Comments on: Does a city pass or tourist card offer value for money?

By: DanA

DanA — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 04:16:10 +0000

No surprise that Sydney is the most expensive. Being based in Sydney and having lived here for a while I can tell you that this place really is one of the top 3 most expensive cities to live in. As for the pass, I think one would better off giving it a miss — your pretty much paying $150 for a few discounted entries and transport!

By: Peggy

Peggy — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 06:17:25 +0000

I tend to think the tourist passes are not good value for money – even though they appear to be worth it on the surface, the limited time you are given to use them usually mean that you are rushed to see as many sights/go to as many places as possible, instead of really taking the time to soak in each experience.

I have bought the Berlin pass before though – which worked out well as I was planning to visit three museums in a day, and all three were included in the pass.

You really have to have an idea of what areas/sights you want to go to and weigh up the pros and cons of each individual pass. To each, their own travel style.

By: Abhi

Abhi — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 17:52:21 +0000

I haven’t bought typical city passes before – but I have bought museum passes. The ’7 museum pass’ in Barcelona was particularly good value since it covered some of the best museums in Barcelona (including a lot of Gaudi stuff).

I also got a museum pass in Amsterdam, which I broke even during the trip (thanks to Van Gogh Museum), but couldn’t make full use of it – even though the pass is valid for a year.

I do agree with the point that, when you do have such passes, you often end up visiting places you wouldn’t have otherwise and which turn out to be great discoveries!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 08:00:33 +0000

We visited Berlin last Decemeber and upon arriving at the central station we went to the tourist office to find out what our options were, as we were staying a little out of the city and knew we needed a rail pass for the few days we were there. The prices funnily enough for the Berlin pass was about the same as it would cost us to buy just the rail pass – we took the 72 hour card and it started the moment we bought it, that allowed us to catch the train back to the station on the 3rd day without buying another train ticket. We didn’t use too many of the museum vouchers, just east berlin museum and checkpoint charlie museum, but we did also use other vouchers that were included like free coffees and meals. Overall I think you should compare prices between the welcome cards and public transport tickets, and see if the museum discounts are for places you had planned on seeing – they can be very useful

By: Mary Jo Manzanares

Mary Jo Manzanares — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:13:59 +0000

I’m a fan of the Paris Museum Pass. In addition to being able to skip the lines (a HUGE benefit if you only have limited time), the diversity of what was offered made it easy to shell out he money for it.

I liked that I could go into a museum for a short period of time (to see one particular exhibit, for example), because I wouldn’t have done so if it wasn’t part of a covered benefit. It’s not what I’d do on every visit, but was well worth it when I have.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:10:39 +0000

I’ve only ever bought one city pass and that was in San Francisco. I actually wrote a blog post about it because I thought it was great value for money. I was very busy and visited some places I may not have thought of going eg the Asian Art Museum
It was good for me because it rained most of the time I was there so I was able to enjoy the dry inside the museums and galleries. I would consider buying a pass again.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:32:33 +0000

I think that a city pass that gives you discounts on attractions is a bit of rip off unless they give you a hefty discount. However i think a pass that lets you get into attractions fro free is most certainly worth it

By: Margaret

Margaret — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:07:22 +0000

I’ve only ever used the Paris Museum Pass, but one advantage it did provide when I used it, in addition to letting you avoid the lines, was the ability to go back without having to pay an additional entrance fee (although I know other passes in other places are just one visit per museum). A few years ago, my family and I were in Paris for just over two weeks and bought the 6-day pass. We went to the Louvre, Rodin Museum, and a couple other places more than once. Multiple entry to museums definitely made it worthwhile.

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:09:56 +0000

Thanks Julie – we had the same experience in Lisbon. The card covered a few places that didn’t cost much anyway, but the biggest attraction (Oceanarium) only gave a small discount. The Lisbon card was not great value…

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:08:15 +0000

It appears that there are two passes Maxine – a New York City Pass (which you describe) and a New York Pass (which I listed). Yours looks like a better deal for sure!