A mum took her family on holiday to Positano, Italy, after seeing

"beautiful and calm" videos online - but said it was "complete chaos" with so many tourists they could barely move."

Regina Simmons, 38, visited Italy in late May for a family holiday - flying 10 hours from her home in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Along with visiting Rome and other tourist hotspots, they ensured to spend a day in Positano after seeing clips of it on TikTok.

Regina anticipated "amazing views" along with "calm empty streets" and "locals buying fresh vegetables from the markets"."

But the reality, she said, was very different.

While the sunset views were amazing, she described "complete chaos" - with tourists walking down tiny streets "shoulder to shoulder"."

Regina said the train station was "like a horror movie" and the family kept having to pop into hotel foyers because the situation was so overstimulating."

Regina, a restaurant chain owner, said: "We definitely saw it on social media."

"There are hundreds of beautiful videos of Positano which inspire you to go."

"And this year feels very trendy - lots of my American friends are travelling to Italy this year."

"In the videos, you see everything looks completely empty and calm."

"In real life there were far too many people. It was just bananas."

"I think in the photos, they go on photoshop and remove all the people so you think it'll be empty."

Regina said she, her husband Dan Simmons, 46, and their daughters Sofia, 16 and Camila, 13, visited Positano for a day on June 1 while staying in Sorrento.

They had flown 10 hours to their Italian getaway and wanted to make the most of it.

Having an image in her head of serene streets, peaceful local markets of fresh produce and hidden-away eateries, they were all shocked by the reality.

Regina said: "We were overwhelmed by the amount of people."

"We had to look for a restaurant to hide in and make a game plan."

"Positano is all these tight little streets and everyone is walking together."

"Half the people are going up and half are going down. It was complete chaos."

"Everyone was touching, shoulder to shoulder."

She said, while there looked to be some lovely shops, the walkways were too crowded to stop at a shop door.

While they said it was "lovely and pretty", they were disappointed that "everything is adapted for tourists"."

She said: "We found everything was in English and there were Americans everywhere."

"I actually took Italian classes, and I never needed to use it."

Despite enjoying the trip on the whole, they said they would try somewhere else in Europe next time they plan a trip away.

Regina said: "If it's trendy on social media, everyone wants to do what everyone else is doing."

"Myself included!"

"Don't believe everything you see on social media."