Top Rome landmarks

Ancient Rome and Colosseum Tour Underground Chambers Arena and Upper Tier

Colosseum Underground Semi-Private Tour with Roman Forum & Gladiator Arena

Rome, Italy

3 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

On this small-group tour of the Colosseum, you can experience this historic Rome icon to the fullest with access to areas that are typically closed to the public—the underground chambers. Explore with an informative guide, who shares stories about life in ancient Rome. Get the rare chance to walk through the tunnels, stand where gladiators stood, and enjoy panoramic views. Then visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill to complete your tour of Rome’s top ancient sites.

Enjoy access to all areas of the Colosseum, including places normally off-limits
Explore the Colosseum's underground chambers and see where wild animals were caged
Visit the Roman Forum, walk up Palatine Hill for scenic views
Walk in the Gladiators' footsteps on the Arena floor

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Secure access to the underground chambers and arena floor

What's Included

Professional English Speaking Guide
Small groups of 10 people or fewer
Dedicated audio headsets so you don't miss a thing
Colosseum entrance ticket with arena access (valued at €24 per person)
Colosseum reservation fee (valued at €2 per person)

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Largo Gaetana Agnesi
L.go Gaetana Agnesi, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Meet your guide at Largo Gaetana Agnesi, on the little square above the metro line B (blue line) stop "Colosseo". Your guide coordinator will be waiting here wearing a blue City Wonders polo shirt or jacket for easy recognition.

End point

Roman Forum
00186 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Please note: All participant names are required at the time of booking in order to enter the Colosseum.

Every customer on this tour is required to present a valid government issued ID or Passport at the Colosseum, that matches their name on the reservation, or entry will be refused. Name changes are not permitted once the booking is confirmed.
Please note that the itinerary for our tours may differ from the advertised order of destinations. We assure you that any changes made to the tour itinerary are carefully planned and intended to enhance your overall experience.
On this tour, some of the venues or parts of the venue may be subject to last-minute, unpredictable closures. When this occurs, we are happy to offer customers an extended tour in keeping with the advertised total length of the tour.
May experience delays in clearing security checks when entering the venue
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

3,991 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 3,991 reviews

Amazing! Worth every penny.

Anna_B, Sep 2024

Amazing experience! Highly recommended! Our group consisted of only 5 people which was great and our guide was very knowledgeable. Thank you Elena for wonderful tour!

Great tour

John_M, May 2024

The tour guide was very knowledgeable and lead the group to see as much as possible in 3 hours! I highly recommend this tour!

Helpful tour

Suzanne_P, Apr 2024

Great tour. There is a lot of information to learn on this tour. It does go quickly. I’m glad we spent the extra money to see the lower level. We did the first tour of the day. I highly recommend that option.

Wonderful experience

Simon_R, Apr 2024

A great experience with a wonderful guide. Highly recommended. Bring your walking shoes. A great experience with a wonderful guide. Highly recommended

Like a ride on the Titanic.

Kimberly_D, Mar 2024

Them not having ours or 8 other families tickets, then canceling our tour. Called Viator, they were understanding but super limited on recompense as all they could do was say woops sorry, we will refund the money paid but not the additional out put for travel to and from. Super highlight.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Kimberly_D, We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of your Colosseum Underground tour. We understand how frustrating it is to have your plans disrupted. Unfortunately, access to the Colosseum Underground can be unpredictable due to various regulations imposed by the Colosseum, as was the case in your situation. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you and your family. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter. We would like to offer you and your family a complimentary tour with City Wonders to make up for the inconvenience you experienced. Please reach out to us at info@citywonders.com or cw.dept_com@citywonders.com, and our team will be more than happy to coordinate and arrange a tour that suits your preferences. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding. We hope this gesture and the forthcoming refund will help alleviate the inconvenience, and we eagerly await the opportunity to provide you with a memorable tour experience. Best regards, The City Wonders Team

Disappointed with lack of communication

Carol_G, Nov 2023

I was very displeased with City Wonders for this particular excursion. Firstly, the scheduled morning tour was moved to a late afternoon tour (via text) and then when my family of 10 had arrived, we were told that the tour guide had called off and there was no other tour guide to do the tour. I was not notified of this until we were at the meeting place. Secondly, the option of doing just the underground tour (done by the Colosseum) with reimbursement for the private tour of the arena, Forum, and Palatine Hill was offered without complete instruction given and our group had to scramble to get to the underground tour which we had to join late. I do want to mention that the underground tour was a great experience.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Hi Carol_G, We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you and your family experienced with our Colosseum Underground Semi-Private Tour. We understand the importance of reliable and seamless tour experiences, and we regret that we fell short of your expectations. We deeply appreciate your understanding and flexibility during the unexpected changes in the tour schedule and the guide cancellation. It's heartening to hear that, despite the challenges, the underground tour was a great experience for you. To make amends for the disruption, we have processed a partial refund for the inconvenience. You can expect the refund to be credited back to your account in 7-10 business days. We truly value your feedback, and we want to assure you that we are taking steps to address the issues you've raised to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Your satisfaction is our priority, and we hope you will consider giving us another opportunity to provide you with a flawless tour experience. Thank you for your understanding, and we appreciate your continued trust in City Wonders. Best regards, Edgar J. City Wonders

Switched tours on us

Jacqueline_M, Nov 2023

I would love to be able to review this tour, however we were told it was canceled via email about a month prior to the tour. we were however able to rebook a lesser, large group tour that did not go underground and we would receive a refund of the difference. I tried calling days before our tour because we had not received any refunds. They then told me we were still booked for the semi private underground tour. Great! … not so great when we showed up for our tour and were told it was in fact canceled and we were going on the group Colesseum tour. We did, it was informative and our guide was very knowledgeable. The whole experience has left a bad taste for Viator as I am still trying to get our partial refund. Will never book with them again

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Hi Jacqueline_M, Thank you for sharing your experience with our Colosseum Underground Semi-Private Tour with Roman Forum & Gladiator Arena. We sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience you faced during the booking process and on the day of the tour. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we worked to resolve the issues. We regret that you were unable to experience the Underground section as originally planned. To address the inconvenience, we have processed a partial refund for the difference in cost between the semi-private and group tours. Please allow 7-10 business days for the funds to reflect in your account. We're pleased to hear that, despite the challenges, you found the group Colosseum tour informative with a knowledgeable guide. Your positive feedback about the alternative tour is appreciated. We understand the importance of clear communication, and we will review our processes to prevent similar situations in the future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and for booking your Colosseum experience with us. Kind regards, Edgar J. City Wonders

handled big group well and paced his information

Michael_B, Oct 2023

Our tour started with 2 hiccups: 1 they had to change the time a few days before hand and 2. a guide called in sick so they had to redistribute the groups BUT Marcos did not let that affect his tour. He handled our big group well and spaced out the information so that it did not feel overwhelming or that he was just reciting a bunch of memorized facts. A great first tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum.

Eddy and this tour was awesome!

Todd_K, Oct 2023

How can you go wrong when you have an archeologist as your tour guide! Eddy was such a funny great guy too. Went above and beyond explaining everything and he really has a passion for what he’s doing. I can’t imagine anyone else being as great as him! So much history and he explained everything in great detail. Highly recommend this tour and if you get Eddy be very thankful because it will be awesome!

Tour with Simon

Susie_R, Oct 2023

Simon, was an outstanding guide for our tour ! His love of Rome,history of the land ,culture and it’s people was apparent . We loved learning about the Colosseum, the Emperors and their wives along with the trials of a Gladiators. The many different animals used and the fact that they were often killed also that although they were wild aggressive animals they were very weak from lack of food and water so easy to fight and subdue. We learned that unlike in the movies the Gladiators were very rarely killed. To train a Gladiator was very expensive. There were schools and boys trained forseveral years to fight in the arena! The Roman Empire used to have half of the world under its control. That is amazing to consider!! I learned so much on our tour I could go on and on. Just go and tour yourself with Simon!!

We got ripped off

Helen_S, Sep 2023

None. We signed up for a SEMI PRIVATE tour that was canceled only the day before. We were told we could sign up for a similar tour without the underground forum at 9:15 instead of 8:50. We asked the size of the new group and were told at the most 22. There were 25. We arrived on time and were told that NOW the tour does not start until 9:30. The guide meant well but he told constant stupid jokes. The whole experience was painful.

10 minutes in the arena, no more. Rip off.

Dan_T, Sep 2023

This tour was a failure from start to finish sorry. We initially booked to do this tour with underground and gladiator arena. A few weeks ahead it was cancelled on the basis that underground toor was no longer available (on the day we saw plenty of people in the underground area, I have photos to prove it. We were rebooked by the tour providers (City Wonders sold through Viator) onto Colosseum, Forum and Palantine hill tour. The tour ahead 24 people on it according to our tour guide “Simon”. It started at three and we then spent 30 minutes getting into the Colosseum and waiting for people to go to the toilets. The next three quarters of an hour were spent with our tour guide “behind the scenes”i.e. back stage on the 1st floor, being hold some interesting history but without sight of the hugely impressive internal arena. It was not until an hour and 10 minutes into the tour that we got to see the arena (the time stamp on my 1st photo shows exactly 16:10). We then only had 10 minutes to take it all in before we were asked to move into the shade without a view of the arena where the merits or otherwise of the film Gladiator and the Netflix TV show of Spartacus were discussed for 10 minutes. Then it was straight backstage again where we were told that we were off to the Forum. I was shocked, we wanted to see the magnificent arena and really absorb it, as well as go to the partially reconstructed stage on the arena floor. We were told we could not and that our tickets did not cover the arena floor (I was told on the phone when i rebooked that it was). We then had a choice to stay in the coliseum on our own while the rest of the group went off to see the Forum (and loose our access to the Forum, or continue on with the tour having not spent much time in the primary objective. We plumped to stay and missed out on the Forum and hill which I feel is a real shame. If your time spent in the actual Colosseum arena is going to be so limited, this really should be shared with ticket buyers up front. I feel I was miss-sold and raised a complaint with Viator who refused to give even a partial refund. My view, if you want to see the Colosseum in its full glory don’t pick this tour or City Wonders.

Terrible experience

Amber_B, Sep 2023

I booked this tour particularly because of the low number of people in the group and also for the underground experience. When I arrived on the day I was advised that the underground tour had been cancelled by the colosseum, I understand that’s beyond anyone’s control. I was placed in a group with 50 people. Considering I was expecting a group of 10 at most, I was disappointed. The tour was not enjoyable at all, in fact I left about halfway through. If you book this tour please make sure you keep checking to see if it’s going ahead and cancel if it’s not. I feel as though I would have got more out of an auto tour.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Hello Amber_B, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback regarding your recent booking with us for the Colosseum Underground Semi-Private Tour with Roman Forum & Gladiator Arena. We sincerely apologize for the less-than-satisfactory experience you had during this tour. We deeply regret that the Colosseum's cancellation of the underground portion of the tour impacted your experience. While such situations are beyond our control, we understand your disappointment. Furthermore, we apologize for the larger group size you encountered on the day of the tour. We appreciate your understanding that sometimes circumstances may lead to variations in group sizes. We continuously strive to offer the best possible experiences to our guests, and your feedback is essential in helping us improve. To address the issues you've raised, we will be issuing a partial refund as a gesture of goodwill to reflect the portions of the tour that you missed and did not find enjoyable. We understand that this may not fully compensate for your experience, but we hope it demonstrates our commitment to ensuring our guests are satisfied. For an update on the status of your refund or any further assistance, please feel free to contact us directly at edgar.chavero@citywonders.com, and we will be happy to assist you. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience you experienced during the tour. We appreciate your feedback, as it helps us enhance our services and provide better experiences to our guests in the future. Best regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders

Unforgettable

Lynn_L, Sep 2023

The history and views were spectacular.a moment in time that spans 2000 years. Our trip was canceled from the semi-private under-ground to the group tour. A partial refund was promised but have yet to receive.

Terrible.

Jayasree_C, Sep 2023

We arrived on September 8th, 2023 1 pm, in the location provided in the notification. No one showed up. We waited another 45 minutes after the scheduled time. Very disappointed.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Hello Jayasree_C, We are truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience on the Colosseum Underground Semi-Private Tour with Roman Forum & Gladiator Arena booked through Viator. This is certainly not the level of service we aim to provide. We would like to investigate this matter further and ensure it doesn't happen again in the future. Please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience you encountered. To assist us in resolving this issue and to better understand what might have happened, we kindly request that you reach out to us via email at info@citywonders.com with the details of your booking, including your name, reservation number, and any additional information about your experience. Our coordinators are always at our designated meeting point for all Colosseum tours, and if we were at fault in any way, we will certainly make every effort to accommodate you and rectify the situation. Your feedback is essential to us, and we appreciate your understanding as we work to improve our services. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back in the future and provide you with the exceptional tour experience that you deserve. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Sincerely, The City Wonders Team

Good tour guide but not the tour I signed up for

Sara_K, Sep 2023

Our excursion was downgraded to no underground access. Perhaps it was everyone not just our tour company. It also was not semi-private with over 20 people in our group. I was compensated but still paid quite a bit for this-almost $200 at the beginning of Sept for 2 people. Our guide was wonderful, vibrant, funny and patient, very knowledgeable too!

Good tour guide but not what we originally signed up for.

Claudine_H, Sep 2023

Simon was a very good tour guide and he was very knowledgeable and he is the reason for the 5 star review. We were disappointed that our original tour of only 10 people with the opportunity to go to the underground was cancelled.

Learned a lot!

Donald_M, Sep 2023

Very thorough and educational tour. We really enjoyed the experience. There is much more to the tour than just the colosseum.

Don't book with Viator or City Wonders in Rome!

Julie_U, Aug 2023

We booked our tour months before our trip knowing it was nonrefundable based on the listing. Two days before the tour, City Wonders, the local tour operator, messaged us saying "due to unforeseen circumstances, we are unable to provide your scheduled tour at the original time." We changed the tour time and arrived at the meeting spot as instructed. A City Wonders representative met us and told us it was cancelled because the tour guide was sick. Since it was so last minute, he offered us the tickets to the Colosseum which had already been purchased for free. City Wonders gave us a partial refund but ended up charging us $188.21 for $103.57 worth of tickets. Our attempts to get the remaining money back were met with "you should have gotten that in writing." Neither Capital One, TripAdvisor, Viator, or City Wonders care about the fact that this person lied to us. Do yourself a favor, use a different tour company, record any and all oral changes they make on your phone, and a non-Visa credit card to book it.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hello Julie_U, We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and frustration you experienced with your Colosseum Underground Semi-Private Tour with Roman Forum & Gladiator Arena. We deeply regret the miscommunication and any resulting financial discrepancies. We acknowledge that there were issues with the original tour and the last-minute cancellation due to the guide's illness. We understand your disappointment, and we have taken steps to rectify this situation. We have revised our internal processes to ensure that such occurrences are minimized in the future. We understand the importance of clear communication, and we apologize for any misunderstanding that may have occurred. Your feedback is invaluable, and it will be used to improve our services. Thank you for your understanding and for giving us an opportunity to make this right. We hope that, in the future, you will consider giving us another chance to provide you with a more enjoyable and seamless experience. Kind regards, Edgar J. Communications Manager City Wonders

Silvia made the difference

Enrico_Q, Aug 2023

Tour was good but Silvia made the tour exceptional. She had a lot of passion, energy and empathy for those who needed time and or shade. She is filled with knowledge and materials to help illustrate what she is explaining. Highly recommend and if you get Silvia as your guide then you are in for a treat.

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