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Roma Pass To buy or not to buy??

Posted by (southern california) on

We will arrive in Rome on a Monday night in October and we will either take a taxi or a private car from the airport to our B&B. We are staying at the Al Centro di Roma, Piazza Sant'Andrea della Valle (I think that is the address..just in case any of you live in Rome). I believe it is very close to the Pantheon. Tuesday afternoon we will visit the Borghese Gallery. If this is within walking distance we will walk otherwise we will take public transportation. Wednesday afternoon we will take the underground tour of the Colosseum, etc. with the Walks of Italy tour group. They have stated that you can use your Roma Pass and they will refund the entrance fee if it works. Again if the Colosseum is within walking distance we will walk if not...public transportation. Thursday morning we will take a 7:35AM tour with the Walks of Italy. Depending on how far the Vatican is and how much earlier we want to get up we may definitely take public transportation for this OR I am just wondering if a taxi would be better? We will leave for Sienna on Friday but I believe if we use the card on Tuesday it will expire on Thursday at midnight? We have no problem walking and in fact enjoy walking. For the two afternoon tours we have lots of time to make our way to our destination and I am assuming that heat will not be a factor that time of the year???
It is my understanding that the public transportation is the same 1.50 euros. Do you find yourself walking more, taking buses, hopping on an off buses? I am thinking at best I would break even. Oh and walking 2+ miles to any of the destinations would not make us think twice....maybe that early morning Vatican tour would though :)

Thank you for any input !

Posted by
7737 posts

Use Google Maps Directions - Walking to figure out the distances between the various sites. For the most part, Rome is very walkable, esp. if 2 miles isn't a big deal to you. Bonus - it's almost always a very scenic walk.

FWIW, the distance from Termini to the Vatican is 2.7 miles, to give you a rough sense of scale. Where you'll be staying is midway between those two points, about a mile from St. Peters.

When we're in Rome, we most often use transit at the end of the day if we're tired and want a shortcut back to where we're staying. We get the single-use tickets for that. The transit passes make monetary sense only if you're going to be riding three or more times a day. We do at most twice a day.

And, yes, a three-day Roma Pass card will expire at 11:59 pm Thursday evening if you first use it on a Tuesday, regardless of what time on Tuesday you used it. (It's not a 72-hour pass.)

Posted by
239 posts

Thank you Michael! I cannot believe I did not think of Goggle maps. I did check out the distances and have concluded the Roma Pass is not for us...all major points are under 2 miles. At best we would break even and that might even be a push!

Posted by
7737 posts

You are welcome. I'm a HUGE fan of Google Maps as a travel planning aid, including Streetview. It saved us from renting a room above a McDonald's in Italy once. :-)

You can also create custom maps of places of interest on Google Maps. I have a crazy amount of info on my personal Rome map.

Posted by
5697 posts

Just a note on the heat in October --- don't assume anything! You might well have to carry your water bottle and hat. It's not like midsummer, but it can be really warm if you're out walking.

Posted by
239 posts

Thanks Laura, I am hoping for cooler weather in October but I do realize how unpredictable the weather can be!

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