Colosseum Underground All Access Tour with Ancient Rome
Rome, Italy
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Learn more about Ancient Rome on this tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum than you ever would exploring them by yourself. Step into these unmistakable features of Rome’s skyline with a guide to lead the way in a small group, meaning you get even more of your guide’s attention. Booking a tour ahead of time guarantees entry to these popular landmarks.
- Soak up Colosseum views you won’t get anywhere else
- Sightsee in a group of no more than 14 people
- An ideal experience for history buffs
- Walk the same path as Roman gladiators and emperors
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
See more of the Colosseum with exclusive access to the restricted underground area.
What's Included
- Roman Forum and Ancient Rome
- Colosseum and Arena entrance ticket valued at €24 per person.
- Gladiator Arena
- Gladiator Gate
- Palatine Hill & Imperial Ruins
- Upper level views
- Colosseum reservation fee (valued at €2 per person)
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Largo Gaetana AgnesiL.go Gaetana Agnesi, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
The square located on the terrace ABOVE the Colosseum Metro Station. Our staff will be holding light blue Tickets and Tours flags at the centre of the square, in the raised area. (Please note: if you are in front of the Metro Station, please make your way UPSTAIRS.)
End point
- Roman Forum00186 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy
Itinerary
1
Colosseum
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Palatine Hill
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Roman Forum
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Near public transportation
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Not recommended for travelers who can't walk for more than 2 hours.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 10 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3,5
based on 59 reviews
Sort by: Most recent
Do not book the Underground gladiators gate portion of the your most people wont see it. The tour companies overbook that portion of the tour and then offer you 30% money back when they cant deliver. It was something we really wanted to see and booked early but they didn't deliver. Our guide was very knowledgeable and the rest was great. Just dont get your hopes up when it comes to the Underground. They really shouldn't offer it when they cant deliver. Save the money and do the routine tour. Im still waiting for my money back.
We did not get an underground tour which is what we paid for. I’m still waiting on the 30% credit purchased. We took the coliseum tour which was ok.
Beware of this booking. Our tour was cancelled two days prior because the tour company did not get a slot. These tours are sold on spec and frequently are cancelled.
We were told of changes(no Colosseum underground component) barely days before the so called guided tour. The format of the tour was also changed so that the Colosseum tour was last not first. The tour of the Colosseum was a one way setup, so we forced to only go one way and couldn't go back, as instructed by the tour guide. The staff prevented us from viewing the cross. We were given some info of the Colosseum and then told to look around ourselves. I talked to other customers who also thought that this was supposed to be a guided tour. Before the tour, as mentioned, I received an email also stating of a 30% return due to the failure of the underground portion of the tour. I assume it will come sometime in the next months?
Tour guide never showed up then on time and then was a half hour late and then they canceled our underground tour and then the Colosseum part tour was canceled
We spend the extra money to go underground in the coliseum. Read past reviews! - I noticed a trend in my research that this company and others may be underselling the risk the underground portion is cancelled, but decided to risk it. We were not told, until 3/4 of the way through. The tour guide and a coliseum employee seemed to put on a show arguing about it in Italian..
No 33% refund so far. I guess I need to initiate :(
⭐️⭐️ Very disappointing experience — not what we paid for
Unfortunately, this tour did not meet our expectations, especially considering the price we paid.
When we arrived, we were shocked to find out from the tour guide that our original tickets had been canceled. Nobody from Viator or the tour company notified us beforehand, and everyone in our group seemed equally surprised. We were never given a clear explanation as to why the tickets had been canceled or what had happened.
The tour itself also felt very limited. At the Colosseum, the guide kept us in a relatively small section and did not take us around the other side or show us many of the areas that we expected to see. We also felt that there was a lack of detailed information throughout the experience. Considering the price of the tour, we expected a much more informative explanation of the underground areas and the history of the Colosseum, but this was not really provided.
Palatine Hill was also extremely limited. We were only taken through a small portion of the site and were not shown the entire grounds or many of the significant areas that we expected to visit. It felt like we were only given a very small glimpse of what the site has to offer.
Overall, the experience felt incomplete and did not deliver what we understood we were paying for. The lack of communication regarding the canceled tickets made the situation even more frustrating, particularly because we only found out when the tour guide told us.
We are very disappointed and feel that, given the circumstances, the limited tour, and the fact that the experience did not meet the advertised expectations, we should receive a full refund.
We hope Viator will review what happened and address this appropriately.
Seeing was about it,tour guide was 20 minutes late and you had to be a track star to keep.he was a smart ass as well. So I’m not going to waste more time explaining why,,
The morning tour is crowded, but the afternoon tour is super warm. We did the underground. I thought it was worth it.
Our experience was extremely poor. I had reached out to the tour team prior and did not get any responses. They moved our ticket time up 1.5 hours. Then we didn’t even start it until an hour after our start time. Mind you we were 30 minutes early so we were waiting in an area hot with minimal shade. Then we were supposed to end in the Roman Forum but our guide brought us there first. Once we arrived there we were not even allowed in, as 2/3 of our group had their tickets cancelled. We didn’t even get to go on our tour. Leaving us with 2 hours wasted time and no chance to see the underground. Our tour guide was not pleasant before it was going either. Her attitude was poor.
The company seemed VERY sketchy. For some reason our tour guide was banned from going to the underground areas, so we needed to pretend that we weren't with her in order to go in. So the underground was NOT a guided tour as we were told it would be. When we were done there, our tour guide rejoined us and tried to explain everything to us afterwards with out us being able to see what she was talking about.
Then when we got to the Roman Forum, we were turned away and were told that our tickets had already been used yesterday. We were told we would have to go wait in line and buy our own tickets if we wanted to go in.
Another couple we were with had tickets to a morning tour and they were turned away from the Colosseum AND the Forum and told they needed to come back 6 hours later, so it completely screwed up their schedule.
Before our tour started there was another couple who came up with proof that they booked a 2pm tour, but the company said they were supposed to be there at 8 am instead and they were turned away.
In the end the Colosseum was of course amazing, and the tour guide was knowledgeable, but we did not get what we paid for. I would suggest going with a different company.
First was told to meet at a certain location pinpointed on Google Maps and look for someone holding a yellow flag with a T on it
Person was not in that spot but in another not far away (there are a bunch of tour companies meeting people so the exact spot is important) - the person had a closed yellow umbrella in their backpack. Called the company and tried to connect via chat - nothing. Luckily the tour guide called me and I found them. It you say you will be holding a yellow flag with a black T on it - please do that.
Paid almost $300 for a tour of the coliseum along with the underground. Found out when got there that they could not guarantee the underground - and of course our tickets did not work to get in there. Had to purchase a separate ticket to get in and totally missed the underground. Was given a partial refund of $120.72. The tour guide also said they asked the tour company to contact us the night before and let us know this could be the case. Had I known this, would have cancelled completely, gotten up earlier and tried on my own to get the underground. Had that not worked - I still would have paid the same 18 euros to get in - but would have been there much earlier in the day - when it was cooler.
This tour deserves 0⭐️ Horrible experience all around! Our original tour was scheduled for 2:30 pm. It was then changed to 8:30 am a few days ago resulting in us having to cancel all of our morning plans in order to accommodate the new time. I sent the tour operator several messages but never received a response, including a message to let them know we were running 4 minutes late this morning. When we arrived, I was worried we had been left behind because I could not locate our tour provider (“yellow flag with a black T”.) lt turns out they were 15 minutes late in arriving. A quick response to our message would have been extremely helpful in this case.
Then we were sent with a tour guide to begin our tour at 9:15. She began by letting us know that there was a possibility our tickets may be cancelled and we would be denied entry. As soon as I heard that, I realized she was preparing us for the inevitable because they hadn’t secured our tickets despite the fact we booked this tour months ago. She then told our group to purchase individual tickets on site and that she would still give us the tour. While our group waited in line to purchase new tickets, she returned to let us know our tour was canceled. What a waste of a morning in Rome.
We went all over the colosseum and saw way more than we thought we would. Manuela was the best guide I’ve ever had!
We paid for a guided tour of the underground and historic sites. Due to restrictions on the number of guide tickets, our guide did not accompany us in the underground area so we had no context or explanation of what we were seeing. She tried to explain what we saw from upstairs but with a lack of context, it didn't help. Outside at the rest of the sites, we were quite rushed to meet her timeline. Half the group left at that point. We would have been better of at our own pace with an audio guide.
Not good at all. Who ever viator partnered with must not have been a viable company. We got to the meeting place and followed the tour guide to the gate for entry to learn they cancelled our tour. I was not happy.
We were not able to get into the colosseum or forum at all and had to cancel the whole tour and they did refund us everything. The tour operator is not a licensed reseller and they had our names on a specific blacklist to not admit
While our tour guide was exceptional, we expected to have the underground included and more of the Forum but we just had the arena and palatine Hill. Supposedly there was a notice of the 'change' but no such email was sent. There is also supposed to be a partial refund, but no such refund yet.
I booked this especially because i wanted to see underground. But it got cancelled the day before. I was notified via WhatsApp and was asked to request a refund. I haven't got my refund yet. Upon contacting them multiple times, the tour company has asked me to contact viator now. Frustrating.!!! Not sure if I will receive it or not.
Also, the tour was supposed to start at 1pm and I reached at the location 30 min before like I was asked..the tour guide was late.!! Waited 40.min under the sun for her to show up. I suggest booking from.thw official website
We started 2 hours later than we booked. That was frustrating as the lines later in the day were long. Giovanni was very knowledgeable in Roman history and provided us with a ton of information. Going underground was great with no crowds.
We had an “English” guide but she was very hard to understand with a heavy accent and sing songy voice. To make it worse the microphone was often not clear and had static in part due to how she had it clipped on her.
She wasn’t nice to many of the people on our tour.
They told us last minute the “underground tour” was no longer going to include seeing the underground of colosseum. They also promised a partial refund which has not been done. Absolutely terrible- do not book this.
The Colosseum underground is amazing. Roman ingenuity and engineering is really mind-blowing. Palatine hill was also fantastic. The sheer scale of these monuments takes my breath away. We had a terrific guide, Manuela. She shared so much information that made the place come alive.
Our group of 6 friends was a bit disappointed due to a few things, our meet up spot was for 9:30 am. The night before we got a message saying it was moved to 9:45 we arrived there and were looking for our tour guide who was just sitting there like a normal person waiting till the time he took out his flag. We checked in and were told to wait for our tour guide. She showed up late we started to walk till 10:20 which after that we were rushed the entire time, we asked if she could take pictures of our group a couple of times which she did but was so rushy kept saying we have to hurry for everything and we could take pictures later . She rushed our experience because she was late. Once we finally arrived to do the underground tour she was pulled to the side and our group were taking down by some employee who was really rude and we had to wait another 20 minutes for her to return . And only to be rushed thru the underground tour because the other employee was following us and we had set time . Afterwards she sat us down showed us pictures and left us there . Horrible service. Sometimes tour guides forget that we plan these excursions with months of anticipation and money spent so we want an amazing experience who knows when we will go back again.
Empire tours changed our excursion due to a “booking error” and said they would give the difference in price back. They ignored my messages for 6 days and finally replied the night before our tour at 11:30 pm . I didn’t know if we had a tour because they never replied back and their original message just said to confirm the change. It didn’t say that we were to use the same vouchers (which were incorrect for the new tour). They do not communicate and I would not recommend
Don't book this trip. It was a scam. We were notified just a couple of days prior to the tour that the Underground portion wasn't going to happen, but the rest was fine. We went to the meeting place and check with literally every tour director there. None had any idea how to help us. The name of the tour operator wasn't even on the vouchers to help. We ended up paying an additional 50€ each to join another group only seeing the 1st and 2nd tiers, not the arena floors at all.
Really well organised. Very informative. Manuela was lovely. Covered a lot of ground during our 3 hour tour. Including underground and Paletine Hill with amazing views. My only issue was, when in the Colosseum there is a lot of background noise / interference on the microphone so was sometimes difficult to hear her. But overall very enjoyable
I give this tour 2 stars for logistics before the tour, and 5+ stars for the tour itself. Tonya was our guide and she was amazing. The tour itself was phenomenal. The pre-tour experience was not good. The meeting place wasn't too hard to find, but I wouldn't call it "easy". Word to the wise: if you want the underground experience, make sure that's the option you're selecting. When we arrived there was a lot of confusion because multiple tours of different types run by the same company were meeting there around the same time. Mom and I selected and paid for the underground experience, but there were others that thought they paid for that and really it was just a tour of the Colosseum and Forum. The guy who was helping with check in (Luca) wasn't the nicest or most helpful, so we started the day frustrated. It sounded like the underground was canceled, but then when he was checking us in, he explained that we actually were in a different tour with a different guide and actually were doing the underground of the Colosseum. I should also add that prior to the tour, they changed the time from 2pm to 11:45am. Luckily, we had no other firm plans so that worked for us.
Once we got everything figured out, we met our guide Tonya. There were only 10 of us in the group, which was nice. We were given listening devices so we could hear Tonya's information during the tour. At times the sound was a bit distorted, so i had to stick close to Tonya to hear everything. She had great info and visual supplements as well. We started at the Forum, then went to Palpatine Hill and finally to the Colosseum. Unfortunately there was an issue with one lady's name on her ticket not matching her ID, so she wasn't let into the Forum. They were about to join us in the Colosseum after. Tonya dealt with the issue like a professional. She balanced the need to take care of these two ladies as well as the other 8 in her group very well.
The underground of the Colosseum was so interesting and exclusive, and totally worth the additional cost. It was amazing. Tonya gave us information about how things were build and restored. She was very excited to share newly discovered information and it's clear she's passionate about the Colosseum and Forum and their history. For a tour that started with a horrible first impression, Tonya was able to completely turn things around for mom and me, and it ended up being an incredible and memorable day.
This tour was incredibly engaging, filled with fascinating details, and limited to a small group, which made interacting with our guide, Tanya, easy and enjoyable. Be prepared for plenty of walking, so wear comfortable shoes, bring a refillable water bottle, some snacks, and a hat for shade. Tanya’s passion for the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill's architecture and history really shone through—she was knowledgeable, approachable, and even humored me when I asked about sharks in the arena (Gladiator 2 flashbacks, anyone?). She constantly checked in with the group, gave clear directions, and made sure everyone was looked after from start to finish. Plan to dedicate the whole day to this experience as it’s packed with sights and stories, and you’ll definitely have earned a few Aperols afterwards. Highly recommend!
Lots of walking and steep steps which was expected. However, tour was changed and did not include the underground area as booked. Supposed to get refund for difference but booked specifically for the underground experience and could not acquire other options due to timeliness of change.
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