Venice is raising the price visitors have to pay to enter the city. Mayor Simone Venturini supports another increase, part of a plan to deal with the crushing number of day-trippers who arrive each year.

The entry fee started small. In April 2024, Venice tried charging 5 euros on the busiest days as a test. By October, Reuters reported the city had expanded it to more days, keeping the 5-euro price for visitors who booked in advance but charging 10 euros for those who booked last-minute (within four days). The city announced in July 2024 that it would raise the fee again in 2025.

Venice is also enforcing the rule more strictly. If you arrive without paying and don't qualify for an exemption, you can be fined between €50 and €300, according to reporting from April 2026.

Why does Venice do this step-by-step? The city starts with a test program, watches what happens, then expands or adjusts. Residents and regular visitors are exempt, which keeps most locals from getting angry about the policy.

Here's the real question Venice is trying to answer: will higher prices actually make visitors spread out their visits across different days, or will they just pay more and still come on weekends? Similar experiments elsewhere—like Bhutan's high tourist fees or Dubrovnik's limits on cruise ships—show that price matters, but not in a simple way. Wealthier tourists often pay and visit anyway. Poorer tourists stay away. For Venice, which needs visitor money but is being crushed by too many visitors, this creates a difficult problem. Higher prices might protect the city's ancient buildings, but they could hurt small hotels and restaurants that depend on budget tourists.

Some people say Venice is just using the fee to make more money. That's not what the city says it's doing. Venice says the fee is meant to encourage visitors to come on quieter days instead of cramming in on weekends and holidays. Only the city's own data will show whether that actually works, or whether people just pay the higher price and come anyway.

Venturini supporting another fee increase is politically important. Local business owners—hotels, restaurants, shops—have always pushed back against making entry too expensive. The fact that Venturini is continuing the same strategy as the previous mayor suggests the city sees this as essential, no matter who's in charge.

When Venice first tried this in April 2024, Reuters noted it was something no major European city had done before. Other cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Dubrovnik are watching to see if it works. Venice's next price increase will probably shape what those cities decide to do.