Planning a holiday in Europe this year? All the 2025 tourist taxes, bans and restrictions explained

Journey in Europe is getting extra sophisticated to navigate for vacationers. Some cities now cost a each day vacationer tax that you must pay on arrival. 

Locals in sure vacation hotspots have made it clear that you simply’re not welcome with outright bans on seashores or limits to customer numbers at prime sights. Different locations say you’re welcome – as lengthy you comply with the foundations. 

With a easy vacation in Europe getting tougher to e-book as you navigate the elevated vacationer restrictions, Euronews Journey shares a lowdown on all of the 12 months’s journey watchouts.

Is Spain actually banning vacationers?

There’s been a great deal of press about Spain’s wrestle with overtourism. From high-profile protests to new guidelines and rules, it’s simple to suppose vacationers are not welcome in Spain.

Whereas some have known as the actions of the Spanish authorities a ‘vacationer ban,’ it’s not that in any respect. Insurance policies are in place to curb overtourism in the most well-liked locations like Mallorca, Tenerife and Barcelona, however the strikes are extra about managing tourism relatively than stopping it.

Vacation leases together with Airbnb-style leases and flats, can nonetheless be booked. The one lodging affected by the modifications are flats registered after February 2024 that don’t have their very own entrances. For these lets, licenses shall be completely cancelled.

Varied cities are introducing curbs on new rental properties getting into the market, together with in Malaga, the place short-term lets are banned in 43 neighbourhoods. Barcelona plans to part out vacationer house leases by 2028, and restrictions are in place in Alicante and Madrid.

The principle distinction you’ll discover should you’re heading to Spain this 12 months would be the want to offer additional particulars when staying at lodging or renting a automotive. Count on to be requested for info like your nationality, tackle, telephone quantity, and e mail tackle as a part of the brand new tourism guidelines.

The place will vacationer numbers be restricted?

Cruise passengers are being restricted far and wide. From Ibiza limiting simultaneous docking to Barcelona decreasing the variety of cruise ships that may go to, a number of European cities wish to curb the inflow of 1000’s of cruise passengers.

For holidaymakers, these new guidelines gained’t have an effect on your journey, as your cruise firm may have deliberate their schedule taking into consideration guidelines and restrictions. Nonetheless, it’s price being conscious of native taxes payable for getting into town, equivalent to in Venice, which is €5 or €10 – extra particulars under.

Some main vacationer sights are limiting customer numbers to fight overtourism. For instance, the enduring Acropolis in Athens is capped at 20,000 guests a day, and slots should be booked upfront to go to.

Pompeii was straining below the load of greater than 4 million guests in 2024 and, as such, can also be introducing a 20,000 customer cap in 2025. In Rome, the Colosseum is capped at 3,000 guests at anybody time.

In Seville, there are plans to shut the Plaza de España and cost vacationers €3 to €4 to go to, though this has not been enforced but.

Sardinia’s distinctive Spiaggia Rosa seaside has been closed to the general public since 1998 to guard its pink sands and wildlife. Since 2023, Italy has stepped up its policing of the seaside and is actively issuing fines of €500 to €3,500 for trespassing.

Varied different locations have restricted vacationer behaviours and are issuing fines. In Prague, costumed teams of stag and hen events aren’t welcome, whereas in Rome, shirtless males and ‘love padlocks’ on bridges might get you fined. Test the restrictions on your vacation spot to keep away from upsetting the locals.

The place will you must pay a vacationer tax this 12 months?

A number of vacation hotspots will add or enhance their vacationer tax this summer season.

Greece

Guests to Greece can pay a tax of €8 per day, which works out to an added value of €56 per grownup for a week-long journey. Some lodging don’t cost for kids, whereas others supply a lowered charge.

Along with the vacationer tax, Greece additionally applies a Local weather Resilience Tax, collected at check-in, and relevant to all inns, villas, Airbnbs, and different lodging. The fee ranges from €1.50 for probably the most primary lodgings as much as €10 per evening for luxurious inns.

Visiting within the low season might be profitable right here. Outdoors of April to October, the vacationer tax reduces to €2 per day, and the environmental tax to between €0.50 and €4 a day.

Cruise passengers are chargeable for additional taxes this 12 months, too, though the quantity you pay will rely on the place you go.

Visiting Santorini or Mykonos on a cruise goes to value €20, whereas different places are simply €5. The upper tax for the 2 Cyclades Islands follows a report summer season for guests final 12 months, the place the islands had been overwhelmed with as much as 20,000 cruise passengers a day, far exceeding the native inhabitants.

Portugal

The vacationer tax state of affairs in Portugal is much less easy, because the 306 totally different municipalities make their very own guidelines about taxation. At current, not less than 26 municipalities are charging a tax, principally within the typical resort places just like the Algarve and in addition Lisbon.

For example, Setúba, simply outdoors Lisbon, launched a tax of €2 per individual per evening final 12 months, which can proceed into 2025. Lisbon metropolis expenses €2 per evening, as does Madeira and Faro. Beforehand untaxed Azores has begun charging €2 per individual per evening from January 2025.

Spain

Like Portugal, Spain’s areas set their very own guidelines, and the taxes you pay will rely on the place you go. 

In Barcelona, there are two taxes to pay – a metropolis tax and a regional vacationer tax. Town tax has risen to €4 per individual per evening for 2025, whereas the vacationer tax has not elevated. Cruise ship passengers staying in Barcelona for greater than 12 hours must pay €6.25.

Vacationer tax is paid based mostly on the lodging, starting from €1.70 an evening for primary inns to €3.50 for luxurious lodging. Outdoors of Barcelona, within the wider Catalonia area, the identical vacationer tax is payable, however not town tax.

Within the Balearic Islands, the excessive season attracts a inexperienced tax starting from €4 per individual per evening for luxurious inns to €1 for hostels and campsites. 

Within the first Spanish vacationer tax to be applied at a municipal degree, Mogan Metropolis Council on Gran Canaria has utilized a modest tax for guests beginning this 12 months. The brand new guidelines, utilized throughout all institutions on the identical charge, is €0.15 per individual per evening.

A number of different cities – together with Valencia and Madrid – have proposed vacationer taxes, however none have been allowed but. However, it’s all the time price checking together with your lodging whether or not there are any additional expenses to pay attention to.

Italy

Italian municipalities set their very own vacationer tax charges, so once more, the charges payable will rely on the place you keep and go to.

In giant cities, there’ll virtually definitely be a vacationer tax utilized. In Rome, for instance, it ranges from €3 to €7, relying on the usual of lodging. In Milan, it’s between €2 and €5, and in Florence from simply €1 to €5.

Final 12 months, Italy floated implementing a a lot larger vacationer tax of as much as €25 for the most costly inns, to be utilized on prime of current municipal levies. The federal government says the payment will assist sort out overtourism however remains to be debating the difficulty.

“In occasions of overtourism, we’re debating this in order that it actually helps enhance companies and makes vacationers who pay it extra accountable,” Italy’s minister of tourism, Daniela Santanche, commented on the announcement.

Should you’re heading to the floating metropolis, Venice has expanded the times it would cost day trippers to go to. Between 18 April and 27 July, day guests arriving on Friday to Sunday or a public vacation might want to pay €5, rising to €10 if the reserving is made lower than 4 days upfront. 

It may be paid earlier than the journey which can generate a QR code you need to maintain with you throughout your go to. You may as well pay by way of WhatsApp and on arrival at a Punto Lis tobacconist.

Elsewhere

In Paris, there are new vacationer taxes relevant in 2025. Each a regional tax and a vacationer tax should be paid, which change based mostly on the kind of lodging. In complete, the mixed taxes vary from as little as €1.95 for campsites and as much as €15.60 per individual per evening for probably the most luxurious lodging.

Amsterdam continues to cost a vacationer tax and has raised its payment for guests from 7 per cent to 12.5 per cent of the lodging value. As a information, a lodge costing €175 an evening would appeal to taxation of €21.80 per evening.

A number of UK cities are mulling vacationer taxes, with Edinburgh within the highlight as doubtlessly the primary metropolis to implement a compulsory levy. Wales can also be considering taxing guests, as is London, however as but, none of those schemes have been launched.

New journey authorisation guidelines defined

Brits going overseas and Europeans going to the UK alike have an additional merchandise to recollect on their packing listing this 12 months. 

For individuals visiting the UK, the brand new Digital Journey Authorisation (ETA) shall be required. It’s already in impact for individuals visiting from outdoors the EU – however shall be coming in for EU residents on 2 April.

The ETA value €11.82 at launch, and that’s what guests are at present paying. Nonetheless, the UK authorities floated a hike to the associated fee simply two weeks into the scheme, proposing elevating it to €18.91. It’s but to be debated in UK parliament however specialists say it will add considerably to the price of a vacation, significantly for households.

On condition that the ETA is legitimate for 2 years, travellers planning to go to the UK at any level within the subsequent couple of years are inspired to use sooner relatively than later. EU residents can apply for the ETA from 5 March 2025.

For British residents heading to Europe, there’s at present no paperwork required for journeys within the Schengen space. However later in 2025, a brand new rule is because of launch.

The European Journey Info and Authorisation System (ETIAS), alongside the brand new Entry/Exit System (EES) has been delayed repeatedly. The most recent replace estimates ETIAS will come into drive in mid-2025, all being effectively.

The EU has stated that ETIAS will launch six months after the EES launches. It’s presupposed to value €7, however there’s no mounted timeline on when it would roll out but.