Venice is reintroducing its daytripper entrance fee this week, and visitors who book at the last minute will now pay €10—double last year’s rate—as the city expands efforts to curb overtourism.
The fee will apply from 18 April to 27 July, on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays—totaling 54 peak days, nearly twice as many as in last year’s pilot. The charge is only enforced between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro reiterated that the measure is aimed at reducing congestion and preserving the quality of life for residents. “The tax aims to help the city and its citizens battle overtourism and avoid huge influxes of visitors during crowded holidays and weekends,” he said.
The system is designed to target short-term, high-impact tourism, particularly from those who visit for only a few hours without staying overnight. Travelers who don’t make a reservation at least four days in advance will now pay €10 rather than the standard €5. Those who fail to pay altogether could face fines between €50 and €300, plus the €10 maximum entrance fee set by law.
The tax does not apply to overnight guests, who already pay a separate tourist tax, nor to those staying in surrounding mainland areas like Marghera and Mestre. Venice’s outer islands, including Murano, are also excluded.
Exemptions will continue for individuals traveling to Venice for work, education, or medical reasons, as well as for people born in the city and residents of the Veneto region.
Venice narrowly avoided being listed as an endangered UNESCO World Heritage Site last year, thanks in part to the introduction of the entrance fee. Officials say this pilot program will also help them collect more accurate data on visitor numbers and trends.
Prior to the pandemic, estimates suggested the city saw 25 to 30 million tourists annually, many of them daytrippers, though officials say those numbers were unreliable. In contrast, the number of registered overnight guests in 2023 was 4.6 million—16% below pre-COVID levels.
UNESCO had previously warned of the city’s vulnerability to mass tourism, particularly after cruise ships brought 1.6 million visitors in 2019. A ban on large cruise ships passing through the historic St. Mark’s Basin and Giudecca Canal helped the city avoid the endangered list two years ago.
Local activists raised alarms last summer when the number of tourist beds officially surpassed the number of residents, which has now fallen below 50,000. They argue this imbalance has drained the city of essential services, overcrowded the canals and alleyways, and forced many Venetians to relocate to the mainland in search of affordable housing and basic conveniences.
