Why go

The Trevi Fountain is Rome at its most theatrical. Designed by Nicola Salvi and completed in 1762, it fills the whole end of a small piazza, with Oceanus riding a shell-shaped chariot pulled by sea horses and tritons, and water cascading over carved rocks into a vast basin. It marks the end of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct built in 19 BC that still feeds it today.

Its fame owes much to film, above all Anita Ekberg’s midnight paddle in La Dolce Vita, and to the tradition of throwing a coin to guarantee a return to Rome. Up to tens of thousands of people a day squeeze into the square, which is why the city now manages access to the basin itself.

What to see

  • Oceanus. The central figure, framed by a triumphal arch set into the façade of Palazzo Poli.
  • Abundance and Health. The two statues in the side niches, with reliefs above telling the story of the aqueduct.
  • The sea horses. One calm and one restless, said to stand for the two moods of the sea.
  • The basin. Where the coins land, collected by the city and given to charity.

Plan your visit

Since 2 February 2026, visitors who are not residents of Rome pay €2 to enter the inner perimeter by the basin. Paid access runs from 9am to 10pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and from 11.30am to 10pm on Monday and Friday, when the fountain is cleaned in the morning, with last entry at 9pm. The charge also applies on the first Sunday of the month. Outside those hours the basin is free, and the fountain can always be seen from the square without a ticket.

Residents of Rome and its metropolitan area, children under 6, disabled visitors and a companion, licensed guides and MIC Card holders go free. Tickets are open-dated and sold online on the official site, at the civic museums and tourist info points, or at the entrance, where only cards are accepted. The entrance is on Via della Stamperia and the exit on Via dei Crociferi.

Over Christmas some opening times change: access starts at 2pm on 23 November and 7 and 21 December, and at 11.30am on 24 and 29 December.

Getting there

Barberini station on Metro line A is about five minutes’ walk. From the Pantheon or the Spanish Steps allow ten minutes on foot.

Tips

Come early in the morning or after 10pm for the calmest visit and the best photographs. Throw your coin with your right hand over your left shoulder. Do not sit on the rim, eat, drink or step into the water: fines range from €40 to €450. Keep an eye on bags in the crowd.

The square is small, and the city says the fountain draws around 30,000 visitors a day on average, so expect to wait at busy times. There are no toilets or cloakroom inside the enclosure, and dogs must be on a lead and muzzled or carried. If you only want a photograph, the steps on either side of the square give a good view without a ticket. For more context, Vicus Caprarius, an excavated Roman site a few steps from the square, shows how the aqueduct water reached the city.