Venice: what you can do, and what the rules are

Four rules decide what a Venice day looks like in 2026: no access fee applies, guided groups are capped at 25 people, ships over 25,000⁴ gross tons are banned from the Giudecca canal, and St Mark's Basilica now charges €10.00.

You do not pay to walk in

As of September 1, 2026 the access fee is not in force. The city declared the 2026 trial concluded, no payment and no exemption obligation has applied since July 27, 2026, and any application in a later year requires a new decision by the city council.

For the record of what it was: for 2026 the council confirmed a two tier charge by decision of November 19, 2025, €5 per person paid up to the fourth day before entry and €10 paid within the four days before, applied between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm, with the minor islands excluded.

The number of days is unresolved. The official page we read lists 68 days, split as 17 in April, 15 in May, 18 in June and 12 in July, while several press sources report 60. We could not settle it, and we would rather show you the disagreement than pick the tidier figure.

Groups stop at 25, and the guide has no microphone

Guided tourist groups may not exceed 25 people, and guides may not use loudspeakers or stop in places that obstruct pedestrian flow. The rule came into force in August 2024 and 3 fines were issued on the first day it applied.

School parties on educational visits are exempt, as are boarding and disembarking from boats and information given on board.

Ask an operator what group size they run before you book. A party of 40 in a calle is now the operator's legal problem, and the difference between a group of 25 without amplification and a group of 50 with a speaker is the difference between hearing the guide and following an umbrella.

The big ships left the Giudecca in 2021

Since August 1, 2021 ships over 25,000⁴ gross tons, or with a hull longer than 180⁴ m, or with an air draught over 35 m, may not transit the Bacino di San Marco, the Canale di San Marco or the Giudecca canal, which were declared national monuments. A fuel sulphur limit of 0.1% applies alongside.

The measure was adopted partly to keep Venice off the UNESCO list of sites in danger. The cruise ships did not disappear: they were redirected to Marghera, where at least 4 temporary berths were set up.

What this means on the ground is that the view down the Giudecca canal is now free of hulls taller than the buildings, and that a cruise itinerary listing Venice may in practice dock on the industrial mainland. Read the port name on your booking.

St Mark's Basilica is no longer free

Entry to the basilica is charged: €10.00 for the basilica alone, €20.00 with the Pala d'Oro, €20.00 with the museum and the Loggia dei Cavalli, €30.00 for the complete ticket and €15.00 for the Campanile (2026). The museum and loggia on their own are €14.00 on Sundays.

All tickets are personal from the moment of booking. Individual visitors enter at Porta San Pietro; groups with guides and tour operators enter at Porta San Clemente and pay rates roughly 20 percent higher. Teachers and students on school visits enter the basilica free, and the Campanile is €7.50 for schools.

Reductions run at 50 percent for ages 10 to 18, students up to 26 and over 65s. If you remember St Mark's as the one great church in Italy you could walk into without paying, that memory is now historical. See the Doge's Palace and events in Venice.

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