Rome city pass: what the six options actually are
“Rome city pass” describes two different products. The first is a real pass: a card or app that gives free or reduced entry at a list of sites for a fixed period, sometimes with public transport. Only the Roma Pass and the Omnia card work this way. The second is a bundle: several individual tickets sold together at a small discount, with no time limit and no transport. The Rome Tourist Card, the Vatican City Pass and the Go City Explorer are bundles with a pass name.
That distinction decides value. A real pass rewards speed and transport use; a bundle rewards convenience. Neither type gets you into the Colosseum without a reservation, and only the ones that name the Vatican Museums include them.
Comparison table (prices as of September)
| Pass | Price | Valid | Entries included | Vatican Museums | Transport | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roma Pass 72h | €58.50 | 72 h from first use | 2 free, then reduced at 45+ sites | No | ATAC 72 h | 3 days, two big state sites |
| Roma Pass 48h | €36.50 | 48 h | 1 free, then reduced | No | ATAC 48 h | Rarely worth it |
| Omnia Vatican & Rome Card | €149 | 72 h | Roma Pass 72h + Vatican Museums + St. Peter’s audio + San Giovanni + Carcer Tullianum | Yes, fast track | ATAC 72 h + hop-on bus 3 days | Vatican + ancient Rome + bus |
| Omnia 24h (Tiqets) | €70 | 24 h bus | Vatican Museums + San Giovanni + Carcer Tullianum | Yes | Hop-on bus 24 h only | One Vatican day with bus |
| Rome Tourist Card (Tiqets) | from €89 | open dates per ticket | Colosseum/Forum/Palatine audio + Vatican fast track + St. Peter’s audio + options | Yes | No | Two big sites, one checkout |
| Vatican City Pass (Tiqets) | €71.50 | open dates | Vatican Museums fast track + St. Peter’s with host and audio + Santa Maria Maggiore | Yes | No | Vatican-only visitors |
| Go City Rome Explorer | from €89 (2 choices) to 7 choices | 30 days from first use | Choose from 30+ tours and tickets | Yes, as a choice | No | Families doing tours and bus |
| Go City Rome All-Inclusive | from about €114 | 1–3 days | Unlimited from the same list | Yes | No | Very fast sightseeing |
| Turbopass Rome | from about €90 | 1–7 days | Colosseum, Vatican, bus, transport option | Yes | Optional ATAC add-on | German-speaking market |
Turbopass is sold mainly to German and Dutch visitors and is not on Tiqets or GetYourGuide; we include it because people search for it, and its prices carry a until an editor verifies the 2026 rate.
Roma Pass 48h and 72h
The Roma Pass is issued by the city (Roma Capitale with Zètema) and comes as a card or an app. The 72-hour version costs €58.50 and gives two free entries at your choice of the participating sites, reduced entry at the rest, unlimited ATAC transport (metro, bus, tram, Metromare to Ostia) for 72 hours from first validation, and access to the priority lane at the Colosseum and Castel Sant’Angelo. The 48-hour version costs €36.50 with one free entry and 48 hours of transport.
Sites that count as a free entry include the Colosseum with Forum and Palatine (€18), the Borghese Gallery (€15, booking still required), Castel Sant’Angelo (€16), the Capitoline Museums, the Baths of Caracalla, Ostia Antica, Palazzo Barberini, the Ara Pacis and the National Roman Museum sites. Use the two free entries on the two most expensive: Colosseum and Borghese, or Colosseum and Castel Sant’Angelo.
What is not included: the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s dome, the Pantheon (€5, municipal but excluded), the Domus Aurea and the catacombs, which belong to the Church. The Tiqets listing for the Roma Pass showed as unavailable in our our last check catalogue export, so buy it on the official Roma Pass site, at tourist information points or via the Tiqets Rome passes page if it is back in stock.
Omnia Vatican & Rome Card
The Omnia card is sold by Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the Vatican’s own pilgrimage office, and it is the only product that combines a Roma Pass with the Vatican. For €149 (official site, our last check) you get a 72-hour Roma Pass with everything above, fast-track entry to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, an audio guide app for St. Peter’s, entry with audio guide to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano and the Carcer Tullianum (Mamertine Prison), and a three-day hop-on hop-off bus ticket.
Two variants appear on Tiqets. The Omnia 24h (€70, rated 3.4 from about 270 reviews) drops the Roma Pass and gives Vatican Museums entry, San Giovanni, the Carcer and a 24-hour bus; it is the cheapest way to add a bus day to a Vatican visit. The Omnia Smart (€99, rated 4.3 from a handful of reviews) is a 12-month digital voucher with Vatican Museums fast track, Colosseum, Forum and Palatine, Mamertine Prison, the Lateran Palace and five audio walking tours, with no transport at all; it suits people who want the entries in one QR code and will walk.
Rome Tourist Card and Vatican City Pass (Tiqets bundles)
The Rome Tourist Card is Tiqets’ best-selling Rome product: a build-your-own bundle from €89, rated 3.9 from about 8,700 reviews. The base version pairs Colosseum, Forum and Palatine entry with audio guide, Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel fast track and a St. Peter’s audio app; at checkout you can add a hop-on bus, the Pantheon, Castel Sant’Angelo or a Vatican tour. Each ticket has its own date and time, and the whole thing is non-refundable. Our Rome Tourist Card guide works through the price against buying separately. The live price and add-on menu are on the Tiqets Rome Tourist Card page.
The Vatican City Pass (€71.50, 3.9 from about 1,400 reviews) is the Vatican half on its own: fast-track Museums and Sistine Chapel, entry to St. Peter’s with a host and an audio guide, and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore with its museum. Separately those cost about €33.60 plus €19 plus €9.50 on Tiqets, so the pass saves a few euros and one checkout. It is on the Tiqets Vatican City Pass page.
Go City Rome Pass
Go City sells two products. The Explorer pass lets you pick two to seven attractions from a list of more than 30 and use them within 30 days of the first; prices start at €89 for two choices (official site, our last check). The All-Inclusive pass gives unlimited entry from the same list for one to three consecutive days, from about €114. The list is unusual: it includes guided tours (Colosseum with Forum and Palatine, Vatican Museums, catacombs), the Big Bus hop-on hop-off, cooking classes, food tours and museums such as the Capitoline and Castel Sant’Angelo.
Because tours cost €45–60 each, the Explorer pays when every choice is a tour. Pick museum tickets at €15 and you lose money. No public transport is included. The GetYourGuide city cards category lists Go City alongside other bundles for comparison.
How to buy, activate and use each pass
The Roma Pass comes as a physical card from tourist information points (Termini, Fiumicino arrivals, Piazza Pia near Castel Sant’Angelo) or as an app purchase. The clock starts at the first museum entry or the first transport validation, not at purchase, so buy it the day before and activate it at 8:30 with your Colosseum slot to get three full days. Write your name on the card; it is personal and checked. Transport works by tapping the card or the app QR at metro gates and bus validators.
The Omnia card is collected at the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi office on Piazza Pia or at St. Peter’s Square, or delivered digitally; the Vatican Museums slot is reserved through their portal after purchase, so book that immediately. Tiqets bundles and the Vatican City Pass need no collection: every ticket sits in the app with its own QR and time.
Go City is app-only; the pass activates at the first attraction scan and, for the Explorer, gives you 30 days to use the rest. Guided tours inside Go City must be reserved with the operator by phone or web link in advance, which is the step most buyers miss.
Turbopass ships as a print-at-home voucher exchanged for tickets; its transport option is a paper ATAC pass. Because Turbopass is not sold by our partners, its 2026 prices and inclusions carry a tag here; verify on the Turbopass site before relying on the table.
Break-even maths, worked
Assume one adult, three days, official prices at our last check (Colosseum €18, Borghese €17 with fee, Castel Sant’Angelo €16, Vatican Museums €25 online, ATAC 72-hour ticket €18, hop-on bus 3 days about €35).
- Roma Pass 72h (€58.50) vs singles: Colosseum €18 + Borghese €17 + transport €18 = €53. The pass costs €5.50 more but adds the Colosseum priority lane and 30–50 percent off a third site. Add the Capitoline at reduced price and you are ahead. Verdict: break-even with two big sites and daily metro; a loss with one.
- Roma Pass 48h (€36.50) vs singles: Colosseum €18 + transport 48h €12.50 = €30.50. The pass loses €6 unless the discounts bring it back. Verdict: skip.
- Omnia (€149) vs Roma Pass + Vatican + bus: Roma Pass €58.50 + Vatican fast track €33.60 (Tiqets) + bus €35 = €127. Add the St. Peter’s audio, San Giovanni and the Carcer and the gap closes to about €10. Verdict: fair value only if you ride the bus daily; otherwise buy the Roma Pass and a Vatican ticket for €92.
- Rome Tourist Card (€89) vs singles on Tiqets: Colosseum with audio €32 + Vatican fast track €33.60 + St. Peter’s audio app €6 = €71.60. Verdict: the base bundle costs more than its parts on the same platform; its value is one checkout and availability. See the detailed guide.
- Go City Explorer 3 choices vs GetYourGuide tours: Colosseum tour €49 + Vatican tour €59 + Big Bus €20 = €128 against a three-choice pass around €130. Verdict: only the tour-heavy combinations break even.
What no Rome pass gives you
- A Colosseum slot. Every pass holder still reserves on the official site; the Roma Pass adds a small fee.
- A Borghese Gallery slot. Booking is mandatory for everyone, pass or not.
- Refunds. Every pass is non-refundable once issued.
- The Pantheon, catacombs, Domus Aurea or Vatican Gardens, on any of the six.
- Airport transfers. The ATAC ticket in the Roma Pass excludes the Leonardo Express and airport buses; see the transport guide.
Who benefits, and who should skip
Buy the Roma Pass 72h if you will use the metro every day, see the Colosseum plus one other state site, and want the priority lane. Buy the Omnia if you are in Rome for three days, want the Vatican Museums without queuing and like the idea of a bus loop. Buy a Tiqets bundle if you want Colosseum and Vatican tickets in one app and the official sites are sold out. Buy Go City only after listing the tours you would take anyway.
Skip every pass if you are in Rome for two days or fewer, if your list is the Vatican plus free sights, or if you walk everywhere. Two single tickets and a €1.50 metro ride cost less than any Rome city pass, and the tickets hub shows where to buy them. For planning the days around a pass, the itineraries page has 72-hour routes built to match the Roma Pass clock.
