City passes sound great, as if you have the freedom of the city, unfortunately, you don’t.
These passes, also called tourist passes, are available in many large cities worldwide, but are they worth it? You can only really decide once you have considered a few questions.
What is a City Pass?
For a set price, you can purchase a pass that allows you to visit a city’s attractions for free, although some cities only offer discounts for certain attractions.
The pass might also offer a small discount in a gift shop or café, or include transportation, such as buses, trams, and even ferries. Passes last a set number of days, usually consecutive days. The more days you get the pass for, the cheaper it is per day. You can also purchase passes for children at a discounted rate. Usually, you are only allowed to visit each attraction once.
Most passes can be purchased before your holiday, but if you buy one in advance, ensure you can get a refund if you are unable to travel, as your insurance won’t cover this loss. Sometimes, you need to pick up a physical pass, so ensure the collection point is near where you will be.
Passes are usually for a calendar day, not a 24-hour period, so start using your pass as early as possible.
Some people swear by city passes and always buy one. I have certainly seen adverts on tourist boards indicating that a city pass is essential and the best way to see the city. But are they always good value for money?
Problems
Many attractions nowadays require booking in advance, and you may find yourself in a situation where you have purchased a pass, but the attraction is fully booked. Check before you buy a pass to see if you can reserve a spot or if there is plenty of availability.
Make sure the attraction is open on the day you plan to visit, especially if it is off-season.
Don’t plan to visit several attractions that require booking in succession, as you may lose your time slot if delayed and will have to purchase a new ticket and rebook.
Read very carefully what is included in the Pass. For example, the London Pass includes the Big Bus, but doesn’t include their night bus.
There are often multiple different City Passes, so check which one best suits your needs.
Be aware that when things go wrong with the Pass, it can be challenging to sort out. Often, you can’t contact the necessary people. At least when you buy a ticket from the attraction directly, you have fewer problems.
There are 40/ 50/ 100 attractions
Each year, the number of attractions you can see on a pass seems to increase. This is beneficial as it offers more options. However, it is also a great marketing tool, so don’t be fooled into thinking the higher the number, the better the pass is. The important thing is whether it has the places you want to visit.
London Pass example
The London Pass costs £89 for one day, £104 for two days and £129 for three days. It features 97 attractions that are free to visit.
They also offer the London Pass Plus, which includes access to 101 attractions. The Plus Pass includes the view from the Shard, the London Eye, a 2-day hop-on, hop-off bus tour, and Madame Tussaud’s, and starts from £119 per day.
If you want to include transport, they will sell you an Oyster card.
Would I buy a London City Pass? I doubt it.
If I were showing London to a friend, I would also like to include some free attractions, such as many of the museums or the Changing of the Guard. Maybe spend time having a relaxing picnic in a park instead of dashing around London to tick off all the sightseeing attractions in a couple of days.
They also have a limit on the number of places you can visit each day, based on the cost of visiting each place, which they refer to as credits. Although the best attractions often take a long time to see, I doubt I’ll have to worry about my credit limit.
Things to Consider
1.What does the pass cover?
Verify if a city pass includes the attractions you’d like to visit. If it only covers a few, consider buying a one-day pass rather than a pass for the entire time you are in the city. You should also consider how long it will take to see an attraction. A zoo the size of London Zoo is an all-day attraction, and Kew Gardens is at least half a day. If you want to visit the London Zoo, it makes sense to add an extra day to your pass, as an additional day costs less than the entrance fee. It isn’t easy to know how long it takes to see an attraction you have never been to, but you can usually get a rough idea with a web search.
Don’t forget to check where the attractions are. The Harry Potter Studios (not part of the London Pass) is called Studio Tour London. It is 20 miles outside London and not near a train line. I have used city passes to see attractions outside of a city, but it did take a long time, not just travelling, but also walking to and from the station and waiting to catch the next train back. Don’t presume that because a place is listed in the City Pass, it is in the city.
2.Do you want more than a basic entrance?
City passes allow you basic entrance to the attraction, but don’t always grant access to special exhibits. You might, however, wish to take a behind-the-scenes tour or visit special exhibits. In which case, it may not be a good idea to purchase a city pass.
You need to check that your pass will allow you to see the attraction the way you want to, e.g., a lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
3.Does the city pass include transport?
I like city passes that include transport because they make life a lot simpler. If you make a mistake when you get on a bus and discover you are travelling in the wrong direction, you can get off, cross the road, and catch the next bus in the other direction. There is no need to get a new ticket, and no worry that you will get caught by a train inspector if you are on the wrong train.
However, many cities offer travel passes that can be purchased without the need for a city pass, and they may be better suited to your needs.
4.What perks does the city pass offer?
Usually, the perks are only a minor consideration when deciding to buy a pass. You may be eligible for a discount at an attraction’s café. However, you might find a cheaper and nicer place to eat elsewhere. Discounts in the gift shop are only worth it if you are the type of person who always buys lots of items from the gift shop.
5.Can you jump the queue?
In some places, if you have a City Pass, you can go straight into an attraction and skip the ticket queue. During peak times, popular attractions can have queues of over 40 minutes. This can make a significant difference in the number of attractions you can see in a day, and be very helpful if you have small children. You can generally avoid queues if you arrive early in the morning, but that only works once a day.
6.Will the foreign language be a problem for you?
Some people buy a City Pass to avoid any language problems when asking for tickets. Usually, this can be overcome by simply holding up your fingers to show the number of tickets you require. If you have children, point to them and hold up your fingers again.
The only time this doesn’t work is when there is more than one thing on offer at the attraction. For example, a church might offer a lift to the belfry for a small extra charge. You could use a translation app. However, if you are nervous about communicating in a foreign language, a pass can make your life simpler.
7.Would a tourist pass suit your style of sightseeing?
People who always buy city passes are sometimes wasting their money. It is impossible to say if all city passes are good or bad, as it depends on the tourist, what they like to do, how early in the morning they start their day and where their accommodation is.
If you prefer a leisurely day, you may find that a city pass is not worth it, as you can only visit a few attractions each day. If your hotel is in the city centre, then transport might not be necessary and paying for each attraction individually could be cheaper.
Do the calculations
Having considered the different aspects of a City Pass, you are now left deciding if it is financially worth it.
The only way to determine if a city pass is cost-effective is to decide what you would like to see and how much it costs, and then compare that to the price of the pass ticket. Don’t forget to include transport costs if they are included in the pass.
This can feel a bit like doing a maths exam. So maybe only look at the major attractions, which generally cost the most.
Attraction prices often give discounts for students or seniors, which in some places can be as low as 55 years old. City passes give discounts less often.
In some places, children can enter attractions for free, so there is no need to purchase a pass for them. In contrast, other places allow children to go free with an adult who has a pass. Usually, though, you can buy a children’s pass, which might or might not be cheaper than buying a ticket at the attraction. It can depend on your child’s age.
When considering the price of the attractions, please don’t use the figure the Pass states it costs. The London Pass quotes prices that are “up to” and are not necessarily the cheapest price. Several of their attractions I could visit for £13 less than their “up to” prices.
It is also often possible to find special offers for the attractions.
City passes examples
Here is a selection of city passes to give you an idea of what’s available.
Florence – the Firenze card. It costs 85 Euros for 72 hours. Florence is a great place to see art, so a card that covers 60 museums could be a great idea. However, your approach to art may decide if the Firenze card is good value or not. If you want to spend time appreciating each work of art, you may not have the opportunity to visit many museums.
One advantage of the Firenze card is that you can join the fast-track queues; however, for some places, you will also need to make a reservation. Florence is a place where the queues can be dreadful. You don’t need to have a Firenze card to avoid the queues. We arrived at some places as soon as they opened and reserved our time slots for others, but the Firenze card can make things a lot easier.
It also allows free access to family members under 18 years old.
The Toronto City Pass allows you to choose from six different attractions. It includes the CN Tower. Tickets are valid for nine consecutive days, allowing you to visit the attractions and enjoy other activities as well. At the time of writing, the price is C$129 for an Adult ticket, but it shows the normal price as being more expensive.
Paris – The Paris Pass starts at 89 Euros for one day and includes 46 attractions, tours, and activities. However, there is also a Paris Pass Plus, which starts at 199 Euros for 2 days and includes the Louvre Museum, the Arc de Triomphe and the Palace of Versailles. These prices may even be more expensive, as they are currently shown as a discount.
If I were showing someone Paris, I would take them up the Eiffel Tower, show them Arc de Triomphe, take a walk along the Seine, look around the artist square, look in Montmartre, and go to the Louvre Museum so they can see the Mona Lisa and of course, enjoy a café or two. Montmartre, walking by the river and the artist square, is free. The Arc de Triomphe only costs money if you want to go up to the top. Maybe in a few years, when they have changed the layout around the Arc, but now I wouldn’t bother. The Eiffel Tower is not included in the pass unless you opt for a guided tour that involves walking up 674 steps. The Palace of Versailles is lovely on a sunny day, but it will likely take you an hour to get there, as it is not located in Paris.
Several different passes
To make things even more confusing, cities might have more than one pass available. Paris has a Paris Pass and a Paris Museum Pass. London offers six different passes for use.
Determining which pass is the best value for you can be a frustrating task. However, it is worth looking at all your options. With the London Explorer Pass, you pay for the number of attractions you want to see, and you have 60 days to see them. This might be better for those with more time and who like to take things at a leisurely pace.
Summary
Passes are not cheap, but if you get one, don’t rush around to see as many things as possible before the pass expires; remember, you’re on holiday to enjoy yourself. You won’t enjoy your holiday if you feel pressured into visiting as many places as possible.
Passes can save money and time spent queuing, but they shouldn’t dictate what you see or force you to adhere to a tight timetable.
Many things to see in cities are free, such as famous bridges or quaint old areas, you don’t need a pass for them, so don’t buy a pass for every day of your city break. You can see the things which are free or not covered by the pass at the beginning or end of your holiday.
We have brought City Passes, but as attractions become more expensive, we have become more selective in which attractions we visit. I also feel I have to complete a certain number of attractions each day, so I get good value for the money we spent on the Pass, and I don’t like this pressure. However, The Passes are different in each city, so it is worth looking into them.
I hope you enjoy your sightseeing, whether you get a City Pass or not. Good luck figuring out if the pass is right for you. You will probably need a holiday after all your calculations.
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