Rome Introduces Entry Fee to See Famous Trevi Fountain Close-Up

Rome has unveiled its latest strategy to curb overtourism: a €2 ($2.35) entrance fee for up-close visits to the Trevi Fountain.

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri announced on Friday that the measure will come into effect on February 1 and will be implemented from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. The iconic fountain can still be seen for free from a distance, but visitors who want to see it up close will need to purchase a ticket. The Italian capital had previously imposed restrictions around the 18th-century Baroque monument to ease crowding, including a maximum of 400 people allowed at one time.

According to Gualtieri, an average of 30,000 people will visit the Trevi Fountain every day in 2025, with the total number of visitors between January 1 and December 8 being around 9 million. City officials estimate the new fees will bring in about $7.6 million annually, funds that will go a long way toward easing the rising maintenance costs of Rome’s fragile heritage of public spaces.

Last year, the centuries-old fountain was drained in preparation for the Vatican Jubilee, a process that caused calcium buildup and rust around its metal fittings, which required cleaning and protection.

Rome also imposes admission fees on several other cultural sites, including the Royal Villa of Maxentius, the Napoleonic Museum, the Barraco Museum, the Carlo Bilotti Museum and the Pietro Canica Museum. Tickets at some of the locations cost as much as 5 euros ($6), officials said. Admission is still free for residents of Rome.

“We believe culture is a fundamental right of citizens,” Gualtieri said on Friday. “It is right and positive that Roman citizens can visit our museums free of charge.”

The pressure on Italy’s tourism industry is well-documented, with millions of tourists flocking to its museums and monuments every year — sometimes with consequences. In June, a visitor to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence stumbled backward while posing for a selfie in front of an 18th-century portrait, leaving a small gash in the canvas. In the same month, a visitor to the Palazzo Maffei Museum in Verona was crushed to death while sitting on the ground van gogh chaira sculpture encrusted with Swarovski crystals by Nicola Bolla. In 2021, an American tourist tripped and fell into a Guido Reni painting at the Galleria Borghese in Rome.