Rome metro pass

Should just be one transaction, I would think. But have you done the math? To make financial sense, you would have to use the pass three or more times every day to beat the savings of buying a handful of single-use tickets at any newsstand or tabacchi to use as needed.

Michael is right. I know it's tough to pre-judge how often you'd take public transit every day in Rome but we've only used it a couple of times over a week's stay. It does depend on how far out your accommodations are, and/or how mobile all three of your 3 adults are, but central Rome is reasonably compact. Walking is also, when possible, the best way to experience this particular city.

Buying a few individual BIT transit tickets and just keeping them in our pocket was a more economical way to go.

Also be aware that the metro doesn't cover a good-sized swath of the historic center but passes also cover the buses which operate in those areas. Still, depending on where you're going, it can be faster (and more fun) to hoof it than to take a bus.

From all of our stays in Rome we seldom use much public transit. Absolutely no need if staying anywhere near city center. If staying on the outskirts then maybe useful.

I have to agree with all the above-mentioned : you really don't need a metro pass in Rome. It would be cheaper to buy piecemeal and walk to most everything.

I agree that a metro pass is not needed. Depending on where you stay you may never use the metro - it seems not to go where you want to go! There are a lot of buses but it is a bit complicated to figure out the routes and pick the right stops when you don't know the city. It can be stressful especially if you are tired after a long day sight seeing.

On our last trip we rented an apartment near Piazza Navona and we got in the habit of using a taxi either to a distant area and walking (strolling) back to our area or, conversely, starting off walking and taxiing back in the afternoon. Of course, with that location there were days we didn't walk more than a mile from our base and had a very full day of sights. Taxi are relatively inexpensive when divided by 3 and are truly convenient when you are hot and tired.

Robbie

We bought our weekly transit pass at the rail station at FCO, but you can buy at many tobacco shoos. No need to buy ahead. We liked having the passes so we could easily jump on any bus, tram or metro. As a result, we visited many out if the way spots.

Disagree with the above posters, except Becky!

Last February, we picked up a weekly Rome bus/Metro pass our first of 7 days in town, at a tabacchi shop just off Campo de' Fiori. Paid 24 Euro apiece, made them give us each a receipt which we kept on our person, because occasionally--we never saw it--the polizei reportedly would come on the bus and ask to see passes. So, they're sold everywhere and you don't have to buy them in advance online.

In those 6+ days we went from one end of Rome to the other using the bus or Metro, often a combination of both, from Porta Pia to the Vatican, from St. Peter-in-Chains to Borghese, wherever we wanted. And the beauty part was after we validated our pass the first time on the bus, we could enter the bus from the front or side entrance, or just scan at the Metro station, and go on our way. Never gave timing or anything else another thought. One caveat--the time of year (late winter) helped in our ease of travel. Yes, the buses were often full on the popular routes--60 & 64 come to mind--but they were never hot & smelly like has been described in summer. But even when it was full, we'd get into animated conversations with riders, some non-verbal. It was fun, like a rolling of the eyes which means 'we're all in this together'!

The Roman transit system is a labyrinth of sorts, oft times requiring roundabout ways to get from Point A to Point B, and a lot of it funnels through Termini. I never found it explained well enough to my liking online, but we were advised to pick up a laminated transit map--I think sold only at Termini--for 3 Euro that deciphered the quirks pretty well.

I walk miles in Rome on every visit, yet I always buy a bus ticket for the duration of my stay. I love the freedom it gives me, and the fact that I don't have to try to validate a ticket every time I hop on a bus or tram. For interest, over all the years I have visited Rome I have ridden the Metro just twice. Once from near Barberini to Vatican City, a journey I now prefer by bus or tram, and once from Termini to Tiburtina as an experiment - a journey I now prefer by bus.