Venice becomes the first major European city to require advance reservations for all day visitors starting January 2026. Show up without a QR code and face €300 fines or being turned away. The spontaneous Venice day trip is over.
When Cities Closed Their Gates
Venice isn’t operating in a vacuum. Destinations worldwide have been experimenting with visitor caps for years. Machu Picchu limits daily entries to 4,044 visitors across timed circuits. Cinque Terre introduced a hiking permit system for its coastal trails. Dubrovnik capped cruise ship arrivals, reducing daily visitors by 40% and improving resident satisfaction scores by 62% in 2023 city surveys.
But Venice’s challenge is fundamentally different. Machu Picchu is a remote archaeological site with one entrance. Venice is a functioning city where 50,000 people live, work, commute, and send their kids to school. The reservation system must differentiate between 15 visitor categories while processing up to 80,000 daily reservation requests during peak season. That complexity demanded entirely new digital infrastructure, not just a ticket booth at the causeway.
What This Means for Travelers
The most immediate casualty is the spontaneous day trip. That easy train ride from Padua or Verona now requires planning weeks in advance. No more deciding over breakfast to pop over and see the Basilica.
Travel agents are already reporting a 35% increase in multi-day Venice bookings since the announcement. The logic is straightforward: if you’re going through the hassle of reserving, you might as well stay overnight and actually experience the city after the day-trippers leave. Evening Venice has always been the real Venice anyway. Quiet canals, local bacari pouring ombra de vin, the golden light on the lagoon.
Reservations open 90 days before your intended visit through Venice’s official tourism portal. Daily capacity ranges from 40,000 visitors in winter to 60,000 during summer. Hotel guests and regional residents are exempt but must still register. The reservation itself is currently free. Venice is managing flow, not charging admission.
