Italy's sites with an entry cap, tightest first

Seven Italian sites in our verified sources publish a numeric cap on entries, and ranked by how many people get in at once they run from 25 every 45 minutes on Modena's Ghirlandina tower to 20,000⁷ a day at Pompeii.

The criterion: a number the site itself publishes

A site makes this list only if its manager publishes a maximum number of visitors, and seven sites in our sources do: per slot, per hour or per day. "Busy", "limited places" and "booking recommended" don't count, and neither does a cap reported by the press but absent from the site's own rules.

The ranking goes by how many people are let in per entry window, smallest first, because that's what decides your chances at the door. A daily cap of 20,000⁷ and a slot of 25 are both caps; only one of them is hard to get into.

Ranked by how many get in at once

Read the fourth column with the third. Castel del Monte's 120³ and the Via dell'Amore's 400⁶ look close, but one is per slot and the other per hour in groups of 100⁶ every quarter of an hour.

The two smallest groups are indoors

The Ghirlandina, Modena's 89.32¹ m bell tower, admits 25 people per slot, with slots every 45 minutes, booking only, at 6 euro full price and 4 reduced in 2026. It's been part of a UNESCO site with the cathedral and Piazza Grande since 1997.

The Last Supper admits 40 people per slot of 15 minutes. If you're not there 30 minutes before your booked time, you lose your place. Those 15 minutes are the whole visit, so the cap is also a stopwatch. The ticket release calendar that decides whether you get a slot at all is on the Last Supper page.

Castel del Monte caps the slot and times the visit

Castel del Monte admits 120³ people per time slot and limits each visit to 45 minutes. In 2026 it opens 9:00 am to 5:45 pm from October 1 to March 31 and 10:00 am to 6:45 pm from April 1 to September 30, and closes on December 25 and January 1.

A cap per slot plus a limit on time inside is the most complete system on this list: the castle knows how many people are inside at any moment. In high season, buy online; there's more on Castel del Monte.

Vesuvius sells most of its places a month ahead

The Gran Cono path on Vesuvius takes 360⁵ walkers an hour, 60 every 10 minutes in three groups of 20. Of each 60, 50 tickets go on sale 30 days ahead and 10 are released half an hour before the slot.

Daily ceilings range from 2,160⁵ walkers in winter to 3,240⁵ in July and August. Tickets are sold only online, on vesuviopark.vivaticket.it, at a base fare of 10.00 euro full and 8.00 reduced, which becomes 11.68⁵ and 9.55⁵ euro once the platform adds its charges. The rules come from a protocol attached to the park president's deliberation no. 24 of June 29, 2026. More on Vesuvius.

The Via dell'Amore is capped by the hour

The Via dell'Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola admits at most 400⁶ people an hour, in groups of 100⁶ every quarter of an hour, on booking and for a 10 euro supplement on top of any Cinque Terre Card. In high season it's one way, from Riomaggiore towards Manarola.

It opens 8:00 am to 7:00 pm from April 1 to October 31 and 9:30 am to 5:00 pm from November 1 to March 31, 2026. For the card itself, see the Cinque Terre Card.

Pompeii caps the day, and the morning harder

Since November 15, 2024 Pompeii admits at most 20,000⁷ visitors a day, on a named ticket that requires an ID. From April 1 to October 31 entries are split into two bands: up to 15,000⁷ from 9:00 am to noon and 5,000⁷ from noon to 5:30 pm.

The cap followed days with more than 36,000⁷ people inside. With 20,000⁷ places a day, Pompeii is the easiest site on this list to get into; the afternoon band, a quarter of the total, is the one that fills. See Pompeii.

Lago di Braies rations cars, not people

Lago di Braies doesn't qualify, because from July 1 to September 15, 2026 what it rations is cars. Between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm you can drive in only with a booked parking space, 44 euro, or 49 euro for vehicles over 2.2 m.

No cap on people is published. On foot or by bike there's no restriction at all, and entry to the lake is free. What's limited is the car park, not the lake. For the Sardinian beaches with daily caps, including Cala Goloritzé, see Sardinian beaches with a daily cap, and for crowd management in general, crowds and caps.

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