The Best US City Passes in 2026 Compared

How US City Passes Work — and When They Are Worth It

Every tourist pass in the US falls into one of three structural types. Understanding the type is more important than comparing prices, because the break-even rules are completely different for each.

Type 1: Time-based unlimited (Go City All-Inclusive)

You choose a number of consecutive days (1–10 depending on city). Your pass activates the first time you scan it at an attraction. For those calendar days, you can visit as many of the included attractions as you like — once per attraction. This type rewards a dense, packed sightseeing schedule. Visit one attraction and spend the rest of the day at the beach, and you will lose money. The math: if a 2-day pass costs $149, you need $149 in à-la-carte attraction tickets across those two days just to break even.

Type 2: Attraction-count flexible (Go City Explorer Pass)

You choose a fixed number of attraction entries (2–7 typical, up to 10 in New York) and use them at any pace within 60 days of first use. The clock only ticks when you redeem an entry. This type rewards selective travelers who know exactly which sights they want. A 3-choice Explorer used on premium attractions (observation decks at $44–$54 each) usually generates $15–$40 in savings. Pair it with museums at $25–$30 each and the math gets tighter.

Type 3: Fixed bundle (CityPASS)

You get a pre-selected set of five specific attractions over a 9-day window. Two or three are mandatory; you choose from a short list for the rest. The savings are built into the price — typically 40–52% off combined à-la-carte cost. This type rewards visitors who happen to want exactly those attractions. The risk: two mandatory inclusions (like Shedd Aquarium + Skydeck Chicago) are non-negotiable. If you are not interested in one of them, the pass's effective savings collapse.

The universal break-even rule

A pass saves money only when your planned attractions' total à-la-carte price exceeds the pass price. Before buying, list every paid attraction you are confident you will visit and price them individually. If the sum exceeds the pass price, the pass is worth it. If it does not — or if you are unsure about half your list — buy tickets individually. The visitors who regret their pass purchase almost always admit, in hindsight, that they only visited two attractions. We say this plainly because no pass company will.

For a deeper look at when passes pay off across different traveler types, see our are city passes worth it guide and the how do city passes work explainer.

TL;DR — Best Pass Per City (June 2026)

Prices confirmed June 2026. These are our top-pick passes per city for a typical adult visitor doing 3–5 attractions. Full city breakdowns follow below.

2026 US City Pass Comparison Table

Prices confirmed June 2026. All adult prices verified directly from operator websites. The Sightseeing Pass is excluded — it is no longer operational.

New York City Passes — 2026

New York has the most complex city pass market in the US: four active products from two operators, prices ranging from $109 to $414 per adult, and 107 included attractions on the Go City menus alone. The key distinction is structural type — the All-Inclusive (unlimited for 1–10 days, from $169 adult), the Explorer (choose 2–10 specific sights, from $89), the CityPASS (fixed bundle of 5, $164) and the C3 (choose 3 of 10, $109).

The New York CityPASS increased to $164 adult as of mid-2026 (up from the $154 it held for several years). The All-Inclusive 3-day remains at $224. The Go City Explorer 3-choice sits at $129.

Who wins here depends on your pace. Visit three or more attractions per day and the All-Inclusive earns its keep. Have a list of two to five specific premium sights (particularly observation decks, which run $44–$54 à la carte) and the Explorer or C3 is sharper. Only if you want exactly the five CityPASS inclusions — Empire State Building and the American Museum of Natural History as mandatory, plus three choices from a list of six — does the $164 bundle make sense.

See the full breakdown at our New York city pass comparison, plus dedicated guides on is the New York Pass worth it, is the New York CityPASS worth it, and Go City New York vs CityPASS.

Chicago City Passes — 2026

Chicago is a strong CityPASS city. The Chicago CityPASS at $144 adult covers five attractions including two mandatory heavy-hitters — Shedd Aquarium and Skydeck Chicago (Willis Tower) — plus your choice of three from six options including the Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum and Adler Planetarium. The combined à-la-carte value exceeds $286 for adults, so the savings of roughly $142 are legitimate if you want all five.

Go City also operates here with an All-Inclusive starting at $149 for one day. The All-Inclusive covers 39 attractions (Go City Chicago's network is smaller than New York's), so it works best for visitors doing a density-focused single-day blitz of Navy Pier, 360 Chicago, Hop-On Hop-Off and Millennium Park attractions. For anything longer than one day, the CityPASS's 9-day flexibility makes it the more sensible purchase unless you truly plan to visit five or more paid attractions per day.

Full breakdown at our Chicago city pass comparison, and a head-to-head at Go City vs CityPASS Chicago.

Boston City Passes — 2026

Boston is the best-value CityPASS city on this list. The Boston CityPASS at $84 adult (child $72) lets you choose 4 attractions from 7 options including the New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Boston Harbor City Cruises, View Boston observation deck, Franklin Park Zoo, Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Fine Arts. That is a genuinely flexible selection for a compact sightseeing city where most visitors hit 4–6 paid attractions per trip.

Go City's All-Inclusive starts at $79 for one day in Boston — marginally less than the CityPASS at first glance, but the 1-day pass is only worth it if you cram enough attractions into a single day. The CityPASS 9-day window is more realistic for how most visitors actually move around Boston (especially if you want a Harbor cruise on one day and a museum on another). At $84 with flexible choice of 4, the CityPASS is the stronger product for the vast majority of Boston visitors.

Full breakdown at Boston city pass comparison and Go City vs CityPASS Boston.

Las Vegas City Passes — 2026

Las Vegas is a Go City-only city — CityPASS does not operate there. Go City's All-Inclusive starts at $169 for one day, covering 40+ attractions including the Mob Museum, the Neon Museum, helicopter Grand Canyon tours, GoCar rentals and other strip-adjacent experiences. The 1-day price is the same as New York's, which tells you something about how Go City prices for demand rather than city size.

The smarter pick for most Las Vegas visitors is the Go City Explorer Pass from $59 (2-choice), which lets you pick specific day-trip attractions without committing to the all-day density grind. Las Vegas is unique among major US cities in that many visitors spend far more time at shows, casinos, and restaurants — all free to browse, costly to participate in — than at traditional tourist attractions. An Explorer Pass lets you pay for exactly the two to four sights you will genuinely do and nothing else.

Full breakdown at Las Vegas city pass comparison, including a full is the Go City Las Vegas pass worth it verdict.

Seattle City Passes — 2026

Seattle CityPASS is one of the strongest fixed-bundle passes in the US. At $139 adult (child $119), it includes the Space Needle with an unusual day-and-night combination visit (one daytime + one nighttime entry within 24 hours), plus the Seattle Aquarium including the new Ocean Pavilion, and your choice of three from four options: Chihuly Garden and Glass, Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour, Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) or Woodland Park Zoo.

The Space Needle alone runs $38–$50 à la carte depending on timing, and the day-plus-night inclusion in the CityPASS is something you cannot replicate with individual tickets at the same price. CityPASS is the dominant choice in Seattle; Go City does not operate a major multi-day pass in this market. If the Space Needle is on your list — and it almost certainly is — the Seattle CityPASS earns its $139.

Full breakdown at Seattle city pass comparison.

San Diego City Passes — 2026

San Diego is one of the best cities in the US for the Go City All-Inclusive model, because it has a high density of theme-park-adjacent attractions that are expensive individually — Legoland, the USS Midway Museum, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Belmont Park, and multiple boat tours. The standard Go City All-Inclusive starts at $99 for one day; a 3-day pass runs approximately $209 for adults based on current pricing. Note that the standard All-Inclusive does NOT include the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld or LEGOLAND itself — the Zoo Safari Park and LEGOLAND are on an upgraded "All-Inclusive Plus" product.

San Diego CityPASS is available for visitors who want a fixed bundle. The key decision point is whether the Go City upgrade (Plus tier) that includes the Zoo and LEGOLAND is worth the premium over individual tickets to those parks specifically. For a family doing Zoo + SeaWorld + USS Midway over 3 days, the 3-day All-Inclusive Plus makes strong financial sense.

Full breakdown at San Diego city pass comparison and Go City vs CityPASS San Diego.

San Francisco City Passes — 2026

San Francisco has an interesting split: Go City's All-Inclusive starts at $109 for one day, and the San Francisco CityPASS sits at $89.95 (child $69.95) for any 4 of 8 attractions including the California Academy of Sciences, Blue and Gold Fleet Bay Cruise, Exploratorium, Aquarium of the Bay, SF Zoo, SFMOMA, Walt Disney Family Museum and de Young Museum.

The CityPASS is $19 cheaper than the 1-day All-Inclusive and gives you 9 days to use 4 flexible entries — which is more realistic for how most San Francisco visitors actually behave. San Francisco is a walking city; you will spend significant time in neighborhoods (the Castro, Haight-Ashbury, the Embarcadero) that have no pass-redeemable attractions. The CityPASS's attraction flexibility over 9 days fits that pace better than a 1-day unlimited pass. The Go City All-Inclusive is only the better pick if you genuinely plan to hit five or more paid attractions in a single day.

Full breakdown at San Francisco city pass comparison.

Orlando City Passes — 2026

Orlando requires a caveat upfront: this is a theme-park city, and most of the "city pass" spending here is on Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld tickets — which are not classic multi-attraction tourist card products. The CityPASS offering in Orlando functions as a park-ticket bundler (combining WDW, Universal and SeaWorld tickets) rather than a traditional museum-and-landmark pass. Individual park tickets from CityPASS in Orlando range from $79 (SeaWorld single day) to $376+ per person (Disney 4-park).

Go City operates an All-Inclusive Pass in Orlando covering non-Disney / non-Universal attractions — ICON Park, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Ripley's, WonderWorks, airboat tours, and similar experiences. The 2-day All-Inclusive starts at $239 per adult. For visitors who are NOT doing the big theme parks (or are doing them separately) and want to fill their other days with Orlando's secondary attractions, Go City's All-Inclusive is the relevant product.

Full breakdown at Orlando city pass comparison, including the Orlando CityPASS vs Go City head-to-head.

Atlanta City Passes — 2026

Atlanta CityPASS at $106 adult (child $86) is one of the better-value passes in the South. You choose 5 of 6 attractions including the Georgia Aquarium (one of the world's largest, regularly $40+), World of Coca-Cola, Zoo Atlanta, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, College Football Hall of Fame and National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The Georgia Aquarium alone justifies a significant portion of the pass price; add the World of Coca-Cola ($20+ à la carte) and you have cleared most of the $106 before visiting the other three.

Atlanta's pass competition is low — this is a low-KD city pass market — which means the CityPASS has less scrutiny from comparison sites than New York or Chicago. It is a straightforward, solid product for a city with a distinct cluster of world-class cultural attractions. Go City does not operate a major competing pass product in Atlanta.

Full breakdown at Atlanta city pass comparison.

San Antonio City Passes — 2026

San Antonio CityPASS at $63 adult (child $53) is the lowest-priced city pass on this list, and it competes well. You choose 4 of 8 attractions including Go Rio San Antonio River Cruises, San Antonio Zoo, Tower of the Americas, The Alamo Exhibit and Church, San Antonio Botanical Garden, Witte Museum, The DoSeum and San Antonio Museum of Art. The Alamo Exhibit runs $18–$27 à la carte; the Zoo is $24–$29; the River Cruise is $12–$15. Combining four of these for $63 gives you clear savings at a low out-of-pocket price.

San Antonio is a walkable River Walk city where much of the experience is free (the River Walk itself, the Alamo grounds, most of the arts district). The CityPASS's 4-choice-of-8 model fits the city's pace well — you do two paid attractions one day and two another, without any day-rate pressure. For value-conscious travelers, this is one of the US city passes we would recommend without qualification.

Full breakdown at San Antonio city pass comparison.

Houston City Passes — 2026

Houston CityPASS at $82 adult (child $72) covers 5 of 7 attractions including Space Center Houston (regular admission $34.95+), Houston Zoo ($24+), Downtown Aquarium, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Kemah Boardwalk, Children's Museum Houston and Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Space Center Houston is the anchor — it is one of the best NASA visitor experiences in the country and the single highest-value inclusion on this pass.

If Space Center Houston is on your Houston list (and it should be), the $82 pass pays for itself before you visit a second attraction. Add the Zoo or Museum of Natural Science and you are well ahead. Go City does not operate a meaningful competing pass in Houston. This is a clean CityPASS pick.

Full breakdown at Houston city pass comparison.

Tampa City Passes — 2026

Tampa Bay CityPASS at $149.95 adult (child $139.95) is the priciest Southern city pass but it earns the premium through Busch Gardens Tampa Bay — a full theme park with roller coasters and African wildlife exhibits that regularly charges $80–$120 per individual ticket. You choose 5 of 7 attractions: Busch Gardens, Florida Aquarium, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, Tropics Boat Tours, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Museum of Science and Innovation (MOSI) and Glazer Children's Museum.

If Busch Gardens is on your list, the math is straightforward: $150 for Busch Gardens + Florida Aquarium + three other attractions is significantly less than buying individually. If you are not interested in Busch Gardens (perhaps you are visiting with adults only and the theme park is not appealing), the value proposition weakens — the remaining six options are good but not individually expensive enough to justify $150 on their own.

Full breakdown at Tampa city pass comparison.

Dallas City Passes — 2026

Dallas CityPASS at $64 adult (child $46) covers 4 of 6 attractions: Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Reunion Tower GeO-Deck, Dallas Zoo, George W. Bush Presidential Museum, Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum and AT&T Stadium Tours. The Perot Museum runs $25+ à la carte; Reunion Tower GeO-Deck is $20–$22; the Dallas Zoo is $22+. Four visits at those prices totals $90+, so the $64 CityPASS generates a clear $26+ saving with flexibility to choose which four suit your interests.

Dallas is a sprawling city where driving between attractions takes time, and the 9-day validity works in your favor — you are not racing to cram everything into one or two days. The AT&T Stadium Tour is unique on any US city pass list and worth considering if you are an NFL fan. Go City does not currently operate a city pass in Dallas.

Full breakdown at Dallas city pass comparison.

Denver City Passes — 2026

Denver CityPASS is the only major US city pass that offers tiered attraction counts: choose 3 for $54, 4 for $68, or 5 for $76. Valid for 7 days (shorter than the 9-day window most CityPASS products offer). You select from 8 options: Downtown Aquarium, Denver Zoo, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Botanic Gardens, Children's Museum of Denver, Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, Denver Art Museum and History Colorado Center.

The 5-attraction tier at $76 adult (child $64) is our pick for most visitors — Denver Zoo ($20+) and Denver Museum of Nature and Science ($18.95+) are the two natural anchors, and adding three more for a total of $76 gives you excellent flexibility. The Denver Botanic Gardens alone is $15–$21 depending on season. The 7-day window is tight if you are also doing Rocky Mountain day trips (which most Denver visitors do), so plan your pass days around the city-attraction days deliberately.

Full breakdown at Denver city pass comparison.

Go City vs CityPASS — Which Operator Is Better?

This is the question most visitors eventually land on, and the honest answer is that neither operator is universally better — they serve different travel styles and different city profiles.

Where Go City wins

Go City operates in more cities (nearly every major US destination) and offers structural flexibility that CityPASS does not. The All-Inclusive's unlimited-per-day model is the only product that actually rewards a high-density sightseeing pace — if you are visiting six attractions in a day in New York or Chicago, Go City is cheaper than any competitor. The Explorer Pass's 60-day validity is also genuinely useful for multi-city trips or visitors who want to spread their sightseeing across a longer stay. Go City also tends to have a larger attraction menu — 107 in New York, 45+ in San Diego — giving you more genuine choice.

Where CityPASS wins

CityPASS wins on predictability and the fixed-price-for-specific-attractions model. For cities where three to five sights capture 80% of visitor intent — Chicago (Shedd, Skydeck, Field Museum), Seattle (Space Needle, Aquarium), Atlanta (Georgia Aquarium, Coca-Cola) — the fixed bundle at a published discount is simpler and more honest than a time-based pass that loses value if you spend a day hiking. CityPASS also consistently offers higher percentage savings (40–55% off listed prices) than Go City's All-Inclusive in cities where the museum tier is the main draw rather than a high-volume observation deck landscape.

Who should pick which

Choose Go City All-Inclusive if you are doing 3+ attractions per day over 2+ consecutive days and want unlimited flexibility. Choose Go City Explorer if you have a short list of 2–6 specific sights and value the 60-day flexibility. Choose CityPASS if you have a clear 4–5 attraction shortlist, want a predictable all-in price, and prefer a 9-day window to a daily density requirement. See our full Go City vs CityPASS operator comparison and dedicated guide on is Go City worth it for deeper analysis across cities.

When a US City Pass Is NOT Worth It

We are going to say this plainly, because no pass operator website will: there are clear situations where buying a city pass costs you money rather than saving it.

You are only doing 1–2 paid attractions

Every city pass on this list has a break-even floor of at least 3 paid attractions. San Antonio CityPASS at $63 for 4 choices is the closest to a 2-attraction value play, but even there, 2 San Antonio Zoo + Tower of the Americas tickets run $36–$50 à la carte — still under the $63 pass price. If your plan is one major museum and one tour, buy individually.

You are spending most of your time on free experiences

Every major US city has exceptional free attractions: Central Park in New York, the National Mall in Washington, Millennium Park in Chicago, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the Las Vegas Strip (free to walk), the San Antonio River Walk, the Atlanta Beltline. If your itinerary is genuinely 50% or more free experiences interleaved with paid sights, a time-based All-Inclusive is almost certainly going to lose you money. Count your paid-attraction days and buy the pass only for those days.

Your planned attractions are not on the pass

This sounds obvious, but it catches people regularly. Go City's All-Inclusive in San Diego does not include the San Diego Zoo itself (only the Safari Park, and even that requires the Plus upgrade). The New York CityPASS does not include Edge or SUMMIT One Vanderbilt. Orlando CityPASS functions as park-ticket bundler, not a multi-attraction tourist card. Always check what specific attractions are included — and excluded — before buying.

You are visiting in shoulder or off-peak season with no queues

One significant practical benefit of Go City passes is skip-the-line access. At peak summer New York, that benefit is worth $15–$20 in real time at observation decks. In January in Denver, attraction queues are essentially nonexistent and individual tickets are sometimes available at discount via attraction apps or deal sites. The pass loses one of its key practical advantages when wait times are low.

You are a repeat visitor

If you have already seen the Space Needle, the Georgia Aquarium and the Field Museum, no bundle makes sense. Repeat visitors to a city almost never visit enough new paid attractions per day to justify a pass — they know the free highlights and tend to make selective, deliberate choices about paid sights. For repeat visitors, our are city passes worth it guide has a detailed framework for making the call.