Rome has unveiled its latest tactic to curb over-tourism: a €2 ($2.35) entrance fee for close-up access to the Trevi Fountain.
The measure will take effect on February 1 and be enforced daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri announced on Friday. The iconic fountain will remain visible from a distance free of charge, but visitors seeking a closer view will be required to purchase a ticket. The Italian capital previously implemented restrictions around the 18th-century Baroque monument to mitigate crowding, including a 400-person capacity limit at a time.
According to Gualtieri, an average of 30,000 people visited the Trevi Fountain each day in 2025, amounting to roughly 9 million tourists between January 1 and December 8. City officials estimate the new fee could generate about $7.6 million per year—funds that would significantly ease mounting maintenance costs for Rome’s fragile heritage sites across public spaces.
Last year, the centuries-old fountain was drained in preparation for the Vatican’s Jubilee year, a process that exposed calcium build up and rust around its metal fittings, which required cleaning and conservation.
Rome has also introduced entry fees at several other cultural sites, including the imperial Villa of Maxentius, the Napoleonic Museum, the Barracco Museum, the Carlo Bilotti Museum, and the Pietro Canonica Museum. Tickets at some of these locations will cost up to €5 ($6), officials said. Entry will remain free for Rome residents.
“We believe that culture is a fundamental right of citizenship,” Gualtieri said on Friday. “It is right and positive that the citizens of Rome can enjoy our museums free of charge.”
Italy’s tourism pressures are well documented, with millions of visitors flooding its museums and monuments each year—occasionally to careless consequences. In June, a visitor to Florence’s Uffizi Gallery tripped backwards while posing for a selfie in front of an 18th-century portrait, making a small tear in the canvas. That same month, a tourist at the Palazzo Maffei museum in Verona sat on and crushed Van Gogh Chair, a Swarovski Crystal-encrusted sculpture by Nicola Bolla. In 2021, an American tourist to Rome’s Galleria Borghese tripped and fell into a painting by Guido Reni.
