[suburbanite]

My go to for a classic over-saturated tourist city that I still think is one of the coolest places in the world is Venice. Yes, the main areas are way too crowded for most of the spring/summer, you can get caught in tourist trap restaurants or attractions, and it can feel like Disney World at some times. Still, I think it's a place that everyone should experience at least once. The best part about Venice is the complete lack of any sort of logical navigability. My favourite memories are just having a general idea of what direction you need to head, and winding left and right down tiny side streets away from the tourist hordes. Finding a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant with some amazing Venetian seafood pasta dishes.

On the other hand, I thought Dubrovnik was a cool place to check out for a couple days when I went ~10 years ago. I went back two years ago and it was a nightmare and felt twice as crowded. Cool to see for sure, but not somewhere I have a huge desire to rush back to now. I guess for someone who hadn't been, I'd still say it's worth it to check it once or twice.

Not as high a proportion of tourists as the previous two obviously, but I think Athens is my least favourite major Mediterranean city I've been to. It feels crazy sprawly for a metro of ~3 million, and I didn't find the inner city residential areas nearly as interesting to walk through as its Italian or Spanish counterparts. It was hotter than hell when I was there as well.