Other than the poor optics of charging entrance as if it's a theme park, the fee might also embolden some of the more obnoxious tourists in behaving like they would at an ACTUAL theme park rather than how they would as guests in a "real" city, in order to "get their money's worth".

Thing is, €5 isn't all that much. I'm not sure who this is going to deter other than shoestring backpackers and people who fly RyanAir. I'd fully expect that price to increase in the future.

My guess is that the term "residents" actually refers to greedy business and hotel owners which are the reason this rule is necessary in the first place.

Residents, commuters, students and children under the age of 14 are exempt, as are tourists who stay overnight.

So they are just attempting to bully the worst kind of tourists out which is totally fair.

Yeah it reads like they do want less tourists but don't agree with the way they are handling it. Maybe a pride thing, with the theme park comment.

Maybe the inland residents the ones that are protesting... what we call Venice doesent look to have a lot of residents apart from some particular places

I suspect it's more unpopular with souvenir shop owners than anyone else.

Maybe go with circus prices instead since they both charge you money to see a bunch of clowns.

This does kinda feel like when Cartman had his own amusement park that nobody was allowed to go to

This isn't going to dissuade anyone though. No one is going to change their vacation plans for $5.

This is just the city wanting money from tourists directly.

29 days is counted until the end of the three months trial in July. So it's every weekend + every holiday, like 120 days per year

Shush you, Venice is magnificent. Wouldn't want to live there but it's an extraordinary place absolutely worth experiencing. Ancient, labyrinthine, palaces and churches everywhere, it's like stepping into the Renaissance.

I'm upvoting you for adding to the conversation even though we have different opinions. Sadly, people don't understand how the moderation system is supposed to work.

You have to pay 5€ to visit

You only have to pay that if you're a day visitor. If you're staying on one of the main islands, you don't need to pay. The place you're staying should have a tourism site ID code, which you can enter on the site to get exemption.

a giant sewer city

I never get why this image is so prevalent. Just visit a month or two before or after the main summer months. May or September perhaps, it's usually still warm, and I've visited many times now and only had a few days when in a few select areas it was a bit smelly. The idea it's common is just plain wrong based on all of my visits.

with no trees

There are trees quite literally everywhere. Maybe not on Rialto bridge, though. Even next to San Marco, there are some nice gardens. Further along at the Biennale, you will see many more gardens. There's also a garden right by Piazzale Roma and the train station. Once you leave the main tourist areas, you'll see plenty of trees pretty much everywhere.

two people per every square meter

Go slightly off season, and actually leave Rialto and San Marco alone once you've seen them. You can walk for literally 2 minutes and go from serious crowds to totally alone from either of those locations.

You never been, obviously.

You don't care for culture, gotcha. Now do Disneyland!

That's only for vehicles. It isn't the same thing.

The London thing does not apply to pedestrians

There is a difference in intent.

The congestion charge in London and other cities is just for cars whole the cities generally provide good mass transit across the toll line.

Venice is charging an admission fee to all tourists no matter how they arrive. Given how low the fee is, all it will probably do is raise revenue for the local government.