How to choose the best pass?

"How do I choose the best pass?" is the question of questions 🙂 .
Certainly the one I am asked the most of all, and also the one that - once accommodated - allows the reader to approach passes with much more serenity and effectiveness.

There is no dry answer to this question, but a way of reasoning and approaching this choice that makes everything simpler, more linear, more orderly.

Let's see some good advice 🙂

How do you choose the best pass?

Let's start with the premise that there is no rule or algorithm of reasoning that is always valid, everyone has their own method that varies according to their tourism experience and also the type of vacation they are planning.

I try to give you my algorithm that I generally apply when preparing for a vacation, obviously limited to the mere approach of analyzing, comparing and choosing a pass-if indeed I decide to avail myself of it.

• I make sure I have firm departure and return dates -> I know how long the vacation is and how many/what days I need to arrange the travel itinerary for
• I read up on the tourist opportunities in the city, and make a note in the first instance of what I'd like to see, without worrying too much about timing and scheduling them
• at this point I start jotting down a draft itinerary, trying to fit all the things together as best I can and verify that it is actually sustainable in the vacation time. I try to leave some tolerance, for later modifications.
• I check the official websites of the individual attractions/excursions/activities to see if there are any promotional initiatives that would allow me to visit them at preferential conditions, regardless of the pass. For example, there might be free visiting time slots, family discounts, age group discounts, temporary promotions, etc. If I find a museum free, I may not even consider it as a constraint in choosing a pass, knowing that I can still visit it for free by scheduling it in my itinerary in the right slot where it is free.
• at this point I evaluate the passes that can best cover all the things I have decided to see. And it is at this stage where a site like passturistici.com can be of great help to you, concretely helping you find information quickly and guiding you in your choice.
• Once I identify the best pass, or the combination of pass and single ticket, I reevaluate the itinerary again and ask myself: the pass I have chosen, does it offer me included in the price new opportunities that I had not considered, and that I think are interesting? If the answer is positive, I try to revise the itinerary to fit as many things in as possible, and make the most of the chosen pass.
  Important!The goal should not be to see as many things as possible, to the point of condensing the itinerary too much and not enjoying the vacation. You have to be good at keeping the right spaces, slices of free time, time for walking, shopping, and also enjoying the city outside the tourist attractions.
  So the goal becomes: to see as many things as possible while keeping a complete itinerary that is never too clogged.
  You know that you would like to see a lot of things, but that should never outweigh the fact that you can see them at the right time and leave room for the rest as well
• I repeat this evaluation cycle until I get the best design for my vacation

The duration of the pass

The duration of the pass is also good to reason about.
Let's take an example.
If I have - for example - 7 days of vacation and I want to take a "duration" pass (i.e., which have different denominations and costs depending on the days the pass is valid), it is not a given that I have to take the version of the pass for all 7 days, which has its price for 7 days precisely.

I could also think of planning in itinerary-again for example-the first 5 days of the vacation (or the last 5, it changes little) with all the attractions included in the pass, and for those 5 days take the 5-day version pass that will cost less than the 7-day pass, and leave to the other 2 days not covered by the pass all the other free activities and initiatives where the pass would not have given me any advantage anyway.

Public transportation

Another element to reason about is public transportation (subway, buses, trains, streetcars). Some tourist cards (passes) include public transportation, or have major discounts on tickets, so we have to take into account in our calculations that buying the pass yes has a cost, but that in addition to the direct benefits on attractions, it allows me to enjoy public transportation that I would otherwise pay for.
This aspect may also affect the reasoning of the previous point "duration of the pass," maybe again in that example I decide to take the 7-day pass anyway, even though I could arrange to condense everything into 5 days and save money, but I do so because maybe the pass guarantees me public transportation for all 7 days, and the price difference becomes negligible (for the same cost, better to have the freedom given by having the pass than not having it).

Choosing the right pass

As you can see, the pass and tourist cards are very "powerful" tools, but they must be chosen wisely in order to enjoy them to the fullest and have full satisfaction during your vacation.
And that is precisely why this site comes to life, which is yes a valuable help, but you have to do the biggest work by planning your vacation in the best possible way.