Photo by RDNE Stock project
Article courtesy of Deluxe Holiday Homes.
According to a November 2025 report on winter holiday tourism, Paris is the most overcrowded city around the Christmas season, with over 8 million visitors. The study by Deluxe Holiday Homes, examined destinations around the world, comparing them by tourist activity and online popularity.
- Paris takes 1st place, with over 8.3 million visitors, making it the most crowded Christmas destination.
- Over 1.6 million people check out Strasbourg as a potential place for winter holidays, the highest online interest in the top 5.
- Dublin hosts the most Christmas events among the top destinations, adding to the crowds and making the city very busy during the holidays.
The study analyzed the most popular Christmas travel destinations based on tourist density, safety, and the number of Christmas events to evaluate how busy each city is during the winter holidays. Cities were ranked from most to least overcrowded based on tourist density, and a simple scale from 1 to 100 was applied to illustrate the results.
Here’s a look at the top 10 most overcrowded Christmas Destinations:
| City | Search Volume “Christmas in {City}” | Number of tourists in December | Area km² | Tourists per km² |
| Paris | 291,860 | 8,306,818 | 105.4 | 78,812 |
| Brussels | 502,770 | 1,773,930 | 32.61 | 54,398 |
| Strasbourg | 1,671,890 | 3,400,000 | 78 | 43,445 |
| Zurich | 198,690 | 2,372,643 | 87.88 | 26,999 |
| Dublin | 698,380 | 2,382,197 | 115 | 20,715 |
| Manchester | 548,260 | 2,239,719 | 116.5 | 19,225 |
| New York City | 1,921,690 | 12,500,000 | 778.2 | 16,063 |
| Chicago | 2,035,410 | 8,095,030 | 600 | 13,492 |
| London | 3,865,650 | 14,059,319 | 1,572 | 8,944 |
| Amsterdam | 143,940 | 1,550,000 | 219.3 | 7,068 |
You can access the complete research findings here.
1. Paris
- Search Volume: 291.8K
- Number of Tourists in December: 8,306,818
- Area: 105.4 km²
- Tourists per km²: 78,812
Paris is the most overcrowded Christmas destination, with 8.3 million tourists spending their holidays here, the most among the top 5 cities. Paris has an area of 105 km², but with these many visitors, the city becomes very crowded. Around 47 Christmas events take place in Paris every holiday season, including its famous Champs-Élysées market, which draws many tourists every year.
2. Brussels
Brussels comes in second, with 1.77 million tourists visiting its 32.6 km² area in December. The city gets a lot of online attention around Christmas, with over half a million people reading about it online. The city has only 364 hotel options during this time, one of the fewest on the list. Many tourists and rare accommodations contribute to the busyness of the city, and make it one of the more stressful Christmas destinations.
3. Strasbourg
Strasbourg takes third place with over 43K visitors gathered in each square kilometer of the city. The city also receives twice as many tourists as Brussels, averaging around 3.4 million. Online popularity contributes to tourist crowds in December, with over 1.6 million people checking out its Christmas attractions.
4. Zurich
Zurich ranks fourth, attracting over 2.3 million in December. The city hosts the most Christmas events in the top 10, with 19 holiday celebrations. Almost 200K people also check out the city’s Christmas celebrations online, which often turn into real-life visits. At the same time, low crime is a major advantage of Zurich, and even in crowds, people can safely enjoy the festivities.
5. Dublin
Dublin rounds out the list, with about the same number of tourists as Zurich, around 2.3 million. More people are looking up Dublin as a potential Christmas destination than Paris, with 700K online queries. The city also organizes 13 Christmas events during December, similar to Strasbourg, attracting more visitors in winter.
Helle Seuren, Director of Sail Croatia, commented:
“Christmas can get really overwhelming with all the crowds, packed streets, and busy events. Our research shows that the busiest cities aren’t always the most fun. Smaller towns or lesser-known places can have charming markets, festive decorations, and a more relaxed atmosphere, so you can enjoy the holidays without dealing with all the overcrowding and stress.”