Italy has never been short on rules, locals will tell you that much. They include Rome’s recently introduced nonresident fee to view the Trevi Fountain, Venice’s access fee, and a reservation required for Cinque Terre’s iconic “Path of Love” hiking trail. And this year, three of the country’s sought-after destinations—Capri, Florence, and a small mountain village in the Dolomites—are the latest to introduce new measures aimed at managing overtourism. None of these places are turning visitors away. Instead, what they’re asking for is a little more consideration and respect from travelers.
Capri puts restrictions on tour groups
For decades, Capri has represented the epitome of Italian island elegance with its rugged cliffs plunging into turquoise water, bougainvillea-draped villas, and the kind of sun-drenched paradise that made the island a haunt for everyone from Roman emperors to Jackie O. But what has made Capri famous is increasingly pushing it to its limits.
Roughly 13,000 people live here year-round; on peak summer days, as many as 50,000 visitors arrive by boat and high-speed ferry, more than three times the resident population, funneling into narrow streets, viewpoints, and piazzas.
Starting summer 2026, organized tour groups will be capped at 40 people, a decision that was approved unanimously by the town council. For groups larger than 20, loudspeakers are out, and visitors must use wireless earpieces. The days of guides holding brightly colored umbrellas or signage to herd their flocks through the streets are over; guides must now use a discreet paddle. Even the adhesive stickers some operators paste on visitors are banned (once torn off, they scatter across Capri’s streets).
It’s worth noting that Capri has been regulating visitors since the 1960s, when wandering the streets in wooden clogs became forbidden (due to the loud noise they made), as was blasting a radio in public. The new rules feel slightly less dramatic.
“This is an act of responsibility that reflects our vision of an island that is finally more liveable,” Lorenzo Coppola, president of Federalberghi Capri, the local association representing hotel owners and tourism operators on the island, said in a statement online. “The new rules for organized groups are indispensable tools for decongesting critical areas like Piazza Umberto I and the Marina Grande docks, giving back breathing space to our pedestrian routes.”
Alfonso Saraco, general manager at the Pazziella, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Capri, a 25-key hotel in the heart of Capri, steps from the Piazzetta and Via Camerelle, notes that “initiatives that help manage large group tourism are about preserving what makes Capri so special, both for residents and for travelers seeking a more meaningful experience.”
He adds, “Rather than discouraging visitors, they help create a more relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere across the island.”
Saraco said that guests who overnight and linger longer discover a completely different side of Capri, especially in the early mornings and late evenings when everything slows down, showing off a more intimate, authentic vibe.
Independent visitors are entirely unaffected by the new rules. If you’ve been meaning to spend a night (or four) on Capri rather than day-tripping from the Amalfi Coast, this is your sign to do just that.
Florence cracks down on outdoor dining
Unfortunately, the desire to dine alfresco in Florence has created a crowded and maze-like environment on some of the city’s streets, a situation that new regulations are addressing.
Photo by Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock
Walk through Florence on a warm and sunny afternoon and you’ll understand the problem. Tables, chairs, Plexiglas barriers, branded umbrellas, and semi-permanent wooden structures have taken over streets and piazzas that were never designed for them, creating what is now an obstacle course to navigate.
Starting in early 2026, Florence has banned outdoor dining on 60 streets within the UNESCO-protected historic center, including Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale degli Uffizi, Via Roma, and Via Maggio. Another 73 streets face stricter regulations with rules of no plastic tarps, no advertising, and no brightly colored lighting. Enforcement is underway and dozens of fines were issued in the first weeks of March.
Coral Sisk, a Florence-based food and drink writer and founder of Curious Appetite, a company that offers culinary tours and experiences in Italy, calls the ban “a double-edged sword.” She says, “As a local, I love sitting outside during springtime, during the fall—obviously, we want to enjoy these beautiful boulevards and piazzas and eat alfresco—but I appreciate the need to reduce congestion and obstacles in part for the sake of the essential vehicles like ambulances and delivery trucks. These streets are getting too crowded.”
Sisk’s frustration, along with many other locals, is with what the ban doesn’t address. “This is just a Band-Aid approach to try to tackle overtourism,” she says, “and it’s only going to hurt businesses in the end, because it’s not like they can expand their indoor dining space.” What she’d rather see is a more constructive, sustainable angle—one that targets curbing mass tourism.
The gorgeous mountain village of Santa Maddalena has become a place for tourists to snap a photo and run. Authorities hope to curb that.
Photo by Krzysztof Kowalik/Unsplash
A village in the Dolomites encourages slower travel
The village of Santa Maddalena, tucked into Val di Funes, a scenic valley in South Tyrol, looks almost too beautiful to be real. The jagged Odle Peaks rise behind a small baroque church and Alpine farmsteads, the whole scene glowing at sunset in what locals call enrosadira (an Alpine glow). But then, like so many gorgeous places now, it went viral.
The church first spread across Chinese social media after appearing on SIM cards distributed by a Chinese mobile operator more than 10 years ago, and what was once a beloved hikers’ discovery became a massive tourist destination, drawing mainly day-trippers rather than visitors who stay longer.
In an interview with Il Dolomiti, a local newspaper, the mayor of Funes, Peter Pernthaler, notes that the road in Santa Maddalena is small and narrow and that the area must think of solutions to ensure that both residents and tourists can move freely and without getting trapped in traffic. With around 600 visitors arriving daily in the village during peak season, most just snapping a photo and turning around to leave, it gets out of control. “We need order, both for those who live here and for those who want to arrive, take the traditional photo, and leave,” he tells the newspaper.
However, there’s a lot of media confusion about what’s to come. Many international outlets are reporting that there’s a barrier to block anyone not staying in the village overnight from visiting. But that’s not the full story. The barrier already exists, but what Pernthaler relayed in the Il Dolomiti interview is that it will be moved to the center of Santa Maddalena, where the little church is located, so that tourists must arrive to that area of town by foot versus by car. Starting in May 2026, tourists will have to park further away and pay a parking fee.
“Day visitors are still very welcome in Santa Maddalena,” says Fabian Messner, manager of Hotel Fines, located within the town. Messner notes the initiative does not restrict access to the village in general, only a small part of the area that will be controlled by barriers to prevent cars from driving all the way up to the church and using the very narrow roads there. What the village hopes for is harder to legislate but easy to understand. “We would like guests to slow down, spend the day here, discover our culture, local products, and nature—and experience the area with respect rather than just click a photo and move on,” says Messner.
Visitors who plan to stay longer can embrace Val di Funes’ designation as South Tyrol’s first Slow Food Travel Destination and can visit working farms, mountain huts, and hike the Adolf Munkel Trail beneath the Odle Peaks.
