Backpackers.com

Visiting Venice Or Florence Next Year? Prepare To Be Taxed!

A month or so ago we wrote about the possibility of Venice becoming the first city to charge visitors an entrance fee for the pleasure of exploring it sights.

Well, now it’s official. As the Telegraph reported this week, both Venice and Florence have been ‘given permission by the government to raise the tax’ to cover mounting maintenance and security costs.

From next year, visitors to Venice and Florence will be charged ‘up to five euros (£3.40)’ for the privilege. And that’s per day. So, if you’re planning on visiting two of Italy’s most famous and most beautiful cities, be prepared to work that extra cost into your daily budget.

Before you get your proverbials knickers in a knot though, consider the words of Venice’s Mayor, Massimo Cacciari:

“The town has to pay for huge extra costs for services such as security that tourists demand. Every day the city is used by a population almost twice as large as the number of its residents. There are 50,000 tourists for 62,000 residents. We cannot continue to make only our citizens pay for the costs.”

Imagine your home town or city’s population was almost doubled every single day. That’s extra time in queues, twice as many people on the streets, and a double-up of wear-and-tear on the city. All at the local taxpayer’s expense.

Seen in that light, the entrance fee seems to make sense, doesn’t it.

(Photo: ‘bcnbits’/Flickr)

Related stories:
‘Venice and Florence to tax visitors’ (Telegraph)
‘Would You Pay An Entrance Fee To Visit Venice?’ (Backpackers.com)

( Find cheap hostels in Venice and Florence )

Posted in Destinations, Travel News