Tourists in Venice risk €500 fine for loud luggage

Tourists to Venice in Italy, could face a €500 (£400, $630) fine if they wheel noisy suitcases around the watery city, under new proposals outlined on Thursday.

Venetians are tired of being kept awake at night by throngs of tourists, wheeling their luggage through the city’s narrow streets and over its famous bridges.



Now the city’s special commissioner, Vittorio Zappalorto, has come up with a plan to let his citizens get their 40 winks, by banning the suitcases. Under new anti-noise pollution proposals, tourists will be barred from bringing luggage with plastic or full rubber wheels to Venice.

But bicycle-style tyres, made from rubber and filled with air, will be allowed. If Zapalorto’s plan gets the go ahead, tourists will be fined between €100 and €500 if they break the suitcase rule. Venetians, however, will be free to continue to use whichever luggage they please.