Rome
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Legend has it that tossing a coin into Rome’s Trevi Fountain ensures a return to the Eternal City. Two coins promise love with an Italian. Three, marrying an Italian.
As of February 2, nevertheless, making any of these needs comes with a value. Visitors now want to purchase a 2-euro ticket — simply over $2 — to strategy the fountain and throw coins into its waters.
Rome’s metropolis authorities launched the new ticketing system for non-residents as a part of its newest effort to handle crowds at one in every of the capital’s most overwhelmed landmarks. Tickets are required from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. the remainder of the week. After 10 p.m., the limitations are opened and entry is free for all.
On the first day of the new system, not everybody was satisfied. A bunch of Spanish tourists, unwilling to pay, stood exterior the limitations and flung coins towards the fountain from above — a number of lacking the water completely. Below, paying guests ducked as coins rained down. A metropolis official stated patrols would ultimately be launched to forestall accidents from errant throws.
The Trevi Fountain, immortalized in the film “La Dolce Vita,” has grow to be a flashpoint for Rome’s overtourism drawback, notably throughout the summer time peak. The small piazza is usually packed shoulder to shoulder with guests, many clutching melting gelato or refilling water bottles from the fountain.
In 2024, the metropolis examined a barrier system to restrict entry to the fountain’s edge, gauging whether or not crowd management was possible. The consequence was a sharp drop in the variety of folks keen to queue for close-up entry to the 18th-century Baroque masterpiece, which marks the terminal level of an historic aqueduct.
Still, demand stays excessive. In 2025, greater than 10 million folks lined up to strategy the fountain, with each day peaks of round 70,000 guests throughout the busiest intervals, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri stated.
City officers estimate the new ticket might generate between 6.5 million and 20 million euros yearly — roughly $7.7 million to $23 million.
Ticket holders can be prohibited from consuming or consuming close to the fountain and, officers say, can even be shielded from pickpockets who often goal distracted tourists in the crowded sq..
Alessandro Onorato, Rome’s councillor for main occasions, tourism, sport and trend, stated the price was designed primarily to curb overtourism, with proceeds earmarked for upkeep prices and staffing.
“If the Trevi Fountain were in New York City, they would charge $100 to enter,” Onorato stated at the inauguration on Monday morning.
Some guests appeared unbothered by the value. Raul, a vacationer from Argentina, instructed NCS he would gladly pay 2 euros to see the fountain up shut for the first time — although he skipped the price on Monday as a result of he had visited earlier than.
“Two euros is fine to pay to see something like this up close,” he stated. “More than that, maybe not.” Moments later, he tossed his coin from exterior the limitations.
The Trevi Fountain ticket follows a rising variety of Italian measures geared toward regulating tourism, together with Venice’s peak-time entry price for day trippers, and new restrictions at social media–well-known websites similar to Juliet’s balcony in Verona and the Santa Maddalena church at the foot of the Dolomites in northern Italy.
The coins collected from the fountain — round 1.5 million euros a yr — will proceed to be donated to the Catholic charity Caritas, which funds packages for the poor.
Tickets may be purchased on-line or by way of QR codes displayed at the website. Children beneath 5, folks with disabilities and Rome residents are exempt.