Is Roma Pass Worth it? – An in-depth Roma Pass Review

Is Roma Pass worth it? That’s the exact question people have while starting to plan for a vacation in Rome. Whether or not you want to use Roma Pass depends on your style of travel and priorities.

Are you traveling with a touring company or have designed your travel plan yourself?

Do you want to save money?

Do you want to save time?

In this Roma Pass review, I am going to present you with some of the key points you need to note before deciding to buy Roma Pass.        

1) What is Roma Pass?

Roma Pass is offered by the city authorities of Rome. It is a combined pass meant for enabling travelers to enjoy the beauties of Rome while holidaying in the eternal city. It is essentially a city pass that can be used to avail the Rome’s public transport, visit museums or attend certain shows or events at a discounted rate.

Roma Pass comes in two varieties – Roma Pass for 48 Hours and Roma Pass for 72 Hours.

ROMA PASS Official Website

2) How much does a Roma Pass Cost

Roma Pass for 48 Hours is priced at 32 Euros, while the 72 Hour pass comes at 52 Euros

3) Key Features of Roma Pass

1. 45 + Museums and sites are part of the pass, out of which the entry fees for the first two will be zero.

Allows free entry to your choice of 2 out of 6 top Rome attractions including The Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill, Galleria Borghese, Capitoline Museums, and National Museum of Castel Sant’Angelo .

You will still need to reserve a slot for exploring Colosseum. Colosseum now encourages timed entry for better control of the visitors.

Note: Be sure to visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum on the same day to make sure it is counted as one attraction.

• 35 + events and experiences are available at a discounted rate
• 45 + Tourist services (like Hop On Hop Off Bus, Bikes on Rent, Airport shuttles) are on offer at a discounted rate
• You will have free access to Rome’s Public Transport system (Metro, Bus, Train). Just use the Roma Pass card and you are good to go.
• Vatican Museum is not part of Roma Pass.
• Once purchased, the cost of the card is non-refundable for the scenario you are unable to make it to Rome or any other reason.

4) Is Roma Pass worth it?

Coming back to the topic ‘Is Roma Pass a good value for money?’ It is a debatable topic by the way 😊

So, let’s do a quick math.

If you are in Rome for 3 days, then out of 45 + museums and sites covered under Roma Pass, you can visit a maximum of 2 to 3 (let’s be practical!).

The most important of them is certainly the Colosseum which is covered under Roma Pass. Galleria Borghese is the next one that you would like to opt for which also is covered under Roma Pass.

Add to it the Transportation Cost – you will be navigating the city on a Bus or Metro and there will be several trips required in going from one point to the other.

Quick fact: Galleria Borghese tickets need to be bought beforehand. It is never sold off the counter. If you are carrying a Roma Pass, you will be allowed entry. Else, tickets need to be bought online beforehand.

The following table will guide you with the analysis:

52 Euro for Roma Pass for 3 days for the sites plus transportation vs 60 Euro of individual costs for 3 days.

Did you get the deal? Even if it is not a lot of money saving, it still is less than individual prices and certainly save time.

Getting a Roma Pass makes sense for all the following reasons:

• It ensures a hassle-free public transport experience. When you are new to the city, there are high chances that you will need to opt for Bus or Metro several times a day. With Roma Pass, you can easily navigate the city without standing at ticket counters and not having to do the math of how much I am spending on transportation at the back of your mind.
• You have a curated list of experiences/events suggested by city authorities. If time permits, you can certainly opt for an experience that catches your fancy. How about a culinary experience that teaches you how to stir up those delectable Italian dishes?

Yes! There’s a cooking experience on offer at a discounted rate with the Roma Pass.

• In the current scenario, where touchless transactions are encouraged, Roma Pass will certainly ensure that it is taken care of. Gone are those days were waiting in a queue in front of a historical site to get the entry ticket was quite common.
• Saves time. If you are in Rome for 3 days, then every second matters.

Roma Pass is NOT meant for you

• If you are traveling for a longer duration and waiting in queues is OK
• If you don’t mind buying tickets every time you board a bus or metro.
• If you are traveling with a travel agency that has taken care of your entire itinerary.
• If it is not your first time in Rome

The only drawback I found in Roma Pass was that Vatican City attractions were not included. So, on our first visit to Rome, we got tickets for Vatican city attractions (Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel) separately. It was in a way helpful for us. Because Vatican museum is closed on Sundays and that was coinciding with our time in Rome and the rest of the itinerary.

(All the points mentioned above are my views.)

Note : Roma Pass is not recommended for children below 10 years since the entrance to State-owned museums and public transport are free for them.

In short, if you are looking for a binary answer to the question ‘Is Roma Pass worth it’, then the response is ‘Yes’. It does help with saving some money, ensures hassle-free travel, and saves time when you are time-bound.

5) Where to Buy Roma Pass

Roma Pass can be bought:

• Online through the official website

• By calling the Call center

• At all Tourist Information Points

• Subway Ticket Offices

Information about the off-the-counter points can be found on Roma Pass’s website.

Given the current situation we are in, the online option seems to be the most lucrative.

There are two categories available while buying the pass – Roma Pass 48 Hours and Roma Pass 72 Hours.

While booking the pass, you will also need to select the ‘Collection Date’ and a ‘Favorite Collection Point’ from a drop-down. These are mandatory fields. All cards purchased online can be collected from any Tourist Infopoint in Rome.

While booking Roma Pass online, there’s an option provided to buy ‘Vox Vatican Guide’. It is essentially an app having official audio guides for St Peter’s Basilica and Vatican city along with a digital map. The price of the guide is 5 Euro.

6) How to collect Roma Pass

Option 1: Pick up Roma Pass from the Airport itself. Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci Airport has Roma Pass collection center.

As part of the tourist experiences on offer, you can use Roma Pass to avail discounted shuttle service from the Airport to your accommodation. This is one advantage of collecting the pass right at the airport.

Option 2: Pick up Roma Pass from any of the Tourist Infopoint in Rome. Ensure to check their time of opening.

7) What all you get as part of Roma Pass

Roma Pass Kit includes:

• The Roma Pass 72/48 Hour card: 

It is the card used to visit museums/archaeological sites and on the public transport system.

• Map of Rome

A map featuring the most interesting sites in Rome, all the Tourist Information Points, Metro, and Buses.

Also read about the Best Things To Do in:

Florence

Venice

Milan

8) How to use Roma Pass

Before you use the Roma Pass for the first time, the following needs to be noted:

• Must be filled with the names, surname and validation date

• The card will be valid for 48 or 72 hours from the first use to entry to museums/sites and/or on the first journey on public transport. It is validated at the first time usage. Activate at the first journey on public transport system even if it has already been validated at the museum/site.
• From the 3rd site onwards, a discounted ticket can be obtained from the ticket office

• It must be produced along with identity papers when required and requested by relevant staff.

9) Roma Pass vs Omnia Pass vs Rome City Pass

While this post is essentially a Roma Pass review, it will be good to note that Rome also has some other passes on offer for tourists. Two major ones are the Omnia Pass and Rome City Pass.

Omnia Pass is a combination of Vatican City pass and Roma Pass. The great thing about Omnia Pass is that it includes Vatican City also which is certainly an edge over Roma Pass. It also includes a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour as part of the pass over and above free access to the public transportation system.

The flip side is, it is available for 72 hours option only. Hence if you have just 2 days in Rome, Omnia Pass will be a waste for you. And, with Vatican City included, it comes at a much higher price.

Omnia Pass is priced at 113 Euro.  If I get a 72 Hour Roma Pass for 52 Euro and buy Vatican Museum tickets at 17 Euro from Vatican’s official website, grabbing a Roma Pass will still be a cheaper (52+17 = 69 Euro) option than Omnia Pass even after considering transportation cost and another museum/site.

Rome City pass (also known as Turbo Pass) is another sightseeing day pass for the major attractions of Rome while also offering access to Public Transport System. It offers frees entry to major sites (including reservations in Colosseum) in Rome, Skip-the-line in Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel, Hop-on Hop-Off tour.

Unlike Omnia Pass (available for only 72 hours) and Roma pass (available for 48 & 72 Hours), Rome City pass has options for 1,2,3,5, and 7 days providing more flexibility.

Priced at 96.9 Euro for a 3-day pass, it is certainly more costly than Roma Pass. However, a good option to consider while comparing with Omnia Pass.

Closing Thoughts on Roma Pass

Hopefully, this post will help you figure out if Roma Pass is worth it or not. I found Roma Pass a good value for money and a time-saver.

Have you used Roma Pass while traveling in Rome? Let me know in the comments about your thoughts.