The Roma Pass seems like the ideal solution. One app, public transport and entry to attractions.

However, it certainly doesn’t always work out as a saving – for me, for example, the card wouldn’t have been worth it on my first visit to Rome. For a typical three-day itinerary, it’s often cheaper to buy admission tickets and travel tickets separately.

On my second trip, however, when I wanted to explore more sights in greater detail, it certainly did.

So I’ve worked out when the Roma Pass makes sense and when it’s a waste of money. If you’re still putting together your itinerary, start with our comprehensive guide to Rome or my 3-day Rome itinerary.

Comparison of various passes

Card	Price	What’s included	My verdict
Roma Pass 48H	38 eur	1 admission, discounts and public transport for 48 hours	usually not worth it
Roma Pass 72H	62,90 eur	2 admissions, discounts and public transport for 72 hours	It’s worth it if you’ve got a packed itinerary
OMNIA Smart	99 eur	The Vatican, the Colosseum and other attractions, but without public transport	you’re mainly paying for convenience
OMNIA 72H	149 eur	Roma Pass 72H, the Vatican, the tourist bus and other attractions	only if you make use of almost everything

Also, be aware of the OMNIA 24H for 69 eur. It’s not just a shorter version of the OMNIA 72H. It doesn’t include the Roma Pass or standard public transport.

What’s included in the Roma Pass

There are currently only two types available.

The Roma Pass 48H for 38 eur

• 1 admission included (must be the first monument visited)
• reduced admission to other participating attractions (usually between 30% and 45%)
• unlimited public transport for 48 hours
• Admission to attractions can be used on 3 consecutive calendar days

Roma Pass 72H for 62,90 eur

• 2 admissions included
• reduced admission to other participating attractions (usually between 30% and 45%)
• unlimited public transport for 72 hours
• Admission to attractions can be used on 4 consecutive calendar days

With the new digital version, the transport and museum sections are activated separately. You activate public transport manually in the app, and the museum section upon your first entry.

The good news is that the included admissions no longer have to be the first attractions you visit (as was previously the case).

For each attraction, you can choose whether to use the included admission or just the discount. This is confirmed by the current Roma Pass rules.

The Roma Pass is currently only available via the mobile app. Before purchasing, check that you can install it on your phone and that you will have mobile data in Italy.

Which attractions are included

Among the most interesting sites are:

• The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill as a single combined ticket
• Castel Sant’Angelo
• Galleria Borghese
• Capitoline Museums
• National Museum of Rome
• Caracalla Baths
• Ostia Antica
• Full list of attractions where the Roma Pass is accepted:romapass.it

What the Roma Pass does not include

• The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
• entry to the dome of St Peter’s Basilica
• the Colosseum arena and underground areas
• transport from Fiumicino Airport
• automatic entry without a booking

However, standard public transport is included, including buses 520 and 720 from Ciampino Airport.

Is the Roma Pass worth it? A detailed breakdown

In the following comparison, I may be giving the Roma Pass a slightly unfair advantage. I’m basing my calculations on the more expensive multi-journey tickets, even though you’ll often spend less when paying for individual journeys.

Programme	Separately	Roma Pass	Difference
Colosseum + public transport for 48 hours	18 + 15 = 33 eur	38 eur	the pass is 5 eur more expensive
Colosseum + Castel Sant’Angelo + public transport for 72 hours	18 + 16 + 22 = 56 eur	62,90 eur	the pass is 6,90 eur more expensive

And the reality can be even worse for the Roma Pass.

During one of my stays, I bought a 48-hour public transport ticket and ended up only using it three times. The Colosseum and three separate journeys would have cost me 22,50 eur. The Roma Pass costs 38 eur.

The difference is 15,50 eur per person.

The 72-hour Roma Pass only starts to work out better if, in addition to the two more expensive attractions, you visit other paid sites at a discount.

When is the Roma Pass actually worth it?

The following calculations are based on one adult. We’ve taken into account that, without the Roma Pass, you’d also buy an unlimited public transport ticket for €15 for 48 hours or €22 for 72 hours.

An example of when the 48-hour Roma Pass is worth it

Over two days, you visit Castel Sant’Angelo, the Colosseum and the Capitoline Museums. You’re also staying further from the city centre and use public transport several times a day.

	Without the Roma Pass	With the Roma Pass
Castel Sant’Angelo	€18	free
The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill	€18	€11.50
Capitoline Museums	€15	€9.50
48-hour public transport pass	€15	included
Roma Pass 48H	–	€38
Total	66 €	€59

In this case, you’ll save 7 eur. For this calculation to apply, Angel’s Castle must be the first attraction you visit, as the 48-hour Roma Pass only includes free entry to the first attraction you visit.

• 👉 Buy the 48-hour Roma Pass

An example of when the 72-hour Roma Pass is worth it

Over the course of three days, you’ll visit the Colosseum, Castel Sant’Angelo, the Capitoline Museums and the Museo di Roma. You’ll also be using public transport frequently.

	Without the Roma Pass	With the Roma Pass
The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill	€18	free
Castel Sant’Angelo	€18	free
Capitoline Museums	€15	€9.50
Museum of Rome	€13	€7.50
72-hour public transport pass	€22	included
Roma Pass 72H	–	€62.90
Total	€86	€79.90

The saving amounts to 6,10 eur. If you add the attractions on the Via Appia Antica, for which you’ll pay €4 instead of €8, the total saving rises to €10.10.

• 👉 Buy the 72-hour Roma Pass

When does this calculation not apply?

You can only include the full value of public transport if you would actually have bought a separate time-limited ticket. A single journey costs €1.50, so:

• A 48-hour ticket starts to pay for itself after around 10 journeys
• A 72-hour pass starts to pay for itself after about 15 journeys

If you’re staying in the historic centre and walk around most of Rome, the cost of transport will be significantly lower. For example, six journeys cost just €9, not €22.

In the second example, individual admission tickets and transport would cost you €73, whilst the Roma Pass would cost €79.90. The card would therefore be almost €7 more expensive.

A simple rule of thumb: the 48-hour Roma Pass makes sense if you visit one more expensive attraction for free, at least two other paid attractions, and make frequent use of public transport.

For the 72-hour Roma Pass, you’ll need two more expensive attractions included for free, at least two further discounted attractions, and really intensive use of public transport. Alternatively, you could walk, but you’d need to include at least four discounted attractions.

If you only want to visit the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums and walk around the city centre, the Roma Pass isn’t worth it. What’s more, it doesn’t include the Vatican at all.

A well-located hotel can save you more on transport than a tourist card. Take a look at which neighbourhoods to stay in in Rome.

So, here’s an example of when the 72-hour pass would be worth it for me

In Rome, I use public transport on average no more than three times a day. So, in reality, I spend around 13,50 eur on public transport over three days.

Let’s factor in some typical, more expensive attractions: the Colosseum and Castel Sant’Angelo will be your first two free sights.

Sights visited	Without the Roma Pass	With the Roma Pass	Result
Colosseum + Castel Sant’Angelo + 9 public transport journeys	€49.50	€62.90	The pass is €13.40 more expensive
+ Capitoline Museums	€64.50	€72.40	The pass is €7.90 more expensive
+ Museo di Roma	€77.50	€79.90	The pass is €2.40 more expensive
+ Via Appia Antica	€85.50	€83.90	The pass saves you €1.60
+ Centrale Montemartini	€96.50	€90.40	The pass saves you €6.10

Mathematically speaking, the Roma Pass only starts to save you money once you’ve visited your fifth paid attraction within three days. And even then, the saving is only €1.60, which could be swallowed up by any booking fees.

• 👉 Buy the 72-hour Roma Pass

The Roma Pass does not guarantee automatic booking

This is the most important practical piece of information.

Even with the Roma Pass, you must book in advance:

• the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill
• Galleria Borghese

The official Roma Pass recommends booking at least 10 days in advance, and preferably 20 days during peak season. You can book a slot even before purchasing the card itself, as only the visitors’ names are required when making a booking.

Castel Sant’Angelo does not require bookings for Roma Pass holders and has a separate queue.

The Roma Pass is also not a universal ‘skip-the-line’ pass. Neither a booking nor the pass will exempt you from the mandatory security checks.

You can find an overview of all the key attractions in the article ‘Which tickets in Rome should you book in advance?’.

OMNIA: Roma Pass extended to include the Vatican

The OMNIA 72H costs 149 eur and includes:

• the full Roma Pass 72H
• the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
• hop-on hop-off sightseeing buses
• The Mamertine Prison with an audio guide
• the Basilica and Monastery of St John Lateran

The 72-hour Roma Pass itself and official admission to the Vatican Museums cost a total of 87,90 eur.

You therefore pay extra for the sightseeing bus, additional admissions and the audio guide 61,10 eur. If you really make use of them, the OMNIA pass might be worth it. If you only want to visit the Vatican and two Roman attractions, buying tickets separately works out significantly cheaper.

The OMNIA Smart pass 99 eur includes the Vatican Museums, the Colosseum, the Mamertine Prison and the Lateran Palace. However, it does not include public transport. It’s more of a convenient ticket package than an actual travel and tourist card.

Personally, I don’t see many benefits in the OMNIA Pass for the average tourist.

Where to buy the Roma Pass and OMNIA

Product and retailer	Price	Advantages and disadvantages
Official Roma Pass	38 eur / 62,90 eur	Best value for money on the 48-hour option
72-hour Roma Pass via Booking.com	62,90 eur	same price as the official version, digital activation via the Roma Pass app, non-refundable
GetYourGuide – standalone Roma Pass	more expensive than the official price	more expensive and non-refundable, so I do not recommend it
Official OMNIA 72H	149 eur	direct purchase; the card must be collected in Rome
OMNIA 72H via GetYourGuide	149 eur	same price, free cancellation within 24 hours, voucher must be printed and collected
OMNIA 72H via Booking.com	149 eur	same price, purchased via your Booking.com account, but with no cancellation option and collection in Rome

For the 48-hour Roma Pass, I’d buy it directly from the official website. Both Booking and GetYourGuide sell it at a higher price.

For the Roma Pass 72H, the price is the same on both the official website and Booking 62,90 eur. You won’t pay any extra via Booking, and you can then activate the card digitally in the Roma Pass app. The downside is that you cannot cancel or change your booking.

If I were buying the OMNIA 72-hour pass, I’d choose GetYourGuide. When I checked, the price was the same as on the official website, but you could also cancel your booking free of charge up to 24 hours in advance.

The links to GetYourGuide and Booking.com are affiliate links. Using them does not increase the price, but if you make a purchase through them, we may receive a commission to help cover the costs of running the website.

My conclusion

For a standard first visit to Rome, I wouldn’t buy the Roma Pass.

I’d book the Colosseum separately 18 eur, the Vatican Museums 25 eur and pay for transport as and when I use it. That’s exactly what I would do for my 3-day itinerary in Rome.

The 72-hour Roma Pass makes sense for an intensive museum itinerary. The OMNIA 72-hour pass, on the other hand, is worth it if, in addition to the Vatican and Rome’s monuments, you’re actually going to make use of the tourist bus and the other included attractions.

And one more practical tip: a hotel in a good location will often save you more time and money than any tourist pass.