Maximize your limited time in Rome and bypass the seemingly endless ticket line at the Colosseum. The special ticket further grants you exclusive access to the arena floor where gladiators once stood. Listen as your guide goes beyond what you get in a typical audio guide. Hear the behind-the-scenes history of fighters, spectators, and more. Afterward, use the time you saved to explore other attractions, enjoy Italian food, or simply relax.

Skip the long line to the city’s most popular attraction
Enjoy a comprehensive tour of the Colosseum
Experience the arena from a unique vantage point
Take advantage of your limited vacation time

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

This express tour explores both the arena floor and 2nd level in a short period of time.

What's Included

Official Live Guide
Arena Floor restricted area
Fast Track Entrance/Gladiator Door
Headsets
Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Tour
Admission Fees

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Transportation to/from attractions

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Santi Cosma e Damiano
Via dei Fori Imperiali, 1, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Meet in front of the Basilica San Cosma and Damiano. Look for tour greeters in red Show Me Italy jackets/shirts. They will be waiting next to the large red pillar just in front of the church on the Via dei Fori Imperiali.

End point

Largo della Salara Vecchia
L.go della Salara Vecchia, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

What To Expect

Colosseum

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

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
Please arrive 15 minutes before the starting time
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
When booking for children under 18 years, a government-issued ID/passport will be required when entering the monument. Failure to bring an ID with you can result in the security staff refusing you entrance to the monument.

Refunds will not be provided for no-shows or late arrivals. If you are late to arrive at the meeting point, you will not be able to join your tour
Tours will run rain or shine (unless the monument is closed by the official administration for safety reasons)
The tour itinerary can start with either the Colosseum or the Palatine Hill/Roman.
In the case of inclement weather (rain, snow, frost…), the arena floor may be closed off without notice. Entry through the gladiators’ gate will not be affected but access onto the arena floor will be prohibited. In these instances, refunds cannot be provided
Aerosols, sharp objects and large backpacks will not be allowed
The meeting time can be subject to change. In this case, we will call/text you in advance to let you know of any changes.
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.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

1,835 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 1,835 reviews

Excellent experience and Scott made it even more awesome!

Jessica_C, Sept 2023

This was one of my favorite tours I’ve taken. Our tour guide, Scott, was incredibly knowledgeable, funny, and very considerate of us guests where he made sure to find us some shade when he could, helped a pregnant guest find a seat anytime we stopped and looked out for people who may have trouble walking or were in a slippery area. He was the best guide I’ve had on any small excursions like this. Going onto the arena floor was the highlight though the view from the hill was a close second. I would do this tour all over again if I could!

Best tour of these locations we could have hoped for.

larry_s, Sept 2023

Specific details of the origins of the beginnings of Rome and the reasons for the infrastructure. Our tour guide was energetic, knowledgeable and also very attentive to the needs of tour members.

Amazing site

Richard_P, Sept 2023

Our guide Rich was informative animated and considerate. Very pleased with the experience. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccvvccvvvcccccccvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvccccccccccccvvvvvvvvvvv

great tour

John_A, Sept 2023

The tour was amazing Our guides American English was not the best Would have liked to go under the colosseum floor

Highly recommend

Lori_Y, Sept 2023

Incredible tour. Our guide was excellent. Very knowledgeable. Everything was timed out perfectly. Can’t miss when in Rome.

Our tour guide provided...

Valencia_H, Sept 2023

Our tour guide provided great history of Rome and colosseum. Tour guide was professional. We really enjoyed the tour.

Beautiful Rome

Mark_S, Sept 2023

What an amazing place. Our tour guide was first class. She was very knowledgeable and a lovely person. Value for money. Organised very well, clear instructions where to meet. Headset supplied . Take plenty of water with you and comfortable shoes. We had an awesome time. Thank you

Awesome experience

Joseph_S, Sept 2023

What an amazing tour. I can't emagine going to the coliseum without a guide. We learned so much history and got a ton on insight on the coliseum, Palatine hill and the Roman Forum. Our guide was Magda and she is a 5 superstar!!

Misleading tour description. BEWARE!

Kyra_W, Sept 2023

We felt that the description of the tour was very misleading. We paid a lot to get this tour specifically thinking that we would get to go through the lower level where the gladiators were. That was not the case. We also were supposed to have skip the line entrance with this ticket and ended up waiting in a large queue anyway. The tour guide gave us a tour of the colosseum and then walked with us to palatine hill/forum and then said the tour was over (as in she did not actually give us a tour of the forum or palatine hill). We felt like the tour description was very misleading. We could have saved a lot of money by just booking the colosseum palatine hill and forum entry ticket rather than being enamored by the gladiator description. Don't make the same mistake we did! Many others on our same tour were also disheartened and felt cheated. When we brought our issues up to the tour company, they said they couldn't and wouldn't do anything to rectify the situation.

Marchello was our tour...

Eric_F, Sept 2023

Marchello was our tour guide and he was a very personable and interesting to listen to. Our favourite part was visiting the arena floor and the perspective looking up at the top of the coliseum.

Excellent

Loren_S, Sept 2023

Entering the Collosseum floor and realizing how enormous the stadium is in real life. Also viewing the emperors and senators box in vicinity of the arena floor where lions tigers enter battle with gladiators

Marcelo was great!

Jena_H, Sept 2023

Marcelo was a great guide! Very knowledgeable and took good care to make sure we weren’t too hot and always found shade. Loved it.

Hardly saw Coliseum on Coliseum tour.

Marc_R, Sept 2023

The Coliseum itself is a wonder to behold. Unfortunately it was left for the last 45 minutes of our 3-hour tour. The first 2 hrs and 15 minutes were essentially made up of the philosophical ruminations of our guide Cesare. Very knowledgeable but way too focused on the Palatine Hill and Antique Forum which were billed as an add-on and should not have been the main feature. Felt short-changed and hurriedly rushed through the Coliseum like cattle. Not the best way to start off our trip. Learned more from listening to either tour guides speaking to their groups. Should have gotten the audio guide for self-guided tour.

The history will memorize you.

Lori_W, Sept 2023

It was an amazing tour, great to hear all the history as we walk along, it was crowded but thankfully not as hot as usual. Unforgettable sites. Loved having the guide to just explain things as we walked along easily. So much to see and look at it was truly amazing. Bring a hat, a fan, and the water!

AMAZING!

Luisa_R, Sept 2023

Amazing experience! Scott was our tour guide and he was great- he gave us detailed explanation of all sites, tips around rome and even made sure we had some shade since it was so hot out. We are so glad we did this tour! Don’t miss it

Good tour but skipped the floor

Marc_w, Sept 2023

Great tour but we did not go on the arena floor like the tour description said. We saw a couple of groups walking the arena floor. A little disappointing but still enjoyed the colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum. Our guide was very thorough and super nice. Total group time was 2.5 hours. It was about 95° F/ 35° C so it felt like 4.5 hours😳😅.

Our tour guide wasn’t good

Kimberley_T, Sept 2023

I’m only giving this tour a three star for one reason. The content of the tour was amazing and I loved it, but our tour guide’s English wasn’t up to par and he didn’t seem interested in speaking. It was hard to follow his explications of the content of the tour. Other than this, the tour was wonderful

Great tour guide was extremely informative and friendly.

Howard_C, Sept 2023

Great experience everything they said was available was done well. Guide was very knowledgeable. Gave us plenty of time to take pictures and ask questions.

Guide was not the best we...

Susan_C, Sept 2023

Guide was not the best we have had- stories focused on one child in group leaving the adults frustrated. Guide did not take into account the heat- 6 people left our group. Consider providing more late day or evening tour options.

Great tour

maria_a, Aug 2023

Our tour guide Kyra was very good. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and be able to do a lot of walking.

...