

Santa Maddalena, a photogenic village in the Italian Dolomites, has to endure hordes of unruly visitors showing up just to take a photo