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Tampa Bay is a fun place to visit. Whether it’s one stop as part of a larger Florida trip, or the sole destination of a vacation, there are lots of things to do.
And getting the Tampa City Pass is an easy way to save money while getting admission to some of the best attractions!
How it works is that you pay just one price for the Tampa CityPass. You can then use the CityPass to get into some amazing attractions.
Those attractions are the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay theme park, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, the Florida Aquarium, and Clearwater Marine Aquarium. You can also choose between either the Tropics Boat Tours Dolphin or Sunset Cruise, or the Museum of Science & Industry.
Being able to purchase one pass for multiple attractions makes travel planning simpler.
But an even bigger benefit is being able to save money.
We’re going to take a look at all the possibilities to find out when the Tampa Bay City Pass is worth it – and when it’s not. And if you want to skip any calculations, just scroll down to the conclusion. This will help you figure out if you should get the City Pass on your next Tampa vacation!
How to Save the Most Money with the Tampa City Pass
First, let’s find out the maximum amount of money you can save with the Tampa City Pass.
Here’s how much each attraction would cost if you paid for them separately. (Please note that admission to Busch Gardens and the Florida Aquarium may vary depending on the date of your visit. Also, these prices are for adults; and for the purpose of this discussion, we’ll always be looking at adult prices.)
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay – $123.68
- ZooTampa at Lowry Park – $44.95
- The Florida Aquarium – $36.00
- Clearwater Marine Aquarium – $35.95
- The Tropics Boat Tours Dolphin or Sunset Cruise – $28.88
- Museum of Science & Industry – $12.95
If you visit the 5 most expensive of those attractions and paid for them all separately, it would cost you $123.68 + $44.95 + $36.00 + $35.95 + $28.88 = $269.46.
The Tampa Bay CityPASS, however, only costs $122.00.
That means that by buying the City Pass, you would save $269.46 – $122.00 = $147.46. That’s a huge savings – you’d save about 55%!
But that’s only when you do the 5 most expensive attractions. What about other combinations?
Busch Gardens Tampa
Of the 6 different attractions you might enjoy with the CityPass, the most expensive by far is Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
A Busch Gardens ticket costs around $123.68. And the Tampa City Pass, at $122, costs about the same.
This means that as long as you visit Busch Gardens Tampa as one of your attractions, you’ll be saving money with the City Pass. The more attractions you visit, the more money you’ll save.
But what if you aren’t visiting Busch Gardens during your Tampa trip? Would the City Pass still be worth it?
Let’s find out!
4 Attractions (Not Busch Gardens)
Let’s say you’re planning on visiting 4 attractions (but not Busch Gardens).
That means you’ll be visiting
- ZooTampa at Lowry Park – $44.95
- The Florida Aquarium – $36.00
- Clearwater Marine Aquarium – $35.95
As well as 1 of the following:
- The Tropics Boat Tours Dolphin or Sunset Cruise – $28.88
- Museum of Science & Industry – $12.95
If you choose the boat tour, paying for each attraction would cost $44.95 + $36.00 + $35.95 + $28.88 = $145.78.
If you pick the museum, then paying for each attraction separately would cost $44.95 + $36.00 + $35.95 + $12.95 = $129.85.
Either way, you would be paying more than the price of the City Pass, which is $122.
So if you visit 4 attractions and Busch Gardens isn’t one of them, it will still save you money to buy the Tampa City Pass.
3 Attractions (Not Busch Gardens)
What if you’ll only have time for 3 attractions during your vacation? And what if Busch Gardens won’t be one of them?
Here are the three most expensive attractions that are included in the City Pass (not counting Busch Gardens):
- ZooTampa at Lowry Park – $44.95
- The Florida Aquarium – $36.00
- Clearwater Marine Aquarium – $35.95
If you paid for all of them separately, it would cost $44.95 + $36.00 + $35.95 = $116.90.
This is actually less expensive than the price of the City Pass ($122).
And if you did a less expensive attraction instead of one of those three, then it would still be less expensive than the price of the City Pass.
Also, if you only did 1 or 2 of those attractions, it would continue to be less expensive than the City Pass cost.
So if you do 1, 2, or 3 attractions and Busch Gardens isn’t one of them, it will not save you money to get the Tampa City Pass.
Conclusion
In most cases, the Tampa City Pass is worth it.
If you visit 5 attractions, it’s worth the cost and will save you money.
If you visit 4 attractions, it’s still worth the price and will save you money.
If you visit less than 4 attractions and Busch Gardens Tampa is one of those attractions, then it will still be cheaper to get a City Pass.
(Click here to purchase a Tampa City Pass.)
But if you visit fewer than 4 attractions and Busch Gardens Tampa is not one of those attractions, then you should not get the City Pass. Instead, it will be cheaper if you pay for the activities individually.
Traveling Without the CityPass
Speaking of which, if you do decide to pay for them individually, we recommend using the following links to get the best rates:
- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
- ZooTampa at Lowry Park
- The Florida Aquarium
- Clearwater Marine Aquarium
- The Tropics Boat Tours Dolphin or Sunset Cruise
- Museum of Science & Industry
Tampa Hotel Recommendation
If you’re looking for a place to stay in Tampa Bay, we recommend the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Tampa USF – Busch Gardens. As the name suggests, it’s very close to Busch Gardens (you can technically walk to the park). It’s also about 4 miles away from ZooTampa at Lowry Park. And my family has certainly enjoyed staying there.