How sightseeing passes work

Four kinds of pass

Sellers give their passes many names, but the terms fall into four shapes. A pass page on this site names the kind near the top, and the calculator treats each kind by its own rule.

Choice passes charge by the pick

A choice pass sells a number of entries, such as 3 or 5, from a longer list. The price depends on that number, not on which attractions you pick, so a pick is worth most on a dear ticket. The calculator fills the picks with your dearest ticked attractions first. Anything left over, or not on the list, is paid at the gate.

For New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Freedom Trail tour and Boston Tea Party Ships, with 2 adults, 3 days at a relaxed pace, Boston CityPASS uses 3 of its 4 picks. Boston Tea Party Ships and Freedom Trail tour are not on its list and stay at the gate. Prices checked October 2026.

Gate total for the plan

USD 321.90

CityPASS, 4 attractions

USD 168for the group

Still paid at the gate

USD 116

Real cost with the pass

USD 284

Saving or loss for this plan

USD 37.90 less than the gate (11%)

Verdict

Worth it

A pick you leave unused still costs money. Tick fewer things than the pass has picks and the price per visit goes up.

Day passes charge by the day

A day pass lets you into everything on its list for a set number of days. Within those days an extra visit costs nothing more, so the pass rewards a full day. It only pays if you fit the visits in, and the calculator checks that against your pace: 2 visits a day when relaxed, 4 when packed.

The same four Boston visits, Museum of Science, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Harvard Museum of Natural History and Paul Revere House, for 1 adult on a 3 day trip, on Go City Boston All-Inclusive Pass. Prices checked October 2026.

At a relaxed pace the four visits need the 2 days option at USD 109, against USD 89 at the gate. Packed into one day, the 1 day option at USD 79 holds them all. Choice passes vs all-inclusive passes runs this trade with longer lists in New York and London.

Fixed bundles give one entry each

A bundle sells one entry to each attraction on a set list. There is nothing to pick. It pays when you would visit most of the list anyway, and loses when you would skip the dearer part of it.

For Museu Picasso de Barcelona, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Fundació Joan Miró and MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 1 adult over 3 days, Barcelona Card Essential covers all four. Prices checked October 2026.

Gate total for the plan

EUR 54.50

Card Essential, 3 days

EUR 29for the group

Still paid at the gate

EUR 0

Real cost with the pass

EUR 29

Saving or loss for this plan

EUR 25.50 less than the gate (46%)

Verdict

Worth it

City cards add public transport

A city card combines buses, trams or metro for a set time with entry to a list of attractions. We count the transport part only through the rides you tick, such as a tram ride priced at its single fare. Rides you do not tick add nothing, because we cannot know how often you would ride.

For Jerónimos Monastery, Belém Tower, Castelo de São Jorge, Oceanário de Lisboa and Pena Palace, with 2 adults, 3 days at a relaxed pace, Lisboa Card comes out Close call: EUR 2 more than the gate (1%) for this plan. Add one tram 28 ride each and it reads Close call, EUR 4.60 less than the gate (2%). Prices checked October 2026.

Gate total for the plan

EUR 195.40

Lisboa Card, 48 hours

EUR 102for the group

Still paid at the gate

EUR 95.40

Real cost with the pass

EUR 197.40

Saving or loss for this plan

EUR 2 more than the gate (1%)

Verdict

Close call

Oceanário de Lisboa and Pena Palace are in no Lisbon pass, so they cost the same either way. The card covers 3 visits, which at a relaxed pace need the 48 hours option.

What a pass price leaves out

• Checkout fees. CityPASS adds USD 2 a ticket at checkout on its passes in New York and San Francisco. We add it to the pass cost.
• Default tickets. Rome City Pass (Colosseum and Vatican Museums) and Barcelona City Pass by Turbopass (Sagrada Família and Park Güell) come with tickets the seller pre-selects in the price. The result notes it.
• Residence rates. Paris City Pass and Paris Flex Pass are priced at the rate for visitors from outside the EU; EU residents pay less.
• Booked time slots. Many attractions sell entry for a set time, pass or not. Timed entry and reservations with a pass shows where our data marks one.
• Attractions we have no price for. A pass page lists them. A visitor who goes there gets more from the pass than our figure shows.

Run your own plan

The calculator applies these rules to every pass we compare for the city at once: pick a city, tick what you plan to see, set your days, pace and the age of each child. The methodology lists every rule in full.