Guided Group Tour of Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Rome, Italy
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
The Colosseum is one of Rome’s most visited attractions, with the crowds you’d expect from a blockbuster site—making it tough to hear what your guide is saying. With an optional small-group upgrade and headsets provided, this tour makes it easy to filter out the background noise and focus on taking in the sights. You’ll also visit the nearby Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, too.
- Get the lowdown on the ruins of Ancient Rome from a local guide
- Stroll around the Colosseum at night during a special guided evening walk (exterior views only; if option selected)
- Admission tickets to all three sites are included (except for the external-only walking tour option; €18 value)
- Upgrade to enjoy a small-group tour and a more personalized experience
What's Included
- Licensed expert guide providing rich historical insights
- Colosseum ticket (€18 value) and access to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum
- Headsets provided for clear audio throughout the tour
- Colosseum reservation fee (€2 per person)
- This tour is available in multiple languages, depending on the option selected
- Walking Tour - External Visit does not include Colosseum entry; all sights are viewed from outside.
- Arena access is not included in any of the options.
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
End points
This activity ends in a different location. See details below:
Itinerary
Arch of Constantine (Pass By)
1
Colosseum
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Via Sacra (Pass By)
2
Palatine Hill
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Roman Forum
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Walking Tour - External Visit option does not include Colosseum entry; all sights are viewed from outside.
- Please provide the full names of all travellers when booking. Failure to present a voucher with all travellers' full names at the ticket office prior to entry may result in denied entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
- Each traveller 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 24 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 73 reviews
Douglas_R, Mar 2026
The tour guide was amazing. She had great knowledge of everything and was welcoming. She was determined to ensure that we got our money’s worth.
Briana_F, Jun 2025
There’s a fair amount of walking, but they do accommodate for those that are slower.
It’s mostly outside, so plan accordingly if going on a hot day.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Hi Briana_F,
Thanks for your feedback! We appreciate you noting the fair amount of walking and the accommodation for slower paces. It's also helpful for future guests to know that it's mostly outside, so planning for hot days is key.
Carol_C, May 2025
It was a wonderful tour. Our guide did a great job explaining the early Roman experience. His knowledge was only eclipsed by his enthusiasm.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Hi Carol_C,
That's fantastic to hear! We're thrilled you had a wonderful tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum. It sounds like your guide did a great job explaining the early Roman experience, and we're delighted to know his enthusiasm was as impressive as his knowledge!
Mark_L, Aug 2024
Our tour guide, Deborah, did a nice job of explaining history of Rome and the building of the coliseum. She kept the pace up and didn’t let us bake in the sun. Clearly a good amount of information but not too much. This was my best tour yet in Italy.
Response from Host, Aug 2024
Thank you, Mark! We're thrilled Deborah made your Colosseum tour informative and enjoyable while keeping everyone comfortable. We appreciate your kind words and hope to see you on another great tour in Italy!
Matthew_S, Jul 2024
Our guide was very knowledgeable, kept the tour moving was entertaining and adjusted the tour based on the group. Would thoroughly recommend.
Response from Host, Jul 2024
Hi Matthew! Thank you for the wonderful review! We're delighted you enjoyed our Small Group Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum Tour. Your recommendation means a lot to us!
Jeff_G, Jun 2024
Our guide was amazing. We have young children and she was great to them. She was very knowledgeable and made the tour a lot of fun. Could not have asked for a better experience even though it was almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Response from Host, Jun 2024
Thanks for the great feedback, Jeff! We're glad you had a fantastic tour despite the heat. Hope to see you again soon!
Steve_V, May 2024
Francesca was great. Her details explanations were amazing. She is very personable, professional and warm. My family and I really loved it. I highly recommend this tour company. Meeting location was easy to find.
Response from Host, May 2024
Thank you so much for this 5-star review. We are happy to hear that our team provided you with excellent service. We’ll make sure that they receive your feedback. We look forward to seeing you soon!
William_V, Apr 2024
Guide knew his stuff and had a great sense of humor. Walk us around and explained everything to our satisfaction. Had patient and walked us through every line to expedite the tour.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thanks, William! We're thrilled you enjoyed our Small Group Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum Tour. Your feedback means a lot to us!
Graeme_M, Feb 2024
Guide Barbara was amazing and really put a lot of history into context. Tour is highly recommended. Sure, cheap tickets are directly available, but the guided tour made sense out of the craziness. Barbara truly did an amazing job!
Response from Host, Feb 2024
Thanks for the glowing review, Graeme! We're thrilled you enjoyed the tour with Barbara. Her expertise truly brings the history to life. We hope to see you again soon!
Michael_C, Oct 2023
The guide was excellent. He was incredibly knowledgeable. Absolutely worth the price. Such a wonderful experience to learn so much history.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
We are so grateful for your review. Thanks for sharing your rating with us and the community. We hope to serve you again in the future.
Vanessa_L, Oct 2023
The tour guide did an excellent job explaining the history and giving us time to take pictures as well as answering all of the questions.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Thanks a lot for your kind words and for sharing your review with the rest of our community. We are glad you enjoyed your time with us. We hope to see you again soon!
Richard_B, Oct 2023
Guide was excellent, an archeogist who had worked at the sites we visited so could give us really insight into the colosseum and what it was like back in the days it was built and in use.
Response from Host, Oct 2023
Thank you so much for the great rating & for taking the time to post a review. We're so pleased to see that you are happy with our service. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Michael_M, Sep 2023
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly and spoke great English. She was a joy to be around. Thank you for the great tour!
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us and helping to share the word about us.
We hope to see you again soon!
Beverley_J, Sep 2023
Andrea was the best guide we’ve had here in Italy. So full of knowledge and passionate about sharing it
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. We’re grateful that we had the opportunity to serve you.
Sherry_C, Sep 2023
Valentina was ecceptional. She was so more knowledgable than the other tour guides. She was so considerate of all age members in our group. Highly recommend this tour!
Response from Host, Sep 2023
We really appreciate you taking the time to share your rating with us. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Sherry_C, Sep 2023
The tour guide Valentina was excellent. She was very knowledgeable and gave excellent history of the Colosseum, the Forum and Palentibe Hill. She knew the area and stopped the group in spots that were shady and where people who needed to could sit down.
Response from Host, Sep 2023
We really appreciate you taking the time to share your rating with us. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Jill_F, Aug 2023
The Viator tours are too long given the heat and the poorly managed crowds at Rome sites. Bathroom breaks are not adequately integrated into the tours (which is an issue for 3+ hour tours with mixed ages). I could not in good conscience recommend a Viator tour to friends or family. We went on two tours, both 3+ hours long, and it was the same experience with both tours: information overload, overly long, intense heat, inadequate access and time to go to bathrooms, and the sites themselves don't lend themselves to helping guests integrate the flood of information (e.g., why are there not models of the Palatine Hill or Roman Forum, for instance).
Queen_Q, Aug 2023
Our tour guide (Lily, I believe) was great! We didn't get to finish the tour because the Colosseum officials didn't let us in because we missed a few minutes of the entry time.
But our tour guide was amazing!
Response from Host, Aug 2023
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We hope to see you again soon!
Nicola_G, Aug 2023
The tour was fantastic. Our guide Valentina was amazing, very knowledgeable not only about the monuments but about the area as well, and she made the tour interesting and hilarious. It was certainly worth it to get a tour since she knew the best view points and places for photos.
Response from Host, Aug 2023
We appreciate you taking the time to leave this nice review. We are delighted that you rate our service 5 stars, as we strive to do so for all of our customers. We hope to see you again very soon!
Lisa_C, Jul 2023
Our tour guide, Felicity (Fe) was so knowledgeable and we appreciated her sense of humor which kept it interesting for us. She expertly navigated the crowds. The small group size and skip the lines aspect was totally worth it. Tour was a perfect length.
Response from Host, Jul 2023
Thank you for taking the time to provide a rating, your opinion is valued greatly and it helps us maintain an excellent standard of service to our customers
Karina_L, Jul 2023
Paolo was an amazing guide.
The type of guide we all want when visiting monuments and cities filled with history.
Paolo’ passion for Rome, the history (recent as well as the Roman Empire), his true love of what he does made our 3h guided tour memorable.
I have never met such passion in one individual who was able to make us want to learn more.
Super friendly with kids (je even got them all a souvenir) and funny with adults, he truly is one of the best guides!
Thanks again Paolo for allowing us to visit our Rome ☀️♥️
Response from Host, Jul 2023
We appreciate you sharing your thoughts regarding our service. Hearing that we've succeeded in providing our customers with the best possible experience is always awe-inspiring. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Kerry_W, Jul 2023
Very, very upset that we did not get to go on this tour!! We must have missed joining by literally a couple of minutes as we could not find the guide and the joining photo on the website was misleading.
Beware if using public transport to get to attractions as it takes hours to get anywhere by bus. We left in good time and chose the bus, as the 20 minute walk in the 37 degree heat was too much for us. The bus took over an hour and will not let you off between stops. We sat in still traffic outside the colosseum for around 15 mins before being allowed to get off. We finally arrived at the arch of constantine at 2.55pm for our 3pm tour. We rushed to the far side of the railings at the arch as shown in the tour website pictures, but could not find the guide. We were running out of time and frantically asking any of the guides we could see with yellow flags for help. One of them pointed us to the opposite side of the arch, which did not have any railings as shown in the website photo. On reaching the other side we still could not find a yellow flag. Again we asked all available guides for help, but could not find our tour. We managed to get some signal on our phone to search the tour website for a contact and phone the operator for help. N matter what we said we were repeatedly told we were a 'no show' and there was nothing they could do. We explained all of the circumstances but they would not listen. We lost £127 and were left in the 37 degree heat after an hour on the bus with no tour and no way to enter any of the three attractions! Absolutely devastating! We found the lady on the phone very rude and unhelpful. No entry tickets or opportunity to join the group at a later stage of the tour was offered and she kept repeating 'no show' policy to us, even though we were there on time, and just couldn't find the guide. We were told that emails had been sent to try to locate us but nothing had come through on my phone at that time. I explained that to the operator on the phone. Still no help was offered.
In the days after we succesfully went on other tours and there was always someone missing at the start. We also saw many instances of people panicking on the busses for the same reasons. We saw a couple of the other tour operators offer a different time slot or a chance to join later when this happened. Unfortunately this was not our experience with this tour! We had paid for entrance to the Colliseum, palatine Hill and circus maximus, but the operator didn't even offer us the tickets we had paid for so we could go by ourselves, or the opportunity to join the group at the second or third entry point. Very Very poor customer service. We feel we have been robbed!
Danielle_B, Jun 2023
Lovely tour, and though we moved steadily, we saw it all and had plenty of photo opportunities. Our guide, Ivana, was truly fantastic - knowledgeable, fun and so accommodating!
Response from Host, Jul 2023
Thanks a lot for your kind words and for sharing your 5-star review with the rest of our community. We hope to see you again soon!
Chelsea_D, Jun 2023
Our guide, Evangeline was awesome - knowledgeable, patient, and fun! Each site offered something different to learn and explore.
A huge downside on the excursion, itself, was that there was no indication during the booking process that there was limited water refill accessibility and general accessibility routes. At Palastine Hill and Roman Forum, there were countless steep stairscases that were the only route for guests to take. Several members in the group struggled significantly, especially in the heat and without access to additional water, and likely would have not booked this excursion for their safety had advisement been provided when booking.
Karin_A, Jun 2023
Our guide, Valentina did an outstanding job leading our tour! Highly recommend her to anyone coming to Rome.
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a wonderful review and helping to share the word about us. We really appreciate it! We hope to see you again soon!
Eric_C, Jun 2023
Best part of the tour was actually going inside the Colosseum. Definitely will recommend the tour to my family and friends.
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Thank you for taking the time to provide a rating, your opinion is valued greatly and it helps us maintain an excellent standard of service to our customers.
Darlene_C, Jun 2023
Very good tour, the tour guide Hilaria was very knowledgeable. she shared great insight and related history to make it enjoyable for all. Overall great tour and a plus to have a small group.
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. We’re grateful that we had the opportunity to serve you.
Cecil_B, May 2023
Guide was excellent and the small group size is definitely the way to go. The roman ruins met my expectations. Glad we took this tour.
Response from Host, May 2023
Thank you so much for this 5-star review. We're happy to hear that our team provided you with excellent service. We'll make sure that they receive your feedback. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Christina_B, May 2023
Our guide Barbara was amazing! What a great story teller! She took such amazing care of us and knew just where to pivot from the sun and crowds to keep us comfortable and happy! She was incredible to spend the day with! Just WOW!
Response from Host, May 2023
Thank you for taking the time to provide a rating, your opinion is valued greatly and it helps us maintain an excellent standard of service to our customers. We Look forward to seeing you again soon!
monty_S, May 2023
Our tour guide Barbara was excellent. Her English was great and she was so knowledgeable but made the tour fun four our non history buffs
Response from Host, May 2023
We are delighted to hear that we provided you with excellent service! We appreciate your feedback and would love to work with you again in the future.
From $30.00
per personup to 3 days in advance
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Guided Group Tour of Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum
73
3 hours
Free Cancellation
From
$30.00
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Attractions in Rome, Italy
- Quirinal Palace (Palazzo del Quirinale) Tours & Tickets
- Roma Termini Tours & Tickets
- Ara Pacis Museum (Museo dell'Ara Pacis) Tours & Tickets
- Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere Tours & Tickets
- Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri Tours & Tickets
- Tiber River (Fiume Tevere) Tours & Tickets
- Sant'Angelo Bridge (Ponte Sant'Angelo) Tours & Tickets
- Appian Way and Aurelian Walls (Via Appia Antica e Mure Aureliane) Tours & Tickets
- National Roman Museum (Museo Nazionale Romano) Tours & Tickets
- Piazza del Campidoglio Tours & Tickets
- Basilica di Sant'Andrea della Valle Tours & Tickets
- Ponte Sisto Tours & Tickets
- Piazza di San Cosimato Tours & Tickets
- Piazza della Repubblica Tours & Tickets
- Protestant Cemetery of Rome (Cimitero Acattolico di Roma) Tours & Tickets
- Rome Civitavecchia Cruise Port (Civitavecchia Terminal Crociere) Tours & Tickets
- Baths of Caracalla (Terme di Caracalla) Tours & Tickets
- Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Tours & Tickets