Along with public transport and regular excursions, sightseeing buses are extremely popular in Rome. Their routes cover all the most iconic sights of the Eternal City, and in the cabin passengers can use the audio guide in their native language, which will tell you in detail the main details about the places traveled.
In this article you will find out what routes bus companies offer, what time you can ride around Rome with a breeze and ticket prices for this pleasure.
How do sightseeing buses work in Rome?
We will tell you about how excursion buses work in Rome using the example of Big Bus Tours Rome routes. Operator buses travel not only in Rome: they can be found in 18 more popular tourist cities on 3 continents.
Excursions to Big Bus are carried out according to the Hop on hop off scheme, which means that you can get off the bus several times and board it at any point on the route during the validity period of the ticket.
Excursions on Big Bus are conducted according to the Hop on hop off scheme.
Buses replace each other at stops every 20 minutes, and the route itself is designed so that you do not miss any of the most important sights of Rome, whether it be the Colosseum, Pantheon, the Spanish Steps or St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
An audio guide is available on the route in 10 languages, including Russian, English, French, Chinese and even Arabic.
Since all buses are double-decker, you can climb the upper open floor and capture panoramic views of the city along the way. Free wi-fi is available in the salon, so all photos can be immediately sent to friends anywhere in the world.
Schedule, routes and prices
The arsenal of Big Bus Tours Rome has several routes for exploring Roman sights:
- The main “red” route Red Tour
- “Violet” - Catacombs & Caracalla Catacombs & Caracalla Circuit Tour
- Night “black” tour Night Tour
The number of available routes will depend on the type of ticket selected: classical ticket (classic), deluxe ticket (lux) and premium ticket (premium).
Act Classic ticket It extends only to the main “red” route, which passes through the 8 main attractions of Rome. This is a great opportunity to see the city in all its grandeur and not to miss any of the iconic places.
Tourist buses cover all iconic attractions
The first bus on this route leaves from Termini station at 8:30 a.m., the last bus leaves at 19:00. The break between flights is no more than 20 minutes, the final point of the route is the Spanish Steps.
The duration of the tour is 1 hour 40 minutes, but if you wish, you can get off the bus at any time and go on an independent study of the narrow streets and wide areas of the city.
The price of a “classic ticket” is 32 euros, for a child - 21 euros. The ticket is valid throughout the day. At the same time, tickets for travelers from 5 to 15 years are considered to be children's tickets.
Premium ticket allows you to explore Rome not only within the “red” route, but also follow the “purple” route to the catacombs and thermae. The path to them runs along the famous Appian Way, the entire route takes a little more than an hour.
Sightseeing buses to the catacombs leave from Termini Station every hour from 9:00 to 17:00 and return to Venice Square. In this case, the ticket will have to pay 39 euros (children - 25 euros), but it will be valid for 2 days.
The Roman Forum and the Coliseum hiking trail begins on Piazza Venezia
Deluxe ticket valid for 3 days, so you will have time to not only explore the city and the catacombs along the “red” and “purple” routes, but also see Rome at night as part of a sightseeing tour.
The night journey starts from Termini Station at 20:30 and at 21:30 and lasts for 1 hour. Deluxe Ticket will cost 55.90 euros (children - 38.40 euros). It is also possible to pay for a night tour separately - in this case, the price will be 15 euros and will be the same for both adults and children.
It is important to understand that tickets for a multi-day tour are valid for the selected number of days and cannot be used on different days that do not go one after another.
That is, if you bought a ticket for two days on Tuesday, then it will be valid only on Tuesday and Wednesday, and you will not be able to explore part of the city by bus on Tuesday, and then continue the bus ride on Friday.
Where to buy tickets and how to save
You can buy tickets when boarding a sightseeing bus in Rome itself, but it is more profitable to do this through the official website. In this case, you can get a 10% discount, and you can use the service itself within 6 months from the date of order.
Guided Walking Tours from Big Bus
One of the nice features of Big Bus is guided walking tours of Rome, which are already included in the price of any of the main tickets - Classical, Premium and Deluxe.
To use them or not, remains at the discretion of travelers, but there is such an opportunity. Please note that walking tours are conducted in English.
Guided walking tours of Rome - one of the Big Bus features
A total of four walking routes are available:
- “Vatican and St. Peter's Square” (beginning at 12:00 from stop No. 6 “Vatican”)
- “Roman Forum and Colosseum” (beginning at 15:30 from stop number 3 “Venice Square”)
- “Pantheon and Navona Square” (beginning at 14:00 from stop No. 6 “Vatican”)
- “Piazza Barberini and the Spanish Steps” (start at 17:00 from stop number 8 “Barberini”)
To use them or not, remains at the discretion of travelers, but there is such an opportunity. Please note that walking tours are conducted in English.
Alternative sightseeing buses in Rome
Big Bus is not the only company providing bus excursions in Rome. There are several such operators, and many of them have an audio guide in Russian in the cabin.
Since the competition for tourists in Rome is crazy, many companies offer tickets with varying degrees of flexibility, which allows saving if the budget is limited.
Several city operators conduct bus tours at once
For example, some operators can often find tickets for a single trip or tickets valid only in the afternoon. About Big Bus, travelers usually leave the best reviews, but you can find out the prices for tour buses of other operators in Rome using the links below.
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