Each year, around 34,000,000 visitors flock to experience the beauty of the Italian Dolomites – and steadily, Seceda in Val Gardena has gained a reputation as the region’s most famous photo opportunity.
With its jagged 2,519-metre-high mountain face, snow-topped peaks and quaint huts, in the winter it’s a popular skiing destination, while the summer sees it transform into a hiking idyll.
However, as is increasingly the case with many famed tourist spots across Europe, locals are becoming disgruntled over the impact overtourism is having on the area.
And so, farmers have taken matters into their own hands and introduced a €5 (£4.36) charge for those passing through newly implemented turnstiles.
Carlo Zanella, the Alto Adige Alpine Club’s president, told CNN that he would actively ban so-called travel influencers from the Dolomites, many of whom cross private land to take the perfect shot.
In his view, the charge should be more like €100 (£87.07), as the influx simply ‘isn’t what the mountains should be.’
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He says that the situation has changed in recent years, as he’s witnessed unprepared visitors make the journey with ‘sun umbrellas and flip-flops and get stuck because the cable car closed and they hadn’t checked the lift schedules.’
There’s no shying away from it either, as even the official Val Gardena website labels Seceda a ‘top photo spot’ and the ‘ideal place to take impressive pictures,’ though it notes that strict rules apply inside the Puez-Odle Nature Park.
Pitching a tent and camping overnight isn’t allowed, and visitors are encouraged to respect the natural environment, but that hasn’t stopped swathes of tourists from flocking to the area, many of whom skip the hike up and instead take the cable car.
Georg Rabanser, who owns land on Seceda, said that both he and other local farmers had implemented the charge for those crossing his property to prove an important point.
In his experience, those visiting often leave rubbish behind despite the strict rules, leading him to describe the new unofficial policy as a ‘cry for help.’
‘We expected a call from the provincial authorities. But nothing,’ he told La Usc, adding that since they didn’t receive any ‘warning letters,’ they decided to move forward.
It’s no secret that popular destinations across Italy are struggling with overtourism, particularly in 2025, which marks the year of the Catholic Jubilee.
Italy has welcomed an increasing number of visitors in recent years, with Rome experiencing the highest growth in foreign arrivals in 2024 – 5% more visitors than in 2023.
Seceda has long been romanticised by those who have visited, with one tourist previously describing the view from the top as ‘like a different planet.’
Over on the r/hiking Subreddit, @MikeRoss95 said it was completely ‘unreal,’ while Italian native @alecro06 acknowledged that while they may be ‘biased,’ they ‘can’t help but feel like the Dolomites are the most beautiful place in the world.’
On the other hand, in @Joesr-31’s experience, this spot is ‘filled with people with selfie sticks and DSLR cameras,’ while @This_Paper_193 said it’s overly ‘crowded’ these days.
Following recent images of crowds of tourists queueing for the cable car going viral, others have also criticised the local authorities for enabling the situation by encouraging tourism to the area in the first place.
‘It’s pointless to complain about overtourism in the mountains when you’ve cooked up the recipe to guarantee overtourism,’ @Rhoken added.
In @OldManWulfen’s opinion, the locality has ‘been stubbornly turning every valley, town, pass and nook in the Dolomites into a theme park for decades now.’
‘It’s not realistic to set up an entire mountain range to prepare it for mass tourism and then do the Pikachu face when mass tourism finally arrives,’ they noted.
How else is Italy combating overtourism?
This isn’t the only measure Italian tourist hotspots have introduced.
Tuerredda beach in the idyllic Sardinia has capped its visitor numbers at 1,100 each day since 2020, but those wanting to indulge in a sunbathe will now need to book via an app.
Earlier this year, Angelo Milia, the mayor of Teulada, told local media that he hoped to start with the new system in July, having discussed it at a wider summit on overtourism in Italy similarly attended by 25 other mayors from across the country, including Positano, Cinque Terre and Taormina.
Likewise, in February, the Renaissance city of Florence announced that it would be banning self-check-in keyboxes typically used by short-term holiday lets such as Airbnb, which act as a buffer between a host and their travelling guests.
In 2023, officials also banned new short-term residential lets from opening in its historic centre in an attempt to free up space for locals to live.
Last year, the ‘Robin Hood band’ attacked a host of properties across Italy as part of a controversial protest against the spread of short-term rentals, while Venice introduced a ‘tourist tax’ requiring short-stay visitors to pay a €5 (£4.29) entrance fee.
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