hop on hop off bus

I'm not sure what you mean by "helpful." HOHO passes start at about 30 bucks for one day. Compare that to a Roma Pass that includes access to three sites AND transit on buses and metro for three days at about $40 US. More info on those passes here: Ron in Rome on Roma Pass If you only want to get around, get a transit pass only. More info on those here at Ron in Rome on Bus and Metro Do you have the RS Italy book? Rick's really great at explaining the options there. Happy travels.

Unless you need public transit from your quest house there is really no need or much of a need for a transit pass for the main attractions. All very walkable and probably faster than the buses. We have found the hop on/off buses can be useful for getting an orientation and overview when first in a new city. Most hop on/off tickets are good for 24 hours so we start at noon on the first day, do a couple loop to decide where we want to spend the most time. Then the we still have the morning of the next day. But I would not use a on/off ticket for general transportation..

We have used the Hop on Hop Off buses in both Rome and Florence. They were a nice over view to both cities. After we rode the entire route, we knew where we wanted to "hop" We have ridden buses like this in other cities. They are a good way to see the cities.

Compared to Paris' HOHO open bus, I was disappointed in Romes HOHO. I'm not a big fan of city buses, but Romes seemed to be a good simple system. RS identifies a number of bus routes in his GB. Wishing to try one of the electric bus routes some day.