Gladiator’s Gate: Special Access Colosseum Tour with Arena Floor
Recommended by 92% of travelers
Rome, Italy
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore parts of the Colosseum that many travellers can't access with this group tour, which includes entry onto the Colosseum arena floor through Gladiator's Gate. Well-suited for return visitors and history buffs, this tour offers a quieter perspective of the Colosseum due to restricted visitor numbers. Post-Colosseum, continue following your guide as you discover Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.
- Choose from different time slots to fit into your schedule
- Hear everything your guide says with an audio headset
- Go beyond the guidebooks and gain insights directly from your guide
- Pick from different tour options to suit your interests
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
Gain special access to the arena floor through the Gladiator’s Gate, with a guide to provide insights.
What's Included
- Colosseum entrance ticket (Full Experience Ticket €24)
- Gladiator’s Gate tour option : Special access to Colosseum Arena Floor
- Ticket for Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Colosseum & SUPER Sites option: Access to Roman Forum SUPER Sites
- Small group of 16 guests maximum
- Local English-speaking guide
- Headset (groups over 6 people)
- Note: Colosseum fees are as above. The remaining cost of the experience covers other services
- Gratuities
- Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Via delle Terme di Tito, 72, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
This tour meets at Via delle Terme di Tito, 72 (Oppio Caffè). Meet directly across the street from Oppio Caffè at the gated entrance to Colle Oppio Park. Meet your guide at the entrance of Colle Oppio Park on the corner of Via di Terme di Tito and Via Nicola Salvi.
End point
- Foro Romano, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Colosseum/Roman Forum
Itinerary
Meet your guide and group on Via delle Terme di Tito steps from the entrance to the Colosseum.
Enter the arena floor—an area not usually accessible to the public—through a gate once reserved for gladiators and learn about the harrowing games and battles the Colosseum hosted centuries ago.
After the arena, head to the first and second levels to see where the Roman crowds once sat and gaze out over the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill—your next stop.
Leave the Colosseum and walk to Palatine Hill as you hear tales of imperial-era Rome. Explore the area and hear your guide regale the group with stories of war, politics, and betrayal, and get introduced to some of the ancient world's larger-than-life characters.
Finish your tour near the Roman Forum.
NOTE: New rules decree that only small backpacks and regular-sized handbags are allowed inside the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. All guests must now pass through a security check, and those with large bags may not enter (there aren't any storage facilities).
Enter the arena floor—an area not usually accessible to the public—through a gate once reserved for gladiators and learn about the harrowing games and battles the Colosseum hosted centuries ago.
After the arena, head to the first and second levels to see where the Roman crowds once sat and gaze out over the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill—your next stop.
Leave the Colosseum and walk to Palatine Hill as you hear tales of imperial-era Rome. Explore the area and hear your guide regale the group with stories of war, politics, and betrayal, and get introduced to some of the ancient world's larger-than-life characters.
Finish your tour near the Roman Forum.
NOTE: New rules decree that only small backpacks and regular-sized handbags are allowed inside the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. All guests must now pass through a security check, and those with large bags may not enter (there aren't any storage facilities).
1
Colosseum
1 hour 35 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Roman Forum
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Palatine Hill
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
- The full names of all participants must be provided at the time of booking and match the names on their ID. The Colosseum requires all guests (including children) to present government ID at the time of entry. Therefore any guest that does not submit their name in advance of the tour, or who does not bring their ID to the meeting point, will be refused participation without refund. Name corrections are possible up to 7 days before the visit. After this, changes may not be possible.
- The Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill may close occasionally. We'll notify you of any changes in advance if possible. For last-minute closures, updates will be given at the start of the tour.
- Walks is an Official Parco Archeologico del Colosseo Operator approved to lead guided tours of the Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill.
- Please note: This tour offers multiple options. Take a moment to choose the one that best suits your interests.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 7 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 4,133 reviews
Sort by: Most recent
Otis_G, Jul 2026
Be prepared to be on your feet, walking in the sun 🌞 for 3 hours. Wear comfortable shoes. Bring a water bottle.
Shawn_V, Jul 2026
The tour we booked was changed by the tour company and the rescheduled tour had a different time, and was not the same tour that we purchased and paid for in advance. It was very disappointing because the replacement tour did not include the gladiator level access. When this was brought to the attention of Viator, they declined our request for a refund. As Viator charges a premium for the tour service, we expected a better and different response.
Paolo_L, Jul 2026
It would have been preferable if we had actually participated in the tour I paid for. We arrived at our designated meeting point around 1:35 PM only to discover that the Gladiatour tour we had scheduled was completely replaced with a different tour. Consequently, we did not receive the experience we had reserved and paid for several weeks in advance. I am unsure whom I should contact regarding this issue or how to proceed with obtaining a full refund. We were extremely disappointed and expect thorough acknowledgment and resolution of this matter.
PAIGE_D, Jul 2026
No arena floor which we extra for. We spent little time in the actual stadium. Not very interesting.
Andrea_R, Jul 2026
Valentina was a wonderful tour guide! She was knowledgable and told stories that were very engaging and helped us to understand the situation at the time. We had slower party members and she took time to let them keep up. She took into account the temperature and helped us into the shade when possible. I see a lot of notes that people didn’t get what they paid for, but there’s a lot of options when you book so you have to be careful what you pick. I’d recommend Valentina for any tour, she’s clearly knowledgable, a good teacher, and very proud of her home!
Dorothy_C, Jul 2026
DO NOT DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR! This did NOT go to the floor of the Coliseum. It was just a general tour of the area. We paid almost $300 to see the floor. Viator lied and refused to give us a refund.
Kristen_V, Jul 2026
Lucia was absolutely amazing! I can't believe how much knowledge she has! Her stories are wonderful and it made the tour memorable and personable!
Carolyn_M, Jul 2026
Spent the morning on this tour with my family. Antonio was our guide. Very knowledgeable and informative. So much history!. We really enjoyed it.
Sarah_D, Jul 2026
Super well educated tour guide. He was amazing; felt like I was attending an excellent college lecture
Michael_C, Jul 2026
Tour guide barely spent any time at the Coliseum. We only got to see about 5 things the whole entire 3 hour tour. She stopped and talked for about 40 minutes at each location. Felt like we were in school. Asking questions and if we didn’t know the answers she would yell pay attention. Very unprofessional and not enjoyable. Will not be using this service again.
Kenneth_R, Jul 2026
Excellent experience. Got an excellent guided tour of the forum then the colosseum. My wife and I said that doing these tours without the guide (who was excellent by the way, and very knowledgeable ) was a complete waste of time, do the tour. It does get very hot at some time of the day so take plenty of water and a hat. Another little fact. We’ve seen other comments about the tour who don’t give a good start rating, basically due to not being able to find the start point. The start point ISN’T at the colosseum itself, you go across the road, up the stairs and round to the start point on the bottom of the hill (just outside a cafe). Do a pre tour look to find the start point. Do the tour, well worth it.
James_H, Jul 2026
Our guide was knowledgeable. Many interesting facts shared. Must see it all to have a complete appreciation.
Rebecca_W, Jul 2026
This tour was extremely organized and thorough. The meeting point is well established, the guide was extremely knowledgeable and was able to get us through the lines quickly.
Patrick_O, Jun 2026
Very disappointed by this tour. We did not go down to the Gladiator’s entrance- it was a standard tour that we’ve done before. It was misrepresented and over priced.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Dear Patrick,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're very sorry to hear that the tour did not meet your expectations.
This certainly doesn't sound like the experience we aim to provide, and we'd appreciate the opportunity to investigate your comments further. Please could you email us at feedback@walks.org with your booking reference? We'll review exactly what took place with our local team and follow up with you directly.
We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and hope to hear from you soon.
Kind regards,
Samantha
Walks & Devour Tours
Sarah_G, Jun 2026
So informative and our tour guide Francesco was amazing!
Wear good shows and a bring a water bottle!
Cheryl_K, Jun 2026
We had an amazing guide named Marco who
was not only an expert on the sites but also had a great sense of humor! Extremely enjoyable experience listening to the stories of the beautiful historic & iconic Rome. Loved it even though the temps were in the 90’s!
Clare_T, Jun 2026
Great tour. No waiting in long lines to get in. Knowledgeable tour guide so you can truly know how the colosseum worked back in the day
Ryan_C, Jun 2026
Viator failed to explain meetup instructions properly. Specifically this was my first tour using Viator, not knowing they outsource to other tour providers. They marked the meeting location, where we were in time looking for Viator tour group. We asked around, other people and tour guides in the area. We missed the tour and not provided a refund when showing how Viator did not provide clear instructions.
Skip booking with Viator, use Walks and the Tour guy.
Thomas_B, Jun 2026
Very disappointed with this tour. The tour was to include special access to the arena floor and 1st and 2nd floors, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. We toured the 1st and 2nd floors but did not get on the arena floor. The tour of Augusta’s house on Palatine Hill was nice, but way too long. We didn’t tour any of the Roman Forum because the guide said the tour was over and it was almost closing time. We didn’t feel like we got the tour described in the Viator booking.
Carl_V, Jun 2026
The meet up is chaotic and confusing… they are not really helpful. But the guide Eddy was awesome and really made the tour fun. Where comfortable shoes and be ready to walk.
Evan_B, Jun 2026
Lucia was great and the tour was quick without being rushed. Perfect length with kids before they start to lose attention.
SUSAN_C, Jun 2026
Amazing experience however 1 member of our group had an incorrect surname on their ticket and caused a half hour delay for everyone else she was not allowed in but did purchase another ticket outside and joined us later the knock on effect was inevitable
Susan_H, Jun 2026
We had the best tour guide, gave us a lot of Roman history, very easy to ask questions and get responses, looked after us very well
Frances_W, Jun 2026
The tour was good. The guide was knowledgeable. There was no access to gladiator floor. That part was disappointing.
Jayce_H, Jun 2026
This was an incredible experience. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable about the history of the colosseum and house of Augustus. He was very welcoming and enthusiastic. You can tell he loves what he does. Highly recommend this tour!!
YVETTE_G, Jun 2026
This is a must if in Rome! Whether you choose to visit and do a more in-depth tour of the underground, or choose this tour of the inside, the history and stories that our guide shared were excellent. Don't just view the Colosseum from the outside, being inside is crucial to understanding the history of this amazing place. I can't imagine touring the Colosseum without the vast knowledge our tour guide had.
Maryann_B, May 2026
Our guide Amber was fantastic. As an archeologist Amber knew so much about the Colosseum and Palatine Hill - we were truly amazed throughout the whole tour. This was our second time visiting the Colosseum using this tour company. Our first experience was equally as good. Thanks Amber for a memorable day.
lsid, May 2026
The tour was great! Viator was awful. Got 2 confirmations that our time was 8:30am so missed our free breakfast at the hotel and had to kill 2 hours until our real time. Book directly with Walks. Got 2 different start times, one from the tour company but Viator kept sending emails it was 8am and we were afraid to miss our tour. Of course it was really at 10:45am like Walks said.
Stefan_L, May 2026
Sara was a great guide. Very informative and easy pace. Definitely get more with a helpful guide. You have time when it’s over to wander the forum if you choose too. Ear communication sound was good but they were falling off everyone.
Paul_P, May 2026
This was an amazing experience with an expert in Roman, Gladiator and Colosseum History. I took a tour with my family and this event was the highlight of our visit to Rome, Italy. Niccolò Arcangeli clearly loves his work and it shows. I would recommend this tour to any one interested visiting the Colosseum with a subject expert.
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