What is the Roma Pass?
The Roma Pass is a cultural card that allows tourists to access a variety of discounts and services so they can enjoy the beauty of Rome more easily and at a lower cost. This card offers you unlimited transport, free museums, discounts and discounted tickets for events, exhibitions and tourist services, for a duration of either 48 hours or 72 hours.
When collecting your Roma Pass you will be offered a Roma MAP which is a map with tourist information points, metro stations and all the points of interest that you can visit with Roma Pass. On the Map, you will also find addresses and websites to collect and visit them!
Roma Pass 48h or 72h?
The Roma Pass is available in two packages, either 48 hours or 72 hours. On the 48h Roma Pass you will be able to benifit from the following activities for 32 euros:
-First museum or archaeological site or experience included.
-Reduced ticket for all other museums and/or archaeological sites and/or experiences visited subsequently.
-Free use of the city’s public transport network, for the duration of the card’s validity.
-Discounts and special prices for exhibitions, attractions and tourist services.
-Dedicated booking arrangement for museums/archaeological sites.
-Free access to toilet services on the P.Stop network. (You can download the map from the P.Stop application Here for IOS and Here for Android in order to be able to locate all the toilets).
The card is valid for 48 hours from the first validation in museums and public transport.
As for the 72-hour Roma Pass, it costs 52 euros and you would rather have access to two museums or two archaeological sites or two experiences depending on your choice. The validity of this Pass is 24 hours longer than the 48-hour Roma Pass, so these two points are the only difference between the two cards. Otherwise all the other points mentioned below are the same and are also part of the 72h Roma Pass.
How to buy the Roma Pass?
You can buy the Roma Pass either online or on site by paying in cash and use it directly if you choose the second option. Please note that if you purchase it online, you can only collect it after 24 hours from the date of purchase to allow credit/deposit between banking systems. Before 24 hours after purchase, YOU CANNOT RETRIEVE YOUR CARDS). You must therefore purchase your Roma Pass at least one day before your trip.
At the collection point, you need to show them the code to collect the Roma Pass (you will have the code after purchasing the Roma pass).
How and where can I collect my Roma Pass?
You can collect your card at the airport (Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport – International Arrivals – Terminal T3; daily from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or Ciampino, G.B. Pastine Airport; from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) or at the train station (Termini…) or to addresses in the city center such as (Minghetti, Fori Imperiali. Castel S. Angelo).
Personally, I bought mine online and collected it easily at Fiumicino Airport T3.
I highly recommend downloading the airport app to use the free WiFi in the airport. You will also find all the airport maps on it. Once at the airport you have to follow the word “Uscita” which means “Exit” on the nameplates and look for “tourist information” which is a small garnet colored corner, there is only one at the airport and it is close to the taxi station, also close to exit gate number 2.
Is the Roma Pass worth it?
It depends on your interests, to summarize, the 72-hour Roma pass costs 52 euros offering a long list of sites to see freely (you have the choice of seeing 2 sites if you possess the 72-hour Roma pass and 1 site if you own the 48-hour Roma pass) in my case I was interested in seeing the Colosseum (18 euros) and the Borghese Gallery (16 euros) and I also had to take unlimited public transport knowing that the unlimited transport ticket for 72 hours cost 18 euros, so if you noticed, there was no difference (52 euros in total) but despite that I preferred to buy the Roma Pass because it is hard to find and buy a ticket for the Colosseum on the official website. The Roma Pass offers a second reservation site, reserved only for its holders and has additional reserved seats. The Roma Pass also offers other discounts such as; 20% discount on electric bike rental… You can see more about other discounts on the official website.
(Note: online reservations are required even for 72/48 hour Roma Pass holders to visit the Colosseum, Foro Romano – Palatino and Borghese Gallery).
Finally, personally, I don’t really recommend it if you only want to see one site but as I mentioned before, it depends on your interests.
How to get from Fiumicino Airport T3 to Rome city center?
Fiumicino Airport is 24 km from the center of Rome. You have several means of transport depending on your budget to get to the city center of Rome from Fiumicino Airport T3.
Taxis:
This is the most expensive way, it takes approximately 45 minutes on the way and costs around 48 euros. It should be noted that these Taxis are white in color to avoid any scams. (The taxi rank is right in front of the exit door N°02 of terminal 3).
Train :
This is the fastest way. There are actually two train lines (fast and slow) that connect Fiumicino airport and the center of Rome. The fast line (Leorando Express) journey is direct and takes 32 minutes from the airport to Roma Termini station and costs 14 euros. As for the slow train, the cost is almost half; 8 euros but the journey time is approximately equal to 51 minutes or up to 1 hour, with a change of line during the journey. The train is accessible directly from inside the airport. (You have to get off the escalator which is close to the exit door N°4 of Terminal 3).
-You should take in consideration that the Leorando service operates from 06:08 to 23:23 from the airport to Rome Termini and from 05:20 to 22:35 from Rome Termini to the airport.
-It is advisable to take the direct line to avoid the hassle, especially if you have heavy luggage.
-You can buy your tickets either on spot using the vending machine or online on Trainline or Trenitalia. (I advise you to buy them online to avoid queueing and from Trenitalia because it is cheaper.)
Bus :
This is the most practical way (price/quality) ratio. There are two buses; one from the airport passing througt the Vatican City then arriving to Roma-Termini Station (Bus Shuttle N°12) for only 7 euros, with some stops along the way and a duration of 50 minutes to the Vatican and 1 hour 05 minutes to Roma-Termini Station. The second bus is (Terravision Bus N°14) for 6 euros which makes a direct non-stop route of 45 to 55 minutes to Roma-Termini Station.
During my trip I chose to take Bus N°12 because you can benefit from a free WiFi connection, plus it makes a stop near the Vatican City at Roma Vaticano Via Crescenzio where my hotel was located, at not even a 5 minute walk, it was perfect for me ! So it’s up to you to choose which stop is closest to your hotel.
The bus was comfortable and airconditioned, personally I find that is the best way for mid-budget travelers.
Useful information :
-The bus station is on the right, not far from exit door N°5 of Terminal T3.
– You can buy your bus tickets either online or on site (from a kiosk for the Terravision Bus N°14 just near the stopping station, or directly from an agent wearing vests with the bus logo Shuttle for Bus N°12) :
- Tickets Bus N°14:
-On the official website: Here.
-Or on an intermediary website: Here.
Timetable: Last bus at 00:30/ then from 08:00 until 23:00.
- Tickets Bus N°12:
-On the official website: Here.
-Or on an intermediary website: Here.
Schedule: From 8:30 a.m. to 9:55 p.m.
-For my journey, I chose to buy mine on site because I wasn’t sure of the exact time to take the bus and I was afraid of missing mine. (If you miss yours you can still take the next bus but you do not have priority, you will be added in the secondary list, so you will have to wait and see if there are any empty seats not reserved at that time).