# Paying in Italy: where cash fails, where cards do

> Venice vaporetto tickets bought on board are card-only, the Scala dei Turchi takes only POS, and Catania's Alibus takes both. Seven verified rules, 2026.

URL: https://myitalia.it/plan/paying-in-italy
Last updated: 2026-09-11

Italy has no single payment rule: a vaporetto ticket bought on board in Venice can only be paid by card, never in cash, while the Alibus at Catania airport sells tickets on board for cash or card (2026).

## Two places where only a card works

A vaporetto ticket bought on board in Venice costs 9.50 euro for 75 minutes and can be paid only on the card terminal, never in cash (2026). It is issued already validated, and it covers the combined network of waterbus, bus, tram and People Mover.

The Scala dei Turchi at Realmonte, in Sicily, works the same way. The 6 euro ticket is paid only by POS at the entrance, after you book by email with the comune (2026).

POS is the word Italians use for the card terminal. A sign that says solo POS means card only, and no amount of cash will change the answer.

## Where a contactless card is the ticket

In Naples, EAV's Tap&Go lets you pass the Circumvesuviana gates with a contactless bank card: you tap in and out with the same card and the system charges the best fare afterwards, capped at 4.60 euro on the Napoli to Sorrento line (2026). The same card opens the Cumana, the Circumflegrea and metro Line 1.

Contactless also works on the platforms of the Leonardo Express at Fiumicino, a 14.00 euro single to Roma Termini, and on the Cagliari airport train, a 1.30 euro single, under the name TAP&TAP. The transfers themselves are on the [Fiumicino](/plan/airports/fco) and [Cagliari](/plan/airports/cag) pages.

## Where the driver takes either

The Alibus from Catania airport sells its 4 euro ticket on board in cash or by card, as well as in the AMT Catania app, at resellers and at partner hotels (2026). It is the one case in this list where both are accepted at the point of sale.

The catch there is the ticket, not the payment: ordinary AMT city tickets are not valid on the Alibus, so a carnet bought in town will not get you on.

## The tourist tax: priced, but not how it is collected

Rome's tourist tax runs from 3.00 euro per person per night in campsites to 10.00 euro in 5-star hotels, for a maximum of 10 consecutive nights in the same property (2026). A 4-star hotel charges 7.50 euro, not the 7.00 euro that several guides still print.

How the property collects it, in cash at check-in or on the card with the room, is not stated in the sources we verified. Ask when you book, and if the answer is vague, keep enough cash for the nights times the rate. The other cities are on the [tourist tax page](/plan/tourist-tax).

## What the seven cases add up to

In six of the seven verified cases a card works, and in two it is the only option. The seventh, the tourist tax, is unknown rather than cash-only, and none of the verified rules takes cash while refusing a card.

That is a pattern from our sample, not a national law. No verified source tells you how much cash to carry per day, or which foreign cards official ticket sites turn down, so this page does not pretend to. Daily costs are on [the travel budget page](/plan/travel-budget), and the coperto on [tipping in Italy](/plan/tipping-and-coperto).

## FAQ

### Can I pay for everything by card in Italy?

Not everywhere, but a card worked in six of the seven cases we verified, and in two it is the only option: vaporetto tickets bought on board in Venice and the 6 euro Scala dei Turchi ticket (2026). The open case is the tourist tax, whose payment method our sources do not state.

### Do Venice vaporetti take cash?

Not on board. A ticket bought on the boat can only be paid by card, and it comes already validated. The standard 75-minute ticket on the combined network costs 9.50 euro in 2026, and it does not cover lines 16 and 19, the Casino line, Alilaguna boats or the airport.

### What does POS mean on an Italian sign?

POS is the card terminal, and a sign reading solo POS means card only, no cash. That is the rule for vaporetto tickets bought on board in Venice and at the Scala dei Turchi, where the 6 euro entry is paid by POS at the gate after booking by email (2026).

### Can I use contactless on trains in Italy?

On some lines, yes. The Leonardo Express at Fiumicino and the Cagliari airport train accept contactless as TAP&TAP, and EAV's Tap&Go covers the Circumvesuviana in Naples, capping the Napoli to Sorrento fare at 4.60 euro when you tap in and out with the same card (2026).

### Do I pay the tourist tax in cash?

Our verified sources give the rates, not the payment method. In Rome the tax runs from 3.00 euro per person per night in campsites to 10.00 euro in 5-star hotels, for up to 10 consecutive nights (2026). Ask the property how it collects the tax when you book.

### How much cash should I bring to Italy?

No verified source gives a daily figure, and we are not going to make one up. What the verified cases show is that a card worked in six of seven, and that the two card-only places, Venice vaporetti and the Scala dei Turchi, would turn cash away.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Venezia il biglietto ordinario ACTV di 75 minuti sulla 'rete unica' (navigazione + autobus + tram + People Mover) costa 9,50 euro (2026); il biglietto solo automobilistico da 75 minuti costa 1,50 euro. Il biglietto di navigazione non e' valido sulle linee 16 e 19, sulla linea Casino' e sulle linee Alilaguna, e non copre i viaggi da o per l'aeroporto Marco Polo. A bordo dei vaporetti si acquista solo con POS, mai in contanti. | [AVM/Actv - Azienda Veneziana della Mobilita'](https://actv.avmspa.it/it/content/urbano-venezia-0); [Venezia Unica - Citta' di Venezia](https://www.veneziaunica.it/en/buy-tickets/public-trasport-in-venice/actv-ticket-75) | high | 2027-06-30 |
| A Roma il contributo di soggiorno, in vigore con le tariffe deliberate dalla Giunta Capitolina il 17 luglio 2023 e applicate dal 1 ottobre 2023, va da 3,00 euro a persona per notte nei campeggi a 10,00 euro negli alberghi a 5 stelle, per un massimo di 10 pernottamenti consecutivi nella stessa struttura (2026). | [Roma Capitale](https://www.comune.roma.it/web-resources/cms/documents/Nuove_tariffe_contributo_di_soggiorno_dal_01.10.2023_logo.pdf); [doc 2](https://www.comune.roma.it/web/it/informazione-di-servizio.page?contentId=IDS1083852); [Roma Capitale - S.U.A.R.](https://www.comune.roma.it/web/it/scheda-servizi.page?contentId=INF1088067&stem=suar) | high | 2027-06-30 |
| Dall'aeroporto di Catania Fontanarossa il collegamento urbano con la citta' e' la linea Alibus di AMT: il biglietto costa 4 euro, vale 90 minuti ed e' utilizzabile anche sulle altre linee urbane AMT; si acquista a bordo in contanti o con carta, sull'app AMT Catania, in rivendita o negli hotel convenzionati (2026). I biglietti AMT ordinari, quelli della metropolitana FCE e gli abbonamenti non sono validi su Alibus. | [AMTS Catania](https://www.amts.ct.it/alibus/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| L'aeroporto di Cagliari Elmas ha una stazione ferroviaria collegata al terminal da un camminamento coperto: il treno regionale raggiunge il centro di Cagliari in meno di 10 minuti, con corse ogni 20 minuti circa nei giorni feriali e biglietto a 1,30 euro; la prima corsa dall'aeroporto parte alle 6:03 e l'ultima alle 23:07 (2026). Si puo' pagare anche in contactless con Tap&Tap. | [Trenitalia](https://www.trenitalia.com/it/regionale/collegamenti-regionale/aeroporto-elmas-di-cagliari.html) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Sulle linee ferroviarie EAV, compresa la Circumvesuviana, si entra ai tornelli con una carta contactless usando Tap&Go: si valida in ingresso e in uscita con la stessa carta e il sistema addebita nei giorni successivi la tariffa piu' conveniente, con un tetto di 4,60 euro sulla Napoli-Sorrento (2026). | [Consorzio UnicoCampania](https://www.unicocampania.it/tap-and-go) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| La Scala dei Turchi di Realmonte e' visitabile ma con accesso contingentato e prenotazione obbligatoria: si scrive al Comune all'indirizzo settore5.realmonte@gmail.com indicando numero di persone, data e orario, il biglietto costa 6 euro e si paga solo con POS all'ingresso, la visita dura circa 20 minuti e l'ultimo ingresso e' alle 19:40 (2026). Il sito chiude in caso di allerta meteo, pioggia, temperature superiori a 34-35 gradi, vento forte, mare mosso o dopo scosse sismiche di magnitudo superiore a 2,5. | [Comune di Realmonte](https://www.comune.realmonte.ag.it/it/page/my-scala-dei-turchi-141199-149562) | medium | 2027-05-31 |
| Il Leonardo Express collega Roma Termini all'aeroporto di Fiumicino senza fermate intermedie in 32 minuti, con partenze ogni 15 minuti e un biglietto di corsa semplice da 14,00 euro; le corse vanno dalle 4:50 alle 23:05 da Termini e dalle 5:38 alle 23:27 da Fiumicino (2026). | [Trenitalia](https://www.trenitalia.com/it/regionale/collegamenti-regionale/leonardo-express.html) | medium | 2027-06-30 |

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/organizza/paying-in-italy.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/planifica/paying-in-italy.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/preparer/paying-in-italy.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/planen/paying-in-italy.md