Hello all. I am starting to plan a trip to Rome and Venice for my wife and all four of our parents, who are between 65 and 70. I'm just curious if the senior discounts that I have seen at various sites and museums are for all seniors or only EU seniors. I know when they say 'students', they tend to mean EU students.

Any experience with receiving reduced fees for seniors? What proof is needed? Any other suggestions for how to make this trip (their first) comfortable and enjoyable?

I returned from Italy three days ago. The only senior discounts I found were for EU citizens.

From our experience, the larger cities and their attractions strictly adhered to the EU citizen seniors rule when my husband asked. But the smaller towns seemed a little more lax with the rules. The ticket sellers in the castles in both Ferrara and Gradara gave my husband the discount. It never hurts to ask, I guess.

Originally discount was only given to Italian senios, on the ground that subsidised price should only go to those who have contributed taxes etc to society. But since restricting favourable terms only to Italians contravenes EU law (no EU citizens should be treated less favourably), they had to extend it to EU seniors (and students, disabled etc). The usual proof is your passport or official ID card (some EU countries issue it to their citizens).
As there is no rule that states you cannot extend it to all seniors, some attractions are happy to do so. Again your passport is an acceptable proof of age. So always ask if discount is available.

So.....what age is considered "senior"??

Sometimes 60, sometimes 65.