Tour group headset and loudspeaker rule changes: a dated timeline (2026)

Headset and loudspeaker rules for tour groups kept changing in the ten months to September 2026. Some sites now require earphones above a set group size, some cities ban amplification in the street, and two sites shut out outside systems. Each change below has its date and official source, checked on 2 October 2026.

Fourteen changes, from Pompeii in December 2025 to St Mark's Basilica in September 2026. The last column says what the text allows as a device, which decides whether a group can bring its own system.

Our tour group headset rules page keeps the full list, for example Riomaggiore.

Pompeii, Riomaggiore, Wawel Cathedral and Schönbrunn require a listening system above a set group size, and none names a supplier or technology.

Pompeii. Decree 446 of 23 December 2025: “per i gruppi che contino più di 15 persone, è obbligatorio l’utilizzo di dispostivi whisper e/o auricolari.” Groups of more than 15 must use whisper devices or earphones.

Riomaggiore. From 1 April 2026: “Nel caso in cui il gruppo di visitatori sia composto da più di 10 persone è obbligatorio l’uso di auricolari per l’ascolto della spiegazione della visita.” Groups of more than 10 must listen through earphones, and a guide who has not provided them can be fined EUR 25 to 500.

Wawel Cathedral. From 18 April 2026: “Grupy z przewodnikiem liczące co najmniej 25 osób zobowiązane są do korzystania ze słuchawek w trakcie zwiedzania.” Guided groups of 25 or more must use headphones.

Schönbrunn. From 25 April 2026, groups of 10 or more must use “entweder ihres eigenen oder unseres Group Guide Systems”, their own system or the palace's free one. The Hofburg's Sisi Museum allows systems with a microphone and headsets.

At Notre-Dame and Kenninji, no outside listening system can be used inside. At St Mark's, B2B ticket holders may not use apps, which rules out phone-based listening, and the Prado's devices are paid for through the museum.

Notre-Dame. From 1 July 2026, every paid guided visit needs “Utilisation exclusive des audiophones fournis par la cathédrale (les systèmes externes ne seront pas autorisés).” Only the cathedral's audiophones; external systems are not allowed.

St Mark's Basilica. The September 2026 rules raise the whisper threshold to 9 and add a clause missing from the October 2025 version: visitors on B2B tickets may not use “applicazioni scaricabili o a disposizione online e le altre piattaforme IA”, downloadable or online apps and AI platforms, “nemmeno a scopo di traduzione”, not even for translation.

Prado. Since 12 March 2026, groups of 9 to 20 must use the museum's “sistema de guiado de grupo”, paid through its ticket channels.

Kenninji. Since 24 March 2026: “拡声器・マイク・イヤホンなどについては使用しないでください。” No loudspeakers, microphones or earphones, so even a whisper set is out.

Bruges, Toledo and Chengdu's Du Fu Thatched Cottage banned amplification instead of requiring headsets. Bruges once required an audio system with earphones for groups of 25 or more; since 1 March 2026 it caps every walk at 20 and bans sound amplification.

Toledo announced its loudspeaker ban for 1 January 2026. The Du Fu Thatched Cottage has required advance filing since 5 March 2026 and bans narrating with “小蜜蜂”, waist amplifiers known as little bees. The Sagrada Família chose a daily quiet hour: from 9:00 to 10:00, audio only through earphones.

Five changes are scheduled, in draft or still being filled in.

• 2 October 2026, China: a Ministry of Culture and Tourism standard on narration at tourist attractions takes effect. We could not find its text, so its device rules are unknown.
• 8 October 2026, Gansu Provincial Museum: outside narration is suspended until further notice.
• Macau: Law 5/2025 lets the Tourism Office set binding narration rules, with fines of MOP 2,000 to 5,000.
• Valencia: a draft ordinance would ban guides' loudspeakers and call for individual audio systems.
• 1 January 2029, Bruges canal boats: commentary must reach only the passengers.

Where a site leaves the device open, guests can listen on their own phones and earphones: install the guide app, create a tour and share its QR code. Nothing is rented, and no internet is needed during the tour. See how the broadcast works and what renting receivers costs.

Translations of the rule texts are ours; the original wording is authoritative.