You may have heard last year in media that Venice had decided to introduce an entrance fee for all those who access the historical city centre: This action shall help to limit the number of people coming to the city centre and keep masses away.
In the following lines I will summarize the main characters of this new entrance fee:
When?
Starting on the 1st of July 2020. Delayed to the 1st of April 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the introduction was delayed to the 1st of January 2022. (See newspaper article here.)
How much?
- €3 per day/person
- €6/day/person on so-called „bollino rosso“ days (with a „red mark“, means on days when, according to our experience over the last years, more people come to the city): 25th of July 2020, 01st of August 2020, 08th of August 2020, 22nd of August 2020,29th of August 2020
- €8/day/person on so-called „bollino nero“ days (with a „black mark“, means on days when it’s feeling like a sardine can):15th of August 2020 (Ferragosto, Assumption Day)
These are the fees applied in the first experimental phase from the 1st of July till the 31st of December 2020.
This entrance fee is collected by the transportation companies: navigation companies (amongst others also cruises), train companies, public and private transportation companies on land and water (ACTV, ATVO, Alilaguna), public transportation companies who don’t offer scheduled transportation service like cabs (taxi boats and taxi cars, cars with driver, …).
The payment of this fee gives the visitor the possibility to visit the historical city centre on the day the fee was paid until 00.00 pm.
Exceptions
Who is exempted from the payment? Citizens of the city of Venice, workers (commuters), students of universities/schools located in the historical city centre (These persons have to show a self-declaration in case of controls.), etc.
Exempted are also (amongst others, as I won’t repeat the entire list 😉 )
- all the visitors who overnight in accomodation facilities in the City of Venice valid from the day af arrival till the day of departure
- those born in the city of Venice
- citizens of the Città Metropolitana di Venezia
- citizens of the Veneto Region
- holders of the Citypass „Venezia Unica“ used for transportation services (tourist day pass for the bus or waterbus!),
- children under 6 years
- persons with disabilities and their companions (with a certificate)
- those reaching Venice for medical reasons, etc.
All those exempted from the payment must, in case of on spot controls, be able to proof their right on exemption (certificate, self-declaration, …).
How is the fee collected?
The fee is imposed by the transportation company who is obliged to leave a confirmation of payment to the client/visitor (the payment can be registered on the ticket or confirmed with a seal/mark/stamp).
The fee can also be collected by the City of Venice.
The City of Venice has the right to organize on spot controls to verify if the fee has been payed.
Fine
A fine of 100 – 450 Euro in case the fee was not paid or if a wrong self-declaration/certificate was presented to officials to reduce the amount of the fee.
That’s how everything should work in theory ;). In July I will update this post in case there should be any changes.
Please also check the official website for more details, as rules may change and this post may not be up to date.
Find more here on the official website of the City of Venice.
