Tickets are mandatory, but there is still a little time for those who don’t want to pay
Legend has it that throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome guarantees a return to the Eternal City. Two coins promise love with an Italian. Three, marriage to an Italian.
Since February 2, however, asking for any of these wishes has come at a price. Visitors now need to buy a 2-euro ticket to approach the fountain and throw coins into the water.
Rome’s municipality has introduced a new ticket system for non-residents as part of the latest effort to control crowds at one of the Italian capital’s busiest tourist spots. Tickets are required from 11am to 10pm on Mondays and Fridays and from 9am to 10pm the rest of the week. After 22:00, the barriers are opened and access is free for everyone.
On the first day of the new system, not everyone was convinced. A group of Spanish tourists, unwilling to pay, stayed outside and threw coins into the fountain, over the barriers. Several didn’t even reach the water. Inside the barriers, visitors who paid had to duck as coins rained down. A local authority official said patrols would be introduced to prevent injuries caused by missed shots.
Entrance fees were introduced on February 2 to help contain crowds. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse/AP)
The Trevi Fountain, immortalized in the film “La Dolce Vita”, has become a flashpoint for the problem of overtourism in Rome, especially during the height of summer. The small square is often packed with visitors, many holding melting gelato or filling water bottles from the fountain.
In 2024, the city tested a system of barriers to limit access to the fountain, evaluating whether crowd control was viable. The result has been a sharp drop in the number of people willing to queue for up-close access to the 18th-century Baroque masterpiece, which marks the end point of an ancient aqueduct.
Combating excess tourism
Still, demand remains high. In 2025, more than 10 million people lined up to get close to the fountain, with daily peaks of around 70,000 visitors, during the busiest periods, says the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri.
Municipal authorities estimate that the new ticket could generate between 6.5 million and 20 million euros per year.
Ticket holders are prohibited from eating or drinking near the fountain and, according to authorities, will also be protected from pickpockets who often target distracted tourists in the crowded square.
Alessandro Onorato, Rome’s councilor for major events, tourism, sport and fashion, said the tax was designed primarily to curb overtourism, with the revenue going towards maintenance and staffing costs.
“If the Trevi Fountain were in New York, they would charge 100 dollars to enter”, guessed Alessandro Onorato, during the inauguration, on Monday morning.
Some visitors were not bothered by the price. Raul, an Argentine tourist, told CNN that he would gladly pay two euros to see the fountain up close for the first time, despite having waived the fee on Monday because he had already visited it before.
“Two euros is a fair price to see something like this up close”, he considered. “More than that, maybe not.” Moments later, Raul threw a coin outside the barriers.
The Trevi Fountain ticket follows a series of Italian measures aimed at regulating tourism, including the Venice entry fee for day-trippers during peak times and new restrictions on social media-famous sites such as and .
The coins collected from the fountain, around 1.5 million euros per year, will continue to be donated to the Catholic charity Caritas, which funds programs for the poorest.
Tickets can be purchased online or via QR codes displayed at the venue. Children under five, people with disabilities and residents of Rome are exempt.
