Rome Essentials Pass
Turbopass · 2, 3 or 4 calendar days
- Colosseum with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill (time slot)
- Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel (time slot)
- Pantheon
- Vatican courtyards
Rome pass comparison 2026
Which Rome pass suits your trip?
Eight different passes are sold for Rome. Their names sound alike, but their prices differ considerably and they do not include the same things. On this page you will find them side by side, with all their conditions.
- Independent: we do not sell anything ourselves
- Prices checked with the provider
- No extra charge for you
- You book directly with the provider
The four best-selling Rome passes
These four passes cover most trips to Rome. You will find the other four in full in the comparison table below. They can also be worthwhile for certain trips, but they are the right choice less often.
Rome City Pass
Turbopass · 1 to 7 calendar days
- Colosseum with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill (time slot)
- Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel (time slot)
- St Peter's Basilica
- Castel Sant'Angelo and more than 20 other attractions
Rome Tourist Card
Tiqets · fixed dates, chosen when booking
- Colosseum with Roman Forum, with audio guide or multimedia video
- Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel or Castel Sant'Angelo
- St Peter's Basilica or Pantheon
- Audio guide app for the city with more than 100 stops
Roma Pass
Official city pass · 48 or 72 hours from first use
- Public transport for the entire validity period
- 48 hours: 1 attraction free; 72 hours: 2 attractions free
- After that, reduced entry to further museums and sites
- Colosseum, Castel Sant'Angelo, Circus Maximus and many museums
All eight Rome passes compared
The rows are sorted by popularity, not by price. Pay particular attention to the three columns on the right. Whether you have to collect the pass in person and what the cancellation terms are is what people most often overlook when comparing, and it is what makes the biggest difference later on. Every row can be booked directly.
You can scroll the table sideways.
| Pass | Price from | Validity | Scope | Public transport | Pickup | Cancellation | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome Essentials Pass Turbopass Book now | €89.00 via Turbopass | 2, 3 or 4 calendar days | 6 fixed services | no | digital, no pickup | Check the terms with the provider | Book now Details |
| Rome City Pass Turbopass Book now | €109.90 via Turbopass | 1 to 7 calendar days | more than 26 services, as many as you can manage | optional | pass digital, transport ticket on site | €50 fee, up to 1 day before | Book now Details |
| Rome Tourist Card Tiqets Book now | €100.00 via Tiqets | fixed dates, chosen when booking | 3 attractions, two of them your choice | no | digital, no pickup | non-refundable | Book now Details |
| Roma Pass Official city pass Book now | €44.90 via GetYourGuide | 48 or 72 hours from first use | 1 or 2 attractions free, then a discount | included | digital in the Roma Pass app | non-refundable | Book now Details |
| Rome Omnia Card Go City Book now | €149.00 via Go City | 3 calendar days from first use | Roma Pass plus Vatican and bus | included | pickup in Rome required | up to 14 days after purchase | Book now Details |
| Rome Explorer Pass Go City Book now | €89.00 via Go City | 30 days from first use | 2 to 7 attractions of your choice | no | digital, no pickup | up to 90 days after purchase, if not activated | Book now Details |
| Vatican City Pass Tiqets Book now | €71.50 via Tiqets | fixed dates, chosen when booking | 3 attractions, one of them your choice | no | digital, no pickup | non-refundable | Book now |
| Rome Super Pass GetYourGuide Book now | €139.00 via GetYourGuide | 3 days | 3 attractions plus public transport or bus | included | pickup at the Touristation office | non-refundable | Book now |
The prices from GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Turbopass are regularly retrieved directly from the provider via their interface. Go City has no interface for this; we maintain those prices by hand and check them at fixed intervals. All figures include taxes and booking fees.
Four types of pass worth telling apart
The passes have similar names but work in fundamentally different ways. Once you know which of the four types suits your way of travelling, you have already made half of the choice.
Everything included, but for a limited time
You pay once and then, within a few days, use as many of the included services as you can manage. This is the most common type and the one with the biggest saving if you really do a lot of sightseeing. If, on the other hand, you prefer a relaxed pace and see one sight a day, this type will cost you more than it saves.
A limited number of attractions
When you buy, you decide how many sights you want to visit, and you only choose them once you are in Rome. Time hardly matters here, because the pass stays valid for several weeks after its first use. This is the most relaxed type if your programme is not yet fixed.
A fixed selection of highlights
The contents are fixed when you buy, and you choose your dates at the same time. In return, the saving is smaller than with the open passes. This type is the right one if you do not feel like planning much and simply want to be sure that you will get in everywhere.
Rome Essentials Pass · Rome Tourist Card · Vatican City Pass · Rome Super Pass
Public transport plus one or two admissions
Here the travel ticket is the core of the product. Only the first one or two visits are free; for all further visits you get a discount, but not free entry. This is the point most often misunderstood when comparing: these passes are inexpensive, but they do not replace a sightseeing pass.
Rome passes with public transport: what you really save
Four of the eight passes include buses and the metro. Whether that pays off for you depends entirely on how much you actually travel. So first, the figures to compare against: the official fares of ATAC, Rome's public transport company.
| Ticket | Price | Valid for |
|---|---|---|
| BIT single ticket Unlimited changes between bus and tram, one journey on the metro. | €1.50 | 100 minutes |
| Roma 24H day ticket From first validation, not from midnight. | €8.50 | 24 hours |
| Roma 48H The usual reference value for a long weekend. | €15.00 | 48 hours |
| Roma 72H Matches the validity of most passes with public transport. | €22.00 | 72 hours |
| CIS weekly ticket Valid until midnight on the seventh day. | €29.00 | 7 days |
Official ATAC fares for the city of Rome, checked on 16 September 2026. The Leonardo Express to Fiumicino airport and the airport buses are not included; they need separate tickets.
The simple calculation
A 72-hour travel ticket costs €22.00. If a pass with public transport is not at least €22 more expensive than a comparable pass without it, the public transport is practically free. The reverse also applies: if you do almost everything on foot anyway and only travel two or three times, single tickets at €1.50 are cheaper than any pass that includes a travel ticket.
Experience shows that a visitor to Rome makes two to four journeys on a full day of sightseeing. With single tickets, that comes to roughly the price of a day ticket, and the passes with public transport become interesting mainly if your accommodation is outside the centre.
What you should know about paying
- Children up to and including the age of ten travel free when accompanied by a paying adult.
- You can also pay contactless with a card or smartphone on buses, trams and the metro; the system is called tap&go. Important: tap again every time you change, otherwise the journey counts as unpaid.
- Paper tickets must be validated when you first board. Without validation the ticket counts as unused, and you will be fined if you are checked.
The four passes with public transport in detail
Roma Pass
Public transport included · 48 or 72 hours from first use
The official card of the City of Rome, and the cheapest way to combine public transport and admissions. Bus and metro are included without limit for the entire validity period. With the 48-hour pass one attraction is free, with the 72-hour pass two; all further visits are reduced. The pass is now entirely digital and, after purchase, sits in the Roma Pass app on your smartphone.
Rome Super Pass
Public transport either public transport or hop-on hop-off · 3 days
Three big names in three days: the Colosseum with the Roman Forum, the Vatican Museums with the Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica. For transport you can choose between unlimited travel by bus and metro and three hours of hop-on hop-off bus. You redeem the voucher at the Touristation office at Piazza Ara Coeli and receive your tickets with fixed time slots there.
from €139.00 via GetYourGuide
Book now
Rome City Pass
Public transport optional add-on · 1 to 7 calendar days
The pass itself does not include public transport. You can add the ticket for an extra charge when you buy and then collect it in Rome; the airport buses from Fiumicino and Ciampino can be added in the same way. Everything else, from the Colosseum to the guided city walk, remains digital.
Rome Omnia Card
Public transport included · 3 calendar days from first use
Contains the 72-hour Roma Pass and with it its public transport, plus the Vatican Museums and 72 hours of hop-on hop-off bus. In content the card is close to the Rome City Pass, in price above it. The Omnia Card itself is a physical card that you collect from one of two places in the centre.
Rome City Pass or Roma Pass?
This is the question we are asked most often. They are the two best-selling passes, and at first glance they look alike. In fact, they take very different approaches. Four points make the difference clear.
Choice of attractions
The Roma Pass lists more sights, but it has two limitations. At most two visits are free, everything else is only discounted, and most of what is on offer are museums and archaeological sites. The Rome City Pass covers the same big names and adds a hop-on hop-off bus, a guided city tour and a catacombs tour. The decisive difference, however, lies elsewhere: with the City Pass you use as many of the included services as you can manage within its validity.
Purchase price
The Rome City Pass costs considerably more, and public transport is not yet included in it. The Roma Pass is clearly cheaper and comes with a travel ticket. You will find the current prices of both passes above in the comparison table.
One difference that is easily missed when comparing is how validity is counted. The City Pass runs in calendar days, the Roma Pass in hours. If you arrive in Rome at midday, you lose half a day with the City Pass, but not with the Roma Pass.
Cancellation
The Rome City Pass can be cancelled up to one day before the first day of validity, but for a fee of €50 per pass. The Roma Pass cannot be cancelled at all, neither through a booking platform nor on the official website. For that reason, only buy it once your travel dates are certain.
Reservations
With the Rome City Pass, the provider takes care of registering you for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums; for Castel Sant'Angelo you make the reservation yourself via a link. With the Roma Pass, you handle all reservations yourself, and each attraction has its own procedure. This can be done online via the Roma Pass app, but it should be done early: for the Colosseum and the Galleria Borghese, the provider itself recommends booking around ten days ahead, and closer to twenty in high season.
In short
If you want to see a lot in a few days and do not want to spend much time on organisation, the Rome City Pass is the better choice. If you are watching your budget, travel a lot by bus and metro and are planning two or three visits, you will do better with the Roma Pass.
When a pass is too much: combo tickets
For two or three visits, a comprehensive pass is more than you need. In that case, a combo ticket is the calmer choice. You get a fixed selection of attractions with fixed dates, pay a little less than for individual tickets and do not have to take care of anything else.
- Rome Tourist Card — the Colosseum, plus two attractions of your choice and two audio guides.
- Vatican City Pass — the Vatican Museums with the Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica with the climb to the dome, and an audio guide.
- Colosseum & Vatican — the two highlights on two days, each with a time slot and an audio guide.
- Colosseum or Vatican with hop-on hop-off bus — one attraction each, plus 48 hours of sightseeing by bus, getting on and off as you like.
Frequently asked questions
Do the Rome passes give you priority entry?
No. With most Rome passes you queue at the ticket office to collect your free or reduced admission ticket. The exceptions are the products with fixed time-slot tickets, such as the Rome Tourist Card, the Vatican City Pass and the two Turbopass passes for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums.
In practice this matters less than it sounds: the popular attractions require a reservation anyway, and that shortens the wait far more than any entry lane.
Are reservations required?
Yes, with every Rome pass. The difference lies in who makes them, and this is one of the biggest practical differences between the passes.
- Rome Essentials Pass and Rome City Pass: You choose the time slots for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums when you book. With the City Pass, you reserve Castel Sant'Angelo yourself afterwards via a booking link.
- Rome Tourist Card and Vatican City Pass: You choose all time slots when you book and see straight away what is still available. With the Tourist Card, you also choose which version of each attraction you would like.
- Roma Pass: You make all reservations yourself, following each attraction's own procedure.
- Rome Omnia Card: As with the Roma Pass; in addition, the Vatican Museums must be reserved online after purchase.
- Rome Explorer Pass: Guided tours in particular, but also many museums, must be reserved in advance.
Which Rome passes can I cancel free of charge?
This varies greatly, and it also depends on where you buy:
- Rome City Pass: Cancellation is possible up to one day before the first day of validity, but with a fee of 50 euros per pass.
- Rome Tourist Card, Vatican City Pass, Rome Super Pass and the combination tickets: non-refundable, because fixed time slots have already been reserved for the attractions included.
- Roma Pass: non-refundable. This applies both when you buy through a booking platform and on the official website romapass.it.
- Rome Explorer Pass: free of charge up to 90 days after purchase, as long as the pass has not been activated and nothing has been reserved yet.
- Rome Omnia Card: free of charge up to 14 days after purchase; at GetYourGuide, the deadline of 24 hours before the start of your trip applies instead.
Conditions can change. What applies at the time of purchase is always shown by the provider in the booking step.
Who is a Rome pass worth it for?
There is no general answer, because the products are too different. The reasons why travellers decide to buy one are similar, though:
- Many services from a single source, instead of booking each attraction separately.
- Your sightseeing is paid for before the trip, so costs do not grow while you are travelling.
- You do not have to decide before every visit whether a ticket is worth it.
- With a comprehensive pass you save compared with individual tickets.
There is one limitation: how much you save depends on how much you actually manage in the time available. If you visit two museums and otherwise go for walks, you are better off with individual tickets.
What should I look out for when buying?
- Does the type of pass suit your trip? Lots of sightseeing and public transport: Rome City Pass or Rome Omnia Card. Few visits: Rome Tourist Card or Rome Explorer Pass.
- Are the attractions you want included? The selection is large everywhere, but not the same everywhere.
- Does the price pay off? A pass rarely pays off for inexpensive museums. It earns its cost through expensive attractions and the number of visits.
- Who makes the reservations? With the Roma Pass you do, with the Turbopass passes and the combination tickets it is largely the provider.
- What are the cancellation terms? They differ greatly; see above.
Do I have to collect the pass in Rome?
In most cases, no. The Rome Essentials Pass, the Rome Tourist Card, the Vatican City Pass, the Rome Explorer Pass and also the Roma Pass are on your smartphone after purchase. Since the switch to the Roma Pass app, the Roma Pass is entirely digital; the pickup at a counter that used to be usual no longer applies.
Only two products still have to be collected: the Rome Omnia Card and the Rome Super Pass. With the Rome City Pass this applies only to the optional public transport ticket; the pass itself is digital. If you are collecting something in Rome, allow half an hour for it and bring your booking confirmation and an ID document.
Rome Essentials Pass
from €89.00 · Turbopass
Book now