This tiny mountain village in Europe is drawing in huge crowds from China, Japan and South Korea.

14:08, Tue, Jan 27, 2026 Updated: 14:09, Tue, Jan 27, 2026

Val di Funes, Dolomite Alps, South Tyrol, Italy, Europe

This tiny mountain village in Europe is drawing in huge crowds from China, Japan and South Korea (Image: Getty)

A picturesque Alpine village backed by jagged mountains is waging war on tourists after going viral on social media. The once tranquil Italian village of Funes (Villnöß) in the German-speaking South Tyrol, near the Austrian border, has had its peace shattered by the arrival of thousands of tourists armed with selfie sticks all the way from China, Japan and South Korea.

Spanning just over 31 miles and home to just over 2,500 people, Funes is now being invaded by huge crowds of holidaymakers each year, desperate to take their own sunset photos outside its Santa Maddalena church, a fifteenth-century church backed by the iconic Odles peaks of the Dolomites. However, this surge in visitors has brought with it traffic jams, trespassing and a rise in littering, which has angered its locals. In fact, tensions are now so high that some have taken to hurling verbal abuse, and, on at least one occasion, violence.

Sunrise Scene of Landscape of Italian Alp the Dolomites with Chiesa Parrocchiale di San Pietro in Funes valley, South Tyrol, Italy

Between mid-May and November the village will close the road to all holidaymakers except those with hotel bookings (Image: Getty)

“They want that photo at all costs,” Roswitha Moret Niederwolfsgruber, the council chief for social welfare, told The Times. “They have no respect, walking into people’s gardens and leaving their cars where they want […] we are not living any more.”

The overcrowding has now taken its toll, and the village has launched a crackdown. From now on, between mid-May and November, the village will close the road to all holidaymakers except those with hotel bookings, according to Italian news outlet Corriere. As a result, tourists will have to make the 15-minute journey on foot to enjoy the iconic mountain view.

Ms Moret Niederwolfsgruber said the aim was to stop “hit and run” day-trip tourists who caused chaos, rather than block all visitors. "We’re giving you the chance to come, leave your car and enjoy our village,” she added.

Alpine spring landscape with Santa Maddalena village, Dolomites, Italy, Europe

The crackdown hopes to stop day-trip tourists who race round Italy in a week (Image: Getty)

The president of the Italian Alpine Club walkers' association, Carlo Zanella, also told The Times that these day-trippers arrive by the coach-load in the morning: "They're at Cortina by the afternoon and Venice by the evening. They go to Florence and Rome from there, visiting Italy in a week," he said.

The area's popularity on social media, especially among Asian tourists, is said to stem from an image of the Church and mountain printed on SIM cards by a Chinese phone operator in 2005. Influencers in China have also said that the range inspired the mobile phone mountain emoji.

A source at a local hotel said many residents had lost their patience with the visitors, with locals swearing at tourists for their poor behaviour and for trampling Funes' meadows. “There are cases where schoolkids have attacked visitors on buses," they added.

Landscape of the Seceda summit in Ortisei, Dolomiti, Italy.

The iconic mountain peak of Seceda has suffered a similar fate after appearing during an iPhone 15 presentation in 2023 (Image: Getty)

The village has already attempted to dissuade crowds by installing similar barriers three years ago. However, it quickly proved ineffective when unruly visitors simply followed residents in or drove around them. This time, however, the residents are stepping up controls.

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The barriers will be moved further up the road, where a wider section should help prevent bottlenecks, while staff will be positioned there to control access. Parking fees will also be increased from €4 (£3.50) a day, with council officials still deciding how much to charge.

Seceda, in an adjacent valley, has suffered a similar fate after appearing during an iPhone 15 presentation in 2023. The Austrian UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hallstatt is also struggling, with its 700 inhabitants getting outnumbered by some 10,000 visitors each day during high season. In fact, China has even gone as far as to build a £750 million replica of Hallstatt in Guangdong, complete with a town square, church tower and lakeside homes.