Rules in force as of September 30, 2026
Where Travel Is Capped, Booked or Banned
The rules that catch travellers out are never the famous ones. They are the ticket that had to be bought on one specific government site, and the gate that shuts at four.
Every entry below is sourced to the body that made the rule — a ministry, a city, a park service — not to the news story that reported it. Each one says who it binds, what it costs, when it started and what happens if you ignore it. Rules that were announced but are not yet being enforced are kept separate, and the ones we could not stand up are named at the foot of the page rather than dropped.
Short answer
10 visitor caps, entry fees, booking rules and bans are in force across 6 countries as of September 30, 2026. The most recent is Mount Fuji — a climbing fee applies on all four main summit routes, alongside controls on overnight 'bullet climbing' — effective Jul 2026. The hardest numerical limits are Machu Picchu (5,600 a day), Santorini (8,000 a day), Barcelona (16,000,000 a year). There is no #1 here: a climber cap and a cruise limit cannot honestly be ranked against each other, so this is a tracker grouped by type rather than a countdown.
Travel restrictions in numbers
- 10 Rules in force
- 6 Countries
- 3 Coming into force
- 5 Screened out
How a rule qualifies
Binding, not advisory
A rule has to carry an enforcement mechanism — a fine, a closed gate, a refused berth. Amsterdam’s Stay Away campaign and Kyoto’s etiquette signage change no entitlement and are cut. A request is not a restriction.
In force on the measured date
Announced is not the same as active. Anything legislated but not yet collected or enforced sits in “Coming into force” below with its start date, which is the section worth reading if you are booking more than a season ahead.
There is deliberately no #1
Nothing here is ranked. A severity score that placed a ¥4,000 climbing fee above an 8,000-passenger cruise cap would be a number we invented to make a countdown out of a tracker. Rules are grouped by type and dated instead.
In force now
Entry fees 4
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Mount Fuji
Japan¥4,000 per climber In force since Jul 2026A climbing fee applies on all four main summit routes, alongside controls on overnight 'bullet climbing'
Applies to: All climbers during the summer season
Enforcement: Trail gates close overnight to climbers without a mountain hut reservation
Extended to all four routes for the 2026 season, having started on the Yoshida trail alone. The fee is secondary to the real measure — shutting the gates overnight against climbers attempting the summit without rest, which is what was killing people.
Planning the trip? Our guide to Japan.
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Machu Picchu
PeruAn extra 11 soles for foreign visitors, 5 soles for Peruvian nationals In force since May 2026Entrance fees rose for both foreign and Peruvian visitors, hypothecated to conservation of the protected area
Applies to: All visitors
Enforcement: No valid ticket, no entry
A modest rise by international standards, and unusually the increase falls on residents too rather than on foreigners alone. Revenue is ring-fenced for maintenance and accessibility work on the site.
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Venice
Italy€5 booked more than 4 days ahead, €10 booked later In force since Apr 2024Day visitors must register for a QR code and pay an access fee to enter the historic centre on designated days
Applies to: Day visitors aged 14 and over, on 60 dates between 3 April and 26 July 2026, from 08:30 to 16:00
Enforcement: Fines for visitors unable to produce a QR code during a check
The first scheme of its kind in Europe and still the most watched. Anyone with a hotel or other lodging booking in Venice is exempt, so it is precisely and only a day-tripper measure. The doubled late-booking price is a crowd-shaping lever, not a revenue one.
Planning the trip? Our guide to Venice.
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Amsterdam
Netherlands€15 per passenger In force since Jan 2024A per-passenger charge on cruise arrivals not staying overnight in the city
Applies to: Cruise passengers on day calls
Enforcement: Collected from the operator
One piece of a broader programme that also covers short-let limits and a halt to new hotel construction. Amsterdam has been the most systematic city in Europe about this, and the least reliant on any single measure.
Planning the trip? Our guide to Amsterdam.
Visitor caps 4
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Machu Picchu
Peru5,600 a day In force since Jan 2026A hard daily ceiling on admissions, raised on peak-demand dates
Applies to: All visitors
Enforcement: Entry closes when the day's allocation sells out
4,500 a day for most of the year, rising to 5,600 on peak dates — 1 January, 2–5 April, 19 June to 2 November and 30–31 December. A further 1,000 last-minute tickets are released daily in Aguas Calientes, which is the only realistic option for anyone arriving without a booking.
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Barcelona
Spain16,000,000 a year In force since Jan 2026A declared ceiling on annual visitor numbers, with 2025 levels set as the threshold
Applies to: Tourism volume city-wide
Enforcement: Licensing and berth decisions taken against the ceiling
15.7 million visitors in 2025 became the reference point and 16 million the stated maximum. Unlike a gate count this is a planning ceiling rather than a turnstile, enforced through what the city licenses rather than by turning people away.
Planning the trip? Our guide to Barcelona.
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Palma de Mallorca
SpainLimits on simultaneous cruise ship arrivals and on new tourist accommodation places
Applies to: Cruise operators and accommodation providers
Enforcement: Berth refusal; licences withheld
Explicitly aimed at shifting the mix toward higher-spending, lower-volume visitors rather than at reducing tourism outright. It binds operators rather than travellers, but it changes what a visitor can book, which is why it is listed.
Planning the trip? Our guide to Spain.
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Santorini
Greece8,000 a day €20 per passenger during peak season In force since Jun 2025A daily ceiling on cruise passengers allowed to disembark
Applies to: Cruise passengers
Enforcement: Berth allocations refused above the daily ceiling
Down from peaks around 17,000 a day, and tightened for 2026 by assuming ships sail full when calculating the load. The cap and the €20 fee are one policy — reading either on its own misses that Greece is trying to change which ships call, not just how many.
Planning the trip? Our guide to Greece.
Booking rules 1
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Machu Picchu
PeruTickets sold only through the Ministry of Culture's official platform, on fixed circuits with timed entry
Applies to: All visitors
Enforcement: Third-party tickets are not honoured at the gate
The circuit system routes visitors on one-way paths with an assigned entry slot, and resale outside the official platform is not recognised. The single most common way visitors get caught out is buying from a reseller that looks official.
Bans 1
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Balearic Islands party zones
SpainNo off-licence alcohol sales overnight; happy hours, organised pub crawls and party boats prohibited in designated zones
Applies to: Designated areas of Magaluf, El Arenal and Sant Antoni
Enforcement: Fines for businesses; venue closure orders
Shop alcohol sales stop between 21:30 and 08:00 in the named zones. Among the longest-running measures of this kind in Europe, and the template several Spanish resorts have since copied — it targets a specific behaviour in specific streets rather than tourism in general.
Planning the trip? Our guide to Spain.
No rule matches that. Try clearing the search.
Coming, and cut
Coming into force 3 rules
Passed, announced or legislated, but not being enforced on the measurement date. If you are booking more than a season ahead, this is the section that will affect you.
- Thailand — Thailand Awaiting final Cabinet approval and a collection mechanism A 300 baht entry fee for air arrivals Ministry of Tourism and Sports
- Rhodes — Greece Announced as part of the national cruise-management programme Cruise passenger caps on the Santorini model Hellenic Republic
- Norway — Norway Enabling legislation passed; adoption municipality by municipality A 3% overnight levy that individual municipalities may adopt Government of Norway
Screened out, and why 5 categories
Measures a reader might expect to find here that failed a gate — advisory campaigns with no penalty, rules binding operators rather than travellers, and one large category we have simply not screened yet and say so.
- Hallstatt — Austria Gate 2. The village's coach quotas and the much-reported viewpoint barrier date from 2023, and neither their current status nor their enforcement could be confirmed against the Gemeinde's own notices on the measured date.
- Covid-era entry requirements — Various Gate 2. Testing, vaccination certificates and passenger locator forms have been lifted essentially everywhere. They remain the most common reason travellers arrive expecting rules that no longer exist.
- 'Please visit respectfully' campaigns — Various Gate 1. Amsterdam's Stay Away campaign, Kyoto's etiquette signage and Iceland's pledge are advisory. They change no entitlement and carry no penalty, so they are not restrictions in the sense this page tracks.
- Short-term let licensing regimes — Various Gate 3, mostly. These bind hosts and platforms rather than travellers. Amsterdam's is listed because the 30-night annual ceiling directly determines what a visitor can book; the many regimes that only add a registration number to a listing are not.
- National park permit systems in the US and Canada — North America Not screened rather than rejected. Timed-entry and permit systems at Arches, Glacier, Rocky Mountain and elsewhere are genuine visitor caps that would qualify, and they are the largest gap in this tracker's coverage.
Compiled on September 30, 2026 against the authority that made each rule. A row marked Primary was read off that authority’s own page; Corroborated means independent reports agree but a direct read was not possible on the day.
This page ages faster than anything else we publish. Caps are revised between seasons, fees move at the turn of a financial year, and enforcement varies by season and by the officer in front of you. Nothing here is a guarantee of what you will meet on the day.
Check the linked source before you travel, particularly for anything involving a ticket you must buy in advance on one specific site. No authority on this page was consulted about its inclusion.
Travel restrictions FAQ
Five questions about the rules and how they are tracked.
Which places have a visitor cap right now?
Machu Picchu caps daily admissions at 4,500, rising to 5,600 on peak dates. Santorini caps cruise passengers at 8,000 a day, down from peaks around 17,000. Barcelona has declared a ceiling of 16 million visitors a year, and Palma de Mallorca limits simultaneous cruise arrivals and new accommodation places. Each is listed above with its source.
Do I have to pay to enter Venice?
Only as a day visitor, and only on designated days. The access fee applies on 60 dates between 3 April and 26 July 2026, from 08:30 to 16:00, at €5 if you book more than four days ahead and €10 if you book later. Anyone with a hotel or other lodging booking in Venice is exempt, as are residents, students and workers.
Is there a fee to climb Mount Fuji?
Yes — ¥4,000 per climber on all four main summit routes for the 2026 season, extended from the Yoshida trail alone. The more consequential measure is not the fee but the overnight trail closures, which stop climbers attempting the summit through the night without a mountain hut reservation.
Are Covid travel restrictions still in force anywhere?
Essentially nowhere. Testing requirements, vaccination certificates and passenger locator forms have been lifted across the board, and they remain the single most common reason travellers arrive braced for rules that no longer exist. They are listed in the cuts for that reason.
How reliable is this list?
Every rule is sourced to the authority that made it, and each row says how well we could evidence it on September 30, 2026. This page has a shorter shelf life than anything else on the site — rules change without notice and enforcement varies by season and by officer. Check the linked source before you travel; treat this as a map of what exists, not as a guarantee of what you will meet.