Rome
Top Rome landmarks
Colosseum Underground and Ancient Rome Small Group Tour

Colosseum Underground and Ancient Rome Semi-Private Tour MAX 6 PEOPLE GUARANTEED

Roma, Italy
  • 3 hours 15 minutes
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English
Rome Tours
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Audio Guides
Kid-Friendly
Likely To Sell Out
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Overview

See the secrets of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum on this small-group. With your knowledgeable guide, skip the long entrance lines at each attraction. Explore the Colosseum's underground chambers, which are off-limits to most of the public each day and discover Palatine Hill and the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum. Limited to just six people, this tour provides a more intimate experience.
  • Guided tour of the Colosseum and the highlights of ancient Rome
  • Skip the lines with priority entry to the Colosseum
  • Stroll up Palatine Hill and see where Rome’s wealthiest inhabitants once lived
  • Small-group tour limited to six people provides a more personalized experience with a knowledgeable guide

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Walk on almost 2,000-year-old original floors, with special access to ancient tunnels and secret chambers.

What's Included

  • Tour in a Safe and Small Group of MAX 6 PEOPLE GUARANTEED!
  • Climb down inside the Underground and walk onto the Arena of the Colosseum
  • Enjoy a friendly and professional Local Expert Guide
  • Skip the long lines!
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

  • Piazza del Colosseo, 21
    Piazza del Colosseo, 21, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

    In front of the SOS sign outside of the Colosseum's Metro Station's MAIN ENTRANCE, ground floor, right across the street from the Colosseum itself. Please note that there are two levels to the Colosseum Metro Station, your meeting point is at ground level. Your guide will be holding a LivTours sign.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

After meeting your guide at the Colosseum Metro Station, head out to explore some of Rome’s most legendary landmarks. Cruise past the entrance queues with your skip-the-line ticket, allowing you to waste no time inside these Roman icons.

At the Colosseum, start your tour on the underground level, which is only open to a limited number of visitors each day. Walk through the maze of subterranean chambers to see where fierce animals were once caged, and listen to stories from your guide about the gruesome gladiator battles. Then walk up to the arena level, and follow your guide into the area where the battles were fought, instead of tracing the edge, as most visitors do. Tread lightly over pieces of the original floor as you look below through the gaps.

Next, head down into the Roman Forum, following your guide around the ruins that once made up the city’s political and commercial heart. Hear about structures like the Arch of Titus and the Senate, where you have the chance to stay longer if you wish.

Walk up Palatine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Wander through pine trees while learning from your guide about ancient Rome’s origins, and see where the wealthiest Romans used to live.

Colosseum

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Roman Forum

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Palatine Hill

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • IMPORTANT: All names provided at time of booking MUST MATCH a valid piece of ID for each traveler. Failure to input correct names will result in a loss of the tour as per current Colosseum regulations.
  • Children and youth must be accompanied by an adult
  • Stroller accessible
  • Proof-of-age for teenagers under 18 years is required
  • Near public transportation
  • Please note: large bags, backpacks and suitcases are not permitted in the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Only small bags are allowed. Glass bottles and containers are also not allowed. Please do not bring these items with you on the day of your tour as there are no cloakrooms at the Colosseum
  • Due to extreme weather conditions, the Colosseum Administration may limit access to some or all of the restricted areas (Colosseum, Arena Level and Third Tier), to ensure security of its visitors. No refund will be granted on these rare occasions
  • UNDERGROUND AND ARENA: The access to the restricted areas of the Colosseum (Underground and Arena) may be shared among other participants in the our exclusive entry slot. At times, for safety reasons, logistics and traffic control, the group may be led by one guide. This choice is at the complete discretion of the Colosseum's administration and security policy of that day in accordance to adequate safety measures. Please be aware that this is only for 30/40 minutes of the total duration of the tour. Our max 6 people policy is guaranteed for the remainder of the duration of the tour.
  • GENERAL ENTRY:Please note that for safety reasons the Colosseum can accommodate up to 3000 people at once. This could lead to delays in access to the site, even for pre-booked visitors. Please be on time!
  • English Language Only
  • Most travelers can participate
  • Due to recent changes in Colosseum ticketing regulations affecting all guides and all tour operators, there is a chance that the Colosseum will not allow guides to accompany their groups for the short 20 minute portion of the underground. In this circumstance, your guide will share all the historical insights prior to your entering and a member of the Colosseum staff will join you for this portion of the tour. This change is affecting all guides in all tour operators. If you would like, you can install the Parco Colosseum official app on your phone and download the Colosseum Experience audio recordings prior to arriving.
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 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 good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

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Traveler Tips

Be prepared for a lot of walking and hills as the Ancient Rome part of this tour is all uphill - not for those who have a difficult time with stairs.
There is an elevator at the Colosseum should you have issues with stairs, However, Palantine Hill is a LOT of stairs, probably about 8 flights up a hill.
Small group the ideal way to visit the colosseum, trying to visit with 40 plus is not an option.

Reviews

5.0
3,437 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 3,437 reviews
Greater than expected
DK_P, Sept 2023
Our tour guide was Bruno. Fabulous guide. Very knowledgeable and approachable. Request him if you can. Loved the tour. Sad we didn’t get to go underground but it was still worth the tour. Palestine Hill is just as impressive as the Flavian Amphitheater.
Great tour
Michelle_L, Sept 2023
Very interesting and knowledgable guide and tour. Hits the highlights and history. Morning seems to have less people and not as hot/humid.
Wonderful Tour & Guide!
Taylor_I, Aug 2023
We had a great time on our tour with Louise. She did a wonderful job of bringing the history surrounding the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Forum to life and was very thoughtful of keeping us cool any chance she got! She also taught us so much about the life, culture, and traditions surrounding the Romans. Overall, I would highly recommend booking this tour, especially given the small size guarantee, which made it much more enjoyable and interactive.
Terrific experience!
Nicole_G, Aug 2023
We had a great experience despite not being able to do the underground. We have been to the Collosseum twice before, and we learned more from our guide Roberta than in all past visits combined. We would strongly recommend this tour!!
👍🏼👍🏼
Madison_L, Aug 2023
Great tour! Love the small group aspect. Our guide was very knowledgeable and happy to answer any questions.
Awesome!!
Suzy_B, Aug 2023
John our guide was amazing !! He was very knowledgeable and exciting ! Gave so much good I formation !
Wonderful experience-super guide Donata
Mark_b, Aug 2023
What a wonderful tour. Donata was a super tour guide, full of information and lots of fun! We loved the whole experience. Very grateful to have been in the Colosseum, soaking up all the history.
Rome 2023
Mark_S, Aug 2023
The Colosseum, we had a great time, and our tour guide was awesome ebbed the history lesson, very information.
Great overall tour
Shanna_L, Aug 2023
This was a great underground tour through LivTours. Guide started us walking through Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Then we went to the Colosseum. Our guide wasn’t allowed to go with us underground. Someone from the Colosseum went with us and didn’t provide much info on the underground portion. It was hard to hear. Disappointed in that part but our LivTours guide was great. I think you can see just as much from the Arena Floor.
After the tour was...
Sarah_N, Aug 2023
After the tour was changed due to regulations changing which is understandable, our tickets were re sent to us with the original time we had booked which was in fact the wrong time. After calling the local operator we got the time sorted out but ended up unnecessarily wasting a lot of time in the process. Once the tour began the guide was great, funny and informative. We went to the Roman Forum first which was incredible but once we went to enter the Colosseum our tickets were denied. We wasted more time (over an hour) waiting for the guide to sort the tickets out but that never happened and we were sadly unable to enter the Colosseum. The guide himself handled the situation very well but in the end could not get us tickets to get inside s they were sold out for the day.
Great tour. Highly recommend
jonathanWasden_w, Jul 2023
This was one of the best tours of our trip. It was the second time I had done a tour of the coliseum, and it was remarkably better than the first. We got into a lot of detail that was overlooked on my prior tour.
Excellent tour guide and fascinating sites!
Scott_G, Jul 2023
Our Livtours guide Niccolo Arcangeli was very knowledgeable (see his book on Gladiators in Amazon) and managed the small group and kept us in the shade as much as possible. He did an excellent job describing historic events to make them highly engaging. Great tour!
Excellent!
Anna_K, Jul 2023
Excellent guide! Funny and kind and informative. We learned way more about the colosseum and Roman forum than we even expected!
We had an amazing time on...
Maria_P, Jul 2023
We had an amazing time on this tour despite the heat. Our guide Rosana was amazing! She was friendly, kind, patient, understanding and informative. We learned a lot! She was very passionate and precise in her explanations. She made this tour and our time here in Rome wonderful!
An afternoon at the Colloseum
Franois_C, Jul 2023
Our guide, Dennis, was really interesting. He had a lot of knowledge of the Colloseum and the Palatine hill. I recommend the tour to anyone!
Best tour
Ryan_M, Jul 2023
Our guide Coumba was AMAZING she was so interactive and knowledgeable! We cannot say enough good things about this tour and her! She was so kind and knew all the right places to spend extra time or if less time was needed! It was amazing
Fun and informative
Shane_W, Jul 2023
My wife and I are extremely appreciated the tour and the tour guides experience, knowledge, and humor. She had a lot of information and made it enjoyable for the long day of walking. It was one of our favorite tours of our two week vacation. We really liked when she shared information on local Roman culture. This was very much worth the time in price. I would strongly suggest this tour to anyone.
Liv Tours and Marco are Outstanding
Michelle_R, Jul 2023
We experienced a few different tours while in Italy and LivTours was hands down the best. Marco our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable, funny and answered many questions with a smile. The three hours flew by, we could have spent all day with Marco's storytelling. He's a history buff and did an excellent job breaking down the thousands of years of history. Don't hesitate to book this tour!
Great experience
Kim_L, Jul 2023
Unfortunately we went on a super hot day but our guide did his best to find shade when possible. He was very knowledgeable and informative and it was great to learn more about the ancient Roman times and the colosseum.
great guide, patient and...
CHARLES_O, Jul 2023
great guide, patient and passionate. would highly recommend . we did a shortened version as it was over 100F on the day, but still was a great experience .
...

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