Rome Pass and other passes

• Free admission to 1 museum if you choose the 48 hours card and to 2 if you choose the 72 hours card. Admission to the Vatican Museums is not included.
• Reduced rate (minimum of 20% discount) on the remaining museums and monuments for which you do not use the free admission.
• Discounts on shows, additional tourist services (bicycle rental, tours, tourist bus...), and temporary exhibitions (many of them with skip-the-line access).
• Discounts in archaeological areas that are not directly managed by the Municipality of Rome. This is the case, for example, of Villa Medici or the Circus Maximus.
• Skip-the-line access to the Colosseum and other points of interest.
• Free access for the duration of the Roma Pass to all Rome public transport (metro and buses). Airport transfer and regional trains are not included.
• A map and guide of the main points of interest in Rome.

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Colosseum, Forum of Rome and Palatine Hill

These are the three must-sees of the city for those interested in Ancient Rome (the Colosseum is the most visited monument in Rome together with the Vatican Museums). Admission to all three is combined in a single ticket, usually bought at the Colosseum, and if you want to know more about how to visit them independently, without the need to have the tourist card, you can read these other articles on Colosseum Tours and Colosseum Tickets and Tours.

Capitoline Museums

They are often overlooked by visitors to Rome in pursuit of the Vatican Museums, which is a big mistake. These museums located on Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio) are considered the oldest in the world and house a collection of works of art that includes paintings by Titian, Caravaggio, and Rubens, among others.

Inside, there are essential works such as the Capitoline She-wolf, the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, Bernini's Medusa, the Colossus of Constantine, and the Dying Gaul. In addition to the works contained inside, the majesty of the rooms in itself is completely worth the visit.

Castel Sant Angelo

They call it "The Guardian of Rome" because it was the fortress that the Romans used to repel the constant sieges of the city. Although it was originally conceived as the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian, it has also served (in addition to being a fortress) as a papal palace and a prison.

The diversity of its rooms, the views of the city that can be enjoyed from the upper terrace, the museum that houses inside, the corridors of the mausoleum, and the maze of rooms that compose it make Castel Sant Angelo a must-visit for all those who want to discover Rome beyond the Colosseum and the Vatican. It is one of the points of interest in which the reduced rate is the most rewarding, as it can mean a discount of more than 70% over the usual price.

Borghese Gallery

One of the most hidden treasures of Rome and probably one of the most enjoyable during your visit due to the low number of visitors compared to other tourist sites. The Borghese Gallery is one of the essential galleries of Rome and includes in its interior sculptures of exquisite beauty.

Another added value of this enclave is that it is located in a stunningly beautiful green area of Rome: the Villa Borghese Gardens. I recommend that you also use the reduced rate here because, depending on the time of year, you can go from paying 15 Euros to only 4. If you are thinking of visiting the Borghese Gallery, I recommend you to check out this article I wrote about it: Borghese Gardens and Gallery Tours & Tickets.

Other museums or places of interest

On the official website of the Roma Pass, you can check the rest of the points of interest that you can visit with this card, but here's a little spoiler of some of the other museums and monuments included:

How does the Roma Pass card work?

If you purchase your Roma Pass online you will receive instructions about the points where you can pick it up once you are in Rome with the voucher that will be sent to you after your purchase. Some of these points are:

Once you pick up the card, you must fill it in with your personal information and the first day of use or when you plan to activate it. In the tourist points you will be asked to present the card together with your ID, in the subway stations there is a screen that will read the code of this card and on the bus, you just have to carry it with you.

The Roma Pass will be activated the first time you use it (if you arrive in Rome in the afternoon and want to pick it up at the airport, it is not worth using it only for the metro because you will lose hours of use) and remember that in many tourist attractions you will not have to queue at the entrance just by owning the card.

Ana's Traveller Tip

If you are visiting the Colosseum, at the entrance there is a queue reserved for the Roma Pass cardholders.

The Roma Pass card will make things much easier for you during your visit to Rome, but apart from that, I am going to give you some tips to make the most of it (remember that you only have 48 or 72 hours to make the most of it).

This is what you should keep in mind before activating your Roma Pass card:

Opening hours of attractions

Check the opening hours and days of all the tourist attractions you want to visit. The Colosseum is open all year round, but on Mondays, in Rome, most museums are closed and some may also be closed on public holidays. Make sure you do not activate the card on a Monday morning if you want to use it to access the Capitoline Museums or Castel Sant Angelo because you will find them closed and you will have wasted valuable time on your card.

Plan your visits in advance

The aim is that you can see most of the sites that require entrance tickets during the time you enjoy the Roma Pass, so you must decide the order in which you are going to see the museums according to their opening hours. Keep in mind that to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum you will need a whole morning. Most museums usually close at 7:30 p.m. in Rome.

Check how long it takes you to get from one attraction to another

In Rome, most places are accessible on foot, but there are some like Villa Borghese or the Vatican City that are farther away from the city center and can take longer to reach.

If you are traveling with children

If you are traveling with children you will not want to get the Roma Pass for them as they will get free entry to most of the tourist sites in the city. In fact, I would recommend you not to buy it for yourself in this case either, as if you want to make the most of it the kids might not be able to keep up with the pace.

About public transportation in Rome

The Roma Pass includes public transportation for free, but let me tell you that in Rome the waiting times for the bus can be long, so if you can walk from one place to another I recommend it. Therefore, it is best to organize visits to monuments or museums that are within the same area.

Omnia Card

So far I have told you about the advantages of the Roma Pass, as it is one of the main passes in the city. However, you must have noticed that there are areas of the Vatican such as the Vatican Museums that are not included: for them, there is another card, the Omnia Card. This card guarantees free and fast access to the Vatican Museums, preferential entrance with an audio guide to St. Peter's Basilica, and discounts in different Museums and areas of the Vatican.

Now you may ask yourself: "Which one do I have to choose?" That's the best part: you don't have to choose because the Omnia Card includes the Roma Pass so you can spend two (or three) days visiting Rome and one day in the Vatican City area. Unless you have already visited the Vatican on a previous trip, this is definitely the option I recommend: combining both cards.

Anyway, I recommend you to read this other article I made about Omnia Card to solve any other questions that you may still have.

Rome City Pass

In addition to these two cards, there is another pass to visit Rome that can be considered the VIP option: the Rome City Pass. Unlike the previous ones, this tourist card will be valid throughout your whole stay in the city and is a 100% digital card. It includes free admission to the Colosseum or the Borghese Gallery, the tourist bus, discounts on excursions and other points of interest and for a bit of extra money, you can visit the Vatican Museums and hire the airport transfer.

The main upside is the convenience it brings and how complete it is, the downside is obviously the higher price compared to the Roma Pass and Omnia Card. If you can afford it, it is a very useful option, but make sure you are going to spend enough time in the city to make the most of it.

If you have opted for the Roma Pass and you are going to visit the Colosseum, the Capitoline Museums, the Borghese Gallery, and Castel Sant Angelo, you probably don't want to miss one of the main options not included in this city pass: the Vatican Museums. If using the Omnia Card together with the Roma Pass doesn't work for you, you can use your Roma Pass for all the monuments and museums included and then buy tickets for the Vatican on your own. Learn how to do it in this article: Vatican Museum Tickets.

If you still prefer to buy the tickets separately, for example, for the Colosseum, here's my article about Colosseum Tickets and Tours.

There is also the possibility to buy a combined ticket for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums, which also includes a guided tour of both sites. Find here all the information: How to buy tickets for the Colosseum and the Vatican.