Admission to Venice | The time has come – starting in 2024, tourists are to pay admission to the world-famous lagoon city on the Italian Adriatic on some planned test dates, such as Easter, May 1, or on a weekly basis in November 2024. However, this only applies to day visitors who are not staying overnight in the city. The entrance fee is comparable to a tourist tax. Experienced travelers already pay spa taxes at the 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 is now here in my blog.
Status: 27th of August 2023
- Admission is still free in 2023
- Admission only for day guests on planned test dates in 2024
- Fee 5,00 (planned) – children <6 years free
- Registration via website and/or app to be announced
- Hotel guests in the historic core pay no extra entrance fee
- Prices, exceptions, and others to be announced
- Official entrance fee from 2025!
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?
As announced by the city government, the entrance fee will come on January 1, 2025, after some test actions in 2024. The dream city near the beaches of the Adriatic Sea is a popular destination in Italy, especially for short-term city trips, day trippers (80% of all tourists) from all parts of Italy, or transients to various destinations on the boot in the Mediterranean Sea.
Above all, the number of participants in cruise tourism has increased by leaps and bounds. Venice is now flooded with cruise tourists.
Why do you have to pay the entrance fee in Venice?
Venice has always been a center of attraction for tourists from all over the world. Thanks in part to low-cost airlines and cruisers, this fantastic city has been subject to a steadily growing onslaught of tourists for years. On the one hand, one would like to keep the legions of visitors at bay, on the other hand, tourism remains the main source of income for the city on the Adriatic.
Of course, all of this leaves its mark, which they are trying to mitigate with the income from the entrance fee.
How much is the entrance fee to Venice?
The amount for the entrance fee in Venice shall be 5,00 € for the time being, children under 6 years shall have free access. The pricing is subject to change until further notice. A final decision will probably not be made until the test phases have been evaluated in 2024.
Who has to pay for 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 for 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 are, of course, the residents, but also commuters, students, family members, or severely disabled persons.
How is the entrance fee charged?
How the entrance fee will ultimately be collected, however, is not yet entirely clear. This part of my article will also be constantly updated, as some things are still unclear.
✅ Status: 27th of August 2023
However, it is still unclear how the entrance fee will be collected. Registration via the Internet or a smartphone app is expected, with visitors receiving a QR code that tourists must then present on demand.
The payment method is also still being worked out, but should also be online via the website or app. There will be no turnstiles at the crossings to the historic center of Venice! There will be random checks by city officials.
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 300,00 €.
So anyone planning a day trip to Venice from January 2025 should definitely include the entrance fee to the historic center 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 travelers, 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 take 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’, which means as much as – the fee for going from the 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 harbor of Venice. Cruise ships dock early in the morning so that millions of passengers can explore the fabulous Venice. The sightseeing is 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 buses, 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 historic buildings, and also for the removal of garbage.
Evaluation of the entrance fee
Travel is often cheap and many tourist strongholds and their inhabitants pay high prices. 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 the 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 center of the city have to park their car in the multi-story car park Tronchetto (from 21,00 €) or in the car parks at the Piazzale Roma (approximately 30,00 €). From Piazzale Roma, you can get directly into the city center, 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, and 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-minute walk.
A detour through the authentic Cannaregio district takes about 1 hour. Single tickets with 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 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 was 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 who 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 center.
