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Overtourism is such a big problem in Italy that officials have proposed charging a fee and requiring pre-registration just to enter the city of Venice. And while that plan has not yet been implemented, visitors to Italy will face a variety of new rules designed to keep overcrowding and degradation of the environment and heritage sites under control.

Faced with heavy crowds on its picturesque but compact beaches, the municipality of Baunei on Sardinia has capped daily visitors at 250, requiring pre-registration by beachgoers, and charging a 6 Euro fee per person.

Also on Sardinia, the town of Spriaggia della Pelos is limiting beach visitors to 1,500 daily and charging a 3.5 Euro entry fee. Beach towels are banned in order to prevent the loss of beach sand, and beachgoers are issued yellow wristbands as identification.

If your clients want to swim or sunbathe at Cala Brigantina and Cala Coticcio in La Maddalena National Park, they’ll need to register in advance and pay a 3 Euro fee. In San Teodoro, Lu Impostu beach visitation is capped at 1,500 people per day, and Brandinchi beach is limited to 3,330 people per day.

Faced with an onslaught of 34 million visitors in 2022, the small Northern Italy region of Trentino-Alto Adige in the Dolomites will restrict overnight visits to 2019 levels, tourism minister Arnold Schuler told CNN. Visitation caps will also be implemented at popular natural sites like the Lago di Braies glacial lake and the Alpe di Siusi, a picturesque alpine meadow.

In Portofino, a recent law was put into place that bans visitors from taking selfies in certain areas of town, a rule intended to reduce congestion at popular sites. Violators face fines of between 68 and 275 Euros.

Italy Set to Charge Visitors Who Want to Visit Venice

The 3 Euro charge for tourists to enter Venice, proposed in 2021, was originally supposed to go into effect in January 2023, but has been delayed for at least six months. However, travelers who want to visit the island of Giglio this summer will have to pay a 3 Euro landing fee (it drops to 2 Euro in the winter).

The islands of Lampedusa and Procida are fighting traffic by restricting non-residents from driving local roads during the summer high season. Lampedusa has also placed limits on the number of people who can visit the island’s beaches, and now requires preregistration for those who want to spend a morning or afternoon on the sand.