Best city passes

Our picks by destination and traveller type — based on break-even maths, not popularity.

Programme details verified October 2026

City passes have a reputation problem. The marketing promises big savings; the reality depends almost entirely on which city, which pass, and which attractions you actually plan to visit. Some passes deliver genuine value — structured itineraries, reduced friction at the door, and real money saved on a packed sightseeing schedule. Others sit half-used by day two.

We've reviewed passes in more than 50 cities across the US, Europe, and beyond. These are the picks that consistently hold up — not because they're the most famous, but because the break-even calculation works for most visitors who buy them. Each pick includes the specific condition under which it earns its price, and a link to the full review with current pricing.

Best city passes in the US

New York — Go City New York Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors with 4–6 days and a long must-see list

New York is the most pass-friendly city in the United States, and it's not close. Individual admission prices across the major paid attractions are among the highest of any tourist city — stack four or five of them in a week and a pass starts saving serious money. The Go City Explorer Pass (pick 3, 4, 5, or 7 attractions) is the better choice here over CityPASS for most visitors. CityPASS locks you into a fixed bundle of six attractions; the Explorer Pass lets you match the pass to your actual shortlist. If you're spending five or six days in the city, the flexibility wins.

The caveat: the pass doesn't cover everything. Broadway shows, most food experiences, and some outer-borough attractions aren't included. Go in knowing what's on it.

New York Explorer Pass: full review with current pricing →

Chicago — CityPASS Chicago

Best for: first-time visitors doing the classic itinerary

Chicago is one of the few US cities where CityPASS reliably beats Go City for most visitors. The reason is structural: the five attractions in the CityPASS bundle — the Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, 360 Chicago, and a choice between Adler Planetarium or the Museum of Science and Industry — are genuinely the top five things most first-timers want to do. There's almost no planning required. You buy the pass, you do the list. Go City covers Chicago too, but the flexible Explorer model is only valuable if your itinerary diverges from the standard circuit. For most visitors on a 3–4 day trip, it doesn't.

The one situation where Go City wins: repeat visitors who've already done the big five and want to explore further.

Chicago City Pass: full review with current pricing →

Los Angeles — Go City Los Angeles Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors whose LA itinerary doesn't centre on Universal Studios

Los Angeles is a pass city with one enormous asterisk: Universal Studios Hollywood isn't on the Go City pass. If Universal is the centrepiece of your LA trip — and for many visitors it is — you're better off buying that ticket separately and reconsidering whether a pass adds value for the rest. For visitors whose itinerary focuses on the Getty Center, Griffith Observatory, La Brea Tar Pits, and Warner Bros. Studio Tour, the Explorer Pass delivers solid value. Worth knowing: LA is a car city — the pass doesn't include transport, so factor in driving time and parking when building your schedule.

Los Angeles City Pass: full review with current pricing →

San Diego — CityPASS San Diego

Best for: families with children

San Diego's CityPASS is one of the best family passes in the US. The bundle includes the San Diego Zoo (one of the most expensive zoos in the country), SeaWorld San Diego, and a choice between Balboa Park Museums or the USS Midway. For a family doing all three, the savings are substantial — often the equivalent of one adult ticket free across the group. Go City also operates in San Diego with more flexibility, but for families planning to hit these anchor attractions anyway, the fixed bundle is simpler and cheaper for this specific itinerary.

San Diego City Pass: full review with current pricing →

Las Vegas — Go City Las Vegas Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors who want experiences beyond the Strip

Las Vegas is unusual pass territory. The Strip's casinos and entertainment aren't on any pass, and tickets to the major shows are also excluded. Where the pass earns its keep is on the surrounding experiences: the High Roller observation wheel, the Mob Museum, the Neon Museum, thrill rides at the Stratosphere, and day trips to Red Rock Canyon. If your Vegas trip is purely about gambling, shows, and pool time, a pass won't help you. If you're mixing in a full day of sightseeing alongside the core Vegas experience, the Explorer Pass earns its price.

Las Vegas City Pass: full review with current pricing →

Washington DC — Go City Washington DC Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors who want to go beyond the free sites

DC is the hardest city in the US to buy a pass for, because so many of its best attractions are free. The Smithsonian Institution covers 19 museums and galleries — all free. The Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol grounds, and most monuments cost nothing. A visitor who fills their trip with Smithsonian museums doesn't need a pass at all. The Explorer Pass earns its value only when your itinerary is built specifically around DC's paid experiences. Check what's included carefully before buying.

Washington DC: full review — and why a pass is often unnecessary →

Best city passes in Europe

London — Go City London Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors doing 3–5 paid attractions in 4–6 days

London has the most severe free attraction problem of any major tourist city in the world. The British Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A, Science Museum, Tate Modern, and National Gallery are all permanently free. A visitor who fills their time with these doesn't need a pass — the museums don't charge entry. The Explorer Pass earns its price when your itinerary is built around London's paid attraction circuit: the Tower of London, London Eye, Kew Gardens, and Tower Bridge. Four to five paid attractions in that range and the pass pays for itself; below that threshold, individual tickets are cheaper.

One confusion to avoid: Go City sells two different London passes — the Explorer Pass (pick X attractions) and the London Pass (unlimited entry, consecutive days). They are not the same product. The Explorer Pass is better for most visitors; the London Pass suits only those doing four or more paid attractions every single day.

London Explorer Pass: full review with current pricing →

Paris — Paris Museum Pass

Best for: museum-focused visitors spending 3–6 days

Paris splits into two different pass choices depending on your itinerary. For visitors focused on world-class museums — the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Pompidou Centre, Versailles, Sainte-Chapelle — the Paris Museum Pass is the strongest museum pass in Europe. It covers 50+ museums and monuments, queue-jump access is included, and the break-even point is reached after visiting two or three major sites. For visitors who want a broader sightseeing pass including the Eiffel Tower summit and Seine cruises, Go City Paris is the alternative. Note: the Eiffel Tower summit requires a timed-entry reservation regardless of which pass you use — book this first.

Paris Go City Pass: full review →  ·  Paris Museum Pass: full review →

Rome — Rome Pass

Best for: visitors prioritising the Colosseum circuit

Rome is one of the more complicated pass cities in Europe because the two non-negotiable attractions — the Colosseum complex and the Vatican Museums — sit on separate passes and both require advance booking regardless of how you buy entry. The Rome Pass covers the Colosseum; it doesn't cover the Vatican. Visitors expecting one pass to cover both will be disappointed. With that caveat stated: for visitors planning 3–5 days with the Colosseum, Borghese Gallery, Castel Sant'Angelo, and several smaller museums, the Rome Pass produces genuine savings. Buy Vatican tickets separately, in advance, before you arrive.

Rome Pass: full review with current pricing →

Barcelona — Go City Barcelona Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors spending 3–4 days hitting the major sites

Barcelona's paid attraction list is expensive and concentrated. Three or four of the major sites and the Explorer Pass has paid for itself. The critical detail: Sagrada Família requires a timed-entry reservation even with the pass. Book this first — availability disappears weeks in advance in peak season. Build your Barcelona visit around the Sagrada Família slot, not the other way around.

Barcelona Pass: full review with current pricing →

Amsterdam — I Amsterdam City Card

Best for: visitors wanting museum access and transport in one card

Amsterdam's I Amsterdam City Card bundles unlimited public transport alongside museum entry — one of the few city passes anywhere that does this. The card covers the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and 40+ other museums. For a city where getting between attractions requires trams and metro, the transport inclusion is a meaningful practical advantage. Worth knowing: the Netherlands Museumkaart covers 400+ Dutch museums nationwide and is available to tourists — if you're spending more than a day or two museum-hopping across multiple Dutch cities, it may outperform a single-city pass.

Amsterdam Pass: full review →  ·  Netherlands Museumkaart: full review →

Edinburgh — Edinburgh Pass

Best for: visitors spending 2–3 days on the Royal Mile circuit

Edinburgh's pass covers the two major paid attractions — Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse — alongside a solid set of mid-tier sites: Dynamic Earth, the Camera Obscura, and several others. Two days of sightseeing along the Royal Mile and the pass earns its price. The free attraction reality check: the National Museum of Scotland is free, and Arthur's Seat costs nothing. Visitors spending a day on the hills and free museums will get less from the pass.

Edinburgh Pass: full review with current pricing →

Best city passes outside the US and Europe

The pass landscape is thinner outside North America and Europe — fewer competing products, less "which one" decision to make. For most of these destinations, the question is whether any pass is worth buying rather than which pass to choose.

Dubai — Go City Dubai Explorer Pass

Best for: activity-focused visitors on 2–3 day stays

Dubai's paid attraction scene is expensive and the Explorer Pass covers a strong selection of headline experiences. For a short trip focused on ticking off Dubai's major draws, the pass delivers meaningful savings. Go City is effectively the primary explorer-style option here, which simplifies the decision compared to cities where multiple programmes compete.

Dubai Pass: full review with current pricing →

Singapore — Know which pass you're buying

Best for: varies — transport and attraction passes solve different problems

Singapore has two different pass products with different strengths. The Singapore Tourist Pass is primarily a transport pass — unlimited MRT and bus travel for 1–3 days. Go City Singapore covers attraction entry. For visitors whose main concern is moving around a hot, spread-out city efficiently, the Tourist Pass is the more immediate priority. Many visitors use both — budget accordingly.

Singapore Tourist Pass: full review →

Tokyo — Go City Tokyo Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors building a structured paid-attraction itinerary

Many of Tokyo's most beloved experiences — Senso-ji, Meiji Shrine, neighbourhood wandering in Shimokitazawa or Yanaka — are free. The Explorer Pass earns its value on the paid experiences specifically: teamLab digital art, Odaiba attractions, and Hakone day trips. Know what's included before buying and build your itinerary around those specific paid options.

Tokyo City Pass: full review with current pricing →

Sydney — Go City Sydney Explorer Pass

Best for: visitors doing harbour experiences and wildlife attractions

Sydney's individual attraction prices are high by global standards, and the Explorer Pass covers a strong selection of the harbour experiences that define a Sydney visit. For visitors whose itinerary includes the Harbour Bridge Climb, the Opera House tour, Taronga Zoo, and similar paid experiences, the pass pays for itself relatively quickly — the Bridge Climb alone, if it's on your list, makes the maths work almost by itself.

Sydney Attractions Pass: full review with current pricing →

Best city passes by traveller type

Not sure whether a pass is right for your trip at all? Our full decision guide runs through the break-even maths and the four situations where individual tickets win. Choosing between Go City and CityPASS specifically? Our programme comparison covers the structural differences in detail.

Common questions

What is the best city pass overall?

There's no universal answer — the best pass is the one where the included attractions match your itinerary in that specific city. CityPASS works best in cities with a clear top-five attraction list (Chicago, San Diego). Go City Explorer works best where you want flexibility across a longer shortlist (New York, London, Barcelona). The picks above identify which model wins in each destination.

What is the best city pass for families?

CityPASS San Diego is the strongest family option in the US — the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld in one bundle covers a full two-day family itinerary and the per-person savings compound across the group. CityPASS Chicago is a close second. In Europe, Go City London's Explorer Pass covers the London Eye and Tower of London, the two most child-friendly paid anchors of a London trip.

What is the best city pass for Europe?

It depends on how many cities you're covering. For single-city visits, the Paris Museum Pass (museum-focused visitors) and Go City London Explorer Pass (broader sightseeing) are the strongest European options. For multi-city European trips, there's no single pass that spans borders — you need a separate pass per city, and the picks in the Europe section above identify the strongest option for each.

Are Go City pass reviews generally positive?

Go City reviews are consistently positive for cities with high paid-attraction density — New York, London, Barcelona — and more mixed for cities where the attraction pool is thinner or admission prices are lower. The Explorer Pass model works well when you have a clear shortlist of expensive paid attractions. Where visitors report disappointment is when the attractions they most wanted weren't included on the pass.

Is a city pass worth it if I only have 2 days?

Yes, in the right city. The key is whether you can realistically visit enough paid attractions to break even in two days. Chicago, New York, and London all have enough expensive paid attractions that two days of focused sightseeing will cover the pass price. Cities with lower individual admission prices or fewer paid attractions require more careful maths before buying.

What's the best city pass for Washington DC?

Washington DC doesn't have a straightforward answer — so many of its best attractions are free. The Smithsonian Institution covers 19 museums, the Lincoln Memorial and Capitol grounds cost nothing, and most monuments are free to visit. The Go City DC Explorer Pass earns its value only if your itinerary is built around paid experiences specifically. We've covered this in detail on the DC page.