Do you think that the Roma Pass or the Archaeological Pass are worth it to avoid lines for the Colosseum, Forum, etc? Not sure how much we will use the Metro (love to walk), but might be nice to have that option. We have always been in Europe between Sept and May - never summer - so avoiding big lines is key. Any input is appreciated - thanks. We leave in 10 days.

The Archeologia Card is more limiting, but if you're only interested in ancient Rome, it may be worth it.

If you only use the Roma Pass for the Colosseum/Palatine/Forum combo (12 Euro) and the four locations of the Museo Nazionale Romano (7 Euro), it's more or less paid for itself. Galleria Borghese is even more: 8.50 Euro.

The Roma Pass is definitely worth it - paid for itself when we used it at the Colosseum/Palatine/Forum and the Capitoline Museums...and also got discounts at our next few sights.

As far as the transport pass that's included, we found it helpful even though we love to walk. We used it on the buses a lot (i.e. to get to the Vatican, to get home at night when we were tired from walking all day, etc)

The Pass is useful if you plan on going to see a lot of the museums on the pass. However, the Borghese Gallery and the Vatican museums are not included with the pass. Booking these would be a good idea to avoid the lines. We used www.culturalitaly.com, they were good and we saved a lot of time. Have a great trip!!

Yes, it's worth it. You can avoid long lines if you have the Rome Pass. I was in Rome last year (Oct and Nov) and bought a Rome Pass. I did use it at the Galleria Borghese and the Coloseum, the cost of the card was 50 cents more than what entrance to those two sights would have been. Regarding lines, the line at the Coloseum was exteremely long when I was there, I overheard some annoyed people talking amongst themselves, they stood in line for about an hour and a half. BUY THE ROME PASS, you won't regret it.

The Borghese is included on the Roma Pass. You still must have a reservation (e-mail or call), but when you make it instead of paying, you tell them you will be using your pass.
www.romapass.it

You don't have as many choices with the Archaeologia Card.

ARCHAEOLOGIA CARD valid 7 days for Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi, Terme di Diocleziano, Colosseo, Foro Romano and Palatino, Terme di Caracalla, Villa dei Quintili, Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella:
ADULTS € 20,00 + € 3,00 (for exhibitions)

I can't imagine why you would want to use a site like culturalitaly which charges 10€ to book any ticket instead of booking directly with the museums/sites you want to visit.

You can book tickets or tours for the Vatican Museums on the Vatican website.
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

Thanks all. Sounds like we will buy the Roma Pass. We are coming in from Venice via train. I'm guessing we can buy it at the Rome Termini - will check out the Roma Pass site to find purchase locations. Anything to avoid the lines! We did book our Vatican Museum tickets already, so this should cover us. Thanks.

I remember reading a post recently where a traveler bought a fake Roma Pass from some kind of stand. Having bought a real one last week, the Roma Pass comes in a large, reddish, cardboard folder which is sealed with a paper seal. Inside you'll find the Roma pass, the transportation pass (as the three days of free transportation doesn't have to be used at the same time as the pass), a map with qualifying places, and one other folded paper (can't remember). The cover of the packet tells you not to accept if the seal has been broken. I ditched the packaging and just hung on to the two passes.
Believe me, there will be days where the heat and feet will demand you use transportation to get you home faster and easier.

Just got back from Italy and really was glad we had the Roma Pass--used it to go into the Colosseum and avoided a huge line there of people buying tickets. Also used it for the Borghese Gallery and that saved time also. The best part was the use of the metro and bus lines. Even though we walked lots it was nice to be able to hop on a bus/Metro to get back to the hotel after walking all day long. We also used the bus to take us up Appian Way in Rome to visit a catacomb...Way too far to walk.

You can buy the Roma Pass in the Rome Train station -- the place is in the corridor with the car rental places