Rome’s Colosseum is one of the most famous Roman monuments in the world, but with four million annual visitors, lines can be long in peak season. This tour ensures a hassle-free visit with skip-the-line entrance; access to the Arena and the gladiator stage; plus a walking tour of Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.

Skip-the-line access to Rome's Colosseum
Head straight into the Arena, where gladiators once fought
Perfect introduction for first-time visitors
Small group ensures personal service

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Get access to the arena floor on this priority tour, which includes the Forum and Palatine Hill.

What's Included

Guided tour
Monolingual speaking guide for 3 hours
Admission ticket to the Colosseum
Admission ticket to the Arena
Admission ticket to the Palatine hill, Roman Forum

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 points

This activity ends in a different location. See details below:

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What To Expect

Colosseum

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Palatine Hill

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Roman Forum

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Normal sized backpacks are permitted as huge backpacks will not be admitted.
Stroller accessible
Small group tour with average 26 people.
Near public transportation
Please be aware that to enter the Colosseum it is necessary to pass a metal detector security check;
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
If you arrive late you might lose the entrance at the Colosseum or a part of the tour
The order of the visit of the itinerary might change

There might be a slight change in the departure timing. In this case we will call you in advance.
Please bring a copy of your ID or driver license since it is necessary for the entrance at the Colosseum
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Please Note: In some areas the stroller must be carried by yourself due to architectural restrictions
Please note that due to summer heatwaves the duration of the tour may vary slightly depending on the needs of the group.
Please show up at least 10 minutes before the tour to do the check in
Please note that you will be asked a full refundable 10 euros deposit at the meeting point in order to ensure all the radios are given back to the guide or our staff. Once you return the radios you will be refunded your 10 euros. If you don't give back the radios you will be charged 30 euros for each of them.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 28 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.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

We certainly covered some ground so wear comfortable walking shoes and I daresay in summer it would get very hot so hats and water would be a necessity.

Make sure you have good walking shoes on and are in good physical condition as one will be going up and down multiple steps and hills

It is a lot of history to know in a short period of time, so I recommend seeking small groups, which will make me return to know more and enjoy the guide's knowledge.

Reviews

4.5

1,989 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 1,989 reviews

Choose a guide you can understand

Daniel_R, Sept 2023

Very disorganized at beginning. Trying to find tour guide was frustrating. Our guide was very hard to understand. My headset repeatedly lost contact. Halfway through the tour most of our group stopped wearing their headphones. Wouldn’t recommend our guide or the tour.

Too much for too little

Francis_S, Sept 2023

Audio was very bad. Speaking with a number of folks in our group and many could not understand what the guide was saying. The guide was friendly, but his accent (I understand he’s Italian) made it even more difficult to understand him. On at least two occasions he stopped the group and offered for folks to leave if they wanted. The group was thirty people. That is ten more than we expected. Certainly not the fault of the tour company, but the crowds were too much. This, combined with the heat and hard to understand guide made for an unsatisfying experience for me. We paid a pretty good amount for a guided tour and it just didn’t meet expectations. I don’t think we’d use Viator in the future and I’ll not recommend the company to any friends headed to Rome.

Colloseum lived up to its wonder

EBRAHIM_K, Sept 2023

Excellent tour. Made us feel the history Party size only 10 people which allowed us to ask questions and not feel rushed. Guide was also well informed.

Place to see

Kimberly_F, Sept 2023

Our tour operator was very good and passionate. I gave it 3 stars because we had no time to go into the bookstore or to use the toilet, yet we had to wait more than 10 minutes outside for the other tour (his colleague) to finish before proceeding. My husband and I left and didn’t finish.

Great guide, would book again

Iris_V, Sept 2023

The guide was great! We had a really good time with her. She was very knowledgeable about the history and made it fun to learn about it.

Extremely disappointed

Laila_S, Sept 2023

The tour operator was disorganized. They were supposed to be waiting with a flag. When we asked they laughed and said they forgot it. We were going around for 15 minutes looking for them. The tour guide didn’t speak English very well. It was difficult to understand her. Her presentation was monotonous….

Good tour

Kim_L, Sept 2023

Definitely worth doing , saw alot. Very interesting would recommend even in hot weather, plenty of water

It was hardly a small...

Ritu_G, Sept 2023

It was hardly a small group approx. 20 of us and the guide spent a lot of time at the Forum! Be prepared to do a lot of walking!

Outstanding

Theresa_B, Sept 2023

This tour was outstanding! Our tour guy was phenomenal and super informative. We we’re able to get an experience of a life time. Highly recommend!

Great experience

David_V, Sept 2023

What a great tour. Our tour guide, Dario, was very knowledgeable and kept this group entertained for 2.5 hours. Definitely recommend.

Passionate about history with a side of humour

Simone_W, Sept 2023

Wonderful guide. Good pace to the tour and nice variety of things to see. Highly recommend this tour if you love learning about history.

Check where the tour starts and finishes

William_F, Sept 2023

We booked this as it was advertised as gaining access to the Gladiator entrance and the platform inside the Colosseum, which it did, but it also 'suggested' the tour started in the Colosseum and finished in the Forum which is what we wanted so we could walk around the Forum by ourselves after the official tour. The tour actually started in the Forum and finished in the Colosseum which meant we couldn't get back into the Forum without paying again :( The personal radios worked fine however, when surrounded by other large groups of people or at the beginning of the tour next to traffic, it was hard to hear the guide due to background noise but better than trying to hear the guide without them :) Our guide was very knowledgeable and we picked up a lot of info we wouldn't have found if walking around by ourselves. Overall we were glad we took the tour but check where it starts and finishes if you have plans for afterwards.

Tour guide was great, but our "small" tour had about 30 people!

Chelsea_K, Sept 2023

They advertised this as a "small group tour" but it was the largest group I have ever been apart of! About 30 people in total! Our guide was very knowledgable, but it did feel like he was rushing us along through palatine hill and roman forum to meet our entry time at the colosseum. We also had to stop and wait a bunch for our group because it was crowded everywhere and its hard to keep 30 people together! When we got to the colosseum and to the arena floor, it was 5:15 and he said that was where we would end. We looked around a bit and then sat for 30 minutes while he basically lectured on the history. It was interesting to hear, but seemed like a waste of time? Nothing against our tour guide, he was great and very knowledgable about the history, but I would not do this tour again or recommend it to anyone.

Disappointed

karen_R, Sept 2023

We went to the Vatican , cistine chapel our guide was informative but communication system was poor , far to busy ( should be more stream lined felt it was all about taking the people’s money , could not get the beauty of the lovely architecture .

Wonderful experience.

Amy_D, Sept 2023

Our guide was knowledgeable and charming. He really made the colosseum come alive. I loved that he showed us pictures of than and now so we could really visualize how it would have looked 2000 years ago.

Best Guides!

Sharon_B, Sept 2023

Informative and entertaining guide made the tour a great success. Also appreciated that he made every effort to keep us in the shade when possible. It was a very warm day.

Colosseum tour

Elaine_B, Aug 2023

The history of the colosseum is amazing and our tour guide was very knowledgeable. There’s a good bit of walking and it was quite hot so be prepared for that.

Good Solid Tour

Kate_T, Aug 2023

Alice was very knowledgeable and shared interesting stories during the tour. The temperature was very hot and she was excellent about stopping for water and finding shady spots to talk to us. Overall, she was a solid guide - however, not unlike most Italians who work with tourists - she seemed to not enjoy people. No introductions, no friendliness, all business. After spending three hours together, she knew maybe 4-5 names out of a group of 16.

Average tour

Vipul_M, Aug 2023

This tour was average. Involved lots of walking . Radio voice was not clear as it supposed to be . Also we had hard time keeping up with tour guide as it was very crowded.

Good tour on a hot day

Liz_L, Aug 2023

Stories about the coliseum and things that happened there. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and engaging

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