A tiny Italian village frequented by the likes of George Clooney has introduced fines of up to $330 for anyone walking around bare-chested or taking their swimwear beyond the beach.

Varenna – where Hollywood megastar Clooney is among those to have a holiday home – is a delightful fishing town on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy.

Lake Como Travel says picturesque Varenna is “loved for its quiet, romantic atmosphere”. It is famous for its pastel-coloured lakeside houses, the elegant gardens of a local villa and its scenic Passeggiata degli Innamorati (Walk of Lovers) suspended over the water.

Varenna is about an hour north of Milan by train and has a year-round population of just 650. But it draws mass crowds of visitors – and that’s where the problems begin.

“Varenna is a wonderful village, and we are proud to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world every year,” local mayor Mauro Manzoni said.

“However, our residents’ quality of life cannot be sacrificed on the altar of mass tourism.”

Last week, authorities banned walking around the town’s streets shirtless or in swimwear. Such clothing is now strictly reserved for lakeside beaches or boat trips on Como.

Those who fail to comply risk fines of between €50 and €200 ($A82-$330).

The crackdown also extends to tourist groups. They’ve been capped at 25 people to avoid clogging Varenna’s narrow cobbled streets, while guides can no longer use loudspeakers.

Locals are reportedly delighted with the tough new measures. Shop owners have told Italian media the regulations were overdue.

“It was time; it’s a sound measure. The important thing is to ensure it’s enforced,” one said.

Another told Mediaset’s TGCom24: “On the beach, you can do what you want, but when you’re walking around and go into shops, restaurants, churches, or in the square, you must dress decently.”

Varenna is far from the first Italian destination to get tough with tourists. Portofino, Gallipoli, Sorrento, and the Cinque Terre have all imposed similar bans on shirtless and shoeless tourists leaving their beaches.

In the busy tourist town of Portofino, people without the right clothing may be fined up to €300 ($A494). It also introduced “no-waiting zones” in 2023 to stop selfie-takers clogging its harbour.

In the Old Town area of Gallipoli, visitors who forget their shirts when leaving the beach risk fines of up to €500 ($A824).

Sorrento brought in similar fines in 2022, with the then mayor describing walking around in swimming gear and bare-chested as “widespread indecorous behaviour” that was tainting the town’s image.

Venice has battled with the issue of overtourism for years – with mixed success.

Venice, which has a permanent population of 50,000 people and can get half as many visitors in a single day in peak season, this year extended its controversial “hit and run” day-tripper charge. It applies to 60 days across the northern summer and costs €5-€10 ($A8.23-$16.50).

“It represents a useful tool for managing tourist flows and ensuring a better balance between residents and visitors,” councillor Michele Zuin said earlier this year.

“It remains an experimental measure, which we are carefully evaluating and which has already attracted international interest. Venice is the first city in the world to have undertaken this path.”

On the busiest day in 2025, 24,951 visitors paid Venice’s day-tripper fee.