Venice cafe charges woman Rs 800 for background music - 'I had to laugh'

An Italian tourist who was visiting Venice from Tuscany was surprised to see a bizarre addition to her food bill at a cafe. Simona Pera says it carried a 7 Euro charge for the "ambient music" that was playing in the eatery. She shared a photo of the bill with a laughing emoji on her Facebook page.

Pera was dining at Caffé Florian in St Mark's Square, where she was charged €16 for two croissants, €34 for two Aperol Spritzes and an additional €7 for the 'music supplement.' She told Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that a small orchestra of three musicians was playing in the café, "enlivening" the atmosphere.

"We knew that sitting at the tables of this renowned café, right in Piazza San Marco, would be expensive... but when I read that statement on the receipt, I confess I had to laugh," she added. But this one was a bizarre hidden charge. Restaurants and cafes in Venice commonly add hidden fees to bills. Tourists are also charged some taxes, such as the "tourist tax" which is paid to hotels for each night they spend in Venice.

Venice and tourist taxes

Venice attracts millions of tourists each year, with 21 million being those who visit only during the day. Overtourism has been a massive problem for the city and is threatening to bring down the historic centre's delicate infrastructure. The city started charging a €5 daily fee for day-trippers to deter people from coming to the lagoon city.

In 2025, in addition to the tourist tax, those who didn't make reservations four days in advance were charged an entry fee of €10, while the enforcement period expanded to 54 days.

Rome and Amsterdam also have such extra costs where tourists are charged a little extra for their room. In Amsterdam, this figure is 12.5 per cent extra over and above the cost of their hotel room. It is called "Toeristenbelasting" and is one of the highest visitor fees in Europe.