Like many cities around the world, Roma has many passes that help tourists save a lot of money, time and logistical planning. Several of these passes have skip the line benefits at many key attractions. All passes offer free travel through Rome’s public transport networks, free entry to some attractions and often a free hop on op off tour.
Buying a pass will save you a lot of trouble as there is no need of booking separate transport tickets and no need of queuing at major attractions. Plus you get maps, discounted entries and other travel benefits depending upon the pass you choose. Look at the offerings of each pass carefully, match it with your travel plans in Rome and your budget and you will be able to come up with the best suited pass for yourself.
There are three major attraction passes for Rome that’s recommended; Omnia Rome Vatican Card, the Roma Pass and the Rome City Pass. Choose amongst them depending upon your sightseeing schedule and travel interests. The rates given for each card are for adults ; children can pay discounted rates for the same cards.
Omnia Rome and Vatican Card
The Omnia Rome and Vatican Card as the name implies is geared towards exploring the intriguing country within the city ‘Vatican’ but it also has a several other incredible offerings. There is free entry with skip the line access to Vatican attractions including the Vatican Museums, St. Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel and Basilica of St. John in the Lateran… as an additional benefit you also get free audio guide to St. Peter’s Basilica.
Read: Great vatican Museum Tours
Practically, the top attractions in Rome are Colosseum, Roman forum, Castel Sant Angelo, Capitoline museums, Borghese Gallery and Free entry to 2 of the 6 listed attractions is available in the Omnia Rome Card. Visitors holding the card will also get skip the line access to Colosseum and Roman Forum though a timeslot for Colosseum still needs to be booked.
Once you have used up two free entries to your chosen attractions you can see the rest at discounted rates. There are thirty other listed attractions in the card including the Caracalla Baths and the Appian Way; the Omnia cards offers discounted entry to all of these.
A 3 day bus hop on hop off ticket (Rome Christina tours) is offered with the card plus a 72 hour travel card that covers all public transport mediums including metro, tram and bus. With every Omnia card and Vatican Pass you will get a detailed guidebook to Rome and a map of the city.
Tips
Now with every pass, there are tips of making the most of its advantages. The lines for the Vatican museums, St. Peter’s Basilica and Colosseum are the most torturous of all so use your card for the skip the line access and you will have saved a lot of time and physical/ mental energy. The six attraction list has two free entries so ideally use the free entries for the attractions that have maximum ticket value. After careful analysis the attractions that come up as a topper are combined entry to Colosseum and Forum (these are counted as one attraction) and the Castel Sant Angelo. Use your card for free entry and you will have saved around 35 euros.
For some attractions i.e. the Colosseum, Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica; card holders (and other tourists) need to book a timed entry. Book the earliest slots that you can in order to avoid crowds. Entry to the Colosseum is subject to availability at that particular slot so check that first on the official website.
The Omnia Rome and Vatican Card is priced steeply at 113 euros but it helps in saving about 150 euros in travel costs and entry fees. Plus you get the priceless skip the line benefits.
Buy the Roma Omnia Vatican Pass on This Website.
If you want to tour the Vatican at a reduced price and with minimum hassle this is the best travel pass. Even the hop on hop off bus service (Rome Cristiana) they use is geared towards Vatican and spiritual sightseeing.
Read: Hop on Hop Off Bus Services in Rome.
Roma Pass
The official city sightseeing pass of Rome, this is offered by the City of Rome authorities. The pass offers a good mix of attractions and offers 2/3 day versions.
The 2 day Roma Pass includes free entry to 1 of the attractions while the 3 day pass offers free entry to 2 of the following museums and discounted entry to the rest of the attractions. Almost all points of interest in Rome are covered inside this pass. Buyers also get free use of city’s public transport system for 2 or 3 days, discounted tickets on City Sightseeing buses and a good quality map of Rome.
The most important places of interest under the pass are as follows:
Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, Castel Sant Angelo, Baths of Caracalla, Galleria Spada, Trajan’s Market, Borghese Gallery, Capitoline Museums, National Museums of Rome, Villa Giulia – Etruscan Museum, Ara Pacis, Baths of Diocletian, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Palazzo Barberini, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Palazzo Venezia etc.
Tips
The utility of the Roma card is reduced if you are below 25 or above 65 in which case you would get free/ heavily discounted entry to most of Rome’s attractions anyway. Otherwise the card is affordable enough to be completely buy worthy especially if you are looking for a non-Vatican oriented quick overview of Rome. Good options of attractions that you should target for free entry with this pass are Capitoline museums, Colosseum / Roman Forum and Galleria Borghese. The more attractions you see using the Roma Pass the more you save on ticket prices. So the card is more suitable for a tourist who wants to see 10 or more attractions in Rome than someone who just wants to see 5.
This pass doesn’t offer a free hop on hop off tour but it offers a 20% discount on city sights tour bus. There are no Vatican City attractions under this pass so if you are interested especially in the Vatican this isn’t a good idea.
The 48 hour Rome pass costs 28 euros while the 72 hour Rome Pass costs 38.50 euros.
Remember that the Rome pass is valid for the first 2/3 days from the time of its first use and will expire exactly at 11.59 p.m. on second or third day. Ideally, activate the card in the morning for better utilisation. This is one of Rome’s most popular passes and you will find it everywhere right from participating museums and monuments to information centres at Termini and Ciampino, Fiumcino etc.
If you want to buy the Rome Pass online from the official website here is the link.
Rome City Pass – Turbo Pass
The Rome City Pass is targeted at first time travellers to Rome who just want to see the top rated attractions within a couple of days and still have some free time left.
The Rome city pass includes fast track skip the line access to Vatican museums, Colosseum, Roman Forum, St. Peter’s Basilica with audio guides for the Vatican museums including St Peter’s Basilica. There is discounted entry to a further list of 60 attractions in the city.
Rome city pass has partnered with Terravision, the leading airport bus line of Rome and offers optional return airport transfers at discounted rates. 20% discount is offered on tickets to other Roman attractions. You will also get a one day op on hop off sightseeing tour on City Roma buses.
As an additional benefit, a free trip to the ocean is offered. Take one of the suburban trains to Ostia (port city of Roma) and get off at Lido Centro to enjoy the beaches.
The pass is delivered directly to your home so there is no need to sort through complicated fare systems or approach ticket vendors.
Tips
The 1 day Rome City Pass costs 64.90 euros per adult. There are also 2 day (79.90 euros), 3 day (89.90 euros), 4 day (99.90 euros), and 5 day (109.9 euros), 7 day (119 euros) pass.
This pass is available only in English and German and has to be booked online only.
If you are travelling via the Ciampino/ Fiumicino airports to Rome then the pass is worth it as you literally get free to and fro airport transfers
Book your Rome City Turbo Pass at This Website.
A travel addict. Still celebrating the day when he quit his high-profile corporate job to pursue his passion for travel writing.