Rome: Catacombs Underground & Colosseum Small Group Tour
Rome, Italy
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
Why travelers loved this
·
Overview
Step beneath the surface and uncover the hidden stories beneath the Eternal City on this sightseeing tour. From ancient catacombs and early Christian burial sites, to the chambers that once housed animals and intricate stage machinery beneath the Colosseum, there's plenty to see. Choose to experience one or the other with guided tours, or combine both into one convenient experience and explore at your own pace with a multilingual audio guide.
- Choose your own adventure to explore Rome's underground areas
- Beat ticket anxiety, with entry to all locations included
- Travel with ease with convenient round-trip transfers
- Enjoy expert storytelling and discover the history most travelers miss
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
Make the most of your time in Rome with easy round-trip transfers, guided underground visits, and the freedom to choose the experience that best matches your interests.
What's Included
- Professional tour guide (where applicable) and headsets
- All entry tickets (depending on the option selected)
- Entry to the Catacombs (all options)
- Entry to the Basilica of San Clemente (Catacombs & San Clemente option)
- Colosseum admission ticket with multilingual audio guide (Catacombs & Colosseum option)
- Admission to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (Catacombs & Colosseum option)
- Round-trip transportation to and from the Catacombs (all options)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Food and drinks
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Via dei Serpenti, 114, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Show me Italy tour manager will be waiting to accommodate you at Via Dei Serpenti 114.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Via dei Serpenti
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Catacombe Di Domitilla
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Basilica of San Clemente
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
4
Roman Forum
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
5
Colosseum
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- The meeting time is subject to change. In this case, you will be contacted in advance via email
- Tours will run rain or shine (unless closed for safety reasons)
- Please arrive 15 minutes before the start time of the tour
- No weapons (pocket knives), glass bottles or large backpacks
- Colosseum Audio Guide: Please bring your headset if you selected the option that includes the Colosseum audio guide.
- Scheduled Time: Please note that the time may be subject to change. If there are any changes, you will receive a communication from our team.
- Catacombs Headset: A disposable headset will be provided for the Catacombs audio guide.
- Luggage: You can leave your luggage at our office to make your trip more comfortable and hassle-free.
- Transportation: The transfer is provided with air conditioning for your comfort.
- Full Names: Please provide your full names exactly as they appear on your ID/passport, as this information is required to issue the tickets according to the sites’ restrictions.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.4
based on 297 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The catacombs were truly amazing i would highly recommend it. The colleseum not so. They allow too many people in its like a cattle market
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Thank you for the 5 stars! ⭐ We’re so glad you loved the Catacombs. We truly appreciate your honest feedback about the Colosseum. It was a pleasure having you with us and hope to see you again in Rome!
Don’t overlook the instructions to book under your full name exactly as it reads on your passport. We were not allowed into the colosseum because my husband booked under his nickname. Above and beyond that, our tour guide added little to no value. If I had it to do over, I would have taken a taxi and purchased the tickets directly, saved a little and not have to squeeze into a taxi with strangers.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
We’re very sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations. Full names exactly as written on the passport are mandatory, as stated in our product description and required for Colosseum entry. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your feedback. We will certainly take it into consideration to improve our service.
Misleading title. Title describes this as a guided tour but is not is an audio guilde. The audio guilde did not work and so complicated to use. It was a total waste of money so disappointed buyer beware about this tout not recemendexd
Christina was very kind and helpful. She made sure we was comfortable and gave us a warm hand off to the tour guide in the catacombs. She waited for us to return and took us to the next stop.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Thank you so much for your kind review! We’re delighted to hear Christina made your experience comfortable and smooth. We’ll be sure to share your lovely feedback with her. We hope to see you again soon! 😊
Krystina or Christina not sure how to spell her name but she was amazing. She was very knowledgable and helped us find local places to eat as well since we didn't have any idea what was good. She was the best tour guide we’ve had so far in Italy. We loved her!!
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Thank you so much for your kind words! We're thrilled to hear you had such a great experience with Kristina-we'll make sure she sees your lovely feedback. We're so glad she could help you discover some great local spots too. We hope to welcome you on another tour the next time you're in Italy!
This tour is misleadingly advertised. It’s a small-group tour of the catacombs, but not of the Colosseum that part is essentially just a ticket drop-off.
Communication was a mess from the start: the tour company called at 10am asking where we were, claiming they’d told us to arrive then, even though the app clearly listed a 10:30am start time. We arrived at 10:28.
After the catacombs, instead of heading to the Colosseum, they drove us 30 minutes in the opposite direction to drop off another couple at a different tour, then backtracked to finally bring my family to the Colosseum. And “bring” is generous they dropped us off with tickets and left, no guide, no assistance. They also never mentioned we’d need ID to enter. Luckily we had photos of our IDs saved on our phones, or we wouldn’t have gotten in at all.
The one star is entirely for the catacombs portion that guide was excellent and genuinely informative. But that credit belongs to the catacombs site guides, not this tour company, since we were just handed off to them. As for the Colosseum “tour,” there wasn’t one.
We thought we had booked the Colosseum underground tour also but didn’t realise until 48 hours before when we received a text asking if we were able to move our tour as the guide was unwell. It was only at this point that the company outlined what was involved. Communication was quick and efficient and the tour actually went ahead as planned. The Catacombs visit was interesting and was done with a guide who worked there. The company only provided transportation to and from the Catacombs, the rest we had to do on our own which involved walking from their office to the Coloseum. We had an audio guide for the Colosseum which was actually more confusing than anything. We would have preferred an actual guide or at least for someone from the company to walk us to the Colosseum and show us the entrance. The ticket allowed us to take our time which was good and then we could do the Forum on our own. This tour is good if you are looking at it purely from an ease of logistics side in that your transport to the Catacombs as well as tickets are all sorted but don’t expect a full guided tour.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback. We truly appreciate it and have taken your comments into careful consideration. In fact, we've already made some adjustments to improve the experience and provide clearer guidance for our guests. We're glad you enjoyed the Catacombs visit and appreciate your honest review -it helps us continue to improve.
e hope to welcome you on another tour the next time you're in Italy!
Our tour guide Christina was very helpful through the whole process. We had a booked a tour with another company prior to this one and had them cancel 1 week prior to our tour. Show me Italy stepped up and delivered on our Colosseum and catacombs tour. Definitely would recommend this tour!
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for your wonderful review! We're delighted we could help make your visit to Rome a memorable one. We'll make sure Christina receives your lovely feedback - it will mean a lot to her. We truly appreciate your trust in us and hope to see you again on a future visit to Rome!
Booked a tour that in the description included access to the underground at the Coliseum. Our tickets did not reflect what we paid for. I have tried to find direct contact information to resolve this with the tour company but have not been successful.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you so much for your feedback. We're sorry to hear there was some confusion regarding your booking.
Our tour has multiple options, and one of them includes access to the Colosseum Underground. This is why the Underground is mentioned in the overall tour description. However, the option you selected does not include Underground access.
If you have any questions about your booking, please don't hesitate to contact us directly with your booking reference. We'll be happy to review it with you and clarify any details. Your experience and satisfaction is very important to us.
This wasn't bad just not what we expected. The colsseum portion is completely solo, independent of the guide along with the Roman forum and Palantine Hill. The only assisted portion is the catacombs which were neat but you don't get to go down very far so no bones or tomb artifacts can be seen. This does not include the arena floor or the underground portion at the colsseum. Knowing what i know now I wouldn't suggest adding the arena floor, you pretty much get that anyway but I would try harder to find the underground tour. I wish this part would have included the guide just to learn more about what we were looking at. There are people everywhere lots of walking and kinda hard to snap quality photos but the place is pretty neat so it's all still worth it.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're glad you enjoyed visiting these incredible sites, even though the experience wasn't quite what you expected.
We appreciate your comments and understand how having a guide at the Colosseum would have enhanced your visit. Your feedback is valuable and helps us continue improving our tour descriptions and guest experience. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back on another tour in Rome!
Can I leave zero stars? We never went on this experience because it was an outright lie! It’s sold as colosseum including underground plus catacombs. 2 days before, we got a WhatsApp msg saying no colosseum was included, did we want to BUY colosseum tix in addition? No underground could ever be accommodated. Well this is classic bait and switch! So friggin mad
We bought this mainly for colosseum and underground. We canceled and got a full refund but 2 days before while we’re already on our trip and busy with other things; utterly unacceptable!
Buy your tix from the colosseum directly. Don’t trust any third party vendors
Unusual and interesting tour about a not so obvious part of Rome , we had a great guide and it was a welcome relief to be underground during the heatwave
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for your lovely review! We're so happy you enjoyed discovering this hidden side of Rome. We know how hot Rome can get, especially in summer, so we're glad the underground experience was a refreshing break from the heat. We hope to see you again for another adventure soon!
The catacombs were cool- just don’t think it was worth the money honestly.. and the audio guides were really hard to follow for the Roman Forum we didn’t end up using them at all for the coliseum- and also only given 30 mins between coliseum and when we needed to meet the group for catacombs so that kind of sucked. The description of this tour is also quite confusing so make sure you read it carefully and know your ‘options’
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're sorry to hear that parts of the experience didn't meet your expectations. Your comments about the audio guide, the timing between activities, and the tour description are valuable, and we'll review them with our team as we work to improve the experience for future guests. We appreciate you joining us and hope we'll have the opportunity to provide you with an even better experience in the future.
Please be careful when booking this tour. It says Catacombs and Colloseum, but we ended up on a tour that did not include the Colloseum. Viator's booking for this is not clear. The tour company let us know 2 days before that the Colloseum was not included (too late to cancel) and offered to help with alternative arrangements but then never got back to us. Day of the tour the app sent us to the wrong location (in fact, they said the meeting point was the Colloseum) and we had to race a 1/2 mile to get to the correct location. I reached out to Viator, but was essentially told it was our own fault.
The tour was not marketed as it was online. We were also sent to three different locations and missed the first hour of our tour. Very unorganized.
I booked the Catacombs and Colosseum experience, which was advertised as running from 10:00 a.m. to approximately 12:15 p.m. As with most travelers, our itinerary had some flexibility, but it was not possible to completely rearrange our day at the last minute.
On Saturday evening before the tour, while we were traveling, I received a voicemail stating that our start time had been moved to 9:00 a.m. and that we would also need to split up the Colosseum portion of the experience. Because it was Sunday and the office was closed, I had no way to contact the company.
Then, at 7:00 a.m. on Monday—the morning of the tour—I received a WhatsApp message confirming that we needed to arrive earlier and that the Colosseum portion had been moved to 1:30 p.m., which conflicted with other prepaid plans we had already made.
When I explained that these changes no longer worked for our itinerary and politely requested a cancellation and refund, the company stopped responding altogether. Thankfully, after I provided Viator with the voicemail and WhatsApp messages documenting the changes and lack of communication, Viator issued a full refund.
I understand that unexpected changes can happen, but clear communication and responsive customer service are essential. Unfortunately, my experience with the tour provider fell well short of that expectation.
Good communication. They had to cancel the catacombs portion due to low numbers. Offered to refund that part. The Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill part is a self guided audio tour. You can go at your own pace. We saw a lot and learned a lot through it.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! We really appreciate your understanding regarding the change to the itinerary and are glad our team was able to offer a suitable solution. It's great to hear you enjoyed exploring the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill at your own pace and found the audio guide informative. We hope to welcome you on another tour in the future!
We didn’t get to go on the tour. 15 minutes before our expected check in time they cancelled the tour. They gave us a full refund which I appreciate, and I understand that people get sick, but notice 15 minutes before is unacceptable especially with how booked out tours get. Even with a couple hours notice we could have planned ahead and rescheduled our day to accommodate. Really disappointed
Response from Host, May 2026
Thank you for your feedback.
We are very sorry to hear that your tour was cancelled at short notice and understand how disappointing this must have been, especially when it disrupted your plans for the day.
While we are glad the refund was processed, we completely understand your frustration regarding the timing of the cancellation and the limited opportunity to reorganize your schedule.
Your comments are appreciated and will be taken into account as we continue working to improve communication and reliability for our guests.
Thank you again for sharing your experience.
We booked this tour, when arriving at meeting point we were told it wasn’t happening so were sent to Pallatine hill and Roman forum instead.
I sent a message to this company explaining that all we wanted to do was go to the Colosseum and was thus booked on another tour on the Monday. We arrived on the Monday to be told that this tour was for Roman forum and Pallatine hill and Colosseum. I requested that we miss this tour and was offered a trip to Colosseum later that day.
What a total mess about and very unprofessional of the company although the actual guides on the day were most helpful.
I would not use this company again .
It was canceled. It was advertised as a view of the colosseum underground. Everyone canceled in the group and I was offered a view of the catacombs in the afternoon but I was flying out early the next day so I ended up doing a pasta making course.
Response from Host, May 2026
Thank you for your feedback.We truly appreciate your understanding and will review this to improve how we handle such situations in the future.
Magda was amazing and so knowledgeable. She got us in and out of the crowds and knew the best place for photos.
Humi was a good guide. Lots of interesting facts and history shared. Good pace. Wished we could have had the underground part of the tour but it was changed. Viatour handled it well though with a partial refund. Worth going in a tour group even if just to skip the lines.
The underground tour was excellent and we had an exceptional tour guide who was very knowledgeable. I highly recommend this tour.
Magda was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and a good storyteller. Unfortunately, her audio transmitter ran out of battery in the middle of the tour and we lost out on the excellent information she was trying to provide. Hence the 4-star rating . Recommend that all participants check their battery level before leaving on the tour. That was disappointing. Otherwise, the tour was excellent.
Went to the destination meeting place 1/2 hr before required. Was informed our trip time was changed from 10:30am to 2:25 pm . Had not been informed via call or text of this change. Local guide service said to contact company for refund which was due to not our fault. Refund was refused by the company!!! Very disappointed as we scheduled this many months before our trip and now we are out the money!!! Do not use this company!!!
Our tour guide did the tour at what was essentially a jogging pace; we lost two families entirely before the Colosseum and then when a few of us got separated at the Colosseum, rather than taking a moment to let anyone catch up, he yelled at us for "not following him". There was practically no time to look at anything or take pictures.
Our guide Benjamin was very knowledgeable and made the experience interesting and fun! Great information. Wear comfortable shoes!
We really enjoyed this tour. Met all expectations. Went for 4+ hours. Really knowledgeable guide - was not rushed - and very helpful. would happily recommend.
The meeting location was easy to find and well marked. They updated a change of time for our tour due to oversales of the original time slot and confirmed with us several times about the time change. We met our guide Nicola at the office who was right on time. It was a short distance to the Colosseum from the meet location. Nicola was probably the best tour guide we've ever had. He kept track of everyone all of the time and by name! He involved everyone in his conversation of history regarding the several stops in the Colosseum and Roman Forum. We ran short of time for Palatine hill, but he gave us the tickets for us to do on our own which we did. Super informative and entertaining tour. Well worth the money to go to the underground where the gladiators entered and the animals were kept.
This tour was so good. Loved going down into the underground of the colosseum and hearing about the history. The female guide we had was very knowledgeable
Saw so much on this tour, worth the money
From $105.22
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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