Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum Guided Tour
Description
Journey back in time on our expertly guided tour of Ancient Rome’s most iconic sites: the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum. With quicker entry, a small group setting, and the knowledge of an expert guide, this 3-hour tour offers a rich, immersive look into the Eternal City’s past at the best value price. Your experience begins inside the Colosseum, where tales of gladiators, emperors, and brilliant Roman engineering come to life. You'll also enjoy panoramic views from above the arena and get answers to all your curiosities along the way. Then, explore Palatine Hill, Rome’s legendary birthplace and site of its most lavish imperial palaces, before descending into the Roman Forum, once the vibrant heart of Roman public life. With a relaxed pace, intimate group size, and thoughtfully planned route, this tour delivers comfort, depth, and outstanding value. Space is limited, so book now and discover Ancient Rome like never before. This tour is available in multiple languages.
Tour Options
Itinerary
You will retrace the steps of the Gladiators, accompanied by exciting stories, told by your local, expert guide. Uncover the history of the events that unfolded inside the great walls of the world-famous Colosseum. Bring the ancient monument to life, and gain all the insights into the life of the Roman people that once filled the arena.
The Palatine Hill is the most beautiful and important of Rome’s seven hills, and is a must-see on any tour of the city. Here, with the aid of your guide, you can discover the birthplace of one of the greatest civilisations in history, and explore the ancient ruins of the Imperial Palace, surrounded by towering pine trees and spectacular views of the Circus Maximus and the Roman Forum below.
It is vital to visit the political, social, and commercial heart of downtown Rome to truly understand the spirit of life in Roman times. Here you will walk original Roman roads, the Via Sacra and the Via Nova, which weave amongst ornate arches, towering temples, and the spirits of the myth-shrouded Romulus and the world-famous Julius Caesar. Although less than half of the forum is complete today, your guides will fill in all the empty spaces with their extensive knowledge and passion, which will restore the city to its former glory.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please provide the full names of all travellers when booking. Failure to present a voucher with matching names at the ticket office may result in denied entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
- Each traveller must present a valid passport or ID matching the name provided at booking for entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
- Tour order may vary: we will start with either the Colosseum or the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill depending on ticket availability.
- Colosseum admission is free on the first Sunday of each month; tours are discounted on these days.
- Want an upgrade? Check out these other options: Small-Group Colosseum Tour (12pax)
Reviews(722)
We had the wonderful Ivana as our tour guide and she truly brought the experience alive, especially in the Colosseum where we actually got goosebumps from her description!
Thank you for your wonderful review, Diane! We’re so happy you enjoyed the tour with Ivana and that her storytelling made the Colosseum come alive for you. We truly appreciate your kind words and recommendation!
Very informative and unrushed tour. The guide was knowledgeable and had great insights. Clear meeting instructions.
Thank you for your lovely review! We're so glad you enjoyed the tour and found it informative and well-paced. It’s great to hear the meeting process was clear and that your guide added valuable insights. We really appreciate your kind words and hope to see you again soon!
We were looking forward to seeing the colosseum, roman, forum, palatine hill. Our guide did not have a working microphone for the colosseum portion. Once he got a microphone we found the information he was giving to be difficult to understand.
Hi Emily, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re truly sorry to hear that your experience did not fully meet expectations, especially during such an important visit to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. We understand how frustrating it must have been when the guide’s microphone was not working properly at the start, and that the audio issues made it difficult to follow the commentary even after it was fixed. This is certainly not the level of experience we aim to provide, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. Please be assured that we always do our very best to ensure clear communication and a smooth touring experience, and your comments will be shared with our operations team to help prevent situations like this in the future. We appreciate your feedback and hope we may have the opportunity to offer you a better experience next time.
We went on this tour on the 5th of June with husband and two adult children. Getting past the long lines at both the Colesseum and the Forum was very nice. Our tour guide knew so much about the history and the area and we could have listened to her all day. She managed the group and the crowds spectacularly. You could easily spend much longer at each location but this tour gave you the highlights and allowed for my family to explore more of Rome in the afternoon. Our guide recommended a great restaurant to relax before heading back out to see the sights.
Thank you for your wonderful review! We're so glad you and your family enjoyed the tour and appreciated the guide’s knowledge and recommendations. It’s great to hear you were able to experience the highlights and still have time to explore more of Rome. We really appreciate your kind words and hope to see you again soon!
The must-see visit to the Colosseum should always be done with a guide who can tell you and provide context about the history, and Andrea was very pleasant, sharing just enough information so that you don't have to remember dates or too much tedious history that by the end of many tours you forget everything, highly recommendable.
Thank you for your kind review! We’re so happy you enjoyed the Colosseum tour with Andrea and appreciated his clear and engaging storytelling. We truly appreciate your recommendation!
We had booked and confirmed our Colosseum tour months in advance and had been planning this trip for approximately 8 months. Unfortunately, despite having confirmed tickets through Viator, we were denied entry because Viator failed to communicate our updated schedule to the local operator, Carpe Diem Tours. We arrived expecting everything to be in order, only to discover that the necessary information had not been passed along. As a result, we missed visiting the Colosseum altogether, which was one of the main highlights of our trip to Rome. What makes this especially frustrating is that this situation was completely outside of our control. We relied on Viator to coordinate with their tour partner, and that communication breakdown ruined an experience we had been looking forward to for months. This was a major disappointment for our group, and unfortunately Viator has lost four customers because of it. We will not be booking through Viator again and cannot recommend this service based on our experience.
Hi Sudhir, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, and we are truly sorry for the extremely frustrating experience you and your group had. We completely understand how disappointing it must have been after planning your trip for so long, especially with the Colosseum being a key highlight of your visit to Rome. Being denied entry due to a communication issue is absolutely not the experience we want for our guests, and we sincerely apologize for the distress and inconvenience this caused. Please know that we take situations like this very seriously. We always aim to ensure that all booking details and updates are properly coordinated between our platform and local operators, and we regret that this did not happen in your case. Your feedback will be thoroughly reviewed with our operations and partner teams to understand exactly where the breakdown occurred and how we can prevent something similar in the future. We truly regret that your experience fell so far short of expectations and appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
Horrible......... not sure where I should begin since we never got go on the the tour. The office rescheduled our tickets from 1:30pm to 3pm and then when we went to the meeting spot, the tour guide told us they did not have our names and tried to contact the main office. The main office the got after 15 whole mins just to let us know that our issue has been escalated and they are working on it ..... so while they were "escalating" our issue we missed our Colosseum tour ....... so how are we supposed to be compensated.....????? We did not get to see the Colosseum after coming to Rome inspite of booking so well ahead for no fault of ours !!!!!!!! Very very disappointed
Hi Meghana, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, and we are truly sorry for the extremely upsetting experience you had. We completely understand how frustrating and disappointing it must have been, especially after planning in advance and traveling all the way to Rome with the Colosseum as a key highlight of your visit. Missing the tour due to scheduling changes and a mismatch in booking details is absolutely not the experience we want for our guests, and we sincerely apologize for the distress and inconvenience this caused. Please be assured that we take situations like this very seriously. We always strive to ensure that any schedule updates are properly communicated and reflected with our on-site teams, and we regret that this breakdown occurred in your case. Your feedback will be escalated and reviewed with both our operations and support teams to understand exactly what went wrong and how we can prevent it in the future. We truly regret that your experience fell so far short of expectations, and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
Great experience! Personalized for the group and a no rush tour. Longer than expected, but in a good way! Much focus on getting the best experience on a crowded venue. Thank you Andrea!
Thank you for your wonderful review! We’re so happy you enjoyed the relaxed pace and personalized experience with Andrea, even in a busy venue. We truly appreciate your kind words! 😊
We had a wonderful tour guide who set a nice and easy pace. Very knowledgeable and went above and beyond to make sure I was comfortable as a pregnant woman on a 90 degree day!
Thank you for your wonderful review! We’re so happy to hear your guide made the experience comfortable and enjoyable, especially on such a warm day. We truly appreciate your kind words and are glad you enjoyed the tour! 😊
Despite some rain, this was an excellent tour. Our guide, Giorgio, was excellent - informative and entertaining!
Thank you so much for your lovely review! We’re thrilled you enjoyed the tour despite the rain and that Giorgio made the experience so informative and entertaining. We hope to welcome you again soon in Rome!
