FAQ

There is no best pass for everyone, only the best one for your trip. The Rome City Pass is the broad package with the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums, the bus and the boat. The Rome Essentials Pass covers the three must-sees without a bus. The Roma Pass is the city's own product and buys transport plus one or two free museums. The comparison matches each pass to a trip.

Only if you visit several paid sights that the pass actually includes. The Essentials Pass, for example, costs more than the two official tickets for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums bought separately. What you pay for on top is the reserved time slot and the Pantheon. The prices page shows the ladders side by side.

Then buy the single ticket. The official timed ticket costs far less than any pass, visitors under 18 enter free with a free ticket and EU citizens aged 18 to 25 pay a reduced rate. The Colosseum ticket page explains the booking rules.

Rarely. The 72-hour OMNIA Card already contains a Roma Pass, so buying both would pay twice for the same free museums and the same transport. Combine one pass with single tickets instead, for example for the Borghese Gallery or the dome of St Peter's.

On the pass page here, and the purchase is completed with the issuer. Turbopass sells the City Pass and the Essentials Pass, Tiqets the OMNIA Card and the Tourist Card, Go City the Explorer Pass. The Roma Pass is sold only in the city's own online shop.

Four different ways. The Turbopass passes arrive by e-mail as a digital pass. The Roma Pass is redeemed in the Roma Pass app with the booking reference and the title code. The Explorer Pass lives in the Go City app, and the Tourist Card arrives as e-tickets. Only the 72-hour OMNIA Card has to be collected in Rome.

At an ORP desk on St Peter's Square or at the Lateran, Monday to Saturday. Sundays and Vatican holidays are closed, so an arrival on a Sunday cannot start with the card. If your Vatican time slot falls on the collection day, be there at least an hour before it. The 24-hour card is different and comes as a QR code by mail.

It depends on the pass. The City Pass and the Essentials Pass ask for a start date, and both reserve the Colosseum and Vatican time slots with the purchase. The Tourist Card is bound to the slot you choose per module. The Roma Pass, the OMNIA Card and the Explorer Pass are bought without a date and start with the first use.

Six ways. The City Pass runs for one to five or seven consecutive days from your start date, the Essentials Pass for two to four. The Roma Pass and the OMNIA Card count in hours from the first use. The Explorer Pass gives you 2 to 7 attractions within 30 days, the Tourist Card fixed time slots.

With the two Turbopass passes yes, the days run from the start date without a pause, and the City Pass has no 6-day option. The Explorer Pass has no run of days at all, every pick can be used on any day inside its 30-day window. The Roma Pass and the OMNIA Card run in hours rather than days.

Six months after purchase. Its two halves also start separately once you do use it. The museum part opens at your first museum scan and runs three days on the 48-hour pass and four days on the 72-hour pass. The travel part opens at your first ride and runs exactly 48 or 72 hours.

Yes, timed entry is compulsory for everyone and the ticket carries your name. The City Pass and the Essentials Pass reserve the slot as part of the purchase, and the Tourist Card is sold with a fixed slot. With the Roma Pass you have to book the slot yourself online, and the arena and the underground are excluded from it. Tickets go on sale 30 days ahead.

The City Pass, the Essentials Pass and both tiers of the OMNIA Card include them with a time slot. With the Explorer Pass they are one of your picks, with the Tourist Card the alternative to the Pantheon. The Roma Pass does not include them at all. Booking a slot yourself adds a booking fee, and the last Sunday of the month is free at the door. See the Vatican Museums ticket page.

With the Roma Pass and the Explorer Pass, and only with a reservation. The gallery works with fixed entry times and limited places, so book weeks ahead. A small reservation fee is charged for every ticket, including for pass holders and free tickets. The City Pass and the Essentials Pass do not include the gallery.

In some passes. Entry has been charged since 2023. The City Pass and the Essentials Pass include it, the Explorer Pass offers it as one of your picks, and the Tourist Card lets you take it instead of the Sistine Chapel. It is not part of the Roma Pass. The attractions page lists what each pass covers.

Only in two passes. The Roma Pass covers the ATAC network for 48 or 72 hours from your first ride, and the 72-hour OMNIA Card covers it through its Roma Pass part, for adults only. The City Pass sells an ATAC ticket as an add-on. Details on the public transport page.

Not with a pass, in most cases. The buses 720 and 520 to Ciampino are inside the ATAC network the Roma Pass covers, but Fiumicino with the Leonardo Express and the FL1 train is excluded everywhere. The City Pass offers an airport shuttle as a paid add-on.

With most issuers yes. Turbopass has a child rate for ages 6 to 9 and a teen rate for 10 to 17, with under-6s free. The OMNIA Card has a rate for 6 to 17, Go City one for 5 to 15 with adults counted from 16. The Roma Pass has an adult rate only. Current amounts are on the prices page.

Less often than for adults. Visitors under 18 enter the Colosseum and the state museums free, children under 10 travel free on the ATAC network, and the Roma Pass part of the OMNIA Card is not given to children at all. Buy the adults a pass and the children the free or reduced tickets they are entitled to.

It depends on the issuer. Turbopass refunds a pass minus a fee, but only while nothing has been used, no ticket has been issued and no reservation has been made, and the City Pass carries a higher special fee than the rest. The Roma Pass and the OMNIA Card are sold without any refund, and the Tourist Card is not refundable either. The Explorer Pass is refunded within 90 days of purchase as long as it was never activated.

The issuers do not refund a closed sight inside a pass. The city states plainly that the Roma Pass is not refunded for a wrong purchase, for non-use or for a closure. Check the opening notices of the houses you care about on the morning of your visit, and keep a second museum on your list.