Lake District is being ruined by 'relentless pursuit of tourism', say locals - with one controversial solution proposed to fix it
It's a region famous for its sense of solitude, a vision of rolling hills, characterful villages and tranquil bodies of water - except that's not quite the reality of the Lake District in 2026.
Year-round, hordes of tourists armed with camera phones and picnics now make for Cumbria to enjoy England's largest national park, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017.
As the more central parts of the Lake District - such as Ambleside, Windermere and Coniston - are bustling with visitors, the outer areas are, say locals, fast in danger of becoming England's next overtourism hotspots, following in the footsteps of Cornwall and the Cotswolds.
Some 18 million visitors go to the Lake District every year, with 41 million descending on the wider Cumbrian region and one resident, Dr Karen Lloyd, says tourism has become 'incredibly disruptive for local people' in recent years.
The author and campaigner tells the Daily Mail those who live here now face 'gridlocked roads' if they want to visit the most beautiful parts of the Lakes - and fear the environmental impact such traffic will have on the landscapes made famous by William Wordsworth and Alfred Wainwright.
It's a landscape made famous for its sense of quietness - but millions of tourists now flock to the Lake District every year to take in the breathtaking views
Locals say the pitfalls of popularity include traffic, full car parks and an increase in holiday lets, which price out locals from buying a home
Then there's the issue of 'second homes', which are snapped up by the rich to rent out to visitors, increasingly pricing out those who have spent their whole lives here.
Dr Lloyd, who moved to Cumbria aged six, says she now 'hardly ever goes into the Lake District and haven't done for years'.
She explains: 'Because if you don't go early or late, you won't get parked, you'll get snarled up in traffic. It's unpleasant and when you do get to places, they're too busy.'
In a social media world, where capturing and sharing snaps of the nation's most photogenic areas has become almost an obsession for tourists, how do you turn the tourism tide?
Author and campaigner Dr Karen Lloyd says tourism has become 'disruptive' for locals
The author suggests an idea previously mooted: removing the Lake District's UNESCO World Heritage status entirely.
'It was very controversial when it was thought of, it was very controversial when it was going through and it's even more controversial now because of the hike in numbers, because of the relentless pursuit of tourism,' Dr Lloyd says.
It's unlikely the UNESCO stamp will be rubbed out but Dr Lloyd suggests there are other things that can be done, including focusing on 'what makes a community vibrant' instead of just tourism, with a push for sustainable jobs that are well paid and needed all-year-round.
When it comes to the numbers, Cumbria hasn't actually managed to return to its pre-pandemic levels of visitors just yet - but it's surely only a matter of time.
Recent data from the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor, STEAM, showed a 14 per cent decline in the number of visitors overall in 2024, compared to 2019.
However, tourism in the area seems to be growing in different ways and last month, investigations journalist Jo Lonsdale told BBC Radio Cumbria: 'If you look at the period between 2019 and 2022, for example, the number of holiday lets in England went up by 40 per cent.'
She highlighted the issue in Keswick and said: 'In 2011, 14 per cent of its properties were holiday homes or holiday lets. A decade later, that had gone up to 25 per cent.'
This increase has been seen across the Lake District, Jo added.
Dr Lloyd says she feels, as do a lot of locals, that she is being 'squeezed out' of the area by tourists
Meanwhile, Westmorland and Furness Council told the radio show: 'High levels of second home ownership can have negative consequences for local communities and the premium encourages more permanent residents.'
The government's Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 allows local authorities to double the council tax on second homes, which has been rolled out across Cumbria.
Local authorities intend to use the additional council tax income to support communities and core services in the area
While acknowledging that she's lucky to live in such a beautiful place, Dr Lloyd says 'in another sense I feel, along with a lot of people, that we're being squeezed out of our own home and that's very difficult'.
She adds, 'It's not like I'm saying tourists shouldn't be here,' but she is worried that overtourism could spread further out, away from the main centre of the Lakes.
'If you're thinking about where's the next bit, well the next bit in the Lakes will be around the edges,' she says.
Masses of people crowding to beloved spots across the Lakes 'doesn't work for anybody in the end', Dr Lloyd says. Just like the locals, visitors can end up struggling to get parked and have their 'expectations dashed'.
She points out how some national parks abroad are strictly kept for protecting their wild inhabitants, restricting access from humans and says, 'I think we really need to think carefully about how our national parks are failing wildlife, and they're currently failing the communities that live in them.'
Gill Haigh, managing director of Cumbria Tourism told the Daily Mail: 'Tourism contributes around £4.6billion to Cumbria, supporting more than 74,000 jobs and underpinning local facilities such as transport, shops, culture and schools.
'Our tourism industry was hard hit by Covid, with visitor numbers remaining 14.4 per cent down since 2019.
'It's a place people care deeply about, and like many popular holiday destinations there can be challenges at the busiest times.
'The county's shared Destination Management Plan is about ensuring tourism brings real benefits to business, communities, the natural environment and visitors.
'Lots of organisations are working together, improving and increasing public transport and parking management.
Masses of people crowding to beloved spots across the Lakes 'doesn't work for anybody in the end', Dr Lloyd says
'Getting the accommodation balance right, including more affordable housing, is a key part of this and we look forward to the introduction of the Government's short term lets registration scheme.'
Visitor management in the Lake District is handled through a partnership approach between various entities including Westmorland and Furness Council, the Lake District National Park Authority, Cumbria Police, Cumberland Council and Cumbria Tourism and the National Trust.
The Strategic Visitor Management Group tackles issues like the safety and experience of visitors, as well as fly-camping and litter, and the disruption of local communities.
The Daily Mail approached The Lake District National Park and Cumberland Council for comment.
Dr Karen Lloyd's new book, Earthworks: Land And Nature In Uncertain Times, will be published on April 2, 2026.
Where's next for overtourism in Europe? Two experts offer their verdict...
Banners, placards and even graffiti - locals across Spain have been hitting back at tourism over the last couple of years after battling overtourism.
The anti-tourist sentiment is still strong in areas, and only recently tales of holidaymakers being scared to visit parts of the popular destination made headlines.
As the problem of visitors taking up homes that once belonged to locals, pricing them out of purchasing properties and overcrowding streets persists in the Balearics persist, what other places could be grappling with too many tourists?
Places like Copenhagen, Denmark, could see even more tourists in the years to come
Nikolaus Thomale, founder of MYNE, a co-ownership holiday home platform that promotes more sustainable tourism with accommodation options that don't lay empty throughout the year, thinks areas like 'islands and the coasts' will feel the impact of overtourism more simply because they are restricted by size.
'But also the big metropolitan areas,' he adds. 'Think of Barcelona, think of Lisbon and Portugal, they have very similar problem, because now you have some parts of these cities where 30, 40 per cent of the streets in some neighbourhoods are short term rentals, rising to 50 per cent in certain streets.'
Catherine Warrilow, a tourism expert who advises visitor attractions on their tourism strategy and founder of The Plot, tells the Daily Mail, 'Places like Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam and of course London, have always been huge hotspots' and have struggled to 'balance footfall with local living'.
As for where might experience similar problems next, she says, 'Porto, Athens, Copenhagen, Budapest and Malta's capital, Valletta' are 'rising up the ranks quickly'.
Catherine adds, 'All have seen rapid growth in room night bookings since 2019 and will likely have challenges with that growth when compared to their physical size and scope for infrastructure.
'With all of these regions, we're already seeing protests and frustrations from local people in response to the impact on everyday living.
'Whilst tourism is a fundamental part of economic stability and growth for many destinations, overtourism poses added pressure and problems for locals, infrastructure and also the quality of the visitor experience for tourists themselves.'
