Imagine standing before the Trevi Fountain, one of Rome’s most iconic landmarks, and making a wish with the flick of a coin. Now, imagine that experience with a price tag. Beginning in 2026, a selfie at the Trevi Fountain will no longer be free. In an effort to protect one of the city’s most beloved monuments and to ease the relentless crush of visitors, Rome is introducing a paid ticket system aimed at managing crowds and preserving the site’s integrity.
Starting February 1, nonresidents of Rome will be required to pay 2 euros (approximately US$2.35) to descend the steps leading directly to the fountain, Mayor Roberto Gualtieri announced on Friday, December 19. The measure follows more than a year of discussions, proposals, and pilot initiatives (including a month-long trial of limited entry) designed to safeguard the fountain and its surrounding piazza while promoting a more sustainable and enjoyable tourism model for both visitors and residents.
It’s no secret that visiting the Trevi Fountain in recent years has become akin to attending a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift concert, where everyone is fighting for a selfie. The congestion has also made the area a hot spot for pickpockets. City officials say the new fee is intended to create a calmer, more dignified experience, restoring a sense of wonder to a site increasingly overwhelmed by its own popularity. But Rome’s chief art official Claudio Parisi Presicce emphasized in a press conference that “the view of the fountain will not be obstructed in any way.”
The surge is part of a broader postpandemic rebound in so-called revenge tourism. Rome welcomed a record-breaking 50 million visitors in 2023, and the Trevi Fountain remains one of its most popular sites. According to Mayor Gualtieri, an average of 30,000 people visit the fountain each day, while between January 1 and December 8 of this year alone, approximately 9 million people passed through the piazza. This new 2-euro ticket could potentially net $6 million euro annually; the proceeds will go to conservation of the site and other city-wide cultural heritage preservation.
How paid access to the Trevi Fountain will work
Paid access will be in effect daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. While there won’t be any turnstiles, there will be 10 stations within the piazza where you can purchase your ticket, which will also be for sale online at fontanaditreve.roma.it, at tourist info points, ticket offices within the museum system, and authorized sales outlets. All tickets will be open ended, meaning you won’t have to worry about a reservation for a timed entrance, like at the Colosseum or Vatican Museums. Access will remain free at night.
This isn’t the first time Rome is making guests pay to visit a landmark. In July 2023, the Italian Ministry of Culture and Vatican church officials introduced a 5-euro (US$5.88) reserved ticket to the Pantheon, antiquity’s greatest temple, and in 2008, the Roman Forum went from local thoroughfare to ticket-only visits, both creating much chagrin and lines for visitors and residents.
“The ticket policy has created a maze at the Pantheon,” explained archaeologist and Rome resident Darius Arya. “So creating a line at Trevi would be a disaster. It would change the mystique. Remember, the Trevi Fountain is an experience, it’s not a ride.”
The Trevi Fountain is the largest and most opulent in Rome.
Photo by Michele Bitetto/Unsplash
Why the Trevi Fountain is so revered
At 86 feet in height and 161 feet in width, the Trevi Fountain is the largest fountain in the Eternal City and its most lavish. Designed in 1732 by artist Nicola Salvi, the fountain is a thrilling scene of a larger-than-life Oceanus on a shell chariot pulled by horses crossing a cascade of water. Ever since its completion in 1762, the beautiful baroque fountain has continuously drawn in visitors, including Anita Ekberg literally in Federico Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita.
The water that flows into Trevi comes from the Acqua Vergine, one of ancient Rome’s original aqueducts. Despite how precious both the water and fountain are, visitors haven’t been respectful or remotely kind. They’ve thrown bread in the fountain for pigeons, left trash on the ground, jumped in like Ekberg, stripped down and bathed in the basin, and even dyed the water for protests. In spite of the Vatican’s weekly cleaning and coin collections, a December 2024 cleanup and an extensive 2-million-euro restoration by Fendi, the damage has been almost unstoppable. The city of Rome is hoping it can reverse the problem with the proposed ticket system.
“We want to make the visit to the Trevi Fountain truly an experience and not a chaotic jostling between one tourist and another to find the best selfie angle,” councilman Alessandro Onorato said in 2024. “We want this monument to be protected.”
This story was originally published in September 2024, and was updated on December 23, 2025, to include current information.
