Dodging Venice’s New Day-Tripper Tourist Tax Could Mean Hefty Fines

Trying to skip out on Venice’s new day-tripper tourist tax will cost visitors hundreds more.

Officials in Venice unveiled more about the new tourist tax that will target day-trippers traveling into the city at peak times on Thursday, a tax that will be enforced on 29 of the busier spring and summer travel days starting later this month.  

The city unveiled the program last September and even then it was a long time coming—it was first due to start in June 2022 and then delayed in January 2023 before finally being pushed to spring 2024. Now, as the city gears up to start enforcing it first on April 29, officials have unveiled the penalties for those trying to skirt the new tax.

According to Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who spoke Thursday, anyone who does not pay the fine, and is found via random checks by officials in Venice, will be subject to fines ranging from 50 euros to 300 euros, plus the cost of the entrance fee, which is 5 euros. That would mean that getting caught by one of those “random” checks in the designated areas would cost visitors between $80 CAD or $60 USD to almost $450 CAD or $330 USD, depending on the day.

Brugnaro also spoke about how the city plans to enforce the rule.

Visitors will be tasked with paying the tax either ahead of time or when they arrive at the city’s main transport stations (the city is setting up a QR code for visitors to scan there) on their mobile phones. There will be no turnstiles, only what officials are calling “signaled access points” and officials will check randomly for receipts inside the enforcement area.

Only those traveling into Venice’s Ancient City, and not staying overnight, will be subject to the fee. Venice’s minor islands, including Murano, Alberoni, and Malamocco, are not included and those passing through areas such as Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto, or Stazione Marittima, without accessing the Ancient City, will also not be forced to pay.

The fee is also only for those aged 14 and up—for those under 14, Venice says that “to prove their age, if it is not apparent, the presentation of an identity document is accepted as sufficient.”

A full map of the enforcement area, and a list of the days when it will be enforced, can be found on the access fee website. Visitors can pay the fee on the Municipality of Venice website.