Admission to Venice | The time has come – from 16 January 2023 (postponed for 6 months) , tourists will have to pay admission to the world-famous lagoon city on the Italian Adriatic. However, this only applies to day visitors who are not staying overnight in the city. The entrance fee is comparable to a visitor’s tax. Experienced travellers already pay spa taxes at North Sea and Baltic Sea resorts or a tourist tax on Mallorca. So none of this comes as a surprise.
✅ Information about this new regulation now here in my blog.
Status: 15 march 2023
- Admission is still free
- Admission for day guests only was planned from January 16, 2023 (postponed by approx. 6 months)
- Fee between €3.00 and €10.00
- Registration via website and / or app to be announced
- Hotel guests in the historic core do not pay extra entrance fee
- Prices, exceptions and other details to be announced
More details in the course of the text
✅ THIS PAGE IS CONSTANTLY BEING UPDATED. MORE DETAILS ARE EXPECTED IN THE NEXT WEEKS
From when does admission have to be paid?
The city government announced that the entrance fee will come into effect on 16 January 2023 (postponed by approx. 6 months). The dream city near the beaches of the Adriatic Sea is a popular destination in Italy, especially for short city breaks, day trippers (80% of all tourists) from all parts of Italy or transients to various destinations on the Mediterranean boot.
In particular, the number of participants in cruise ship tourism has increased dramatically. Venice is meanwhile flooded by cruise tourists.
Why do you have to pay the entrance fee in Venice?
Venice has always been an attraction for tourists from all over the world. Among other things also due to cheap airlines and crusaders, this fantastic city has been exposed to a continuously growing rush of tourists for years. On the one hand, one wants to keep the hosts of visitors in check, on the other hand, tourism remains the main source of income for the city at the Adriatic Sea.
Of course, all this leaves its traces that one tries to alleviate by the income from the entrance fee.
How much is the entrance fee to Venice?
The amount for the entrance fee in Venice should be at least €3.00 and possibly increase to €10.00 per person. The pricing is likely to depend on advance booking, seasonal periods, public holidays, holiday periods or special events. The occupancy rate of the hotels will certainly also be used to calculate the entrance fee. In the high season, i.e. the summer months, it will certainly not be cheap! If you book earlier, you pay less.
Who has to pay admission?
The new entrance fee applies to day tourists and crusaders on their usual shore leave. Going to Venice for a day, a romantic gondola ride on the Grand Canal, quick photos with the pigeons on St. Mark’s Square or a walk across the Rialto Bridge – these experiences will then become more expensive.
This also applies to a visit to the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano or Torcello, which are worth seeing.
Who does not have to pay admission?
You only get a view of the gondolas if you pay an entrance fee! But this is only valid for day guests. Those who have booked a hotel in Venice and spend the night there already pay a bed tax (photo Hotel Gardena, near the station – red building). The tax is between one and five euros per night.
The rate depends mainly on the season and classification of the accommodation. Children up to 10 years and some groups of persons are excluded, for example, bus drivers. For overnight guests, therefore, no additional entrance fee to Venice will be charged.
Exempt from the entrance fee is, of course, the residents, but also commuters, students, family members or severely disabled persons.
How is the entrance fee charged?
However, it is still unclear how the entrance fee will be collected. This part of my article will be constantly updated, as some things are still unclear.
Status: 15 march 2023
The amount of the entrance fee could be made visible via an online calendar, in which the individual days are marked with different colours. It is possible that on the green days it will be cheaper and on the red days there will be maximum prices.
However, it is not yet clear how the entrance fee will be collected. It is expected that visitors will register via the internet and receive a QR code that tourists will have to show on demand.
The payment method is also still being worked out, but is likely to be online via the website or app. Turnstiles at the crossings to the historic old town of Venice are possible, but less likely!
Penalties for evasion of the entrance fee
Few compromises can be expected here. Entrance fees of this kind only make sense if they are paid by everyone involved, there are controls and evasion of the fee is punished accordingly. According to the city, the fine is €300.
So anyone planning a day trip to Venice from January 2023 should definitely include the entrance fee to the historic centre of the lagoon city in their holiday budget. But you certainly don’t have to go to the prison of the Doge’s Palace (photo above)!
How do you get to Venice?
For individual travellers it will not be possible to avoid the entrance fee. Venice is completely car-free and public transport is only available on the waterways of the lagoon city. Whether by train, bus or car, from the Santa Lucia train station or the Piazzale Roma bus station it is only possible to continue on foot or by canal boat.
All other connections to Venice and the small lagoon islands are only possible by water.
This applies to transfers from the airport terminal by water, from Punta Sabbioni or Chioggia.
Should one now renounce visiting Venice?
All year-round, the Italian city on the Adriatic Sea with its numerous canals is worth a short holiday for millions of visitors. Many of them are day tourists who only have to pay the fee once. Venice remains the city of romantics, culture lovers and connoisseurs. Strolling through the alleyways of the old town and a delicious ‘gelato’ is definitely worth the entrance fee.
Tip: Those who at the end of the text takes to heart 2 or 3 of my saving tips during a day excursion to Venice will quickly recover the costs for the entrance fee.
What is the entrance fee in Venice used for?
In the official language of Venice, the entrance fee is also called ‘Contributo di sbarco’, that means as much as – fee for going from board -. Especially the booming cruise tourism is a big problem for the city and its inhabitants.
Every year, hundreds of cruise liners make a stop in the harbour of Venice. Cruise ships dock early in the morning so that millions of passengers can explore the fabulous Venice. The sightseeings are quickly removed and after a few hours, the cruise ships return to the all-inclusive onboard. There is hardly any money left in the city to keep Venice clean.
It is also officially not the plan with the entrance fee to fill the state treasury but to do the expensive work for the maintenance and the permanent cleaning of the historic old town. Also, the expensive waste disposal has to be financed in order to continue to guarantee a ‘Dolce Vita’ for tourists and locals.
Especially in summer, many sun-seekers spend their holidays on the popular beaches of the Adriatic, for example in and around the seaside resort Lido di Jesolo. A day trip to Venice should not be missing. Also with numerous water busses it goes then from the nearby ferry port Punta Sabbioni in about 30 minutes directly to a pier near St. Mark’s Square with its famous Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Cathedral.
Equipped with drinks and sufficient food, little money remains in the city and therefore the city treasury often does not see a single cent. Nevertheless, the city administration is responsible for the preservation, the expensive renovation of the historic buildings and also for the removal of the garbage.
Evaluation of the entrance fee
Travel is often cheap and many tourist strongholds and their inhabitants pay a high price for it. More than 30 million people are attracted to Venice every year. Any attempt to regulate the gigantic stream of visitors is understandable.
No one is prevented from experiencing Venice and its myth, whether in the cooler or warmer seasons. Venice must keep control of mass tourism and its consequences. Sometimes this has its price!
Practical saving tips for the day trip to Venice
Those who want to see the gondolas have to pay the entrance fee now…
The additional costs of 3,00 to 10,00 € per day and person you will have saved quickly again, if you follow one of my saving tips.
Savings tip 1 – Parking in Mestre
Those who want to park their car during their day trip to Venice as close as possible to the historical centre of the city have to park their car in the multi-storey car park Tronchetto (from 21,00 €) or in the car parks at the Piazzale Roma (approximately 30,00 €). While from Piazzale Roma you can get directly into the city centre, from the parking garage Tronchetto it is at least a 15-minute walk to the first gondola. Those who use the ‘People Mover’, a driverless high funicular that connects the parking garage Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma, pay 1,50 € per stretch and person. It is cheaper to park at the station in Mestre.
A top tip is the parking garage Via Ca’ Marcello (6,00 € / day), then 200 meters walk to the station. Trains to Venice depart every 5 to 10 minutes, travel time maximum of 10 minutes, costs approx. 1.50 per person and route. From the Santa Lucia train station, you can go directly to the adventure Venice. Without much extra time, you can easily save 15,00 €, more than the entrance fee.
Savings tip 2 – Save on Vaporetti
One should not overestimate the size of the historical old town of Venice. Everything can be easily explored on foot. From Piazzale Roma to Piazza San Marco it is about a 30 minutes walk.
A detour through the authentic Cannaregio district takes about 1 hour. Single tickets with the public water buses are quite expensive with 9,50 €. High savings potential.
Saving tip 3 – Traghetto instead of a gondola
Alone or in a small group, a gondola trip in Venice is always an expensive pleasure (approximately 30,00 to 100,00 €). But those who are satisfied with a short gondola experience or those who are only looking for it for the obligatory photo can cross the Canal Grande with a gondola ferry instead of crossing one of its four bridges.
These ‘Traghettos’ depart from numerous shores and are rowed by two gondoliers. The crossing takes about 2 to 3 minutes and costs approximately 3,00 € per person. Only a short trial trip, but a lot of money saved.
Saving tip 4 – tap water instead of expensive plastic bottle
Sightseeing tours make you thirsty and from May to September it can be very hot in Venice. Drinking a lot is important, especially for children. Street vendors often offer water bottles at far inflated prices.
At many public water places, one sees numerous tourists that fill their plastic bottles with refreshing water for free. The water is of good quality and can be drunk without hesitation. Thus, get a drinking bottle and save money. One can also save money during the meal or the visit to a restaurant. Some hints for this are also available in Culinary Venice.
The classic among the general saving tips for Venice remains, of course, the cheap accommodation. Those who are willing to abstain from the evening flair of the old alleyways of the gorgeous lagoon city during an overnight stay in a hotel should have a look at my hotel recommendations outside the centre.
