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
4.2
based on 40 reviews
Michelle_M, Dec 2025
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.
Nichole_M, Dec 2025
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.
brownfamily345, Oct 2025
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.
Marianne_J, Oct 2025
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.
GABRIELA_V, Oct 2025
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.
Deborah_E, Oct 2025
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
Marie_C, Oct 2025
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.
Jenni_B, Oct 2025
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
April_W, Oct 2025
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.
Sarah_M, Sep 2025
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!
Kimberly_G, Sep 2025
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.
Kristin_H, Sep 2025
The guide was excellent. The underground was very interesting. The guide was very knowledgeable as well.
Lynneurie_C, Sep 2025
Tonya was incredible, the information she provided was comprehensive. She also was incredibly kind and compassionate to my mother who was slowing the group a bit even under a pouring rainy and big crowds. The tour was amazing. I would not recommended for seniors, even though she like it, my mom was exhausted.
I recommend this tour for history lovers who want to do the full tour. If you don’t care about the info, this tour is not for you.
Recommendations for the company:
1- provide a broshure with some highlights of the info, is hard to catch all of it or remember it.
2- the audio quality was pretty bad, even 20 ft away the signal would get lost. It was constantly inaudible and it had white noise. I was lucky to be near the guide most of the time.
Victoria_V, Sep 2025
Completed the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Underground and Arena areas of the Colosseum.
Ok, so let’s start with the odd part. We booked a 9:30 experience (weeks in advance) so that we could tour in the morning and then explore Rome in the afternoon. Also, Rome was hot so we wanted to not be in the hottest part of the day. Two days before the tour we received a message telling us that our time was moved to an 11am check-in with the tour to follow afterwards. So that was a rough start. Luckily we did not have follow on activities booked whereas other participants had to choose which tour to take as the times then overlapped. Not good. Then when we arrived at the check-in point it was unclear if we were in the right place. We happened to overhear a couple inquiring if tour guide had heard of our tour guide / company. So our group made introductions and figured out we were in the right place. We assured new comers as they arrived. While the company check-in person eventually arrived it was a bit anxiety inducing before then. Ironically the tour guide was already there but kept to herself. >.
Lisa_P, Sep 2025
Tonya was an amazing tour guide. Fabulous underground. Insane on the upper levels with way too many people. She also took us to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Very comprehensive tour lasting 3.5 hours. 15 floors of stairs and ramps.
Barry_N, Sep 2025
Although the tour itself was good, and our guide, Tonya, was good, the communication of the tour was not accurate. We had booked a tour for 2:00 underground Coliseum so we would have enough time to get there since we had a Vatican tour that morning. We were in Uber on way over there at 12:00 to grab lunch before the tour when tour company called to see if we were on the way. I told them our tour wasn’t until 2:00 and they said no it was 12:30. We signed up for 2:00, our email confirmation showed 2:00 and even our ticket voucher we were to print off showed 2:00. They said it was only a 12:30 tour.
Had we not already been on the way, we would have missed our tour which we had paid for. So obviously this was extremely frustrating as we had planned for lunch prior and had no time.
The underground portion of the tour was very interesting and worth the extra.
Steven_L, Sep 2025
Great to have a knowledgeable guide. Knowing how to navigate around the Coliseum was super helpful. The underground area was very cool.
Joseph_S, Sep 2025
Very nice tour. Got to see and learn a lot. Tour guide was friendly and informative. Would recommend to anyone interested in seeing the area in more depth.
Steven_L, Aug 2025
A great few hours with a very informative guide, Tonya who spent the time to answer all of our questions.
Hayley_L, Aug 2025
Awesome tour guided by Francesca! She is so knowledgeable, passionate, yet funny and personable. The small details throughout the tour all connected to each other and we learnt so much about the history (and lesser known details!) of this awesome place. Grazie Francesca :)
Maryellen_O, Aug 2025
Manuela was a fantastic guide! Personable, attentive, knowledge and caring to all our special needs.
Deborah_E, Jul 2025
At the very last minute they said our guide was in an accident - they gave us tickets to enter but we were on our own - they returned half of our money. Very displeased!!
Dennis_M, Jul 2025
Lots of walking and stairs. 34 year old thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The senior parents wimped out. Hated to have missed but the heat drained us.
Margaret_F, Jul 2025
Francesca went above and beyond. I’ve been to the Colloseum many times and her tour was by far the best!
Blake_G, Jun 2025
Fascinating tour of the Colosseum underground. Our tour guide (Tanaya) was friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating. She was really good with kids, making sure that they stayed at the front to see and experience everything. Would absolutely recommend.
Derick_J, Jun 2025
We had a wonderful time on this tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and very nice especially to the young kids. She went at a good pace and we took lots of breaks since it was extremely hot in Italy at this time. We had plenty of time to rest and refill our water. The only issue we had was finding our tour in the beginning. We got to the spot that was in the directions given to us but since this was the same meeting spot for a lot of the other tours it was still hard to find our tour guide. Also, the instructions said there will be a light blue flag and light blue tickets but we never saw it. We eventually got help from another tour guide who knew the tour company that we were with and he made phone calls to find out tour meeting spot. Without this kind gentleman I don't know if we would have found it in time. Other than that the tour was amazing and so glad we got to see the underground area. Not only did it get us out of the heat for a bit but it was an area I felt like we wouldn't have made effort to see otherwise. It was definitely worth it. Also, if you have seen or plan to see the movie Gladiator 2 then the underground tour will definitely make the movie more enjoyable and have it make sense why things were done in the movie. You'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen it.
Natalija_J, Jun 2025
A very interesting tour prepared for us by Francesca, who is a top guide. In addition to an interesting explanation, she presented many pictures to make the presentation easier. She was also attentive to all visitors. My son had ankle problems and she gave him special attention so that he could see at least the entire Colosseum. It was great, thank you very much.G
Carl_W, Jun 2025
So glad we booked this tour! We actually had purchased tickets directly from the colosseum website and had walked through it a few days earlier. Coming back for the tour was so much better! Our tour guide, Francesca, was a passionate, spirited guide with a love for her job and for Roman history. She was so captivating to listen to. She pointed out so many details that would have gone unnoticed (and were unnoticed by us a few days earlier)! Tours charge a premium for a reason… you get what you pay for! Francesca was worth every penny we had paid for this tour. We walked away with nothing but a very positive experience!
Chailynn_G, Jun 2025
Francesca was amazing! She was so knowledgeable and I learned so much. I visited once on my own about 30 years ago and it doesn’t compare to this experience. I highly recommend this tour!
April_M, Jun 2025
We had the best tour guide, Manuella. She has been doing this a long time (20 years!) and really knows her stuff. Without her I would have just been looking at a really old arena - she made it come alive!
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