ROME · ITALY
Two thousand years, all on one block.
The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill share a single ticket and a single afternoon. Underground passages, the arena floor, after-dark openings and the combined-site itineraries that take in all three.
Only at the Colosseum
Three things you can only do here.
Skip-the-line entry exists in every city. These three don’t. The hypogeum, the arena floor, the empty Colosseum after sundown. Moments where the Colosseum stops being a monument and starts being a place.
Below the arena floor
The Hypogeum
Two levels of brick passages beneath the arena, where gladiators and animals waited before they were lifted up through trapdoors. You can still see the lift shafts and the holding cells. Closed to general admission. Only special-access tickets go down.
- 1 Colosseum: Underground and Ancient Rome Tour
- 2 Expert Guided Tour of Colosseum Arena OR Underground, and Forum
- 3 Rome: Colosseum Underground Small Group Guided Tour
On the arena floor
Where they fought
A reconstructed wooden platform lets you walk out to the centre of the oval, where fifty thousand spectators looked down. The view back up the tiers is the inverse of every Colosseum photo you have seen. Special-access only.
- 1 Colosseum Arena Floor, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Guided Tour
- 2 Rome: Colosseum Tour with Access to the Gladiator Arena
- 3 Gladiator’s Gate: Special Access Colosseum Tour with Arena Floor
After it closes
After dark
A handful of evenings each week the Colosseum stays open past sundown. Crowds drop to a fraction, the floodlights change the colour of the stone, and the building takes on the version the Romans saw when the games ran late. Small groups, hour-and-a-half slots.
- 1 Colosseum Sunset Tour with Entry
- 2 Colosseum by Evening Guided Tour with Optional Arena Floor Access
- 3 Rome: Colosseum Arena Twilight Tour & Imperial Forum Visit
The first ticket
If you only book one tour.
The most popular Colosseum tour we cover. A guided combined-ticket walk that takes in the amphitheatre, the Forum and Palatine Hill in one go.
The classics
Rome’s Most Popular Colosseum Tours
Combined Colosseum-Forum-Palatine tickets, arena-floor walks, hypogeum access and the multimedia explainers. The tours travellers actually book to see ancient Rome.
One ticket, one day
A day in ancient Rome.
The Colosseum is the headline. The Forum and Palatine Hill share its ticket and sit a five-minute walk apart. With an early entry you can do all three before lunch and still have the afternoon free.
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08:30
Colosseum, early entry
Inside before the first guided groups arrive. Two hours is comfortable for the upper tiers; add an hour if you have the arena-floor add-on.
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10:45
Roman Forum
Walk the central paving where the politics happened. The arch of Septimius Severus, the Curia, the Vestal House, the Via Sacra. Allow ninety minutes.
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12:30
Palatine Hill
Climb up to the imperial palaces. The view back over the Forum is the postcard version of the morning. Lunch from a kiosk on the hill or push on to Monti.
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17:00
Capitoline Hill, sunset
Free. The Michelangelo piazza is a five-minute walk from the Forum exit and the terrace behind it gives the best evening view back over the ancient core. End the day here.
By site
Pick your part of ancient Rome.
The Forum for the politics. Palatine Hill for the emperors’ palaces. The arena floor for the gladiator-stories angle. The hypogeum for the parts kept behind the ropes. The Vatican combo if you want the second half of the day planned too.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to see it.
Combined ticket if you want the full ancient core. Arena floor if you want to stand where they stood. Underground if you want the parts kept behind the ropes. Skip-the-line if you only have a morning. Audio and self-guided for the lower-cost angle.
One ticket, three sites
The full ancient core.
The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill share an entry. The question is which tour pacing fits you. Three combined-ticket itineraries worth a closer look.
When the queue is the problem
Past the line.
Express entry, VIP access and tightly capped small-group walks for travellers who would rather pay more than spend the morning behind the rope. Three picks across the access tiers.
If you’d rather not follow a flag
At your own pace.
Self-guided entry tickets, audio walks and virtual-reality reconstructions for travellers who want the Colosseum without the group-of-thirty pace. The picks worth checking before you buy the basic entry.
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