Roma Pass is an all encompassing tourist card sponsored by the Rome City Council and the Ministry for the Arts and Cultural activities, in collaboration with ATAC, the public transport company.  It offers exciting opportunities to check out the cultural and archaeological heritage of Rome in a cost effective manner.

Graphic by Roma Pass

Priced at €25, the pass includes a host of possibilities to design your own Rome sightseeing itinerary. The Roma pass offers the following benefits -

• Free entry to the first two museums/sites of your choice (you can choose from 40 museums/sites included in the offer).
• Discounted entry to the remaining museums/sites.
• Free public transport on trams, buses and metros within Rome.
• Discounted on-call 24*7 multi-lingual medical service for tourists.
• The Roma Pass kit includes a Rome map and a Rome guide detailing the museums/sites and public transport connections throughout Rome.

The Forum in Rome by mauricedb

Now, the question arises whether you should go for the Roma Pass? When Europe travel planning you have to work out what Rome attractions you plan to visit and and decide for yourself.

• If you use the card effectively in an organised manner, like visiting the Colosseum (€12) and Galleria Borghese (€8.50) as the first two sites, you will notice that the pass has almost paid for itself.
• A three day public transport card costs €11, if purchased separately thus making this pass all the more attractive.
• The pass  provides direct entry to the first two museums/sites thus helping you avoid long queues at the ticket counter. At the remaining sites, you need to present the pass at the respective ticket counters for the discounted ticket purchase.
• With the pass, you avoid the hassle of purchasing travel tickets every time you travel using the city’s public transport.

However you need to keep the following in mind, so that you can take the full advantage of this card -

• The Roma Pass is valid for three days starting from the day of activation up until the midnight of the third day. This means you have to plan your visits to the sites/museums within this time. Also the free public transportation will be valid within these 3 days only.
• The card has to be validated at the point of entry to the first site/museum that you are visiting or the first use of the public transport system – whichever occurs first.
• The form overleaf the card has to be filled with your name, surname and the validation date.
• The Roma Pass does not work in the Vatican since it is a separate country.
• Almost all museums remain closed on Monday in Rome.

Roma Pass can be bought online at the Roma Pass official site. It can also be bought in person at the various Tourist Information Points in Rome, the train stations, participating sites/museums and some news stands.

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