Updated
Updated · Travel Noire · Jul 21
Varenna Fines Shirtless Tourists Up to €200 as Lake Como Village Tightens 25-Person Tour Limits
Updated
Updated · Travel Noire · Jul 21

Varenna Fines Shirtless Tourists Up to €200 as Lake Como Village Tightens 25-Person Tour Limits

1 articles · Updated · Travel Noire · Jul 21

Summary

  • Varenna is enforcing fines of €50 to €200 on anyone walking through town shirtless or only in swimwear, with the rule in effect since June 29.
  • The ban applies across the municipality except on beaches, piers and boat docks, as the Lake Como village tries to protect decorum and residents' quality of life amid heavy tourist traffic.
  • A broader rewrite of local police rules also caps organized tour groups at 25 people and bars guides from using loudspeakers or megaphones in crowded areas.
  • Guides who break those crowd-control rules face €100 to €400 fines, and repeat offenders can be barred from working in Varenna for three to 12 months.
  • Mayor Mauro Manzoni said the measures aim to manage hundreds of thousands of annual visitors more orderly while preserving Varenna's identity as a historic year-round community.

Insights

Varenna’s new rules target tourist behavior, but can they solve the housing crisis that is truly emptying the town?
With European cities fighting overtourism, are these local rules enough to reclaim communities from the global tourism market?