Rome Big Bus Hop-on Hop-off Open-Top Sightseeing Tour
Rome, Italy
+10
- 1 hour 40 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Skip the hassle of navigating Rome’s busy streets and piecing together transportation with a flexible sightseeing pass that brings top landmarks like Vatican City, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon into one easy route. With the freedom to explore at your own pace and onboard insights to add context, these flexible sightseeing tickets make it easy to see more of the Eternal City, with the 72-hour option also including a panoramic night tour.
- Discover the capital when temperatures are more comfortable
- Hop off to visit sights including the Colosseum, Vatican City, and Trevi Fountain
- Explore Rome at your own pace with unlimited hop-on hop-off bus travel
- Enjoy onboard audio commentary and included digital walking tours around the city
What's Included
- 1-day or 24-, 48- or 72-hour hop-on hop-off bus tour (depending on option selected)
- Digital commentary in multiple languages
- Free Wi-Fi on Board
- Free VOX digital self-guided tour download
- Night tour (72-hour ticket option 10th April-2 Oct only)
- Free Gelato from "The Gelatist" OR Glass of Prosecco with selected products
- Big Bus Tours app (ticket storage, live tracking and ticket activation)
- Hotel Pick-up & Drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Operating hours
Select your preferred tour option to see hours.
View tour option
Departure Point
- You may start this tour at any of the stops listed.
Ticket Redemption Point
Via delle Terme di Diocleziano, 34, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Itinerary
Board the bus for your hop-on, hop-off tour at any of the stops along the route. Exchange your voucher for a ticket that is valid for three, 24, 48, or 72 hours, depending on your schedule and preferences.
Disembark at any point to explore areas that interest you. Spend as much time as you like at any one stop, or skip those that don't interest you. Climb down to explore Vatican City and learn about the history of the Catholic Church, or throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, which legend has it ensures you return to Rome. Sit on the Spanish Steps and sample a local gelato or explore the Pantheon. Disembark to learn about the times of Roman gladiators in the Colosseum or stroll through the ancient Roman Forum.
While on the bus, listen to recorded audio commentary in nine languages through the provided headphones. The recorded narrative gives a comprehensive history of Rome and details its current role as a thriving Italian metropolis.
Each ticket option includes a VOX digital walking tour. Please see the Itinerary section for a full list of stops.
Disembark at any point to explore areas that interest you. Spend as much time as you like at any one stop, or skip those that don't interest you. Climb down to explore Vatican City and learn about the history of the Catholic Church, or throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, which legend has it ensures you return to Rome. Sit on the Spanish Steps and sample a local gelato or explore the Pantheon. Disembark to learn about the times of Roman gladiators in the Colosseum or stroll through the ancient Roman Forum.
While on the bus, listen to recorded audio commentary in nine languages through the provided headphones. The recorded narrative gives a comprehensive history of Rome and details its current role as a thriving Italian metropolis.
Each ticket option includes a VOX digital walking tour. Please see the Itinerary section for a full list of stops.
Red Route
8 Stops
22 Points of Interest
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes
Operating Schedule: The Hop-on, Hop-off tour runs daily from 9 AM to 6 PM, with buses every 15 minutes and a full loop lasting approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes. Download the Big Bus Tours app to track buses in real time, and board easily using your mobile ticket.
1
Rome Termini station
2
Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major
3
Colosseum
4
Circus Maximus
5
Piazza Venezia
6
Vatican Museums
7
Spanish Steps
8
Piazza Barberini
Points of interest passed by on this route
Trevi Fountain
Piazza Venezia
Vatican Museums
Piazza Barberini
Big Bus Tours
Campo De' Fiori
Piazza Navona
Vatican City
National Roman Museum - The Baths of Diocletian
Piazza del Campidoglio
Piazza Venezia / Ancient City
St. Peter's Basilica
Castel Sant'Angelo
Basilica di San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Circo Massimo
Roman Forum
Navona / Pantheon / Campo de’ Fiori
Vatican Museums
Vatican City
St. Peter's Basilica
Spanish Steps
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Pushchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Most travellers can participate
- Luggage is not permitted on board for security reasons
- The 72-hour ticket includes a panoramic Night Tour (May to October only), which is not hop-on, hop-off
- Download the Big Bus Tours app to access and activate your ticket, track buses in real time, and board easily using your mobile pass.
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveller Photos
Reviews
3.4
based on 2,964 reviews
Sort by: Most recent
Very good service
All hop on hop off bus team was very helpful
Bus times were very good, with no long waits
Stops were somewhat limited
I enjoyed it. Good animated narration. A really good idea to take this when you visit a happening city like Rome for the first time!!
Impossible to find bus stops before you were given a map when boarding for the first time. Us took an alternative route and there was -) no way go knowing major stops were eliminated before you bought your ticket had to create a. Viator account to access tickets, the narrative was it changed to reflect new route and the narrative was pretty useless even when it tracked with the bus location on the route, and stops weren't announced. I have taken bus tours in many cities in the US and Europe and this was the wiorst
Disappointed with the audio system. It didn’t work, therefore we did not get any history or where to get off to visit sites on the bus.
while quite crowded, we really enjoyed our bird’s-eye-views of this magnificent city!! great way to get an overview of Rome!
Out of our 3 days, it took until the end of day 2 to get our ticket activated. Customer service reckoned they didn't recognise the booking reference we had from Viator but then changed their mind and said the issue was resolved but it wasn't. The only Big Bus people at the stops were resellers who couldn't do anything. We finally got a printed ticket at 8.30pm on Day 2. On Day 3 the buses were so busy you couldn't even get on and we managed 1 stop. The free Gelato with our booking was refused as the partner (The Gelatist) would not accept the Voucher in the Big Bus app despite us being told that's all we needed. Lastly we were told that despite having a booking for the night tour we had to arrive at least 90 minutes early... For a 1 hour bus ride.
Avoid at all costs, it's easier and quicker to walk and we shall be requesting a full refund.
The 'experience' was definitely worthwhile - it allows you to get an overview of the city which might otherwise be difficult.
I'm not sure that the (presumably recorded?) commentary was always exactly synchronised with the bus location, but that didn't detract from the 'experience'.
Easy way to get around. Only downside is the info guide audio doesn’t tell you what stops you’re coming up to so you need to keep an eye out for that.
This was my second trip to Rome and 3rd time to Italy. I purchased many oversea hop-on-hop-off bus tours and this one was the worst.
1) I got wrong address for the 1st pick up/starting place, Via delle Terme di Diocleziano 34. The starting place was Via Giovanni Giolitti 113 00185 Rome.
1) It oversold tickets. The line is long at many almost all pick up locations, you will have to wait for at least 2 to 3 buses (10 to 20 minutes at each pickup location).
3) Not informative enough.
It is a 23.8 Euros bus ride around the city.
Great way to rest your legs by hopping on the bus . Takes you around the city explaining all the famous sights . Hop on and off as desired
Great way to see the city and learn about its history. You cannot necessarily see all the attractions listed from the bus, but it is super easy to get on and off at each stop to go exploring. We paid for the two day pass, which was worth it although we did not end up using our second day due to using a different mode of transit (scooters) around the city.
A great way to see and hear about the entire city. Just wish it ran into the night Always look for a big Bus when we travel
Overall, great time. We were very disappointed in the fact that we did not get to get off the bus at the coliseum as advertised. This caused us to be late for our tour there. Otherwise, it was a great time.
This makes getting around Rome to various sites easy. One thing to know is that there is still a lot of walking because stops can’t always be close to where you want to go due to traffic and narrow streets. Also check the app for stops that are closed on the day you are booked for.
The buses come often and the app is great for showing you exactly where the buses are in real time. There is also staff at every stop to answer questions. Well run. Audio is informative.
The night tour was also nice.
The route is ok but it does not stop at the Colosseum which is extraordinary. (Green and pink routes do stop). You will still have to walk a bit to the attractions.
Awesome way to see the history of Rome. We had a 72hr pass which allowed us to visit many sights. We also did the Night Tour.
They had a total of 8 or 9 stops but closed down the Collisium stop so lots of walking from the Circus Maximus to the Colliseum. Their stop points are not clearly marked on the map with street references so finding the stops are nearly impossible. I used their link to go to the bus stop and I walked for 35 minutes and it to me to a kiosk not where their stop is. This is very difficult to navigate unless you hop on and off at the same stop. I do not recommend unless you like doing 15,000 to 20,000 steps looking for their bus stops.
The big hop on hop off bus was absolutely brilliant ! We found the stops really easy to find . Very regular buses and we did the tour on our first day which gave us a great understanding of locations and iconic places to get off and see or revisit - this tour is a must if you want to get your bearings and see all the greats the city has to offer - lots of interesting facts along the way ! Brilliant !
Tour of Pompei ruins and lunch and wandering is in Sorrento we're imformative, interesting, and enjoyable. Guides were knowledgeable, fun and interesting, and spoke good English.
For us, a good introduction to the various attractions of the city. We enjoyed it as a first visit into the city.
Useful tour to get an overview when you first arrive in Rome. You can just ride it all the way around and then decide what attractions to go back and spend time at.
Lots of other bus services. Limited stops around city. Cancelled stops around main attraction in coliseum. Had to get a taxi because of non bus service. We paid for 72 hours and didn’t get to use it once as we had tours and couldn’t rely on the bus once.
We picked a hop on hop off bus as we thought it would be an easy way to get around and see the main sights in Rome. However one of our party was a lady with some mobility problems and we were not pleased to find out on the day, that 2 of the 8 scheduled stops on the tour were suspended. In particular we were very disappointed that one was the stop at the Colosseum so we would have to walk back from the following stop to see anything. There was no explanation for this.
Certainly a great way to experience Rome and gain perspective of where the major sites are located. The top level is uncovered and is very hot and sunny, of course. Finding the ticket office/first. Parsing point is a challenge; it would be much better to have the addresses of each stop I clearly identified and have the option of boarding at any of those stops.
Rather disappointing, went by so many landmarks would have liked to know about but the recoding was only focused on a few specific landmarks. When it was a real person giving the tour it was so much better.
When you buy the 24 hr bus ticket you can only use it for 20 hrs as it only runs from 9 am - 7 pm. Your ticket activates from when you first get on the bus .
We got on at 18.45 hoping to see Rome by night only to go 1 stop to be told it was over .
So disappointed as this was the activity we had been so looking forward to finish off my husbands 60 th birthday weekend .
Buses are very often with good information. It's a bit of a distance between each stop...
I loved the open top to catch the sun!
There's the bottom closed with AC for those that want..
The bus needed more stops I did more walking between places because it didn’t stop at some places. At one stop I had to wait for 3rd bus to be able to get on it because previous 2 were full
The earplugs are huge and if you have small ears they hurt. Not all of the plug ins work and finding your language is difficult. Inside supposed to be air conditioned but wasn't. Probably best to go early in the day before it gets too hot. Some of the sites you would really like to see you have to get off the bus & walk to, like the Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, St Peter's square& the Pantheon.
The only “major’ sites you really see from the bus are the Colosseum - moving very fast past it, and Palestine Hill way across the road. We bought a 72 hour ticket and used it once, one day, and did a night tour - which is exactly the same as the day tour except a night. The stops are few and far between and not at particularly convenient locations. Would not do again to be honest. I guess it was good to get a quick familiarity of some parts of Rome but very very average. Try and get a seat on top of you do go. If you get a smaller buggy or golf cart they’ll take you all around the actual main sites where a bus cannot get to.
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