Rome public transport for visitors: which ticket, tapping a bank card, and the rules that earn a fine

💡 The Short Version: The standard ticket, the BIT (biglietto integrato a tempo, the integrated time ticket), is €1.50 for 100 minutes on buses and trams, but only one metro journey. For a busy day the 24-hour ticket is €8.50; 48 hours is €15 and 72 hours €22. Easiest of all, tap a contactless bank card or phone at the metro gate or on the bus: ATAC’s Tap&Go charges €1.50 a journey and never more than €8.50 in 24 hours. Tap or validate every time you board, one card per person: the fine for an unvalidated ticket is €100 to €500. Children up to 10 travel free with a paying adult. Prices from atac.roma.it, 30 September 2026.

Tickets and passes, compared

ATAC runs Rome’s metro, buses and trams. Its tickets also cover the city stretch of the regional trains, in second class.

A Line A train at Barberini metro station. Photo: Mint0ri, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

• Children up to 10 travel free with a paying adult.
• The 100 minutes and the metro: a BIT covers one metro journey. You can change between lines A, B and B1 without going through the gates; between lines A and C you may pass through the gates. Once you leave the metro, the ticket still works on buses and trams until the 100 minutes run out.
• The Metromare to Ostia Antica, the urban regional train from Roma Porta San Paolo, is covered by a BIT: see the Ostia Antica day trip.
• Where it is not valid: the Leonardo Express to Fiumicino and Cotral’s special Fiumicino airport buses. It is valid on ATAC buses 520 and 720 to Ciampino airport. See Fiumicino and Ciampino airports to central Rome.

Paying with a bank card: Tap&Go

Tap&Go is ATAC’s name for paying with a contactless card at the gate or on board, with no ticket (atac.roma.it, 30 September 2026).

An ATAC bus on route 916, with the Vittoriano behind. Photo: Kaga tau, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Where: at the turnstiles of every metro station on lines A, B, B1 and C, and on every ATAC bus, tram and trolleybus.
• Cards: contactless Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, V Pay, American Express, JCB and UnionPay, and phones or watches with a card on them. No registration.
• Price: each tap starts a €1.50 BIT, good for 100 minutes. Taps within those 100 minutes cost nothing more.
• The daily cap: you never pay more than €8.50 in the 24 hours from your first tap. By ATAC’s own example, the sixth journey is charged as the 24-hour ticket rather than a sixth BIT.
• Use the same card or device all day. Start on your phone and switch to the physical card, and the cap does not apply.
• One card, one person. You cannot pay for someone travelling with you.
• Tap every time you board a bus or tram, even within the 100 minutes, or you can be fined. If an inspector asks, show the card or phone you tapped with.
• Only one card near the reader. If it detects two, the gate stays shut; take the card out of your wallet.

ATAC warns that text messages claiming a Tap&Go validation is “incomplete” and asking you to pay are a phishing scam; it sends no such messages.

Other ways to buy

• Paper and card tickets from the machines in metro stations, ATAC ticket offices and authorised shops, including newsagents and tobacconists (tabacchi). Validate a paper ticket in the machine the first time you board and again each time you enter the metro.
• By phone: the ATAC Roma app, or partner apps including MooneyGo, Trenitalia, Tabnet, Dropticket, Wetaxi, Telepass and Urbi, which sell and validate the BIT and the 24-, 48- and 72-hour tickets.

The fine for travelling without a ticket

Travelling without a valid ticket costs €100 to €500, plus the fare and costs; paid within five days, the penalty is €50 (atac.roma.it, 30 September 2026). You are fined if:

• you have a ticket but did not validate it;
• the ticket has run out, such as a BIT on a bus after its 100 minutes;
• you use an ordinary ticket on a service that needs its own, such as the Leonardo Express.

Keep the ticket until the end of the journey, and carry ID: inspectors can ask for both.

Getting to the main sights

The metro runs under the modern city rather than the old centre, so it is quickest for the sights at the edges.

An ATAC tram at Piazza Venezia. Photo: Fallaner, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Pantheon (a €7 ticket), Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain (€2 to go down to the basin) and Campo de’ Fiori have no metro station; walk between them. Buses fill the gaps, and Trastevere is served by tram 8. ATAC is modernising the tram network: in September 2026 line 8 was running again, while tram lines 2, 5, 14 and 19 were replaced by buses (ATAC news, 21 September 2026).

Sightseeing buses

A hop-on, hop-off bus is not public transport, but it runs past the same sights. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price on 30 September 2026.

• Rome: Big Bus Hop-on, Hop-off Open-Top Sightseeing Tourad: from £16.76 (4.1 stars from 12,920 reviews), passing the Vatican, the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia, with a half-day ticket or a 24-, 48- or 72-hour ticket.
• City Sightseeing Hop-on/Hop-off Bus with Audioguidead: from £13.11 (4.0 stars from 18,639 reviews), covering the Vatican, the Spanish Steps and the Colosseum, with a one-day ticket.
• Night-time Tour by Open-Top Busad: from £19.71 (4.1 stars from 1,870 reviews, 1½ hours), showing the Colosseum, Piazza Venezia and Piazza Barberini lit up.

Against them, ATAC’s 24-hour ticket is €8.50 and covers the metro, buses and trams, but has no commentary. Rome in one or two days shows where a bus fits in a short stay.

The Roma Pass

The Roma Pass is the city’s tourist card: public transport plus museum entry. The pass’s own site, romapass.it, sells it at €38 for 48 hours and €62.90 for 72 hours (30 September 2026). Is the Roma Pass worth it? works out when it beats buying tickets one by one.

• For transport alone, the ATAC 72-hour ticket at €22 is €40.90 cheaper.
• At the Colosseum, Roma Pass holders pay €11.50 instead of €18, but still book a time slot (colosseo.it, 29 September 2026).
• At the Borghese Gallery, the pass still needs a booking.
• At the Pantheon, the pass is not accepted: the Ministry of Culture says the Pantheon is not part of the Roma Pass or the Omnia card, so you buy an ordinary €7 Pantheon ticket (direzionemuseiroma.cultura.gov.it, 30 September 2026).
• GetYourGuide resells the Roma Pass from £38.48, more than the official €38 48-hour pass (about £33 at the ECB rate of 29 September 2026, €1 = £0.857). Buy it from romapass.it.

For the sights themselves, and which day each is closed, see what to book before you go in Rome. The 3-day Rome itinerary plans a first visit round the bookings, with the metro between them, and where to stay in Rome compares the areas by their metro stations. Arriving by cruise ship is a different journey: see Civitavecchia to Rome.