Venice Introducing Entry Fee For Day-Trippers ‘To Create A More Livable City’

During a debate on overtourism, Venice is often one of the first cities to come to mind, along with Amsterdam and Barcelona. The city in Italy continues to receive millions of visitors, a rate that surpasses that capacity of its delicate centuries-old infrastructure.

Venice has long discussed implementing an entry fee but the specifics have not always been clear. But city officials recently unveiled a comprehensive plan, shedding the much-needed light on when and how the tourist tax will be introduced.

Who Has To Pay To Enter Venice?

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro describes the fee as a “first-of-its-kind experiment”, stating in a recent interview with local media, “Our goal is to create a more livable city.” The entry fee (among other measures to manage visitor influx) is specifically targeted at day trippers.

Starting next year, visitors will be required to pay €5 from April 25 to May 5, a duration that marks the first peak tourism period of the year. The day-tripper entry fee will also apply during weekends in May and June, as well as the first two weekends of July.

The fee will only apply during peak hours from 8:30 am to 4 pm. It doesn’t affect residents and their relatives of the city and the wider Veneto region, students enrolled in the city, people with disabilities, people staying at least one night in local hotels and those visiting for health reasons.

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How Do I Pay The Entry Fee?

Additionally, people visiting Venice for a concert or a sporting event are also exempt. Day-trippers will need to pre-book their visit through a soon-to-be-launched online booking platform. Even people who are exempt from paying the fee will still have to register to enter the city.

The idea is that the platform will allow authorities to have a better understanding of how many people will be coming and going. The information is expected to help them apply more resources in areas such as traffic control and waste management on the busy days.