#rome-night-bus-tour #rome-big-bus-price
#rome-big-bus-night-tour-time #rome-big-bus-seat-tips
#rome-big-bus-night-tour #rome-night-tour-not-recommended #rome-big-bus-booking
#big-bus-on-site-purchase #big-bus-termini #big-bus-tips
Rome night tour
Big Bus Panoramic night tour: my on-site purchase review
Including where I bought it without getting ripped off and the best seat tips!
I recently took my parents on a trip to Rome, Italy,
and my original plan for seeing Rome at night
was to explore freely on foot, by metro, taxi, or bus.
But because of my dad’s stamina,
we decided to do Rome’s night views by tour bus instead.
If you’re traveling with parents or kids,
I highly recommend this tour.
Honestly, if you’re with your parents,
instead of a guided night tour,
this bus tour that lets you comfortably take in everything at once
is something a lot of people recommend more than you’d think!
I was really happy with it too.
One thing to know: online booking doesn’t seem to work for the same day
or even the day before—you usually need to book at least 2 days in advance.
For anyone booking ahead,
I’m leaving the link below because it was the cheapest option I found from Korea.
If you buy in Korea ahead of time, it comes out to about $25.
If you pay on-site in Rome, it starts at at least €23.
(And if you get overcharged, it can go up to €29.)
At today’s exchange rate, that’s about $26 per person,
so even though I bought mine on-site, I was lucky to get a pretty similar price.
Still, if you’re worried the exchange rate might suddenly jump,
or you’re stressing about what happens if seats sell out,
I’d recommend buying your tickets in Korea ahead of time.
(I was honestly so nervous there wouldn’t be any on-site tickets left.)
At first, I went inside Roma Termini
to a ticket shop in the station,
asked about the night tour, and they told me €29.
I wondered if they had misunderstood me as asking about hop-on hop-off,
but either way, it wasn’t €23, so I walked out thinking, way too expensive.
Then I headed over to the front of the Big Bus stop
and asked where I should buy tickets.
The Big Bus staff member there
told me to buy directly from him.
I asked how much, and when he said €23, I bought them right away.
(For on-site purchase, this seemed to be the cheapest option.)
For both adults and children ages 5 to 15,
the price was the same: €23, and it runs non-stop for 1 hour
as a night tour bus.That’s the easiest way to think about it.
The official departure times
were 8:20 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.,
and we booked 4 seats for the 8:30 p.m. bus.
You get to see major night landmarks like the Colosseum, the Vatican, and Piazza Venezia,
so if your feet hurt, it’s hot, or your energy is low,
this is a really comfortable and practical Rome night tour.
In my case, I also had business appointments on other days,
so I wanted a short but efficient way to see central Rome,
and I loved that I could do a full loop without walking everywhere. This Rome night bus tour was perfect for that.
Main route
Depart from Roma Termini
around the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
around the Colosseum and Roman Forum
Circus Maximus
Piazza Venezia / Vittorio Emanuele II Monument
toward the Tiber River
around the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica
Spanish Steps / Barberini area
return to Roma Termini
If you like your travel plans locked in and organized,
I recommend booking online in advance.
If you prefer to stay flexible, same-day on-site seat inquiries and booking are also okay.
But I wouldn’t say on-site is cheaper than online.
For boarding, just go to the place marked Big Bus at Termini.
If you’re confused, bring your ticket and find that staff member—he’ll point you in the right direction.
For our family of four, it was €23 each, so €92 total.
The photo on the left is your ticket, so don’t throw it away.
They scan it when you board!
If your tour starts at 8:30 p.m.,
I recommend arriving by 8:00 p.m.
We were actually there at 7:55 p.m., and already 24 people were lined up ahead of us.
By 8:05 p.m., that number had jumped to 36.
So definitely use that as your cue to get there early.
That said, they won’t let you board super early.
You can start claiming seats about 30 minutes before departure,
and the best spot is the middle section on the right side of the upper deck.
The very front doesn’t have a proper wind-blocking window,
and the very back can have partially blocked views.
I was told the right side gives you the best views of the Colosseum and most of the major landmarks,
so keep that in mind when you book your Rome night bus tour.