A visit to Rome could soon cost a’more.
Tourism bosses in the Eternal City are desperate to curb overcrowding at the iconic Trevi Fountain — to the point where they’re floating the idea of an admission fee and reservation system for visits to the beloved Baroque-era site.
The idea of staggered entry and a modest fee of a couple of Euros comes as the Italian capital experiences surging numbers of visitors, with the historically sacred location absorbing approximately 1,200 sightseers every hour, the AP reported.
Many of the tourists are poorly behaved, officials complain — last summer, a woman shocked locals by climbing in to fill her water bottle.
Others have been caught attempting the famous plunge into the fountain from “La Dolce Vita” — a soaking act that carries a steep fine.
Rome’s mayor Roberto Gualteri has expressed support of the plan, put forth by tourism official Alessandro Onorato, who noted that the admission fee would be on par with the amount of money many visitors toss into the world-famous wishing well, which already rakes in well over $1M annually.
“We have to avoid, especially in a fragile art city like Rome, that too many tourists damage the tourist experience, and damage the city,’’ Onorato told the AP. “We need to safeguard two things, that tourists don’t experience chaos and that citizens can continue to live in the center.”
Close by at the Colosseum, one visiting scofflaw got caught chiseling his initials into its stone.
Visitors would be allowed to view the fountain for free from a distance, but access to the amphitheatre-style viewing area would now be tightly controlled.
Romans would be exempt from the charge.
Aside from the issues of criminal disruption and trespassing, Oronato said that the fee would discourage loitering — some visitors like to hang around eating their lunches on the steps, feeding scraps to the pigeons.
“[Rule breaking] would happen less, or maybe it wouldn’t happen at all, because whoever would enter, we would know their names and where they live. It becomes more complicated,’’ he said.
Further up the boot in Venice, a five Euro per day tourist charge to protect ancient heritage sites — experts say overtourism puts landmarks at risk globally — was put in place last April.
That didn’t stop a tourist from recently disrespecting a cemetery — by jumping into the adjacent canal for a swim.
Down in Sicily, officials are cracking down on banning mafia-related souvenirs.
Meanwhile in Spain, where overtourism has become the norm in some cities — leading locals in Barcelona to go after tourists with water pistols recently — officials recently raised the idea of a fee for visitors to the Plaza de España in Seville.
“With the City Council’s budget alone we cannot preserve our heritage, nor guarantee the safety of the monument,” a frustrated Mayor Luis Sanz wrote on X.
