See the Colosseum on a guided tour that gives you special access to enter the amphitheater on the arena, the same entrance that gladiators once used for their battles. This also allows you to skip the line at the main public entrance. Once inside, explore the ancient landmark with a guide, and then head outside to tour the archaeological area of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Select your preferred tour time when booking.

Colosseum and ancient Rome tour with special access
Enter the Colosseum directly from the arena floor, a rare privilege
Skip the main entrance line with priority admission tickets
Explore the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, as well (if option selected)

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Enter the Colosseum by the arena floor, and visit Palatine Hill and the Forum.

What's Included

Skip-the-line entry to the Roman Forum
Skip-the-line entry to Palatine Hill
Tour guide and headphones
Admission to the Colosseum arena

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Transportation to/from attractions
Food and drinks

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Santi Cosma e Damiano
Via dei Fori Imperiali, 1, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
The meeting point is in the square in front, OUTSIDE, of the Basilica of Santi Cosma and Damiano, the church is located on Via dei Fori Imperiali (half way) & is close the entrance of the Roman Forum. You will see our staff in front of the Basilica wearing a uniform with the logos of the company.

End point

Via dei Fori Imperiali, Roma RM, Italy

What To Expect

Your tour begins by meeting your guide at the local tour office near the Colosseum; then walk to the special entrance reserved for members of this tour.

Skip the regular lines and maximize your time at the Colosseum as you enter the amphitheater directly onto the arena floor, where gladiators and wild animals engaged in bloody fights. Visit the ring overlooking the underground sections of the Colosseum, and learn about its history from your guide, who has a degree in either art history or archaeology. Listen to anecdotes about the glory days of the arena and the lives of the emperors and senators of the time.

Next, leave the Colosseum and walk to Palatine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, where emperors and other wealthy residents lived. Take in the view of the Roman Forum and Circus Maximus, and then walk down the hill to explore the ruins of the forum, where your guide shares more stories and uses books and 3D pictures to show you how the site looked during the days of Ancient Rome. Your tour ends with return to your starting point.

Colosseum

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Roman Forum

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Palatine Hill

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Normal sized backpacks are permitted as huge backpacks will not be admitted.
Please Note: to access the Colosseum you need to add in your reservation the exact name and last name of all participants in your group and children need to be specified. In case of mistake in writing your name and last name in your reservation, if the Colosseum tickets controllers deny the access due to the wrong name and last name we decline any responsibility and NO REFUND will be provided.
Small group tour will average 26 people
Please note: by purchasing this tour you accept our Terms and Conditions and you are aware that not refund it will be given in case of not attending the tour or if you arrive late for the tour.
Each traveler must present a valid passport or ID document that matches the name provided at the time of booking for successful entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
Please make sure you bring comfortable shoes and a refillable plastic water bottle especially during hot weather!
There might be a change in order of the itinerary due to security and ticket availability.

Please note that due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not suitable for any persons with disabilities.
Please show up at least 10 minutes before the tour to do the check in
In summer time we suggest bringing a bottle of water. In summer time due to the heat the tour might last about 2 hours.
Not allowed: Pets, weapons or sharp objects, oversized luggage, smoking, alcohol or drugs, sprays or aerosols, glassware, unaccompanied minors, electric wheelchairs
Please note: in case of late arrival we inform you that you will loose your tour and no refund will be given for no show or for late arrival
The entrance fee to the archaeological sites is 17 Euros for adults (23 Euros for the arena option), accompanied by a booking fee of 2 Euros. The additional amount covers services provided by experienced licensed guides, audio devices, booking fees and other tourist services. The aim is to promote transparency and ensure your understanding of the cost breakdown. In July and August, due to the heat, the duration of the tour is 2 hours. Please note that this tour is not wheelchair accessible.
Meeting time is subject to change; if this occurs, you will receive a call or message from the activity provider. please provide your correct phone number and country code.
ID mandatory. Guests who show up without ID cannot be guaranteed entrance.
The full names of all the participants in the booking is needed, incomplete information on the booking cannot be guaranteed entrance.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

3,373 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 3,373 reviews

Definitely worth it

TAMARA_J, Apr 2024

Definitely worth it to book. Our tour guide had written 2 books about the colleaeum and was extremely knowledgeable. Smaller group. He was witty and kept the conversation going, answering questions even when it started to rain.

Fascinating and captivating tour.

Angela_A, Apr 2024

Marcius was a great tour guide. Very knowledgeable, passionate, philosophical, and had so many interesting anecdotes and stories. He also had a very good personal touch and engaged well with individual members of the group and kept us all involved. Also appreciated the pacing of the tour. It was constantly changing and there wasn’t lots of hanging around. The three hours passed really quickly and we were energised at the end rather than feeling really tired which is so offen the case at the end of tours. Thankyou so much Marcius Angela

Best tour guide! Amazing history!

Janet_L, Apr 2024

This was our first time to Rome. We couldn't have asked for a better tour guide of the colosseum and surrounding areas. Niccolò Arcangeli was excellent and was a fountain of knowledge when it came to the history of Rome. I was excited he wrote a book and am excited to read it once it arrives.

Colosseum tour

Kevin_K, Apr 2024

Great experience we did start a little bit late because people did not show for the tour on this rainy day. Our guide was very Knowledgeable about the Colosseum, Roman forum, and Palatine Hill. She also offered us restaurant suggestions for after the tour – a very pleasant afternoon!

Comedy at the colosseum

Elizabeth_C, Apr 2024

Alice was very informative but also charmingly funny. She was a wonderful guide and made the tour memorable and fun.

Amazing Tour!

Heather_P, Apr 2024

Our tour guide Denise was very knowledgeable and personable. He made the tour great and worth our time. Even though it rained he knew exactly how to correctly guide us in order to keep us as comfortable as possible. We would highly recommend this tour and hopefully you are lucky and get the same tour guide as we did. Thank you, Denise!

Interesting day of history!

susan, Apr 2024

Tour guide was great. We only had 1/2 day in Rome and was disappointed that tour started 45 minutes late and we had to rush off before it was over.

Good experience

Ivette_W, Apr 2024

Our guide, David, was very knowledgeable and energetic. It was a very good tour; it rained so it took away a little from the tour experience, however, David did his best to get us through and still have the full experience.

Vip acces and akip the line

nimfa_W, Apr 2024

We had a wonderful experience, the skip the line option and vip access is a must. Tour guide is good, interactive and knowledgeable

Disappointing Tour.

Alan_G, Apr 2024

Check-in process was a little unorganized. Tour guide was not informative and did not provide sufficient overview of the Tour sites. It didn't help that her English was difficult to inderstand. Would not recommend.

Excellent, informative tour of an amazing site.

Cynthia_G, Apr 2024

This is of course an amazing historical location. Our guide was wonderful, shared details we had not heard before, and had good commentary. This tour was a highlight of our day in the Forum area and the Colosseum. Excellent background provided during the tour.

Not a great experience

Katherine_H, Apr 2024

A delay in starting the tour, so we were late to start. Not enough info about toilets at Roman forum wasted more time, as the queue was so long. Many of us joined. I had to call my husband to ask her whilst I was queuing if there were other toilets. She didn’t really respond. A lot of us left the queue as she walked off. To our surprise there were more toilets a few minutes walk away with no queue. Luckily. We were shown areas of the Forum which was interesting. Caesar’s tomb, but was told it was a lump of rock. Not to bother going. I suppose it became amusing, as we were rushed through, and again it’s too low, you don’t want to go in there. Or nothing there. The sound system was awful. Not her fault. Didn’t hear much, especially if you were not right by her. The Colesseum tour was short. We were taken to first level. Then she asked if we wanted free time. Most of us said Yes. She asked for headsets back. Which confused us. I said when shall we meet you to go to Paletine Hill. She said that’s the end of the tour….. as we were late. We were actually early. We left late, we couldn’t hear properly, it was rushed, and cut short. Certainly not worth the money we spent on the tour. Wouldn’t recommend.

George is the best guide!

Deborah_L, Apr 2024

The tour was awesome because our tour guide, George, made all the history come alive. Aviator made it easy to book the tour.

Coloseum tour

Carolyn_P, Apr 2024

Very knowledgeable guide with great information. Site itself very crowded and a little hectic but glad I saw it and benefitted from the information provided by the guide.

Wouldn’t recommend

teresarockett, Apr 2024

We were visiting Rome on a cruise so only had limited time, we booked our tour for 12pm. 4 days before our tour we were whatsapped advising our tour would be amended to 10:20am due to ticket issues. I advised we would not even be in Rome at that time, and after some back and forth we agreed a Colleseum tour of 11:30 with the Roman Forum & Palatine Hill at 2:00pm We arrived at the meeting point at 11:15am and was taken to wait for the guide outside the Colleseum - the guide did not arrive until 12:15pm. What a waste of our precious little time in Rome! We didn’t make the tour of Palatine Hill or the Roman Forum as we didn’t have time to visit the other tourist spots. If our original tour of 12pm had been honoured we would have visited the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps before the tour then could still of completed the tour booked for in full. I must say, our tour guide, George was excellent and the 2 stars are left for him. Unfortunately the company logistics were a shambles and I could not recommend booking with this company as we did not get what we paid for!

Perfect

Lee_M, Apr 2024

Laura was very knowledgeable and entertaining. She was kind enough to snap pictures of my finance and I.

Impressive

Chris_V, Apr 2024

The Colosseum was very impressive and our tour guide was really knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend booking the skip the queue tickets for this tour as it made the whole experience better

Must see experience in Rome

Alex_B, Apr 2024

Fantastic experience and tour. Our guide was superb and he keenly shared lots of interesting information, answering any questions we might have. The tour covered all the major points to see in the forum, hills and Colosseum. Point of contact was easy to find. Totally recommended.

If I were to take a...

Buddy_B, Apr 2024

If I were to take a coliseum tour again, I would chose one including only the coliseum. We chose to see too much in a short time. That's on us, not the tour company. The guide was excellent.

Amazing tour 👍

Yvonne_K, Apr 2024

Gina was our guide she was friendly and excellent The colosseum is so crowded. It’s better to join a tour and skip the lines It’s a good tour. I will highly recommend.

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