So far nothing has helped.

Pigeons, pickpockets, bizarrely overpriced coffee drinks, gondoliers with dreadful tenor tremolo: nothing has been able to stop tourists from flocking to Venice.

30 million visitors squeeze through the streets every year.

The effects are dramatic.

In addition to the bridge of sighs, Venice has long known bridges of groaning, shoving and pushing;

The first pigeons have reportedly turned to the Animal Welfare Association, as St. Mark's Square is becoming increasingly crowded with people who leave their dirt everywhere.

Jorg Thomann

Editor in the “Life” section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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The city will now tackle mass tourism: from January 16, 2023, Venice will cost admission.

Day tourists who save on overnight stays and often leave little money in the city should pay between three and ten euros.

In the future, they will have to register their visit for a fee and, if they are caught without a corresponding QR code, they will have to pay a fine.

The entrance fee is intended to benefit the citizens of the city.

American tourists will be less shocked by the step – amusement parks cost admission – and some Europeans might feel offended.

German cities have long had plans to do the same as Venice and to charge day tourists a fee.

A little glimpse into the near future.

Berlin – 5 euros

Overtourism also plagues the German capital, where even a wasteland - aka Tempelhofer Feld - is considered an attraction and the city center is so crowded that many disappointed tourists leave without even spotting the famous Berlin Wall.

The city now wants to remedy the situation with an entrance fee of five euros, the price of a decent kebab.

The earlier you register online for your visit, the further ahead you can queue up at the train station or airport when you arrive in order to draw a waiting ticket there.

If the application for entry has not been processed by midnight, you are automatically no longer a day tourist and can enter the country free of charge.

Motorists do not have to wait extra, they will, if their vehicle does not have a Berlin license plate,

cashed in a traffic jam on the city highway.

The city intends to finance 1.6 new schools from the expected millions of euros in revenue, with the rest of the money going to administration.

Emden – 10 euros

The seaport city is quite self-confident when it comes to its entrance fee, based on the big model, after all, according to tourism officer Hein Lütje, “time and again people are called 'The Venice of the North'.

Do not you believe?

But that's true, you can look it up on Wikipedia.” In addition, according to Lütje, the East Frisian tea makes you much more alert than any espresso, and the seagulls are much more picturesque than the Venetian pigeons.

Although Emden has no building to offer like St. Mark's Cathedral, according to Lütje, "do you know the Otto-Huus?

That's pretty nice, too.” The city would like to use the income to mend a few dykes.

Munich – 0.99 euros

The fact that the Bavarian capital is so modest may come as a surprise at first.

On the other hand, it's only logical: "We don't have much to gain there, because we have practically no day tourists," says a spokesman.

"Anyone who travels to us in Munich would love to stay forever - if he could, haha, afford the rent." A little resentment outside of Munich is caused by the fact that all guest teams traveling to FC Bayern in the future will each player must pay the entry fee.

Bayern star Thomas Müller explains why: "These are all just day tourists who arrive and leave empty-handed anyway."

Cologne – 5-15 euros

The cathedral city has come up with a staggered pricing system: admission costs five euros on normal days and ten euros at carnival time.

One expects the most from a measure that innovatively modifies the original idea: those who want to leave Cologne as quickly as possible during the carnival season pay 15 euros.