Tourists Doing This In Venice's Picturesque Canals Can Earn A Hefty Fine

With its postcard-perfect tableau of striking palazzos and colorful buildings reflected in its maze of picturesque canals and bridges, Venice has lured millions of tourists to its shores — perhaps a tad too many, given its reputation as one of the most overtouristed places in Europe. Yet when it comes to rebelling against tourist conformity, there's one line that shouldn't be crossed in Venice, and that line is the canal. According to the City of Venice's official website, any form of bathing, diving, or swimming in the Venetian canals will cost you a hefty €350 ($409) fine. It'll also get you an immediate ban and swift escort out of the city from Venice's Municipal Police — and that's a special "arrivederci" you wouldn't want to end your trip with. 

Sadly, incidents of people swimming in the canal waters are still occurring. Shortly after Italy reopened following COVID-19 restrictions, two German tourists were apprehended after swimming in the city's Grand Canal. They were fined and banned from the city for 48 hours. And apparently, some people's lapses in judgment go beyond swimming, as in the case of two tourists who surfed down Venice's most popular canal routes — the Grand Canal, past the Salute Basilica, and under the Rialto Bridge — on electric surfboards, posing a danger to the water taxis and gondolas that usually float down these areas. Just this year, a man who seemed to be training for a race hauled himself out of the water onto the Rialto Bridge before taking off at a run. At least he wore a wetsuit, unlike the two American tourists who, in 2022, dove naked into a Castello district canal, much to the horror of the locals. 

If only more tourists knew what lies beneath the waters of those Venetian canals, they'd think twice before plunging in. Besides common sense, there's a simple reason why this act is illegal: Venice's canal waters aren't sanitized. Swimming in Venice canals means swimming in literal sewage, because all the wastewater from the city flows directly into the canals.

Sure, the city has an operating centralized sewage plant, and certain suburbs like Murano and Giudecca have been able to accommodate modern interventions in their sewage systems. Still, most the canals in the older areas depend on the centuries-old sewage system of gatoli. Used since the 16th century, this network of brick tunnels operates the same way a septic tank would, storing heavier waste sediments at the tunnel bottoms before eventual dredging and maintenance. 

Before giving in to that spontaneous "you only live once" thought, know that you'll literally be bathing in used water from thousands of sinks, showers, washing machines, and dishwashers — not to mention a host of water-transmitted diseases and infections you could contract. You also risk emerging from a cheeky canal dip into the path of an oncoming boat or gondola, putting your life and others at risk. If you want to do something away from the Venetian cookie-cutter tourist routes, maybe check out Venice's oldest art nouveau café or the flood-ready Libreria Acqua Alta, a bookshop that displays its stock in bathtubs and gondolas and is just a nine-minute walk from Piazza San Marco. There are literally dozens of romantic things to do on a vacation to Venice. Unless you want a police escort from the city and a hole in your wallet, jumping into sewage water is not one of them.