10 Empty Cities That Look Eerily Beautiful Without Crowds

Noemi took her first long-haul flight at age six when her family moved from Spain to the US. Her love for airplane rides was solidified on that trip, and 30-something years later she challenges herself to visit a new place every year.

Noemi joined SmarterTravel in 2019 from Oyster.com, where she worked for five years leading the Photo Operations team. Along with assigning photographers and producing visual content, Noemi is a trained photographer. Her favorite thing to photograph is the everyday - capturing daily life and little moments around her neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Her work has appeared on Oyster.com, ABC News, and AOL. You can follow her on Instagram at @NoemidelaTorre.

Handy item I always pack: "An SD card reader for my phone. The lightning to SD card reader is awesome for downloading RAW files from my DSLR to my iPhone. If I don’t bring a laptop on vacation this lets me edit and post photos on the go.”

Ultimate bucket list experience: “Tokyo, Japan. My friends and I started @ramenclubnyc here in NYC and I’d love to go eat ramen in Japan someday.”

Travel Motto:: "Keep calm and book a flight."

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Window for naps!"

See recent posts by Noemi de la Torre

As countries lock down in an attempt to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic, tourists have canceled their trips and citizens are being told to stay home. The destinations below are usually swarmed with tourists crowding for a good view, trying to get that perfect photo. Today they are largely empty. Streets are deserted, metro stations quiet, shops and cafes closed. These images of empty cities offer a different view that we don’t often, if ever, see—and despite the circumstances, they have a certain melancholy beauty.

Rome, Italy

A police officer stands in front of the Spanish Steps on March 12, 2020.

New York, New York

Times square is practically empty of tourists — Droneandy/Shutterstock

Times Square stands mostly empty on March 21, 2020.

Madrid, Spain

Madrid’s Puerta del Sol is deserted on March 15, 2020.

London, England

A lone tourist in deserted London under lockdown during the Corona Virus Covid-19 outbreak. — rodwey2004/Shutterstock

A lone tourist sits in an empty Trafalgar Square on March 23, 2020.

Florence, Italy

Piazza del Duomo is shuttered in Florence on March 24, 2020.

Paris, France

Few tourists gather around the Eiffel Tower on March 17, 2020.

Warsaw, Poland

Old Town Square is empty in Warsaw, Poland.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin’s famous Brandenburg Gate is void of tourists on March 21, 2020.

Kolkata, India

Railway platform is empty in West Bengal, India Kolkata — Soumen Tarafder/Shutterstock

A railway platform is empty for Janata Curfew in Kolkata on March 22, 2020.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

typically busy streets of Amsterdam are shown nearly empty as the Coronavirus pandemic — Capture 11 Photography/Shutterstock

The typically busy streets of Amsterdam are nearly empty on March 7, 2020.

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