Turbopass Rome Review: Are the Rome City Passes Worth It?

How the Rome City Pass and the Rome Essentials Pass Work

Turbopass is one of the most popular city pass providers for Rome. They offer two great passes that make your trip to Rome less stressful and more affordable.

Both passes are time-based, all-inclusive passes. That means you buy one of the passes for a set number of days and can visit as many of the included attractions as you like during that time.

The Rome City Pass is the all-in-one, worry-free package. All major sights in Rome are included, plus a little extra. It’s available for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7 days.

The Rome Essentials Pass is the scaled-down version. It’s available for 2–4 days and covers only the absolute must-see highlights in Rome.

After purchasing, you’ll receive your pass conveniently by email.

We’ve compared all city passes in our comprehensive Rome city pass comparison. In this article, we give you our honest take on the two Turbopass options.

Our tip: Use our code 22PLACES5 to save 5% when purchasing one of the Rome Turbopasses. You enter the code at the very end of the checkout process — easy.

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What Attractions Are Included in the Rome Passes from Turbopass?

The Rome City Pass includes a total of 19 attractions, plus many more at a discount. Compared to city passes for other major cities, that might not sound like a lot — but all the key Roman must-sees are covered, including:

• Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel (Skip-the-Line)
• Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill (Skip-the-Line)
• 48-hour Hop-on/Hop-off Bus through Rome (Big Bus)
• Castel Sant’Angelo
• Pantheon (including audio guide)
• 90-minute city tour in English
• Guided bicycle tour in English

The Rome Essentials Pass is essentially the little sibling of the Rome City Pass. It focuses exclusively on the most important sights. Important to know: The Hop-on/Hop-off Bus is not included here.

So you can see exactly where the differences lie, we’ve laid out the key attractions in the table below for a clear side-by-side comparison:

Optional Add-ons with the Rome City Pass

Public Transportation in Rome:

When purchasing the Rome City Pass, you can optionally add public transit tickets for Rome, which let you use public buses and the metro. You will, however, need to pick them up on-site.

If you buy them directly on-site, they’re a bit cheaper. So this option isn’t really a money-saver — but it’s only a few euros more than buying locally, so it’s not a dealbreaker either.

Airport Transfer:

If you’re arriving at Rome Fiumicino Airport, you can add your airport transfer directly when purchasing the Turbopass for an additional fee of 13 euros.

The transfer is operated by SIT Bus and takes about an hour. The value for money on the transfer is solid, so you can book this option without hesitation.

The only significantly faster option into the city is the Leonardo Express train. It takes just 32 minutes, but costs about twice as much.

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Cost of the Rome City Pass

The price of the passes depends on how many days you purchase them for. Here’s the current pricing overview for adults:

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Our Honest Review of the Rome Turbopasses

Both passes are worth considering. The Rome City Pass is ideal for the ultimate power sightseer — or for anyone spending more than three days in Rome. That gives you enough time to really make the most of what the pass offers.

The Essentials Pass is worth it if you’re only spending a weekend in Rome. In that case, you’ll only have time for the top highlights anyway.

But we want to be honest with you. The Rome Turbopasses are not classic savings passes. If you plan your Rome trip well in advance, you can get around significantly cheaper with individual tickets. Everything you need to know about that is in our detailed article on Rome tickets and admission prices.

But here’s where Rome throws you a curveball: Tickets on the official websites are often sold out weeks in advance. That means you’re forced to either buy pricier tickets through third-party providers or wait in line for hours on-site. That’s when the Rome Turbopass becomes really appealing — it guarantees your tickets are secured before you even land.

Important: If you’re under 25 and an EU citizen, a city pass in Rome probably isn’t worth it for you. Most attractions are free or very cheap in that case. The Colosseum ticket, for example, will only cost you 2 euros.

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Buying Turbopasses

You can buy the Rome City Pass and the Rome Essentials Pass directly from the provider Turbopass.

Our tip: Use our code 22PLACES5 to save 5% when purchasing one of the Rome Turbopasses. You enter the code at the very end of the checkout process — easy.

Browse the Rome passes from Turbopass

The Turbopass website walks you through the booking process nice and easily. To make sure nothing goes wrong, we’ve summarized the most important steps for you here:

Important to know: A pass day is always a calendar day, not a 24-hour period. If you’re arriving in Rome in the evening, make sure to select the following day as your start date when booking. Otherwise you’ll waste an entire pass day right away!
Here’s how to proceed step by step:

1. 1. After selecting your pass and clicking “Continue,” you’ll set the start date of the pass. This is the day you want to use the pass for the first time. You’ll also enter the validity period (in days) and the number of people.
   2. Choose the date and time of day for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums. Note that not all dates or times are always available.* In the same step, you can optionally add an airport transfer and/or a public transit ticket to the Rome City Pass (additional cost).
   3. Next, enter your address and the names of all travelers. Keep in mind that the tickets are personalized and you may need to show your ID when entering the attractions.
   4. In the next step, choose your payment method. You can pay by credit card, PayPal, or Klarna.
   5. Enter discount code 22PLACES5 and save 5%.
   6. That’s it. Once you’ve completed the purchase, you’ll receive your pass and tickets by email.

* If your desired dates aren’t available at all, you can also purchase the Rome City Pass without those two attractions. In that case, the price of the Turbopass will be reduced. We do recommend buying the pass early, though, so you can visit both highlights on your preferred days.
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Frequently Asked Questions About the Rome Turbopass

Info: Our article about the Rome Turbopass is updated regularly. That said, things can change unexpectedly from time to time. It’s best to double-check the terms and included attractions before making your final purchase decision. Thanks!