Avoid the long entrance lines at the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill during this skip-the-line tour of the sights in ancient Rome. With a guide, head into the Colosseum to walk in the footsteps of gladiators, emperors, and plebeians as tales of the brutal games ring in your ears. Stroll amid the ruins of the Roman Forum, then discover layers of Roman history on Palatine Hill.

Skip-the-line tour of ancient Rome and the Colosseum
Bypass the main entrance line at the ancient amphitheater
Walk along the Colosseum tiers and learn about the gladiators
Discover the temples and monuments of the Roman Forum
Hear tales of ancient Rome and the Renaissance on Palatine Hill

What's Included

Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Entrance Ticket
Official Professional Guide and Passionate Storytelling
Audio Equipment to hear the guide clearly
Meet and Greet on site
Assistance from the Office

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Food and drinks
Guided Tour if you choose Ticket Only Arena Floor

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting points

Select a meeting point

Type to search

End point

Palatine Hill
Palatine Hill, 00186 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy

Ticket redemption points

Largo Gaetana Agnesi, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

Via della Polveriera, 8, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

What To Expect

Colosseum

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

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
Comfortable shoes are recommended
ID may be required for entrance (especially for guests under the age of 18). Guests who show up without ID cannot be guaranteed entrance.
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation

Not recommended for travelers with back problems
It is forbidden to bring inside the Colosseum: glass, sharp objects, alcohol, spray
Terms and conditions of this tour activity are clearly reported on the reservation voucher
Most travelers can participate
Pets are not allowed
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
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

Traveler Tips

Even though you pay to skip the line if your party is less than 18 people apparently you go in the middle que, still had to wait an hour before getting in so be prepared!

Is a great way to avoid the long lines and get insight into the historic sites.

Don't kid yourself that it's enough to walk or drive by this awesome structure.

Reviews

4.5

2,164 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 2,164 reviews

Great experience

ThirupathiReddy, Jun 2023

Diane was our tour guide and she was very good and has good knowledge about the Roman history. We had a good tour and we also saw Italian independence drill parade in sky.

Wow, just wow, well worth the sore muscles next day!

kjdzxnhj2z, Jun 2023

Wow, what a tour! Diana the tour guide was fabulous, extremely knowledgeable and all in all a lovely lady. Make sure you’ve got good footwear, you’ll need it, loads of walking uphill & on cobbles but so worth it.

Unfortunately it was very...

Yitzy_F, Jun 2023

Unfortunately it was very difficult to understand much of what the guide was saying. We did not leave with a deep appreciation or understanding of the history

Too many people!!!!

Michael_T, Jun 2023

The Vatican and Museums are a must see. I give it 3 stars for events slightly out of control of this tour company. The first is way too many people are allowed by the Vatican to enter the museum. It is shoulder to shoulder and you are rushed through like cattle. The listing ear pieces issued by the Vatican were horrible. The tour guide was great but I could not hear her 75% of the time.

worth the $$$

Todd_K, Jun 2023

Great tour, the staff was very accomodating and the guide extremely knowledgeable I highly recommend taking the "skip the line" option

Great tour with knowledgeable guide

crcarty, Jun 2023

Great tour led by Eugene, who did a great job of providing historic background and helping us imagine the forum and Coluseum at its peak. Highly recomend.

VERY DISAPPOINTING / TOUR CANCELED ON SAME MORNING WITH NO OPTIONS!

Grim_S, Jun 2023

When we got there, they told us our tour had been canceled because they did not get the amount of people needed and they did not offer any option to join another group. I reserved this tour with weeks in advance and to get this news when we arrive to start our tour is really disappointing. VERY BAD, DON'T TRUST THIS TOURS ON YOUR TRIP TO EUROPE!

Wasted 3 hours

Reden_H, Jun 2023

Bad guide. No history, nothing on Gladiators, talked only about construction of pathways, roads, coloseum and forum. Ceasar , vestige virgins, the things of Roman history never mentioned.

Excellent tour up to a point when guide disappeared.

Ricky_H, May 2023

Loved the tour and tour guide up to a point. When we were walking through the Roman Forum the guide didn't wait for us or let us catch up. We ended up touring Palatine Hill without her even though we had 2 of her receivers. She just disappeared into thin air. We left the receivers with our hotel receptionist and let the company know they could pick it up as we were leaving for Florence the next day. How do you just not account for your customers and equipment. She was good up until that point.

Too many people in the...

Yew_H, May 2023

Too many people in the group. There was very little seen in the colosseum mainly the tour guide speaking on side of the stadium.

Well worth it!

Simone_C, May 2023

Thoroughly enjoyed the tour with Mat. Informative, knowledgeable and paced the tour to accomodate all of the guests. You really need a guide for something like this. Thanks Mat.

Must do!

Angela_R, May 2023

Lumi was a knowledgeable, passionate guide through the unbelievable Colosseum. But the bonus was her spirit and sense of humor, very proud to be Roman and shared real history- not just what you believe the Colosseum to be. We loved it and would highly recommend this tour.

.Awful tour!

Glenn_C, May 2023

Me and my sister did the colosseum tour on May 29th with tour guide. We were initially very excited to experience the tour after reading several great reviews about the company. The tour advertised an in depth historical insight into the lives of the ancient Greeks, taught by very “passionate” guides. Our tour guide, JC, started the tour by walking us on a 10 minute walk to the site entrance. Along the way, we saw many historical sites, architecture, and buildings. JC did not describe any of the monuments, but rather talked about the size of milk cartons for some reasons. He often either withheld information from the group, or talk about unrelated topics. As we waited 30 minutes outside of the stadium, JC did not mention or teach us anything about the colosseum. Other customers would have to ask him questions about it for him to be even willing to talk about the monument. Throughout the entire time, he constantly stressed about the heat, taking us to shaded areas after 2 minutes of seeing what we paid for. Oftentimes, it felt as if he was disinterested, had done 10 tours before ours that day, or was just going through the motions of the tour while hoping no one asked any questions.

Our tour guide luma was...

Wonski1990, May 2023

Our tour guide luma was great, she has so much information and answered all of our questions. She also had a great personality, which made the tour fun.

A walk through history with Lumi!

Laurie_R, May 2023

If you are lucky enough to have Lumi as your guide then your tour will be full of laughs and much fun! She is so knowledgeable about Roman history and shared excellent stories as we walked through the historic sites. I highly recommend this tour and can’t say enough wonderful things about Lumi!

Disappointing.

Paul_H, May 2023

The leader frequently left people behind and her audio cut out if she was more than 3 meters away. Sometimes I knew she left because the audio cut out. Her accent made some of it difficult to understand as well — she sometimes searched for appropriate words. And on top of that, this tour does not include the catacombs. I have been on much better tours.

Beautiful and so interesting!

Juan_A, May 2023

Really enjoyed the tour. Our guide Matteo F. was excellent. Taught us so many interesting facts about living in Ancient Rome, the day to day, the buildings, the art and so much more.

Great and knowledgeable tour guide

Nina_H, May 2023

Great tour! Our guide was amazing and so knowledgeable on the history of the forum and colosseum! She came prepared with picture books to show us exactly what everything would have looked like and how it all fit together

The Vatican and Sistine Chapel tour

Harold_N, May 2023

Our tour operator was the best we have had while we were Rome. We got a lot of information and since she was a great speaker with a nice strong voice so everyone could hear her it turned out great. The Vatican and the ready of the tour was perfect.

Great tour!

Monica_C, May 2023

The guide is fun, knowledgeable, friendly, organized. We greatly enjoyed the tour and now we know the history of the place which changes the experience

Enjoyable trip!

Stephen_B, May 2023

We enjoyed our tour. The guide was VERY knowledgeable. The headphones could be improved however. Unless we were super close, the sound cut out. With a large group and many people around, it was almost impossible to stay close to the guide.

Had a great experience on...

Siddhant_M, May 2023

Had a great experience on the guided tour, our tour guide Maria with more than 30 years of experience doing tours was exceptional being entertaining and informative at the same time. Would recommend to all

We loved the tour and Francesco was the best guide we have had in all of Italy.

Richard_D, May 2023

We travel a lot and our tour guide Francesco was probably the best tour guide we have ever had. The tour was perfect.

Good tour if you have a good guide

Dana_M, May 2023

I think this all depends on your guide like many of these tours. Ours was fair. Going up Palantine Hill is no joke in the heat.

Excellent, knowledgable...

Todd_W, May 2023

Excellent, knowledgable tour. Able to avoid the crowded entry and saw a lot of the ancient sites. Very worthwhile for a more complete visit.

Do a tour, not on your own.

Joseph_T, May 2023

Great tour! If I did this on my own, I would never have learned what I did on the tour. Only complaint was our tour guide was a fast walker, so it was hard at times to keep up.

There was a bike race the...

Ariane_C, May 2023

There was a bike race the day we had booked the tour and it was complete CHAOS. The race surrounded the circumference of the Colosseum, and there was no way to pass through the gates. Our tour guide tried her best but to no avail. We had to wait in long lines and she had to fight with security guards. Finally, we got to the Colosseum - without seeing the Roman Forum or Palatine Hill. We waited outside the Colosseum, on the other side of the bike track, for over two hours. This agency should’ve known this race was happening and not had tours this day. Additionally, the tour guide did not provide much history of the Colosseum itself - only discussing what it would have looked like if it had not been destroyed. I did not learn anything new, except for a new distain for this booking agency.

Realizing that there was...

Margaret_R, May 2023

Realizing that there was a citywide bike ride so I could only make it to location by walking from the Vatican. So I did not make it on time as there were no taxi available to get to the meeting point.

Great tour

Georgiana_C, May 2023

A must if you are in Rome. Skip the line is saving you long lines, the morning tour is preferable. The guide was very knowledgeable, would have loved to walk more while she was talking instead of staying in a couple of spots and listen to the history of colosseum.

Terrific experience

Melinda_M, May 2023

This tour was fabulous!! Our tour guide was a former history teacher and knew the history of the Colosseum inside and out!! She was amazing and humorous! I totally recommend this tour! My family (including kids in mid 20’s) thoroughly enjoyed it!

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