Colosseum Arena & Roman Forum Guided Tour
Description
Exclusive Colosseum Arena Floor, Palatine Hill & Roman Forum Tour Avoid long lines and have the access to the Colosseum Arena Floor, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill with a single booking. Choose the experience that best suits you: a group guided tour led by an official licensed guide or an audio-guided visit with a multilingual audioguide app. Discover one of the world’s most important archaeological sites with priority access. The guided group tour offers structured commentary and historical insights, while the audio-guided option provides full flexibility to explore independently without following a group. The audioguide app is available in English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Chinese and includes 44 points of interest, downloadable directly to your smartphone. Walk through the Arena Floor of the Colosseum and explore the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill at your own pace.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Enter the Colosseum and learn about the spectacular and incredible entertainment organized in ancient times. Discover the techniques of construction invented by the Romans, the astonishing ability of the gladiators, the violent fighting between exotic animals, and the high level of technology achieved by Roman engineers to build the Colosseum. Your tour guide will be at your disposal to answer your questions. The tour's departure time may vary and can be brought forward or delayed by no more than 60 minutes before or after the start time indicated in the reservation. If there should be a change in the departure time, this will be communicated at least seven days before the date booked by you. The order of visit of the monuments included in the tour description may vary.
Visit the Roman Forum. This is one of the most important archaeological areas in the world with some of Ancient Rome's most evocative ruins. Leaving the Arch of Titus walk down the Sacred Way, the triumphal road where the Centurions of Caesar marched after their return from countless battles and conquests. After admiring this impressive monument's runway, get prepared for visiting Maxentius' Basilica and Romulus temple. Continuing to the Forum see the temple dedicate to Emperor Antoninus Pius and his wife. An extraordinary example of reusing during the ancient period. Your visit ends with the temple of Julius Caesar, built by Emperor August to commemorate his father. All around you can see the building where the daily life in Ancient Rome took place such as the two republican basilicas, the temple of Saturn and the temple of Dioscuri, the House of the Vestal Virgins, and much more ... Your tour guide will be at your disposal to answer all of your questions and curiosities.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Visitors have to arrive to the meeting point 20 min prior to departure.
- Please provide the full names of all travelers when booking. Failure to present a voucher with all travelers' full names at the ticket office prior to entry will result in denied entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
- Please notice that the Colosseum Administration, which depends on the Ministry of Cultural Assets and Activities has the faculty to close the Colosseum, or parts of it, with or without notice, for events, strikes, heavy rain, or any other reason. In which case, we will offer an alternative itinerary as it seems fit and offer a partial refund.
- Please provide the full names of all travelers when booking. 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. We are not responsable if you provide us with wrong information.
- Smartphones to download the app must be of the latest generation (No older than the year 2020)
- The departure time of the tour may vary and can be brought forward or delayed by no more than 60 minutes before or after the start time indicated in the reservation. In the event that there should be a change in the departure time, this will be communicated at least 7 days before the date booked by you.
- The order of visit of the monuments included in the tour description may vary.
- A valid phone number is required at the time of booking, as tour information and meeting details will be sent the day before the activity via Viator chat and by WhatsApp or text message.
- 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.
- The itinerary may vary depending on weather conditions (ice, rain, or high temperatures) or other events beyond the travel agency's control.
- PETS ARE NOT ALLOWED
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
Reviews(60)
Paola was a wonderful tour guide. She had so much knowledge of the Forum and Colisseum and we learned quite a bit. She is very enthusiastic and kept the discussion lively over the time. I would highly recommend the tour.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re thrilled to hear you had such a great experience with Paola. Her passion, enthusiasm, and deep knowledge of the Colosseum and Roman Forum truly make every tour special. We’ll be sure to share your lovely feedback with her. Thank you again for the recommendation, and we hope to welcome you back to Rome in the future!
I was disappointed because my original reservation said we would have a guide with audio. Said we would be given headsets etc. but it was cancelled and rescheduled for late in the day with only downloadable audio. Two of our five did not have phone usage and we missed both the Palatine hill and Roman forum because the entry said it closes at 16:30 and we would have only had 45 mins to go through the extremely long line. Which we would have never made. So in the end, sadly, only got half of our tour in. The operators were friendly enough and tried to help but at that point, that late in the day there was nothing more they could do.
Thank you for your feedback, and we’re truly sorry to hear that your experience did not meet expectations. We would like to clarify that the Colosseum is not managed by our agency, and unfortunately we have no control over its entry procedures, schedules, or last-minute operational changes. Even though we always do our best to organize everything smoothly, the Colosseum management frequently changes rules and access times, which can impact the planned itinerary. We understand your disappointment regarding the change from a guided tour with headsets to a downloadable audio option, and the limited time available to visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We regret that, despite our team’s efforts to assist you on the day, the situation could not be fully resolved. Your feedback is very important to us and will be taken into consideration as we continue to improve our service and communication.
Alessandro was an amazing tour guide! So knowledgeable, funny and helpful. Having a passionate guide who knew the stories behind the ruins and also interesting side facts along the way made it so memorable
Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We are delighted to hear that you had such a memorable experience with Alessandro. His passion and deep knowledge truly make the tours special, and it’s great to know that his stories and fun facts added so much to your visit. We will be sure to share your kind words with him — he will be very happy to know he helped make your tour unforgettable! We hope to welcome you again soon for another adventure in Rome. Warm regards, Tour in the City Team
Excellent guide! Great stories that brought the history to life. Would definitely recommend this tour. Was a little long for our 10yo.
Dear Customer, thank you for your wonderful review. We are happy to know that our efforts to give the best possible service have been appreciated by you. For us every review has an absolute value and is our lifeblood to work and give the best of ourselves. We are certainly not perfect but we always do our best to ensure a wonderful experience for all our customers. Thanks again from all our staff and we hope to have you as our customer soon. Best regards Stefano
Very knowledgeable guide came with her own book filled with renderings. She shared stories and drew right to critical points of the landmark.
The tour was great! Our guide was amazing, we learn a lot about ancient times. We didn’t wait for the line and our ticket was for arena too. I recommend it!
Best time spend! We had access to the Arena floor. The guide was very informative ( im sorry but i forgot her name), and kept a great pace, being very attentive to the people in our group. After the Colosseum, we went to the Roma Forum, which was amazing. Overall this is a great experience!
I was informed a few days before the tour that we would no longer have access to the arena floor. However, I was not given a reason why. I asked via email a few times and did not get an answer. While we did get a partial refund, it was very disappointing as I booked this months in advance.
Dear Client, We are sorry the tour did not meet your expectations. We apologize for not being able to give you access to the Arena. Sadly, there was a problem with the booking system, and even though we closed the availability, it was still open, which is why you could book the tour. As you know, after you booked the guided tour, we informed you that it was impossible to give the guided tour of the arena, and we offered a partial refund and the Colosseum Tour without the Arena or a free cancellation. The itineraries of the tours offered by us are planned to allow our customers to get the best out of the visits and to optimize the time available. It would be helpful for you to contact us to check through your booking code which tour you have participated in and make the right decisions. Nevertheless, we have also forwarded this to our Guide Management department so that it can be looked at and followed up with the guide in case it is needed. Our local guides, selected for experience and professionalism, try their best to share their passion for their country and local History; we apologize that the guided tour was disappointing for you, and we will do our best to avoid it again. Should you wish to contact us directly at info@tourinthecity.com with your comments, please do not hesitate to do so and provide your booking reference number so we can follow up with the relevant people for you. Thank you for leaving us your review once again. We hope to hear from you soon. Kind Regards, Stefano Tour in the City
The sites were beautiful and awe inspiring, however our tour was a bit of a mess. To start the ear pieces weren't working. They were very staticy so we had to stand very close to hear what the guide was saying. The group was a bit of all over the place and I don't blame that on the tour.
Dear Client, We are sorry the tour did not meet your expectations. We have reviewed the feedback from all group participants and couldn't find any similar complaints. Our local guides, selected for experience and professionalism, try their best to share their passion for their country and local History; we apologize that the guided tour was disappointing for you, and we will do our best to avoid it again. Should you wish to contact us directly at info@tourinthecity.com with your comments, please do not hesitate to do so and provide your booking reference number so we can follow up with the relevant people for you. Thank you for leaving us your review once again. We hope to hear from you soon. Kind Regards, Stefano Tour in the City
Two points: 1) The guides need headsets that position the microphone in front of the mouth. Our guide’s microphone was on his collar and because most of the tour is outside the wind cuts the microphone and he could only be heard intermittently. Should be an easy fix with higher quality equipment. 2. BRING I.D. FOR MINORS! The Viator fine print says this, but we figured it would be fine. After the forum tour our 13 year-old daughter (she looks 12) was refused entrance to the colosseum because she had a youth ticket and no proof of age. The guide said this happens about 20% of the time and just seems to depend on the whim of the ticket-taker. Major disappointment so be careful. They assume that U.S. kids have school ID’s like European kids do so leaving your passports at the hotel doesn’t fly as an excuse.
