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Passes and Money

Hello! we are planning a trip to Italy this summer. I was wondering about the wisdom of buying the Roma and Firenze passes. I am looking at some old posts regarding the Roma pass, which leads me to believe it might not be worth the investment. Can anyone speak to recent history on this issue?

Also, I did open up a Wise account, but I find it somewhat bewildering. Is it a swipe- able card that is accepted at stores and restaurants? I did use it successfully at the grocery store in the U-S as a test....but unsure of its performance in Italy.

Thank you!

Posted by
6054 posts

The Roma Pass is usually not a money saver
You have to do the math according to your sightseeing needs
You will still need to book timed entries for some venues

The Firenze Card can be a money saver, it was for us back in 2014
But again you have to do the math. It has just begun being offered again and I believe with some changes
Also will need to book timed entries at some venues

Posted by
15809 posts

Along with doing the math to see if passes are of economic benefit, do be aware that they don't allow you just to stroll into every attraction they cover. Some of the most-visited of them mandate advance, timed-entry reservations, even with the pass.

You also have to have enough time and interest in the attractions covered to see enough of them to justify the cost of the pass, and do that at less than a dead run.

I've personally never been a fan of the Roma Pass as the 72-hour version (I wouldn't even think about the 48-hour one) only fully covers entry to 2 attractions. The 2 that pass is most commonly used for are probably the Colosseum and Galleria Borghese. Both of them require advance, timed-entry reservations. While it covers use of public transport (excluding to/from the airports) Rome's historic center is a walking experience so we've used their transport system only a couple of times over a couple of trips. If needed, just buy a couple of individual tickets for 1.5 euro a pop. That pass also doesn't cover anything at the Vatican. See the FAQs for the fine print:

https://www.romapass.it/en/FAQ/

The Firenzecard was just recently brought back to life again, and I feel a little more positive about that one IF you have a solid 72 hours to use it, and IF you want to see enough of what it covers. It's an even better deal if you have enough time to use the free, additional 48-hour restart. Yes, a couple of those attractions, such as the Uffizi, require advance reservations but entry fees to many more attractions are FULLY covered compared to the measly couple under the Roma Pass. It doesn't cover any of the duomo complex structures (bell tower, dome, baptistry, museum) so that would be a separate purchase. As well, it doesn't cover any public transport but Florence's historic center is even more compact than Rome's so no need for it, IMHO. Again, see the FAQs for details:

https://www.firenzecard.it/en/faq

Combo passes for the duomo:
https://operaduomofirenze.skiperformance.com/en/store#/en/buy

We'd used a different pass for our 5 days in Florence that has since changed enough that I wouldn't buy it again unless having the time for multiple trips to the Uffizi, and am confident we could probably break even on a Firenzecard with advance planning, even without the restart, and you don't have to have advance reservations for quite a number of the attractions covered. YMMV.

Posted by
13937 posts

I'm not sure what a "Wise" account is but I just got back from Italy and literally used my ApplePay for everything. I used it for 3E gelato, restaurants, grocery stores, museums, historic sites, really, everything. The only time I HAD to pay cash was at 2 hotels where I had had drinks at their bar. I was on the RS Best of Italy so hotels were paid by the tour but extra drinks were on our own. The 2 hotels wanted cash for that but it was the only time I couldn't use ApplePay.

Posted by
68 posts

Regarding WISE

Once your card is activated it supports contactless payments. Try it out in the USA before leaving.

To activate it must be used with the pin in at least one transaction which it appears you have done

I got a wise card for travel and am running multiple currencies. I’ve put euro on the card as well as my home currency. Remember it is a debit card so you need the money in the account for the transaction to be accepted.

It works really well for me here where our foreign exchange fees for cards are very high.

And you can also add wise to Apple Pay.

Trent.