Italy
Who Pays the Venice Access Fee and When
Venice charges day visitors who enter the historic center without staying overnight. The city calls it the access contribution, and the press often calls it the day-tripper fee. Book a chargeable date online, then pay €5 if you book at least four days ahead or €10 if you book later. Show the QR code at the entry points. The fee applies only on set calendar dates, so check the calendar as well as the price.
The 2026 season ran from 3 April to 26 July and has ended. The 2027 calendar was not yet published, so the dates here are from 2026 and show how the scheme works. Check the city’s official access contribution page for the next season before you plan around any date.
Who pays the fee
Day visitors who enter the historic center on a chargeable day, and who do not qualify for an exemption, pay the fee. The fee applies to visitors over 14. Children under 14 are free of the fee, but they must still be registered where the rules require it, as explained below.
A traveler who sleeps in Venice’s municipal accommodation does not pay the day fee, though the overnight rules are more involved, and a traveler who lives in Veneto is also exempt. Lido, Murano, Burano and the other lagoon islands fall outside the fee, so a day trip limited to those islands does not trigger it. The fee applies when you enter the historic centre itself, which is the reason the checkpoints sit at the rail station, the bus terminal and the ferry ports where visitors arrive.
Dates of the 2026 season
The 2026 season had 60 chargeable days, spread across April through July and concentrated on weekends and public holidays. The city’s 2026 calendar lists the following chargeable days:
| Month | Chargeable days | Count |
|---|---|---|
| April | 3–6, 10–12, 17–19, 24–30 | 17 |
| May | 1–3, 8–10, 15–17, 22–24, 29–31 | 15 |
| June | 1–7, 12–14, 19–21, 26–28 | 16 |
| July | 3–5, 10–12, 17–19, 24–26 | 12 |
| Total | 60 |
The 2026 list included Monday 6 April and several weekdays in April through June, so a weekend-only assumption will lead to mistakes. Plan around the 60 chargeable days in 2026, and verify the dates above against the city’s calendar.
The 2025 season was shorter, with 54 chargeable days from 18 April to 27 July. The 2026 scheme did not include Carnival in February and March. Plan a visit on a date outside the calendar, and you pay nothing.
Hours and fee amounts
The chargeable window runs 8:30 to 16:00. Confirm the closing time on the city’s official access contribution page before you go. Visitors who arrive after the window do not pay for that day.
The fee depends on when you book. Booking early costs €5, and booking late costs €10. The cutoff is four days before the visit: book at least four days ahead to pay €5, and anything inside that final window costs €10. A traveler who arrives on a Saturday and books on Wednesday should check the rule on the booking page before paying, since the difference is €5 per person.
How to register and pay
Registration happens online through Venezia Unica, the booking system the city uses for the scheme. The steps are to select the date, enter the details of each traveler, pay by card or PayPal, and download the QR code. The confirmation and QR code arrive by email. Save the code on your phone and carry a printed copy as a backup, because the entry checks read the code from the screen or paper.
Each traveler needs a separate registration. Every member of a party, including children, must be registered individually, and the QR code is the ticket. A family of four therefore books four entries, even though one payment screen may cover them all. Register each person before the visit, because the checkers look for a code that matches each traveler.
Two addresses for the payment system appear, cda.veneziaunica.it and cda.ve.it. Before you enter card details, start from the Comune di Venezia’s information page on the access contribution, follow the link from there, and confirm the address.
Book as early as the calendar allows, and pay online before you arrive for your visit.
Checks happen at the main access points, which are the Santa Lucia rail station, Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto car park and the ferry ports. Checkers also run random checks inside the historic centre, so keep the QR code accessible for the whole visit and not just at the station.
Who is exempt
Exemptions cover several groups. The city’s exemption list is more detailed than any summary, so check it on the official page before you rely on a category.
Children under 14 are exempt. Residents of Venice and people born in Venice are exempt, and residents of the wider Veneto region are exempt as well. Residents should register if the booking system asks for an identity document, and they should keep that document on hand at the checkpoint.
Workers and commuters, along with students at Venetian schools and universities, are exempt. If you fall into this group, bring a letter from your employer or school to prove that status.
Overnight guests in municipal accommodation are exempt from the day fee, but they follow a different registration rule. An exemption voucher is obtained through Venezia Unica and covers the arrival and departure days. A hotel guest should book the exemption voucher before arriving, and should not assume the hotel tax covers the fee.
People who hold the European Disability Card are exempt, and one companion also goes free. Other categories include people who need medical visits or therapy, athletes competing in events, on-duty police and armed forces, firefighters, and relatives up to the third degree of a Venetian resident. Confirm each category on the official page before you rely on it.
Property owners and people who enter the city only through a transport connection have unsettled status. Property owners who pay the municipal property tax should confirm their rule with the city before the visit.
Fines and enforcement
A visitor who enters on a chargeable day without a valid registration faces a fine of €50 to €300 on top of the fee. Check the current penalty amount on the city’s official access contribution page before you travel.
In 2025, checkers ran more than 445,000 QR-code checks at the main access points, plus visual checks, with about 140 staff on duty per day. The simplest protection is to book the correct dates and keep the code at hand.
What the fee has raised so far
The 2025 season ended with 723,497 paying visitors and €5,421,425 in revenue, according to council data. The busiest day was 2 May 2025, with 24,951 paying visitors. In its first season, in 2024, the fee produced 485,062 payments and about €2.4 million over 29 days.
The effect on visitor numbers has been modest. The council links the 2025 decline in day visitors to a region-wide decline recorded by the regional statistics office, which makes the fee’s own effect hard to isolate. Budget assessor Michele Zuin said net proceeds, after operating costs, would go to residents and businesses, starting with a reduction in the Tari waste tax. Critics say the fee has not meaningfully reduced overtourism, and a 2024 report on the first season made that case. Results from the later seasons are mixed.
Before you go
- Book before you arrive: Register online through the city’s booking system, pay €5 if you book at least four days ahead, and keep the QR code on your phone.
- Check the calendar for your exact date: The 2026 season had 60 chargeable days across April to July, including weekdays in April through June, so a weekend-only rule will cause mistakes.
- Register every traveler separately: Each person in a party, including children, needs an individual entry, and the code is the ticket at the checkpoint.
- Confirm your exemption before you travel: Children under 14, Venice and Veneto residents, workers, students, overnight guests and disability card holders are exempt, but the registration rules differ by group.
- Plan for a fine of up to €300: The fine runs from €50 to €300 on top of the fee, so pay before the visit and keep the code accessible for random checks.