Not confirmed as permanent. Turismo Roma lists the measure as running from 30 January 2026 through 31 December 2027, which suggests it may be reviewed rather than treated as fixed.
No, of course you don’t need one just to see it. Since 2 February 2026, a €2 ticket applies only to the basin, the paved area right at the water’s edge where visitors get the classic coin-toss photo. According to Rome’s official tourism office, Turismo Roma, the rest of the square, where most visitors spend their time, remains free.
The Square: Still Free
The piazza is the open public square surrounding the Trevi Fountain, including the streets and steps that feed into it. It has never required a ticket, and still doesn’t.
You can walk up, view the fountain face-on, and photograph it from here at no cost, at any hour. What you can’t do from the piazza is reach the water’s edge, a barrier now separates it from the basin.
The Basin: Now Ticketed
The basin is the gated platform directly in front of the fountain, where visitors traditionally toss a coin over their shoulder. As of 2 February 2026, tourists and non-residents need a €2 ticket to enter it, a measure Turismo Roma lists as running through 31 December 2027.
Tickets are sold online, at Rome’s Civic Museums, at tourist infopoints, and by card at the entrance, per Turismo Roma. Entry is free for residents of Rome and its metropolitan area (with ID), children under five, and people with disabilities along with their caregivers. Hours run roughly 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. most days, opening later on Mondays and Fridays, according to an AFP report on the ticket’s launch (confirm the current schedule before you go).
This isn’t the first time the basin has been managed. Through 2024 and 2025, the city ran a barrier-and-queuing trial that capped basin access at roughly 400 people at a time, with no fee attached, according to Forbes. The €2 fee, launched in February 2026, formalized that same restricted area rather than introducing a new one.
Do I Need a Guide to Visit the Trevi Fountain?
The ticket alone gets you into the basin, no guide is required. But since the barrier system went in, several operators have started running visits that include basin entry with a guide handling the ticket and giving context on-site rather than leaving you to read a plaque. Crown Tours runs these too.
Our guides, who pass the fountain regularly, have noticed the practical difference: since the barriers went in, a group can move in for a closer look without being pushed into the crowd the way they used to be.
Why People Assume the Whole Fountain Now Costs Money
Headlines announcing that the Trevi Fountain “now charges tourists” rarely specify which part. Returning visitors who remember the 2024–2025 barrier trial, access was already restricted then, just not paid, now see a ticket booth and assume the whole site changed. In practice, only the basin did.
How to Tell Which One You Need
If your plan is to see and photograph the fountain, the square covers it, no ticket, no booking. If you specifically want to stand at the water’s edge for the coin toss, you need the basin ticket, whether you buy it yourself or join a tour that includes it.
FAQ
Only from the basin, which requires a ticket unless you qualify for free entry. The square doesn’t reach the water, so the coin toss now sits behind the ticketed line.
As of the system’s February 2026 launch, Turismo Roma listed the fee at €2 for tourists and non-residents. Confirm the current amount on the official ticketing site before you go.
No. Viewing and photographing the fountain from the square is free. A ticket is required only to enter the basin, the platform at the water’s edge.
Visit the Trevi fountain with Crown Tours
See Trevi Fountain on the Golf Cart Tour
Trevi Fountain is one of the stops on this route. Riders get off to look around, then move on to the next landmark.
Sources
- Turismo Roma (Comune di Roma’s official tourism office), “Trevi Fountain: new entry fee for one of Rome’s symbols,” accessed 31 August 2026.
- AFP, “Paying for a selfie: Rome imposes €2 entry fee to ease Trevi Fountain crowds,” via Malay Mail, 3 February 2026.
- Forbes, “Trevi Fountain Tackles Overtourism With New Entry Fee In 2026,” 10 January 2026.
