A beautiful spot in the Dolomites is being overrun by tourists looking for a local delicacy, as the mountain range comes under increasing pressure from large numbers of visitors.
The Alpine region is known as one of the most beautiful places in the country Italy with its cable cars, mountain views and hiking trails that attract millions of holidaymakers every year.
This summer is no different. Videos show tourists waiting for hours at an altitude of 2,300 meters in ‘crazy’ winding queues for a hut’s famous cream-filled donuts.
Visitors wake up in the early morning hours to get their hands on the sweet treat before they sell out at the Rifugio Friedrich August hut on the Langkofelberg, near the border with South Tyrol.
Some have even reported going camping just to guarantee themselves a donut.
Furious locals are fed up with holidaymakers being more concerned with photos on social media than appreciating the region’s natural beauty, while they remain unimpressed TikTok users called the viral spot a “tourist trap.”
One wrote under a video of queues: ‘Pretty much all if the huts/refugios in the Alps have great traditional local/homemade food of high quality. 99% of them without having to queue.’
“This is madness,” said an Italian influencer promoting tourism in the region.
Shocking videos show an influx of tourists waiting for hours at a height of 2,300 meters amid breathtaking scenery in ‘crazy’ snaking queues for famous fresh cream-filled donuts
Last week, on the day of the solar eclipse, the roads on the Passo di Giau mountain were jammed by heavy traffic
One hiker said: ‘I’ve been coming to the mountains for years and have honestly never seen such chaos; there are queues everywhere.”
Another wrote: ‘They are not interested in the Dolomites. They only come in slippers to take pictures.’
An annoyed social media user also commented: ‘Yes, that’s why I pick countries, cities and places that no one on social media knows about.’
Meanwhile, last week, on the day of the solar eclipse, the roads on the Passo di Giau mountain pass were gridlocked by heavy traffic.
Images showed hundreds of cars stopped all the way into the valley.
Barriers have also been installed near the picturesque Church of Santa Maddalena to prevent unauthorized drivers from reaching it by car.
The serene beauty spot is flooded with hundreds of tourists wanting to visit its most popular sights.
The swarm of tourists has caused carnage in the quaint village and led to the region introducing new restrictions limiting the number of cars to just 150 cars per day.
Furious locals are fed up with holidaymakers more concerned with photos on social media than appreciating the region’s natural beauty
The serene beauty spot is flooded with hundreds of tourists wanting to visit its most popular sights
One woman who claimed she has been visiting the Dolomites for 35 years said: ‘This year it felt like I was on another planet. There have never been so many people here before.’
Earlier this year, a video showed a line hundreds of feet long at a bus stop for a shuttle as crowds waited to visit the world-famous Three Peaks.
It is one of the most visited attractions in the Alps and during the high season around 14,000 visitors come to the region every day.
The area’s councilor Nicola Bombassei, who oversees the environment and planning, reportedly said last month that the queues were ‘unacceptable’, adding that the region is already attracting record numbers of visitors.
Efforts will be made to find ways to reduce crowds, she said.
In recent years, a ski lift has been proposed as a means to better manage overcrowding in these zones, although many argue that this conflicts with a quota system that limits vehicular access to the area.
Dolomiti Bus operations director Gabriele Mariani was quoted as saying that their shuttle service has been reinforced in the wake of the large crowds.
“We continuously monitor visitor flow and adapt our service to needs,” he added.
