10 Cities That Charge You to Enter — And the Surprising One That Currently Doesn’t

Fee: €3 on weekdays, €5 on weekend and holidays (~$3.50/$6)

In 2013, the larger cousin to this medieval town of 12 residents in central Italy’s Lazio region—midway between Florence and Rome—began charging visitors €1.50 to cross the footbridge from Bagnoregio (a much larger town) to Civita. There have been a few price increases since (it’s now €5), but the tactic worked. By instituting a charge, curious travelers began visiting in droves, funding Civita’s revitalization as well as adding new businesses (including pizzerias) to Bagnoregio. What was once an abandoned village now welcomes 850,000 people each year, benefiting both towns.

Fee: $12.25 per vehicle

Considered one of the world’s most stunning shorelines, and requiring an incredible amount of maintenance, 17-Mile Drive along Highway 1 hugs the Pacific Ocean in an exclusive area between Carmel-by-the-Sea and Pacific Grove. It will cost you some pretty pennies to drop your jaw at the cypress trees, golf courses, and beaches. If you spend $35 at Pebble Beach restaurants along the way (excluding Pebble Beach Market), that money you paid at the gate goes back in your pocket. Yes, that’s correct. You will be paid to eat. Or, if you’ve booked a room at Casa Palmero, The Inn at Spanish Bay, or The Lodge at Pebble Beach, the fee is waived.

Fee: $4.50

About 130 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, this ghost town (a former silver-mining town founded in 1881 and in operation until the mid-1890s) in Yermo, within the Mojave Desert, is the perfect spot to whip out your camera and capture dramatic shots of the landscape. Charging $4.50 per person to enter (plus $5.50 to ride the train; there are bundled packages to save cost) raises awareness about the bygone days of the Gold Rush and helps fund San Bernardino County Regional Parks’ restoration efforts. The fee includes access to a former silver mine and a tutorial in gold panning at a nearby stream. Five hundred mines once operated here, producing $20 million in silver–not bad for a 12-year period.

Fee: Free to enter the town; combo tickets for attractions now range from CNY 30 to CNY 80 (~$4-11, no flat minimum spend). There isn’t a flat fee to enter Zhujiajiao Water Town—the town itself is free to enter. Instead, individual attractions or combo tickets are required if you wish to visit specific sites. For example:

– CNY 30 for a four-attraction pass (e.g., Kezhi Garden, Qing Dynasty Post Office, Tongtianhe Museum, Y-Art Gallery)

– CNY 60 for an eight-attraction pass

– CNY 80 for a boat cruise plus access to eight attractions

Often dubbed “the Venice of Shanghai” for its many bridges and historic structures, this town is quite different from modernized Shanghai. Many visitors spend a half-day walking some or all of the 36 bridges or taking a gondola-style boat ride—boat rides generally cost between CNY 30 and CNY 80, depending on whether they’re bundled with attraction access.

Fee: €40 (~$47) per adult during the regular season (March 1 – November 30), and reduced to €15 in the off-season (December & February to early March)

Now a popular cruise-ship port, the walled portion of Dubrovnik’s Old Town—a UNESCO World Heritage Site and filming location for Game of Thrones—requires a ticket to walk the City Walls, which includes access to Fort Minčeta (Minčeta Tower), Fort Bokar, Western Outer Walls, and Fort Lovrijenac (Fort Saint Lawrence). This fee was raised from 150 kuna to 200 kuna (~€26–€27) in 2019. However, since January 2023, Croatia has adopted the euro as its official currency. As a result, the current entrance fee for walking the City Walls is now approximately €40 per adult during the regular season (March 1 – November 30), and reduced to €15 in the off-season (December & February to early March).

Fee: 120,000 VND (~$5)

Happen to be in Vietnam in early December? On December 4 the 120,000 VND entrance fee to walk around Old Town is always waived. Because 2.8 million people are flocking to Hoi An every year, and the number of visitors increasing annually, the local government hopes to further protect this ancient town’s beauty and historic buildings with the additional funds, many coming from international travelers. For travelers, the fee also includes admission to five attractions.

Fee: €4 daily (~$5)

Thanks to a certain Hollywood actor (Clooney!), Lake Como has risen in popularity with travelers to Europe who want a luxury lakeside setting. One village—Corenno Plinio, with only 16 residents—on the now-famous lake announced in January it would charge a fee, per day, beginning in March, to visit. Given that only two other parts of Italy charge an entry fee (the medieval town of Civita and a fishing village called Polignano a Mare), an uproar followed. It’s not so much about the visitor fee, more about what the mayor proposed: turning the town into “an open-air museum.”

Fee: €5 (~$6)

This fishing village in Puglia is a popular spot during the summer and the Christmas holiday season. The rest of the year, not so much. That’s why, in 2018, Polignano a Mare instituted a temporary tourist entry fee (for the town’s historic center) during high seasons in an attempt to balance its tourism throughout the year, figuring that fees might convince people to visit when it’s free. There are even turnstiles, according to this article, which locals argue now seem to imply their town is an attraction, not a destination. More proof: when the fee was instituted, visitors were handed a bag of popcorn, a doughnut, and a drink, just like at a theme park or movie theater.

Fee: donation suggested

At first glance, this might like look a gimmicky attraction but it’s actually where people live. A 90-some-years-old gentleman dubbed “Grandpa” (his real name is Huang Yung-Fu) wanted to save his village from abandonment (at one time, when it was called Caihongjuan Village, there were 1,200 houses but only 11 remain) by applying fresh coats of bright paint—along with animation and art—on all the buildings. Soon people started to visit, enchanted by the rainbow hues. But the village wasn’t receiving any payback and developers continued to buy up land. Now, you are encouraged to make a donation to enter Rainbow Village, but with the satisfaction that you are helping to preserve it.

Fee: IDR 50,000 (~$3)

It’s no secret that Bali grapples with overtourism as it evolves into a destination for people seeking spiritual enlightenment. Charging an entry fee is a way to maintain Penglipuran’s traditional architecture, its homes for around 250 families surrounded by bamboo forest. If you’re into sustainability and yearning for more ways to weave that into your community, you might enjoy observing the village’s shared eco-friendly philosophy: recycling trash, car-free, and no smoking or other forms of air pollution. Fun fact: this village is considered one of the three cleanest spots in the world.

Fee: Currently no longer in effect

In late 2018, Venice—which now welcomes 25 million visitors each year—shocked the world when its mayor  announced a “landing fee.” For the last few years, Venice has experimented with charging “daytripper” charges as well as cruise-ship passengers only in port for a day. Costs have ranged from €5-10 and are aimed at attempting to discourage visitors from arriving at peak times.

Currently, what’s called the “access fee” is no longer in effect as of July 28, 2025. There is no entry fee to visit Venice right now.