Posted on 02/11/2026 8:38:54 PM PST by SeekAndFind
As a general rule, once a city erects turnstiles to tourist attractions which were once free to visit, it is time to go elsewhere. Never more so than in the case of Rome. Last week the Italian capital introduced a €2 charge to visit the Trevi Fountain. Tight-fisted tourists like me will still be able to see the Trevi from a distance – it happens to stand in a public street. The charge will be only for sad Instagrammers who want to get close enough to chuck their coins in the water.
The city’s tourism department has suggested the fee is needed to manage the throngs of holidaygoers. Even then, God forbid, they won’t be able to take off their sandals and take a dip – that will earn them a €500 fine. Which raises the question: why bother visiting the fountain at all? You’ll find more attractive water features in your local B&Q.
This 17th-century vanity project was built on the part of Clement XII to make supposedly dramatic use of the waters fed by the Aqua Virgo, an eight-mile long Roman viaduct. Had the Romans known to what use the waters would end up being put, maybe they wouldn’t have bothered. Their grand purpose was one of promoting sanitation and health. The Trevi Fountain, by contrast, is founded on frivolity and excess. Its ghastly over-decoration is the very opposite of the fine piece of engineering that feeds it.
The Trevi is Rome all over. The Romans built an elegant, functional and technologically advanced city – before their descendants buggered it up through neglect or redevelopment. From overpriced food to decaying infrastructure, these days you’ll find only potholed roads lead to Rome.
When it comes to its crumbling monuments, the vainglorious Victor Emmanuel II Monument is the absolute end: a 19th-century wedding cake dumped in the heart of Roman Rome. It should be taken down and its stone recycled – just as the locals did to the Colosseum so many centuries ago.
The Spanish Steps? You may as well visit one of the terraces at the original Wembley Stadium. In their heyday, they were just as crowded and there was usually something more interesting to watch. Oh, and it didn’t cost to linger at Wembley, either – you get another €250 fine for sitting on the Spanish Steps.
The first time I visited Rome, the place was heaving – and yet, still, a waiter was so miserable about his employment prospects that he begged for my help finding him a job in Britain. Eleven years on and it seems little has changed: according to Istat, Italy’s answer to the Office for National Statistics, tourism makes up 9.6 per cent of the country’s economy. Yet total numbers were down by almost 1 per cent in the second half of last year compared with the same period in 2024. It may be a small decline in what is otherwise the fifth most visited country in the world but, even so, it puts Italy in a perilous position. The country really can’t afford to upset its tourists by springing fines and charges on them.
If you really must visit Rome, then take my advice: go and see the Pantheon – which has lasted so much better than the crumbling tower blocks and motorway bridges that blight modern Italy – and then get out. The best bits of Rome aren’t even in the city itself. If you want to see Roman remains in their proper context, the best place is Ostia Antica – a town’s worth of ruins a 45-minute train from the capital.
All the same, perhaps it’s best to give Italy a miss altogether these days. It’s always been full of dodgy gelato salesmen, but now it’s not just them trying to rip you off – it’s the city authorities, too. The sign to turn your back on Venice was when the city introduced a €5 entry charge three years ago – not to visit museums or buildings but just to walk the streets and squares. Italy’s cities are reverting back to closed, medieval spaces surrounded by walls and gates.
The Instagrammers can have Venice, although Italy’s tourism chiefs shouldn’t take them for granted; they will be off somewhere else when it gets more ‘likes’. As it stands, the influencers may as well take Rome, too. But when the city’s authorities find they’ve drained the capital’s lifeblood through sheer greed, they’ll have only themselves to blame.
The coins are removed daily.
The water is fresh and fed by the aqueduct.
The entire fountain was cleaned and restored relatively recently.
I am wondering if I can zip a euro over the crowd and hit the water.
We would like to go back. Rome for all its nickle and dime fees, migrants and pickpockets is still the cradle of Western Civilization. Florence[Best City!] and Venice are just must see places, fees be damned.
One of our big worries is what is happening with the volcanoes: they are all active and getting more active.
If one of them blows, travel to Italy will be a mess for maybe years.
I’ve never been interested in going to Europe. I’ve been to the Bahamas (the people are thieves), St Thomas VI(same thieves), Aruba(I’d live there part time if I could). I’m quite happy with beaches in NC, SC and FL. Would like to visit Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas.
If you like ancient Rome, definitely.
Minneapolis too! But no one wants to visit there.
Now they are planning to tax us to give money to the businesses that are going bust due to mismanagement by the Commie Timpon & the Somalis.
Gloomy and doomy. If the sun were shining, this writer would find the lone cloud.
Take Metro line B to Piramide, then transfer to the suburban Roma–Lido (Metromare) train and get off at Ostia Antica.
### Step‑by‑step
1. **Reach Metro line B (blue)**
- From anywhere in Rome, ride **Metro B** to **Piramide** station (same place as Roma Ostiense). [joyofrome](https://www.joyofrome.com/en/2016/06/visit-ostia-antica/)
2. **Walk to Porta San Paolo station**
- Inside/next to Piramide, follow signs for **Porta S. Paolo / Roma–Lido / Metromare**; the suburban station is directly adjacent. [mapandcamera](https://mapandcamera.com/how-to-get-to-ostia-antica-from-rome/)
3. **Take the Roma–Lido (Metromare) train**
- Board the train toward **Ostia / Cristoforo Colombo**.
- Get off at **Ostia Antica** station (about 25–30 minutes from Porta San Paolo). [rome](https://rome.us/how-to-get/to-ostia-antica-by-train.html)
4. **Walk to the site or town**
- From **Ostia Antica** station it’s about a **10‑minute walk** over the pedestrian overpass to the archaeological site entrance; just follow the signs/other visitors. [exoticca](https://www.exoticca.com/us/blog/ostia-antica/)
5. **Tickets**
- Use a regular **€1.50 ATAC ticket** (100‑minute validity) for metro + Roma–Lido; validate it before entering and it covers the whole trip in one direction. [rome](https://www.rome.net/ostia-antica)
Yes—there’s a well‑known naturist / clothing‑optional stretch of beach a bit down the coast from Ostia called **Capocotta** (often signed as *Oasi Naturista di Capocotta*).
It’s between Lido di Ostia and Castel Porziano, in the dunes along the Via Litoranea, and has a legally recognized naturist section with basic facilities (bar, umbrellas, etc.). If you’re heading there from Rome/Ostia, it’s worth checking current local guidance, since rules and the exact “nude zone” can shift a bit over time.
Caravaggio is one of my favorite painters. Lucky you!
People change.
Places change.
Times change.
Sad but true, antiquity fades. No matter how bad it’s got, it’s only going to get worse.
To not visit Rome is to ignore one of the greatest highlights in human history, one of the most remarkable cities in the world. And wouldn’t that be a pity.
Vide Roma et Mori.
St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, died in Ostia, but her remains were later moved to a church in Rome.
Yes, the Capitoline Museum has a lot of great stuff. It has the wolf which was long believed to be of Etruscan date (now thought to be medieval). The Villa Giulia Museum is also worth visiting.
Other places in Italy that are well worth visiting are Ravenna, Florence, Lucca and Syracuse. Also Volterra and Aosta although both of those are a bit out of the way. Volterra is a small walled city on a mountaintop with one of the best collections of Etruscan art anywhere. Aosta is in the foothills of the Alps and has some Roman ruins.
Thank you for that information about Ostia Antica
What about Florence, Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento, Tuscany, Sicily. For some reason this writer had a bad time in Rome. 2 1/2 bucks to go down to the fountain isn’t exactly a deal breaker.
Yep, keeps the riff raff out.
It was crowded and dirty and so many of the great sites were fenced off, perpetually under construction.
Of course, the writer had a bad day.
Go West.
Joshua tree
Bryce Canyon
Cedar Breaks
Zion
Kings Canyon
Great Sequoia
Tahoe in the winter
Yosemite
Arizona — see it all
Sante Fe and surrounding
Sante Fe Opera
Chaco Canyon
Hell, all of New Mexico
I can’t even start on Colorado, I smell Engelman Spruce just thinking of it.
You can do both, and should.
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