Rome Bus Tour Cards-Omnia

[luv2travel3]

Does anyone have any reccomendations for Rome bus tours. We will arrive Rome on a Sunday Morning and our Cruise departs at 6:00 pm on a Tuesday. We have about 2.5 days in Rome. Any other suggestions for seeing Rome on our own? Has anyone heard of the Omnia card?

[gapearl]

I'm thinking of trying the omnia card too and would love to hear of others' experiences with it. It seems like a really good deal for 85 euros, and very convenient too.

[euro cruiser]

Unless you have mobility issues, a bus tour is really unnecessary in Rome because the historic center is quite small. You can walk everywhere, but you could supplement with local buses (6 Euro for an all day pass) or the occasional taxi for a lot less than 85 Euro.

 

I just took a quick look at the Omnia web site (http://www.omniavaticanrome.org/en/the-card/index.html) and it appears to be the Roma Pass with the addition of a vatican museums entrance ticket and the Christiana HOHO bus. 85 Euro is too much, you could buy each of these items individually for less, but I don't think you'd really make use of all of it.

 

The Roma Pass (web site here: http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2) is only 30 Euro, and it includes the transit pass. The Christiana HOHO is about 20 Euro or so, and the Vatican museums entry is 15 Euro.

[gapearl]

Omnia Card - 3 Day Complete Sightseeing Solution

 

When you buy this exclusive travel card, you get access to all Rome’s public transport, trips onboard the Christian Rome Open Bus, “Experience” tours on board a mini Open Bus, walking tours with the latest multimedia tools, and all the help and tourist information you need wherever you are in the city.

This complete solution to your transport and sightseeing needs include:

 

 

• Roma Cristiana Hop On, Hop Off Sightseeing Bus
  
• 3 day public transport pass
  
• Fast track admission to Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
  
• Fast track admission to St. Peter’s Basilica or to the Vatican Gardens
  
• “Experience” tour of St. Peter’s Prison
  
• Access to Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with audio guide
  
• Access to one other museums or archeological sites offered in the Roma Pass
  
• Price reductions for all the other museums included in the Roma Pass network
  
• MP3 multilingual audio guide (Italian, English, French, Spanish, German) dedicated to the itineraries which allow you to discover the city at your own pace
  

When you buy this exclusive travel card, you get access to all Rome’s public transport, trips onboard the Christian Rome Open Bus, “Experience” tours on board a mini Open Bus, walking tours with the latest multimedia tools, and all the help and tourist information you need wherever you are in the city.

 

 

We'll be in Rome for 4 days before we cruise and would take full advantage of everything. We want to do the bus tour for fun. Plus it seems like it would be more convenient to buy a single pass at one website in advance than buying tickets at each individual website for everything that we want to do. All of that totals more than 85 euros.

[cruisemom42]

Omnia Card - 3 Day Complete Sightseeing Solution

 

When you buy this exclusive travel card, you get access to all Rome’s public transport, trips onboard the Christian Rome Open Bus, “Experience” tours on board a mini Open Bus, walking tours with the latest multimedia tools, and all the help and tourist information you need wherever you are in the city.

This complete solution to your transport and sightseeing needs include:

 

 

• Roma Cristiana Hop On, Hop Off Sightseeing Bus
  
• 3 day public transport pass
  
• Fast track admission to Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
  
• Fast track admission to St. Peter’s Basilica or to the Vatican Gardens
  
• “Experience” tour of St. Peter’s Prison
  
• Access to Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with audio guide
  
• Access to one other museums or archeological sites offered in the Roma Pass
  
• Price reductions for all the other museums included in the Roma Pass network
  
• MP3 multilingual audio guide (Italian, English, French, Spanish, German) dedicated to the itineraries which allow you to discover the city at your own pace
  

When you buy this exclusive travel card, you get access to all Rome’s public transport, trips onboard the Christian Rome Open Bus, “Experience” tours on board a mini Open Bus, walking tours with the latest multimedia tools, and all the help and tourist information you need wherever you are in the city.

 

 

We'll be in Rome for 4 days before we cruise and would take full advantage of everything. We want to do the bus tour for fun. Plus it seems like it would be more convenient to buy a single pass at one website in advance than buying tickets at each individual website for everything that we want to do. All of that totals more than 85 euros.

 

I think this is a new pass. Like eurocruiser, I'm not convinced it is much of a deal.

 

From what you've posted, I assume you notice you only get free admission to ONE other museum other than what is specifically named. The Roma Pass used to give you 3, I believe, plus the "discount" (not a lot) on other museums. Even with the pass, you will have to stop and pay the discounted admission at these places.

 

Also, there are really good, free downloadable mp3 tours available on the internet for most Rome sites (look for Rick Steves).

[euro cruiser]

If it feels good to you, so be it, but there is about a 20 Euro difference in price, apples to apples. That's the cost of the convenience, which may be worth it to you.

[gapearl]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm reconsidering this pass now.

 

I just realized the ROMA Pass includes entry to the Colosseum. :rolleyes: So for 30 euros, I can see it plus 2 more museums and get the metro pass. 15 euros for the Vatican (don't need a guided tour, 15 euros saved there). 20 euros for the HOHO bus. St. Peter's prison is 10 euros but I think we can skip it (read a lot of bad reviews).

 

You all are right! That's why I love these boards! :D

 

Oh, and thanks for the Rick Steves recommendation. I just downloaded some of his tours on my iphone.

[euro cruiser]

It's been a few years since I went into Mamertine (the place where it is believed St. Peter was held) so there may have been a change, but there was no entry fee. This is a church, and there was a note about an expected donation, but no fee and certainly not 10 Euro.

[gapearl]

Apparently since they reopened after renovations last year, they've started charging admission. I read that both on the trip advisor forums and other travel sites after doing a google search for it.

[euro cruiser]

Wow - that's quite a change, especially for a place that's so hard to find! (or at least I had a hard time finding it). It seems like a really out-of-whack price, for what it is. That's almost as much as a two day ticket for the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine ... methinks they are overreaching a tad.

[agabbymama]

Wise choice OP. I have generally found all of the "passes" in Europe to be pretty worthless. You can usually do better just paying at each site.

 

I paid $70 for a pass for Holland, as we were going to be spending about two weeks there. Only one museum that we wanted to see accepted the pass, and I could have paid $20 at the door. So $50 down the tubes. I generally steer clear of the passes now.

 

My friend and I have mobility issues, so the HoHo buses worked well for us. We got a 48 hr pass, did the Northern part of Rome on Day 1 and the Southern part on Day 2. While the buses don't get you right to the site, they do get you within a couple blocks, so not nearly as much walking as just doing Rome on your own. Plus it's fun to people watch from the top deck of the bus.

 

Have a great trip!