I am all about the CityPass. I’ve sung its praises in previous blogs and I still maintain that for most families the special discount card (which is available in major cities) offers big savings if you plan to visit popular attractions on your trip of a lifetime.
CityPasses allow tourists to gain “free” admission or across-the-board discounts to multiple attractions in a specific metropolitan area. Whether they are the best deal for every family is something I will delve into in my next blog. For now I wanted to detail some of the world’s most popular CityPasses.
New York CityPass. This pass is good for nine days and offers a $131 value for just $65. With a New York CityPass you’ll get a Circle Line cruise around Manhattan and entrance to five of the Big Apple’s most popular attractions: the Empire State Building Observatory, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the American Museum of Natural History. It’s a phenomenal deal if the aforementioned attractions are on your must-visit list. And since the pass is good for nine days you don’t have to overextend yourself trying to fit in two museums visits per day.
SydenyPass. According to travel agents, this is one of the most requested international discount cards. It’s not offered by the same company that markets the CityPass but it does cover all your transportation to and from some of Australia’s most popular attractions. For $325 a family of 5 sightseers (two adults and a three kids from one immediate family) will get an all-inclusive 5-day sightseeing package that combines the best of Sydney’s city, bay and beach highlights. The pass is good for two months and includes all public bus, boat and rail transportation (including to the airport) and a sightseeing bus.
I amsterdam Card. This card pays big dividends if you are a speed demon. It includes public transportation, a canal cruise and free admission to 24 museums (such as the famed Van Gogh Museum) for about $50. Fifty bucks will get you a 24-hour pass and $64 will get you a pass for 48 hours. It doesn’t take a math whiz to figure out that you’ll need to do a lot of sprinting to make the card pay off.
The ZurichCARD. This is a better deal. You don’t have to engage in frantic sightseeing to make the most of this card. For about $30 you get a card good for 72 hours. Which means you can enjoy visiting Switzerland’s most popular attractions, including airport transfers, a sightseeing cruise on the lake, admission to 40 museums and a welcome drink at 20 restaurants without breaking a sweat.
The Paris Museum Pass. It’s not exactly a CityPass, but it’s definitely a deal worth mentioning. Given the current exchange rate you will be paying roughly $15 a day if you purchase the 6-day pass (the 2-day version will cost you about $45 a day and leave you exhausted trying to get your money’s worth) for admission to more than 60 museums and monuments in the famous French city.
To get more information or your hands on a CityPass click here.
Related Articles:
Traveling Abroad with a Weak Dollar
What You Need to Know About New York BEFORE You Go
What To Know Before You Visit—AUSTRIA, SPAIN and PORTUGAL
What To Know Before You Visit–IRELAND, SWITZERLAND and POLAND
What To Know Before You Visit–FRANCE