Love Without Locks: Why We Shouldn’t Leave Padlocks in Paris (Or, Anywhere)

If you know a little about me or can gather from the name of this blog, you’ll appreciate that I’m a fan of during touristy things when I visit a new destination without actually looking like a tourist.

I’m always encouraging the support of local jobs and businesses when we travel while blending in with locals, as invisible tourism allows you to have an authentic travel experience and helps these people out in the best possible way. Everybody wins!

I do have one exception to doing a touristy thing, however: I’ll never leave love locks in Paris or any cities I visit. Yes, I may be in the minority here. The horror! But why? It would be super romantic to leave a love lock on a bridge during your honeymoon in Paris, right?

Well… Most places I have visited have been with my partner, but we always questioned whether this trend was actually doing more harm than good. In my eyes, this seemingly harmless act is the exact opposite of invisible tourism, which is something I’m very passionate about and the reason why I created my blog.

If you’re interested to learn why leaving padlocks in Paris (or anywhere around the globe) is a bad idea, read on for more!

NOTE: I first wrote this article about leaving padlocks in Paris when I began my blog back in early 2017. What you’re about to read below is an opinion that was in a very small minority at the time. It’s interesting how quickly travel trends can change so I have updated this article to reflect recent events. Here’s why it seems my unpopular truth was (and still is) ahead of the curve!

TIP: This article forms part of my top strategies for to how to be a responsible a tourist, detailing effective tips towards ethical tourism to benefit visitors and locals alike. It also features in my book, How to Not Look Like a Tourist: Unlocking Your Hidden Power for Overtourism Solutions.

Why we shouldn’t leave padlocks in Paris (or anywhere)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from an unromantic grinch. Generally speaking, I do realise most people leaving these love locks on bridges and other structures are well-meaning. They’re caught up in the romance of it all… I get that.

I’m not judging the majority of these people, I mean… It is a nice idea in theory to leave a piece representing you and your lover behind forever, right?

I’m not sure if many people don’t realise or seem to mind that their eternal lock they’re leaving behind is only as eternal as it takes for the padlock to rust or authorities to come along with bolt cutters… Which isn’t very long at all.

Origins of love locks

In my earliest travels back in 2008, it seemed love locks were an emerging trend. I visited 16 countries in Europe that trip and have to admit I can only really remember seeing padlocks in Rome and Paris, they were very few of them. At first I didn’t even know why they were there!

Fast forward to today and this trend has absolutely exploded all over the world. Theories suggest the trend originated someplace in Europe and has now extended to most corners of the globe, even as far as Melbourne, Australia and little Wellington in New Zealand, which is not usually a very touristy destination.

Overloaded: Negative impacts of love locks in Paris

So why haven’t I bothered leaving my mark? It’s true, one individual lock probably isn’t going to make much of a difference. So let’s think of it this way: Paris had 35 million visitors in 2019 alone.

For a moment, imagine if 35 million people all put a lock on a bridge or structure. The extra and unaccounted-for weight will inevitably take a toll and cause irreversible harm to the structure.

Some of these structures are centuries old and people are so swept away by the seemingly romantic gesture that thinking about the long-term damage their lock will do is the last thing on their minds.

These beautiful structures are part of the reasons we visit a city but they will slowly decay by being inundated with rusty locks.

Critics even argue love locks are form of vandalism and I have to agree. Not only do they look ugly and cause damage by rusting over time being exposed to the elements, the keys thrown into the rivers pollute the waterways which leads to poor water quality.

And they also pose a hazard. According to the city of Paris, 65 tonnes of locks were removed from the Pont des Arts in June of 2015, and 35 tonnes from the Pont de l’Archevêché near Notre Dame.

Each section of the guardrail on the Pont des Arts was weighed down by a whopping 330 kilos of locks, and sections would collapse regularly. Paris City Hall decided to take action after a panel of locks on the Pont des Arts collapsed onto the walkway of the bridge, nearly injuring tourists.

Those are some INSANE figures!

Additionally, a centuries-old lamppost on Ponte Milvio in Rome, Italy almost toppled over under the weight of these locks into the river below, prompting authorities to remove the locks as a safety precaution.

Opportunists hold the key to padlocks in Paris (quite literally)

In cities where love locks are popular I absolutely refuse to support local businesses or street vendors who promote and sell locks for this very purpose in exchange for making a quick buck.

Why should we be supportive of people who are happy to accelerate the damage being done to icons in their very own cities? These vendors are opportunists and have a LOT to answer for.

They’re simply preying on people’s emotions rather than exercising common sense. We need to help preserve these destinations, not contribute to their gradual decay and demise.

Love without locks: Responsible alternatives to lock down your love

For me, a better alternative is to take a piece of the city home with you! I’m not in any way saying steal ancient rocks from the Acropolis or fill a jar with sand from a beach in Barcelona. No, no, no.

By this I mean purchase a stunning painting from one of the talented local artists along the Siene or treat yourself to a locally made bag, clothing item or unique piece of jewellery. Anything that hasn’t been mass-produced and has been created with thought and care to remember your visit. Support local jobs!

As well as your photos and memories, I believe these are the types of things we should be taking home with us. We are free to use these things whenever we like and remind us of our fond time on our trip, rather than wondering if our rusty padlock we left on some European bridge fell victim to bolt cutters from authorities, without the chance of ever seeing or finding it again.

Forward thinking for alternatives to love locks on bridges

The more we try and stop something, the more people are going to figure out ways around it. I get that, too. But how can we compromise on this? I don’t see why there can’t be dedicated places for lovers to leave their locks. Places like South Korea and Russia already have dedicated lock sculptures band areas created specifically for this.

Perhaps this is the type of compromise we need – lovers get to leave their mark on a city in a non-damaging way and iconic structures are free to be as beautiful and clear of locks as they day they were completed. Everybody wins!

Before the padlocks were removed from Pont des Arts in Paris, the authorities placed signs over the locks explaining why they were going to be removed. The signs read:

The weight of your love weighs down our monuments and endangers the capital’s visitors.

Because our bridges will buckle under the weight of all the love locks, the City of Paris is removing them. Since 2008, many of you have come here to pledge your love and attach locks to Parisian bridges. This actually does long-term damage to the capital’s cultural heritage and creates safety problems. 

As a result, the City of Paris has opted for a long-term alternative. From this autumn, the lattice grills will be replaced with glass panels which will allow the bridge to retain its transparent charm.

But before that, Paris invites you to post your selfie and declaration of love on the lovewithoutlocks.paris.fr website where you can also discover the original work of four artists currently displayed on Pont des Arts.

And I couldn’t agree more.

Tourists can now take their photo in the place where they may have left a love lock, upload it to social media with the hashtag #lovewithoutlocks and have it appear in a feed on the website.

Supporting the preservation of our cities

There is an amazing website dedicated to raising awareness and informing people of the dangers leaving love locks in Paris (and around the world) creates.

No Love Locks, a preservation group in Paris created by Lisa Anselmo and the late Lisa Taylor Huff documents damages caused by the overwhelming impact of love locks.

No Love Locks provides numerous examples of street vendors in Paris who attach heavy bike chains to bridges and other structures in order to sell more locks – it needs to stop. I certainly agree with Lisa’s quote:

“One man’s expression of love must never come at the expense of the cultural heritage of others. When you come to another country and willingly deface a historic landmark, that is vandalism by definition. It’s becomes about ego, and it’s morally bankrupt.”

Their work on encouraging preservation of Paris from the padlock invasion has been featured in numerous articles by major news outlets. More recently when the locks were removed from Pont des Arts in Paris, No Love Locks shared images on their Facebook Page as they captured lovers resorting to tagging the glass panels as a new way to leave their mark on this Parisian icon.

This blatant graffiti is completely disrespectful to locals, their city and is the exact opposite of being an Invisible Tourist.

So… Have I convinced you not to leave padlocks in Paris?

Love locks have proven time and time again they are contributing to the demise of the structures they are attached to. Surely, this can’t be what we really want to happen to our beautiful old cities and I ask that if you are thinking about leaving one behind to reconsider.

Are love locks really about love? Or gaining likes on social media?

If we want to preserve these incredible destinations, we need to embrace invisible tourism – do as locals do and leave nothing behind that could potentially harm structures of the destinations we love so much. I’m sure it’s obvious by now why I am an Invisible Tourist and this is why I will never lust after love locks.

What are your thoughts on padlocks in Paris? Do you agree with their removal from iconic structures? Feel free to let me know in the comments below. If you agree with my article on this unpopular truth, please share it or come and join me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest and TikTok to support invisible tourism!

Until next time,

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