I have 2 kids and am travelling with my husband
4 days in rome
is it worth it to get the card and what exactly does it give you ? the websites are a bit confusing
its really expensive and says you get 2 entrances only which is what I am confused about but then says you can skip the lines at other places but then I am assuming we still need to get tickets to these other places so not really sure how it works
Appreciate any help!
I assume you're talking about the romapass.
The first two sites visited that are covered by the card are free. All other sites covered by the card are at the reduced cost. Depending on what you plan to see this can save you a lot of money. Your kids will get free entry into state run sites if they are under 18. If they are they won't need a romapass. The pass also comes with transportation for the duration of the pass. You can bypass the lines for the free sites but must wait in line for the others. This really isn't an issue because there are only two sites in Rome that have a long line, the Vatican museums (yes, technically not in Rome) and the colosseum.
Donna
Debbie,
You will find all your answers in the FAQ here:http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=33#faqq3
There are 2 different Roma passes:http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2
One is good for 3 consecutive days & this is what it offers:
Metro, buses & trams
Discounts and reduced price ticketing for events, exhibitions and tourist services
Valid 3 day
Only 36,00 €
The other Roma pass is good for 48 hours & this is what it offers:
1 museum
Metro, buses & trams
Discounts and reduced price ticketing for events, exhibitions and
tourist services
Valid 48 hours
Only 28,00 €
In your case, you need to figure out what museums you want to visit, add the cost, & decide which ( if any) of the passes is good for you.
Here is a list of the museums covered by the pass:http://www.romapass.it/doc/sitiAderentiCostoBiglietti_eng.pdf
A few things to keep in mind:
One specific caveat: the pass does not cover the Vatican Museums.
I think she might be talking about the Roma and Vatican Pass, which is a huge rip-off. Do not buy that one.
I'm curious about this 36EUR Roma Pass. Does it include unlimited transport within central Rome during those 3 days? If yes it's a really good deal.
Not having to bother with multiple metro tickets already makes it worth it I believe.
The romapass does include unlimited transportation but you should do the math before buying it to see if you'll save money. Sometimes the pass is worth it and sometimes it's not, it all depends on what you plan to visit and how many times you'll use public transportation.
Donna
Right. As Donna said, it's a matter of doing the math. The transport piece would have been a waste for us as we've rarely found the need to take any in Rome - so individual tickets worked best - but others may use it more often than we have.
It was worth it for my husband and I but on another trip with my daughters it was not. We used it for the Borghese Gallery and something else but needed to use transport a lot because I was in town for the Rome marathon and the expo and events were in the EUR area. Just need to see what you plan on doing to decide.
If you want transport but aren't going to get your money's worth from the Roma Pass, you can instead just buy a transit pass. They come in the following varieties:
24 Hour Ticket - valid for unlimited metro, bus, and train travel within Rome for 24 hours from validation. € 7.00
48 Hour Ticket - valid for unlimited metro, bus, and train travel within Rome for 48 hours from validation. € 12.50
72 Hour Ticket - valid for unlimited metro, bus, and train travel within Rome for 72 hours from validation. € 18.00
C.I.S. €24.00. Weekly ticket - valid for 7 calendar days
Note that a single ticket is €1.50. So, to make these passes worthwhile, you'd need 5 rides for the 24 hour ticket, 9 rides for the 48 hour ticket, 12 rides for the 72 hour ticket, and 16 rides for the 7 day ticket.
If you are going to do 2 of the sights listed on the RomaPass and a couple of rounds of transportation it's worth it. It covers all transportation within Rome but it doesn't cover the train from Rome to the airport. So you can't use it for that.
Actually, you need to visit at least three sites covered by the pass and ride public transport a few times per day to make the pass pay off. Most people won't get value out of the pass and should just book individual sites and buy transport tickets as needed.
donna
I definitely will not be using public transportation in Rome. However skipping the line and getting in free at two places and discounts at several others obviously are appealing. We will be in Rome November 18-20, but the first day is partly finishing the flight to FCO. Of course that day we don't want to visit any museums or the Colosseum because of jet lag. On November 21 we will go to Vatican City - no choice on dates because of the Insight Vacations tour. Would it make more sense to get the 2-day pass for just the 19th and 20th - a weekend - or get the 3-day pass and visit museums in Rome after the Vatican/St. Peter's tour on the 21st? Or should I just not get it? The Vatican tour starts early so we have all afternoon to visit museums in Rome.
If you're not using public transportation, then the Roma Card may not pay off. As others said, you just have to do the math.
The calculations can be involved. Last year I went to Ara Pacis, intending to use my Roma Card for the second free entry. The clerk at the desk asked if I were going to visit any other sites. I told him I was planning to go to Ostia Antica the next day. He suggested I pay the regular entry fee at Ara Pacis and save the Roma Card free entry for Ostia. He was right; it worked out better.
Thanks for all this input
We won't be using public transportation we are walking
My kids are 13 and 10
We were going to buy the pass because someone said it helps you avoid long line ups.....is this true?
All I have read here says it gets you
2 free admissions
Discount admission to other sites
Transportation
This is on the website
My two questions are:
Does it help at all the skip the regular line ups for tickets?
Do I need to reserve tickets ahead of time for sites on specific days amd times to avoid line ups or do you just have to show up amd hope for the best???
We are just trying to plan our days so appreciate any input! !!
Thanks
Debbie, as people have said before, you MUST make a reservation for the Borghese Gallery. No exceptions for Roma Pass holders.
If the only reason for considering the pass is for line skipping, I wouldn't buy it.
There are only three attractions in Rome where queues are long enough to worry about: the Vatican museums and St Peters- which the Roma Pass does not cover - and the Colosseum.
The only way to get around queues at the Vatican Museums is to pre-purchase tickets or a tour. The security-check line at the basilica is what it is unless you've booked a tour of the museums which also includes the church.Tickets for the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine are only € 12.00 if purchased at any of the three attractions, and you can often get around that queue at the Colosseum simply by purchasing your tickets at the Palatine where lines are shortest. As everyone has to pass through a security check at all three, you may have to deal with a short wait depending on how mobbed it is.
We've never seen a queue worth worrying much about - or that we could do anything about, such as a long one at the Palatine one day - anywhere else in Rome but that's just been our experience.
Don't be confused by the "free entrance" claim: you definitely pay for those entrances when you buy the pass, and the concessionary reductions for additional attractions are pretty small. It's not easy to cram enough in to make it pay if you are not going to use it for transport - which is really the biggest piece of any cost saving if you use buses and/or metro enough - and will be forking over additional ABOVE the pass prices for concessionary entrances. Again, you have to do the math carefully, and consider all the FREE attractions, such as almost all of the churches, as well.
Traveling Woman, there is technically no three-day Roma Pass: it expires in 48 hours so if you first use it say, at 8:00 AM on Saturday, it expires at 8:00 AM on Monday You could make it stretch 2 partial and one full day by activating, say, midday on Saturday, in which case if would expire at midday on Monday. BUT, Monday is also the day the National Museums are closed, and you have a morning tour that day anyway. And honestly, attractions and museums are scattered all over central Rome so without taking transport, I don't know how much you can fit in without very careful grouping of sites by area. Hope that makes sense?
For the Borghese, here's the procedure for making reservations if intending on using the Roma Pass for that one:
I believe Kathy meant to say there is no "2 day" pass, there is a 48 hour pass that is valid for 48 hours and not two calendar days. The three day pass is valid for 3 calendar days and will expire at midnight of the third day regardless of when you activate it on the first day. The 48 hour pass goes for the entire 48 hour period so if you activate it at 5pm on Monday it's valid until 4:59 on Wednesday.
Donna
Arg. Yes, I meant no 2-day pass. Willful and disobedient fingers here; thanks, Donna!
Good job Kathy. You just talked me out of buying the Roma Pass.
@debbiepearmain - you mention you won't be taking public transportation and you'll be walking everywhere with a 10 & 13 year old for four days. @Traveling Woman said she won't either. Can I ask why? I took the bus & metro everywhere and still walked about 8 miles a day.
