Yet another previously free attraction is now charging tourists

February 9, 2026 — 5:00am

The city of Rome has just stepped on travellers’ toes. It now costs €2 ($3.40) to visit the Trevi Fountain, the baroque masterpiece where tourists have traditionally tossed in a coin to guarantee a return visit to the Eternal City.

You can still walk around the edge of the piazza in which it sits, sigh while gelato dribbles down fingers and take in that fabulous view of Nicola Salvi’s gushing wonder, but if you want to walk down the steps to the lip of the fountain and take a selfie against one of the world’s most stonkingly fabulous water features, it’s going to cost you.

The charge only applies from 11.30 am to 10pm on weekdays and 9am to 10pm at weekends, but cue the indignation. “That’s just ruined the whole way of life for Italians just sitting watching the world go by.......very sad to see this,” writes @luxurylifeunapologetically on Instagram. “But crowds trashing the area was taking away from the beauty,” according to @jeannejuan and although she’s dead right, the charge might not have that effect.

“Why do we have to pay now?” ask those protesting against the charge. Since it cost nothing to see the Trevi Fountain for the past 250 years, why now? But the Trevi Fountain suffers from too much love. The post-pandemic crush around the fountain has made it a nightmare to visit, and it’s not always a polite or well-behaved crowd.

In 2025, visitor numbers at the fountain were estimated at more than 9 million. That’s packed into the horseshoe-shaped area of the piazza, which measures only about 350 square metres, the average size of a new suburban block.

The city of Rome pays to maintain the fountain, to keep the water flowing, to police it so that foolish people don’t treat it as their own glamorous wading pool or inscribe their initials on the marble, and they would if they could. Those costs are paid with public money, so why should it be left to the taxpayers of Rome to shoulder the cost when few of them ever go near the place? User pays, end of story.

While the €2 fee to get close to the Trevi Fountain won’t dent too many wallets, one admission fee that causes a sharp intake of breath is the €40 ($68) charge to walk around the top of the walls that ring the sea-girt city of Dubrovnik. The charge applies during peak visitor season, from March 1 to November 30; for the rest of the year, it’s halved. It’s not new, the walls have been ticketed for almost 20 years, but despite the incredible views, most visitors are happy to experience the city from ground level.

Just €10 ($17) more buys the three-day Dubrovnik Pass, which gives free public transport within the city, entry to museums, galleries, the city walls and Fort Lovrijenac, made famous as Red Keep in King’s Landing in the Game of Thrones series.

The only city that has imposed an admission fee is Venice. Introduced in April 2024, the charge is €5 ($8) if booked in advance, and it applies only on those days when visitor numbers peak between April and July. The charge affects only day trippers; overnight visitors are exempt.

The Trump administration has massively increased the charges that non-US visitors must pay to some of its most popular national parks. Foreign visitors were once charged the same as US nationals but, since January 1, non-US residents must pay an additional $US100 ($143) per person to enter some national parks, on top of the standard entry fee.

The list includes Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion. For any foreigner visiting multiple headline parks, or travelling with a family or small group, a better deal is the annual America the Beautiful non-resident pass for $US250 ($357), which covers passengers in an entire vehicle, or the passholder plus three additional adults.

The UK offers free public admission to some of its most illustrious cultural institutions, but that wasn’t always so. Some museums dropped their admission charges after the Blair Labour government made a commitment to introduce open admission to museums and galleries that relied on government support.

General admission to the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Tate Modern is free, but some churches have imposed admission charges in the face of ever-increasing visitor numbers. Adults now pay £31 ($60) to enter London’s Westminster Abbey and £27 ($53) for St Paul’s Cathedral. Depending on the time of year, it now costs £18-21 ($35-41) for an adult to enter Canterbury Cathedral.

The Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland’s Midlothian charges £11.50 ($22) for a visiting adult. Before it made a starring appearance in the film version of The Da Vinci Code, anyone could walk in with no charge. Once anathema, the notion of a charge to enter a Christian church is now quite common. Since mid-2023, Rome’s Pantheon, a pagan temple that was converted to a Christian church, has charged an admission fee of €5 ($8).

It’s too early to tell what impact the Trevi Fountain fee will have. For anyone looking for a selfie against a fabulous backdrop, the €2 charge is no big deal. But if the waterfall of cash from the entry fee helps the city of Rome preserve one of the world’s greatest treasuries of historic monuments, that’s €2 well spent.