Places where I would pay to see and review – 04/10/2024 – Zeca Camargo

So Venice will charge, from the 25th, depending on the date of the visit, almost R$30 just to visit it. Is this the future of tourism for the most popular cities among global destinations?

Before you start worrying about this, I would like to highlight two things about this decision by the local council. The first is simple, even comforting: it’s just a test.

It could be a permanent fee in the future or something charged seasonally. Or it could be that the idea doesn’t work out, due to rejection or the logistical difficulties it presents.

But what if it works? Here comes the second point I wanted to think about with you: which places in the world, currently free, are worth paying to visit?

Almost every attraction we want to visit, in virtually every country on Earth, already has a ticket office at its entrance. I’m not even talking about museums, art collections, cultural centers or historical relics. The rule also applies to large open spaces.

The three-day pass to the temples of Angkor, in Siem Reap (Cambodia), costs R$ 320. The palace and gardens of Versailles, next to Paris, are yours for around R$ 100. The same as you pay to be enchanted by the Iguaçu Falls.

There are, however, wonders spread across the planet that are still free. What if “Italian fashion” catches on? Well, already thinking about this possibility, I made a quick list of places where I would happily spend a few bucks to go for a walk there. Again.

Let’s start with Italy itself. Simply walking through the streets of Siena, Florence and especially Taormina is so inspiring that if tolls appear on them, I won’t mind.

The same goes for Ouro Preto (MG). Just walking through all that architecture is a journey back in time, something that applies to other historic cities in Minas Gerais.

The entire neighborhood of Pelourinho, in Salvador, is a relatively easy place to control the entrance to, it would be worth a ticket. And, still in Brazil, did you know that you don’t pay anything to walk on the stupendous dunes of Lençóis Maranhenses? For now…

Large urban areas are also “free”, and if they do not offer aesthetic pleasures, they at least invite a rich human exchange. Like on the ramblas of Barcelona, ​​Spain. Or at the intersections of Shibuya, in Tokyo.

A relatively small area, like the Central Square in Prague (Czech Republic), or a frighteningly large one, like the stone churches in Lalibela (Ethiopia), can set the price for whatever I want to go to every time.

Times Square, New York. The Tuileries Garden in Paris. The Way of the Cross in Jerusalem. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul. The gateway to India in Mumbai. I would pay for the opportunity to circulate in each of them.

Above all these locations, however, there is a corner in Southeast Asia where I would pay any amount to return: Luang Prabang, in Laos.

In an area that you can cover on foot in less than an hour, there are more than 40 Buddhist temples painted red and gold, surrounded by lush greenery and two rivers.

Some of them even charge to enter, but if you want to see it from the outside, behind the low walls, you will also be amazed. The monks covered in orange and the warm wind blowing complete the experience.

In this world I have walked in, there is nothing like Luang Prabang. And how much do you pay to just wander around… and transcend? Zero.

And even if one day the people of Lao decide to imitate Venice, even if they charge much more than R$30 so you can get lost in Luang Prabang, I ask you: how much does pure beauty cost?

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