Is The Go City Rome Explorer Pass Worth It?

The Go City Rome Pass is one of the major attraction passes in the Eternal City and we’ve personally used the pass ourselves. In this review, we’ll show you what we liked and didn’t like to help you decide if this is the pass for you. While this attraction pass won’t be a good fit for everyone, it can help you save money if you plan well.

Disclaimer: We received Go City Rome Explorer Passes in order to share our opinion about this product but this is not a sponsored post.

Our Go City Experience

We’ve used 3 Go City passes in major cities including Paris, London and this exact pass in Rome during May 2022. Go City is a very popular company offering passes in large cities around the world. We like their passes because they offer numerous attractions at a great price point.

Other reviews online often claim to have used this pass, but then source stock photos from various websites. So we found it extremely important to prove that we’ve actually used the pass and you’ll find our personal photos taken from every attraction we visited. This is our honest review after using a Go City Rome Explorer Pass. Read more about us.

Why Consider A Go City Rome Pass?

Using a Go City Rome Pass will give you access to the top attractions including museums, historical sites, walking tours and cooking classes. This is the main reason most people buy a pass. We always like to compare it to buying in bulk because the more attractions you purchase, the more you’ll save.

An attraction pass can be used by first time visitors, returning visitors or those who live in the city but have yet to experience any of the touristy things. For example, we used several of the NYC attraction passes when we lived in the city because we wanted to see as many attractions as possible over a longer period of time.

The Go City Pass in Rome only offers an attraction based option known as the Explorer Pass. It’s preloaded with 3-7 attractions and you have 60 days to visit them once your pass is activated, but it doesn’t have to be consecutive days. A pass is activated once it has been scanned at the first attraction. Non activated passes are valid for two years from the date of purchase.

Go City Rome Explorer Pass Attractions

A strength of the Go City Rome pass is the amount of attractions offered. There are currently 52 attractions ranging from museums, landmarks, cooking classes, walking tours and bike rentals. In addition to the top attractions, you can book unique attractions which is a nice feature.

Depending on what pass you buy, you’ll be able to visit 3-7 attractions. A Go City Rome pass typically includes general admission, but you’ll have to pay extra for temporary exhibits or upgrades.

Here’s a list of the popular attractions including the ones we visited:

• Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (visited)
• Big Bus Rome Hop-On Hop-Off
• St. Peter’s Basilica and Cupola Guided Tour
• Rome Catacombs Tour (visited)
• Castel Sant’Angelo
• Pantheon
• The Three Tenors in Concert (visited)
• Pasta Class
• Wine Tasting with a certified Sommelier 

To see a full list of attractions, you can click here.

Now that you know what attractions are included on the pass, here are the three we visited individually:

1. Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

• Address: Piazza del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
• Location: Google maps
• Hours: 8:30am – 7:15pm (with shorter hours in non peak season)
• Reservations: Required, book on the Touristation website

Visiting the Roman Colosseum is a must do activity for any first time visitors. It’s an extremely large amphitheater that was originally built to host gladiatorial games, dramas, reenactments and sometimes public executions. We’ve been to Rome on two separate trips and both times we explored the Colosseum because it’s so fascinating.

A Go City Pass includes admission to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (this is the same if you booked it on the official website) including an audioguide. This is a very popular attraction and you’ll have to book a timed entry reservation at least 3 weeks in advance. We recommend you book as soon as you know your travel dates if you want to visit with the pass.

Travel Tip: Tour the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill first followed by the Colosseum. You’re completely exposed to the elements in the Roman Forum so it’s best to complete the tour when the sun isn’t beating down on you in the middle of the day.

2. Rome Catacombs Tour

• Address: Via Appia Antica, 110/126, 00179 Roma RM, Italy
• Location: Google maps
• Hours: 9:00am – 5:00pm (closed 12:00pm – 2:00pm) Thursday to Tuesday, closed Wednesdays
• Reservations: Required, book with the Touristation website 

If you’re looking for a unique attraction, look no further than the Roman Catacombs. We loved this option because it included round-trip transport and a 45 minute guided tour through one of Rome’s underground cemeteries. Upon arrival, we also watched a video before entering the Catacombs.

On every day other than Wednesday, you’ll visit the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, the largest one in Rome. This is the one we visited and our tour guide was amazing. Wednesday tours visit the Catacombs of St. Domitilla, Rome’s oldest catacomb. There are no photos inside the catacombs out of respect for the deceased so please respect the rules.

3. Three Tenors In Concert

• Address: Via Nazionale, 16a, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
• Location: Google maps
• Hours: 8:30pm to 10:00pm
• Reservations: Not required, just show your pass at entrance

For our last attraction, we decided to see the Three Tenors in concert with ballet. We dressed up, had a fancy meal before the show and enjoyed a wonderful date night. This was a great attraction because it was different and was probably something we wouldn’t have done without the pass.

However, since we had Go City passes, we could only sit in the back few rows because we had cat B reduced tickets. So if you want to get closer, you might want to book on the official website, but this will obviously cost more.

How Much Does The Rome Go City Pass Cost?

Our experience with Go City has shown us these passes are often very cost effective so we’ll show you how much we spent on our exact itinerary.

The Go City Rome Explorer Pass with 3 attractions is currently priced at €99.00 for adults and €59.00 for children (ages 5-11).

Here are the prices you’d pay if visiting each attraction individually using same day box office prices for adults from the official websites:

• Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill – €18.00
• Rome Catacombs Tour – €52.00
• The Three Tenors in Concert – €20.00

We visited all 3 of these attractions and here are the statistics:

• Attraction price (no CityPASS) = €90.00
• Go City price = €99.00
• Loss = €9.00

This was the first attraction pass we’ve used where we did not save money. We wanted to visit the Colosseum for the purpose of this guide so we could give you an honest review. So make the most of this pass, you should visit the more expensive options such as the cooking classes, walking tours and wine tasting experiences.

Travel Tip: The Colosseum attraction with Go City includes a pre-video entry and audio guide along with Touristation staff who will accompany you to the entrance of the Roman Forum. A guided tour is not included and it’s equivalent to the basic €18.00 ticket offered on the official website.

Let’s use another example with different attractions to maximize the pass:

• Sunset pizza tour near the Colosseum – €75.00
• Big Bus Tome Hop-On-Hop-Off – €33.00
• Espresso, Gelato and Tiramisu Tour – €60.00

And here are the results:

• Attraction price (no CityPASS) = €168.00
• Go City price = €99.00
• Savings = €69.00

You’ll save 41% on these 3 attractions!

>> Buy a Go City Rome Pass here

Travel Tip: Get the most for your money by booking guided tours and expensive attractions. Pay out of pocket for the cheaper ones such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon.

Does This Pass Include The Vatican?

Yes, the Go City Rome Explorer pass features entry into the Vatican Museum as one attraction option. It includes entry into the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel with escorted skip the line through Italy pass tours. This is the official tour you’ll get with the pass if you want more information.

After visiting the Vatican twice, we can tell you this is one of the most crowded attractions we’ve ever visited in the world. In July 2018, we booked early morning tickets and it was so packed it was almost unbearable. Unfortunately, we left the Vatican feeling really frustrated because it was not enjoyable.

So we decided to visit again in May 2022 with a tour and it was a much better experience. We highly recommend you visit the Vatican with a tour, especially one that allows you to skip the line like the Go City pass does. This is the tour we booked, but it’s not through Go City. You can also book this tour to visit the Vatican late at night when the crowds have gone.

How To Buy Your Go City Rome Pass

Buying your Go City Pass for Rome is easy:

• Head to the official website
• Choose between 3-7 attractions
• Select the amount of adult or child passes
• Hit the big blue button to add the passes to your basket
• Checkout and enjoy your fun filled trip to Rome

You can also purchase a pass from Get Your Guide. The prices are exactly the same as the official website and you can read the previous customer reviews.

How To Make Timed Reservations

Reservations are one of the things we dislike about the Go City Rome Pass. Most of the attractions in Rome will require you to make timed entry reservations with various third party websites or you’ll have to email the company offering the tickets. It might take a few days to finally get a response and then once you get to Rome, you’ll have to visit a tourist office to pick up your reservations.

This is a very inefficient system. We had to wait in a line for 30 minutes just to pick up our reservations for the Catacombs and Colosseum.

Our experience with the Go City Pass in London and Paris was great so it was frustrating to have problems in Rome. But we don’t think this is a Go City problem because when you look at reviews for other Rome passes, they also show problems with booking reservations at the same attractions.

The official Go City website will tell you each attraction that requires an extra reservation for entry which we think is very helpful. But once you start dealing with these third party companies in Rome, it becomes difficult.

The Morgan Conclusion

Now that you know how the pass works and what attractions are included, you’re probably wondering if a Go City Pass is worth the hassle.

After using the Go City Pass in Rome ourselves, we think it’s only worth it if you book the attractions that do not require reservations or you use it to experience walking tours and cooking classes that are more expensive. But we don’t recommend using the Go City Pass to visit top attractions such as the Colosseum, Pantheon, Castel Sant’Angelo or anything requiring you to make reservations with the Touristation website.

If you want to visit the top attractions with the pass, understand that you’ll need to have patience when booking reservations and you might need to go to another location to pick up your actual reservations because it’s not an automated process. You could also consider the Rome Tourist Card offered through Tiqets. We use one of their cards in Paris with no problem, but make sure you read reviews and clarify the booking requirements.

We did like how easy it was to use the Go City App and it kept all of our information in one centralized place. There are also a good variety of attractions included on the pass. We told Go City the problems we had in Rome and they are were very responsive so hopefully something changes in the future.

And if you’re visiting with kids, you might need to do a little more research because some attractions such as the Big Bus Tours offer free entry for young children under 5. Price out each pass depending on your child’s age because it might just be worth getting adult passes if they have free entry.

More Attractions Pass Guides

• New York pass comparison
• What’s the best Paris pass?
• Seattle CityPASS review
• Denver CityPASS review
• San Francisco attraction passes

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We hope our Go City Rome Explorer Pass review helps with planning your visit to the Eternal City!

Please let us know if you have any questions about this pass or your visit to Rome in the comments below.

Happy Travels,

Mark and Kristen

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