Tourist rules, dos and don'ts in Rome

Most of the rules visitors run into come from Rome's urban police regulation, in force since July 2019 (in Italian), and they apply across the city unless the table says otherwise. The amounts are the reduced payment due within 60 days, plus costs, inside a legal range of €25 to €500.

For what to see once the rules are clear, read the guide to tourist spots to visit in Rome, and the Rome tourist office page lists where to ask in person.

Sources: the amounts come from the City of Rome fines table, Giunta 132/2019 (in Italian), and the rules and areas from the urban police regulation, Assemblea Capitolina 43/2019 (in Italian). The €10,000 figure is from the UK travel advice for Italy, and the fare fine from ATAC, the public transport operator.

These rules cover what visitors may do at Rome's monuments, fountains and historic steps. They come from the regulation (in Italian), apart from those linked separately.

• Spanish Steps. Sitting on them costs €250, with or without food and drink. Dragging a suitcase or stroller on them costs €400: the rule names the steps of Trinità dei Monti and tells visitors to lift wheeled bags or use a lift where there is one.
• Trevi Fountain. The regulation's annex lists it with the Barcaccia at the foot of the Spanish Steps and the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. Bathing, wading, sitting or climbing on any of them costs €450, and €300 at other historic fountains. The ban covers every part of a monumental fountain, its steps included.
• Trevi basin. Since 2 February 2026, tourists and other non-residents pay a €2 charge for the basin area, the part closest to the monument, until 22:00.
• Coins. Throwing a coin into a fountain is allowed, as the regulation exempts the tradition. Taking coins out costs €160.
• Nasoni. The small street fountains give drinking water. Damaging or blocking one, or washing an animal at it, costs €200. Visitors should drink from the hole in the spout, where there is one, or from a bottle, as putting a mouth on the spout is banned.
• Padlocks. Fixing a padlock or any other object to a monument, street furniture or a public structure costs €400.
• Graffiti and damage. Dirtying or scratching a monument or church costs €400. Damaging cultural heritage is also a crime: the Colosseum park's visitor rules warn of 2 to 5 years in prison and a fine of €2,500 to €15,000, under the 2022 law on heritage crime (in Italian).
• Archaeological areas. Going in after hours or away from the entrances costs €400. Inside the Colosseum park, visitors must keep to the marked paths and not lean on railings.
• The 48-hour order. Some offences at fountains and monuments in the annex areas also bring a further fine of €100 to €300 (in Italian). They add an order to leave the area, which ends after 48 hours (in Italian), and ignoring it doubles that further fine.

Drinking in the street is not banned all day in Rome. The regulation (in Italian) limits it by hour and by area, on public streets and in unfenced green areas. From 23:00 to 07:00 nobody may drink alcohol in any container, and from 22:00 to 07:00 nobody may drink anything from a glass container. The fine is €160.

These hours apply in the 24 areas of the regulation's annex, which cover the historic centre, Trastevere, Testaccio, Borgo, Prati, San Lorenzo and parts of other districts.

• Buying and serving. In those areas, selling alcohol to take away stops at 22:00 and serving it stops at 03:00, outdoor tables included, so a drink at a bar's own table is fine until then.
• Mayoral orders. The mayor can change these hours by order, and orders in recent years (in Italian) have closed mini-markets from 22:00 to 05:00 from Friday to Sunday.
• Legal age. Shops and bars may not sell or serve alcohol to anyone under 18 (in Italian) and must ask for ID unless the buyer is clearly an adult. The fine of €250 to €1,000 falls on the seller.
• Public transport. Drinking alcohol on board or in stations costs €100 at any hour.
• Alcohol tours. Organising or promoting tours built only around drinking in bars and pubs is banned across the city, with a fine of €400 for the organiser.

• Peeing in the street costs €250 under the regulation (in Italian). The UK travel advice for Italy warns of up to €10,000 for urinating in a public place.
• Litter and cigarette butts. Dropping any litter, even the smallest, costs €400, and a cigarette butt costs €250. Smokers without a pocket ashtray must use a bin.
• Noise. Shouting in public places is banned by day and by night, and musical instruments or amplified sound in public need a permit. Both cost €300.
• Camping. Staying in a tent, camper or vehicle in a public place not set up for it costs €250.
• Parks. Entering a fenced park after hours costs €300. Trampling flowerbeds, camping or lighting a fire costs €160.
• Drugs. Illegal drugs, cannabis included, carry severe penalties in Italy: the UK travel advice warns of long jail sentences and heavy fines.
• ID. Italian police can carry out an identity check at any time, and the same advice tells travellers to carry photo ID at all times.
• Fireworks. Having or using fireworks in categories F2, F3 and F4, or P1 and P2 pyrotechnics, is banned across the city from 1 December to 31 January (in Italian).

Rome has no dress code for its streets beyond one rule: walking around bare-chested or in swimwear (in Italian) away from bathing areas costs €250. Jeans, shorts and sandals break no rule in the street. Religious and ancient sites are stricter.

• St Peter's, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museums' visitor rules allow entry only to visitors dressed appropriately, with no sleeveless or low-cut tops, shorts above the knee, miniskirts or hats. The same applies in the Vatican Gardens.
• Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine. The park's rules ban ceremonial dress, masks, period costumes and other fancy dress, and advise against high heels and flip-flops.

The regulation (in Italian) also targets people working the crowds at the sights. Its fine of €400 falls on the person selling or posing, not on the visitor, but buying fake goods has its own penalty.

• Fake goods. Anyone who buys items whose quality, price or seller suggest they are counterfeit can be fined €300 to €7,000 (in Italian), and the goods are confiscated. The UK travel advice for Italy adds that buying from unlicensed street traders is illegal.
• Street ticket sellers. Selling museum, theatre or event tickets, or promoting tours, in a public place without authorisation is banned.
• Photo centurions. Posing for money as a photo subject, in costume or not, is banned in the UNESCO area, along and inside Villa Borghese and near historic sites.
• Food and drink. Selling food or drinks in public places without authorisation is banned across the city.

• Validating the ticket. A ticket bought from a kiosk or machine must be validated on public transport before the journey starts, and inspectors issue on-the-spot fines, the UK travel advice for Italy warns.
• The fare fine. ATAC, the public transport operator, charges €104.90 if paid within 60 days or €54.90 if paid within 5 days, plus the ticket price and any procedural and postal costs. Inspectors do not take cash: payment is online, or by card on their mobile terminal if they have one. An appeal goes in writing within 30 days of notification.
• Shared scooters and e-bikes. Turismo Roma lists top speeds of 20 km/h for scooters and 25 km/h for e-bikes, dropping automatically to 6 km/h in pedestrian areas. Only over-18s can register, with ID.

Rome's current rules date from 2019, with a few additions since:

• Do carry a refillable bottle. The nasoni give drinking water all over the city.
• Do cover shoulders and knees for any church, not only St Peter's. A light scarf in a bag solves it.
• Do book the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums before the trip, above all in high season.
• Do lift suitcases on historic steps, or take a route around them.
• Don't stop for a picnic on monuments or fountain steps. A park bench or a bar's table is the place for it.
• Don't rest on the rim of a fountain, even a small one.
• Don't buy from sellers with goods laid out on the pavement, however good the price looks.
• Don't pose with costumed figures unless ready to pay: they work for money.