We will be in Rome from the 16th of April to the 19th of April. We want to see as much as we can and skip the lines. What is the best pass?
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16701 posts
There are only two passes available: The Roma Pass and Omnia Card.
A 72-hour adult Roma Pass is € 38.50, and the 72-hour Omnia is €101.70
The Omnia Card is the Roma Pass + the Vatican Museums + hoho bus + some other small perks, and I've never seen it recommended on these forums. A big chunk of the price is for the hoho buses and those are not a good way to get around Rome so not worth the extra $$$: reviews have been mediocre to lousy for many years due to problems such as buses too full to pick up passengers at the stops, dirty vehicles, broken equipment, restricted routes, etc.
Use of public transport within central Rome is covered under the life of the Roma Pass - which is included with the Omnia Card as well - so there's really no need to fork over extra for hoho use. Personally, we find Rome a terrific city to walk so we've rarely used the public transit system but others hop it more frequently.
The Roma Pass does not cover the Vatican Museums but tickets are easily purchased from the museum's website: € 28.00 (adult entry + audioguide+ reservation fee) or € 21.00 (adult entry + reservation fee) without audioguide.
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html
So, the most commonly purchased card is the Roma Pass. Do understand that the 72-hour pass only covers 'free' entry at two of the attractions it covers + discounts to the others. You will skip the TICKET lines at your chosen two attractions but not the security queues: NO ONE can skip those no matter any "fast track" claims by either Roma or Omnia pass.
The transport card included does not cover buses or trains to or from Rome's airports. Read the fine print (FAQs) on the Roma Card's website for full details:
Editing to add: value-wise, the 2 commonly chosen 'free' attractions with the pass are the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine (counts as a single attraction) and Galleria Borghese. The Borghese requires advance reservations even if using the pass. From the R.P. website:
"For the Borghese Gallery and Palazzo Valentini (Domus Romane), the ticket reservation is required, but free for Roma Pass 72 Hours and/or Roma Pass 48 Hours holders, since the museum allows a limited number of visitors....For reservations to the Borghese Gallery, you can call the number +39 0632810 or send an email to [email protected]. The Booking Center is open from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m."
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
You really need to do the math to see if ANY pass will be a good idea for you.
The omnia pass is NEVER a good idea. There is simply no way to get value out of this very over-priced pass.
As for the romapass, make a list of what you want to see and do in Rome, then check the romapass website to see what is covered by the pass. Do the math. Will the pass save you money or not. The majority of the time the pass won't save you money or you'll break even. If that's the case don't limit yourself to the rules of the pass and just book your tickets from the official websites. This will allow you to bypass the lines but give you more flexibility by being able to spread out your itinerary over the entire 4 days and not cram it into 3 days.
For the Vatican museums, just buy your tickets from the official website.
https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?weblang=en&do
If you choose to use public transportation just buy tickets as needed (1.50 each) or buy a one day or three day pass.
Donna
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16701 posts
Do the math. Will the pass save you money or not. The majority of the
time the pass won't save you money or you'll break even. If that's the
case don't limit yourself to the rules of the pass and just book your
tickets from the official websites.
Agreed: the math is necessary to figure the financial benefit of ANY pass. While I stated that the Roma Pass is the one most commonly purchased, that doesn't mean that it's worthwhile for everyone, which is why I included some relevant details about what it doesn't cover. We haven't purchased that pass because we've used metro/buses so infrequently in Rome that the transport coverage was of no real benefit for us. It has been cheaper to purchase individual tickets. Everyone's situation is different so, yep, do the math.