Rome transport tickets, passes & Tap&Go

Current ATAC fares, contactless travel and multi-day passes — plus the airport exclusions that catch visitors out.

Checked 30 August 2026: fares and Tap&Go rules were verified against current ATAC information; Roma Pass prices and inclusions were checked against the official Roma Pass site. Transport products and attraction rules can change, so recheck the official pages before a future trip.

For most first-time visitors, start simple: use Tap&Go or BIT tickets on the first day and see how much transport you actually use. Buy a 24/48/72-hour product only when your itinerary genuinely demands repeated journeys. Choose Roma Pass because its combined museum and transport package works for your plans, not because “city pass” sounds automatically cheaper.

Our recommendation

Using old prices: Rome’s 24/48/72-hour fares are now €8.50, €15 and €22.
Switching between a physical card and phone wallet while using Tap&Go.
Trying to use one contactless card for several travellers.
Assuming an urban pass covers the Leonardo Express to Fiumicino.
Buying Roma Pass before checking attraction reservations and concessions.
Buying an unlimited pass for a mostly walkable central itinerary.

Common mistakes

Build your ticket decision around your likely pace rather than an idealised itinerary.

The mathematically cheapest ticket is not always the best travel choice. In summer heat, with young children, after a long museum visit or with limited mobility, the ability to take an extra bus without reconsidering the cost can make an unlimited pass worthwhile. Conversely, Rome’s historic-centre streets often make walking faster than waiting for a bus for very short trips.

Accessibility and energy matter too

1–3 paid journeys in a day: BIT or Tap&Go usually wins.
Very transport-heavy single day: Tap&Go best fare or ROMA 24H is convenient.
Two or three days with repeated cross-city travel: compare €15/€22 passes against your actual likely BIT count.
A week with daily commuting: compare the €29 CIS.
Museums plus transport: calculate Roma Pass value from the exact attractions you intend to book.

Start by grouping Rome geographically. The Colosseum, Forum and Monti form one cluster; Trevi, the Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Piazza Navona form another walkable cluster; the Vatican and Prati form another. If you can walk within each cluster, you may only need transport to get into an area and back out.

How to choose the cheapest option

Do not assume a single adult contactless card can be tapped four times for four passengers; ATAC specifically says it cannot be used that way.

Tap&Go is designed for one traveller per payment card or device, which can be awkward for families. Groups may find paper or app-based tickets easier because each traveller can hold a separate valid fare. ATAC also provides free travel within Rome for children up to age 10 when accompanied by a fare-paying adult, subject to the current conditions.

Families and groups

With Tap&Go, inspectors verify the payment token you used, so keep using the same card or device. With paper products, validate at the start as instructed and retain the ticket for the entire journey.

Paper and electronic tickets are sold through ATAC ticket offices, metro machines and a large network of authorised tobacconists, newsagents and other retailers. Digital sales channels are also available. Whatever format you use, follow its validation rules and keep the ticket or payment method available for inspection.

Where to buy and how to validate

ATAC’s urban fare products are valid on bus lines 520 and 720, which connect Ciampino Airport with the metro network. That makes a standard urban ticket a legitimate option for budget travellers who are comfortable transferring between bus and metro. Private airport coaches and other specialist services use their own fares.

Ciampino Airport is different

If airport transport is a major part of your calculations, price it separately rather than assuming a city pass covers arrival and departure.

This is the mistake most worth avoiding. Ordinary Metrebus Roma tickets and city passes are not valid on the Leonardo Express between Termini and Fiumicino Airport. ATAC also states that they are not valid on the special Cotral airport connection between central Rome and Fiumicino. Fiumicino journeys therefore need the appropriate airport or regional ticket for the service you choose.

Fiumicino Airport is the big exclusion

They do not mean “every train or bus that happens to run in Rome”. Regional and airport services have their own fare rules, so check the exact operator when you leave the ordinary urban network.

Metrebus Roma products cover the city transport network within Rome: ATAC buses, trams and trolleybuses, the metro, and specified urban sections of regional rail services. They are also valid on the 520 and 720 public bus routes serving Ciampino Airport via the metro network, which can make Ciampino unusually cheap to reach if that routing suits you.

What Rome transport tickets cover

Whether it saves money depends almost entirely on the attractions you were already planning to visit. Do not value the included museum entries at full price if you qualify for youth, child or other concessions. Also check compulsory reservation rules separately: a Roma Pass does not magically create a Colosseum or Galleria Borghese time slot.

The Roma Pass is not simply a transport pass. The current official tourist card is sold in 48-hour and 72-hour versions and combines unlimited eligible urban transport with museum or archaeological-site benefits. Current published prices are €36.50 for 48 hours and €58.50 for 72 hours. The 48-hour version includes the first eligible museum/site, while the 72-hour version includes the first two, followed by reduced admission at participating venues.

Roma Pass: transport plus museums

For a seven-night visitor staying centrally, it can still be more transport than you need. Compare €29 with your realistic number of €1.50 journeys before buying.

The Carta Integrata Settimanale (CIS) is valid for seven days from first validation, through midnight on the seventh day, for unlimited journeys within the Rome urban fare area. It is most useful for longer stays with regular commuting-style use — for example, a week in an outer neighbourhood with daily trips into the centre.

CIS weekly ticket: €29

Do not buy automatically just because you are staying two or three days. A visitor who walks most sightseeing clusters and makes only two paid journeys per day will still spend less on BIT fares. A pass becomes more compelling when you expect four or more separate paid movements on several days, especially if you are using buses to bridge gaps between sights rather than walking.

The current unlimited urban fares are €15 for 48 hours and €22 for 72 hours, both timed from first validation. These can be good value when your accommodation is outside the walkable historic centre, when mobility limits reduce the amount you want to walk, or when your itinerary repeatedly crosses the city.

ROMA 48H and ROMA 72H

Its strongest advantage is convenience rather than guaranteed savings. If you know you will make frequent short hops, the freedom not to count journeys can be worth the modest premium.

The ROMA 24H ticket gives unlimited eligible journeys for 24 hours from first validation. At current fares, you need a fairly transport-heavy day before it beats simply paying €1.50 per BIT. It makes sense on a day built around widely separated places — for example a morning at the Vatican, an afternoon around EUR and an evening back in central Rome — but it is rarely necessary for a compact Colosseum–Forum–Trevi–Pantheon day.

ROMA 24H: €8.50

ATAC’s current best-fare system automatically compares your BIT purchases over 24 hours with the ROMA 24H fare. If your usage reaches the threshold where the day ticket is cheaper, the system applies the daily fare rather than continuing to charge unlimited separate BITs.

The important rule is consistency: use the same physical card or the same digital device throughout the journey and through the day if you want ATAC’s best-fare logic to work correctly. A physical card and the phone wallet containing that card are treated as different payment tokens. Tap&Go is also individual: one bank card or device cannot be used to pay for several people travelling together.

ATAC’s Tap&Go system lets you use a contactless credit, debit or prepaid card, or a compatible phone/watch, directly on equipped buses, trams and metro gates. You should tap each time you board or change mode. Taps made within the validity of the same 100-minute ticket do not create another charge.

Tap&Go: easiest for many adults

If your day involves one metro ride out and one ride back, two BITs cost €3. Even three separate BIT journeys cost €4.50. That is why travellers staying around Centro Storico, Monti, Prati or Trastevere often spend less buying single fares than they would on an unlimited pass.

The standard BIT ticket is valid for 100 minutes from first validation on Rome’s urban public-transport network. It can be used on buses, trams and trolleybuses, and on the metro under ATAC’s transfer rules. On the metro it is effectively one metro journey: you can change between connected metro lines without ending that journey, but you cannot leave the system and later re-enter on the same BIT simply because time remains.

BIT: the €1.50 ticket most visitors use

For a central-Rome itinerary, walking often replaces one or two planned journeys every day. That means a pass can feel convenient without actually saving money. The best choice is usually based on how many paid journeys you will genuinely make, not the number of days you are in Rome.

Rome’s ordinary urban transport is inexpensive enough that many visitors are best served by either a standard BIT ticket or ATAC’s contactless Tap&Go system. The current BIT fare is €1.50 for 100 minutes. The main unlimited-travel products are ROMA 24H €8.50, ROMA 48H €15, ROMA 72H €22 and the CIS weekly ticket €29. Those are transport products; the separate Roma Pass bundles public transport with museum benefits.