Small Group Tour: Colosseum & Roman Forum with Arena Floor Access
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Rome, Italy
- 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Step back in time and learn about life in ancient Rome with this small-group guided tour of the city’s top archaeological treasures. Visit the Colosseum, with access through the restricted area of the arena floor , and learn about this magnificent amphitheater from your guide. Then continue on to stroll through the ruins of temples and squares in the adjacent Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.
- Visit the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill on a guided tour
- Visit the arena floor through the Gladiator’s Gate with exclusive access
- Tour with a small group for time to ask your guide questions
- Choice or morning or afternoon tour times to suit your schedule
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
A small group size allows more personal attention and a more relaxed pace than larger tours.
What's Included
- Entry to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Expert Certified Guide
- Access to Arena floor
- Headsets for groups when appropriate
- Colosseum entrance ticket with arena access (valued at €24 per person)
- Colosseum reservation fee (valued at €2 per person)
- Please note: Colosseum fees as above. The remaining cost of the experience covers other services.
- Transport to/from meeting point.
- Food and Drink
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Via dei SS. Quattro, 81, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Meet at the Roman Vacations office on Via dei Santi Quattro, 81 Roma RM 00184.. Look for the white Roman Vacations flag with the lion head on it.
End point
- Arch of ConstantineP.za del Colosseo, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Ticket Redemption Point
Roman Vacations, Via dei SS. Quattro, 81, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Itinerary
1
Roman Forum
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Palatine Hill
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Colosseum
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Near public transportation
- Stroller accessible
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- 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 may result in denied entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
- 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.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 7 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 848 reviews
Daniella_M, May 2026
Angela was a friendly familiar face despite never meeting before who gave us a warm welcome into one of the world’s oldest cities. She guided us through the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill with so much knowledge and expertise while also entertaining with current events and sidebars about local culture. If we could have done anything differently for our trip, it would be to take this tour right off the plane because we felt much more aware of our surroundings after this incredible experience.
Alicia_M, May 2026
Excellent tour with Mike. He was amazing with the history and stories he told. Very considerate of our group. Highly recommend this company. Great from start to finish. He said his mother was a tour guide and learned from a very young age.
Tyler_L, May 2026
Angela killed it!! She was very entertaining. She didn’t hesitate to answer any questions. She is apart of a smaller team of tour guides, but don’t let that fool you, the service was excellent.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Tyler,
Thank you so much for your kind word, we truly appreciate it! Safe travels back home and we hope to see you again soon!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Jay_B, May 2026
This was a great tour overall and our tour guide was fantastic.
She pointed out so many facts we never would have known on our own.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao,
Thank you so much for your kind review, we are glad that you enjoyed the tour with our tour guide! Safe travels!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Thomas_B, May 2026
I’ll start by saying our instructor, Tiberio, was amazing and we would give him an 11/10. He was funny, knowledgeable and you can tell he’s very passionate about what he does. This rating has nothing to do with him. We docked a star because we originally paid for the Arena tour, but right before our trip, the touring company reached out to us to let us know they couldn’t get us access to the Arena. I compared pricing to other tours and we paid a lot more for our tickets (probably because the arena tour was supposed to be included). So, we were pretty disappointed we missed out on that part of the tour. The company did give us the option for a full refund but most of the time slots were already booked since we were supposed to leave for our trip in a few days. Overall the tour was amazing, it was just this little hiccup that was disappointing.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Thomas! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with Tiberio! He really is a excellent guide and is a bit of legend in the guiding circle of Rome.
We are sorry about the lose of the Arena access. We try to minimise this happening as much as possible, but sometimes it is out of our control and is why we give other tour options or a full refund depending on what each customer wants.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Aron_A, May 2026
We absolutely loved the vibe of our tour guide. He was very knowledgeable and very nice. The group size was perfect. I would, however, recommend that with the amount of money we all pay for our tours, that the tour guide wear clean clothes and not look like he rolled out of bed moments before the start of the tour.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Aron! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us.
That was the guides second tour of the day so he perhaps had to rush from his previous tour to yours. We will however discuss it with him.
Safe travels!
Sarah_K, May 2026
Easy to find meeting spot- our guide was AMAZING and so knowledgeable. Loved the small group setting.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Sarah! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us.
We hoe to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Jennifer_R, May 2026
Why not take a tour and learn about the history of what you are seeing. Small group is nice because there is a lot of walking/stairs and bigger groups tend to take more time as some have to “catch up”.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Jennifer! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us. We agree that smaller groups are better for everyone when on tour.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Michele_J, May 2026
Our Guide, Benjamin was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. The tour was both interesting and entertaining. There were lots of steps so make sure you wear good shoes. Thank you Benjamin for the very enlightening experience!
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Michele! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with Benjamin. He is a awesome guide with such a wide ranging knowledge. His tours are always popular.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
CYNTHIA_W, May 2026
Very informative tour. He was patient with everyone and answered all our questions. Seen alot. Would recommend this tour.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao,
Thank you so much for your kind review, we are glad that you enjoyed the tour with our tour guide! Safe travels!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Greg_P, May 2026
The tour was fantastic and very informative but it was a little strenuous in some places. The tour guide was very helpful.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Greg! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Lisa_T, May 2026
The tour covered the living quarters on the hill, the forum and colosseum. It was very well done and our guide did an amazing job giving us relevant details as well as answering questions. All three areas were very crowded, so it was no small task to keep the group moving and together, which he did very well. I would highly recommend this tour.
Response from Host, May 2026
Ciao Lisa! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us. We hope the rest of your time in Rome was as enjoyable, and we hope to see you back in the city soon.
Safe travels!
Zafer_T, Apr 2026
Angela was very enthusiastic about the tour and made it fun. She didn’t make me feel rushed, was open to questions, and was knowledgeable about the history.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao,
Thank you so much for your kind review, we are glad that you enjoyed the tour with our tour guide! Safe travels!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Robin_M, Apr 2026
This was an excellent way to see the Colosseum and surrounding area. Our tour guide I think his name was Marcus was absolutely excellent. It’s nice to meet at the Roman tour Office where it is not crowded. Then the tour guide escorted us right where we needed to go for the tour. Our guide was very informative and timed everything well with the time that we were allowed to enter the Colosseum. There was built-in bathroom breaks and our tour guide knew the least crowded ones. He even pointed out the water fountains where we were able to refill water bottles. I would definitely recommend this as an option for seeing the Colosseum.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao,
Thank you so much for your sharing your experience with us, we are delighted that you had such a great time with us! Safe travels and hope to see you soon!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Donald_H, Apr 2026
This was an amazing tour. Everything went perfect. It was easy to find the meeting place and our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. I highly recommend this tour. One of the best experiences I’ve ever experienced
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Donald,
We are so happy that you enjoyed the tour and had such a great experience! We are always delighted when we get reviews from our customers. Safe travels back home and hope to see you again soon!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Sue_M, Apr 2026
Our tour guide was exceptional. He was very knowledgeable. We learned so much. We were well taken care of. Would highly recommend. Everyone was excellent.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao,
Thank you so much for your kind review, we are glad that you enjoyed the tour with our tour guide! Safe travels!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Marcy_C, Apr 2026
Our guide was super friendly, very knowledgeable, and accommodating. There were a couple difficult people in the group but he handled them very well. We learned so much! Thanks Fabio, we see you and appreciate you.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us. We only work with the best guides available to us and we make sure they know how to handle any situation, all the while providing a engaging and memorable tour.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Peter_S, Apr 2026
This small group tour is definitely the way to go. We were a group of 7 and found it easier for our tour guide and group to navigate the Colosseum and Palantine Hill. Our tour guide, Marcello was extremely knowledgeable, gave unique insight and took his time answering questions. He was kind and respectful of the needs of the group. He even proactively made sure we got water, were in shaded areas and took us to less crowded areas for great pictures.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Peter! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with Marcello. He truly is a wonderful guide as well as a total sweetheart. We love working with him.
We hope to see you guys back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
James_F, Apr 2026
The tour operator switched time on us from a morning to a mid afternoon tour and neglected to tell us they rebooked with CityWalkers. Luckily we asked around at the meeting site and discovered who was actually doing the tour and got checked in with CityWalkers. But they had us booked for an hour later than RomanVacations told us. The tour we were given was the regular Colosseum tour not the considerably higher priced Arena Floor Access that we paid for. RomanVacations only refunded a small amount, 10 euro/person, and rather than take responsibility blamed both CityWalkers and the Colosseum for all the issues. So would not recommend this operator based on our experience. All that said the tour actually given by CityWalkers was a good tour. Their guide Nick was very good and I probably would have given them a 4 or 5 star review.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao James! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.
We are very sorry for the miscommunication in timing and tour content.
We have taken lessons from this and we will endevour to make sure something like this never happens again.
We are glad you enjoyed the tour and we hope the rest of your time in Rome was as enjoyable.
Safe travels!
Kathy_A, Apr 2026
Awesome because you get to skip the lines which are hours long. Tiberius was very smart and knowledgeable with a great memory.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Kathy! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with Tiberio. He really is an outstanding guide, and is also a bit of a legend in the guide community of Rome, just purely for his knowledge. We consider ourselves very lucky to be working with him.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Emily_N, Apr 2026
Our tour guide was amazing. Staff at City walkers were all spectacular. Book directly with them instead of this tour. We paid for small group and arena floor access. The coordinator then messaged us that they couldn’t get floor access. Then changed our tour check in from 1020 to 1245. I confirmed the night before the time again. We shifted our whole day to do the 1pm tour and got there to be told by our guide that the company we booked with had us at 3pm and it was with a group of 30. I messaged them asking for a refund of some sort and they’ve stopped communicating with me. We are coming back in November with kids and absolutely will not book through them again
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Emily! Many thanks for sharing your experience with us.
We have looked further into this incident and had it confirmed with the management and owners of City Walkers, that it was their office staff who made the change without informing us as we were expecting you to be on the 1pm tour which we confirmed with you.
Appartently the office staff at City Walkers failed to inform their colleagues who took over later in the day of the change, and no one was informed of this change of time.
We apologise for the confusion and have issued you a refund as a gesture of goodwill.
Again, our apologies for the confusion, but we have had assurances from City Walkers that this will not happen again.
For informational purposes, 25 people is the maximum number allowed by the Colosseum administration. Therefore, a group of 30, as stated in the review, is a misrepresentation of the group size.
Stewart_D, Apr 2026
Our guide was personal & knowledgeable.
Front of the line access meant very little lost time in line ups.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Stewart! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us.
We hope the rest of your time in Rome is as enjoyable.
We also hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Melinda_L, Apr 2026
Excellent !!! Our guide was super informative. We really appreciated the knowledge of the structure and building materials. He was very kind to our mother and made accommodations that helped us enjoy the tour. Plan for walking on large cobblestones with large divides for part of the tour and smaller cobblestones also. I cannot say enough about the level of knowledge of our guide.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us. We are very proud of our guides and they are arguably the best in the city.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Helen_S, Apr 2026
It was a great experience. So much information and understanding of the Colosseum Upbeat friendly knowledgeable and real.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao,
Many thanks for your kind words, we hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Rome as much as you enjoyed the tour with RomanVacations!
Kind regards,
RomanVacations
Zalina_V, Apr 2026
Our 3 hour experience with the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill with Marcello was amazing. He was extremely knowledgeable, went at a good pace, helped take pictures for everyone in our group, made sure to make bathroom stops, etc. I had been to the Colosseum 2x before, but never joined a tour. With my family in tow (kids ages 11 and 14) it was a great way for everyone to learn more about the Roman Empire, dispel any myths about gladiators, and walk the same path as Julius Caesar. It is something we will never forget. I highly recommend this tour. The only thing was that the ear pieces were a tad glitchy. You had to be close enough to the guide and sometimes play with the wires a bit to make sure sound was coming through. Hopefully that system can be upgraded, but otherwise it was a perfect day!
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Zalina! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with Marcello! He is a fantastic guide, who really knows how to make a tour entertaining and engaging.
We will look into the earpieces and see if we can't improve them.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Nancy_B, Apr 2026
Our guide was knowledgeable about the history of the Colosseum with all the details vs what you see in the books or movies.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Nancy! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us. We only use the best guides available, and we make sure they know what they're talking about and how to make a tour engaging.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Jennifer_K, Apr 2026
This tour was so excellent! Our guide was brilliant, engaging, and so much fun. We learned an ton and had a blast.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Jennifer! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us. We only use the best guides available to us and it really shows on our tours.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Karen_E, Apr 2026
Fantastic guide - he made it all come alive and was a wonder at weaving us thru the crowds on a hot sunny day.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thank you Karen, we are so happy that you enjoyed your tour! Have a wonderful remainder of your holiday in Rome.
Jodi_R, Apr 2026
Great experience, great guide! Highly recommend booking this particular tour option. Amazing history and sites. Don’t miss it!!
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Jodi! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with us.
We hope to see you back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
Elisa_C, Apr 2026
ANGELA truly made this experience of visiting the Roman Colloseum remarkable!!! She was so interesting and she added a touch of humor which was so enjoyed by all!!! We were very fortunate in having a small group and the afternoon tour was not crowded at all!!! I realize that having the opportunity to visit right before Easter was indeed a plus as the crowds were less and the weather was gorgeous!!! There is so much remarkable and fascinating history on this tour and ANGELA excelled in her knowledge and obvious passion for sharing with others!!! Thank you very much for such a wonderful memory on behalf of my son, his fiance and myself!!! Do yourself a favor and do not hesitate to book!!!With gratitude, E.Cogen and family
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Ciao Elisa! Many thanks for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed the tour with Angela. She is a fantastic guide who truly wants to make her tours memorable and engaging.
We hope to see you guys back in Rome soon.
Safe travels!
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