Colosseum Underground & Ancient Rome Guided Tour
Rome, Italy
Colosseum Underground & Ancient Rome Guided Tour
Rome, Italy
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
Overview
The Colosseum and Roman Forum shouldn’t be missed when visiting Rome, but exploring each site alone, it can be hard to make sense of the ruins. On this guided tour, enrich your visit with in-depth context and stories from a guide, and enjoy access to the Arena Floor within the Colosseum, an area usually off-limits to visitors.
- Gain insights you'd otherwise miss as you explore in the company of a guide
- Listen to stories of emperors, senators, and gladiators as you visit the Roman Forum and Colosseum
- Audio headsets are provided, so you can move freely without straining to hear
- Includes admission tickets, including a self-guided visit to Palatine Hill for epic views
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
A shared tour is more budget-friendly than private options, and headsets ensure you hear the guide clearly.
What's Included
Meeting and Pickup
Itinerary
Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.4
based on 3,111 reviews
Sherri_G, May 2026
The Underground tour is exceptional. The tour of the Forum is not to be missed. Our guides were very knowledgeable
Cassie_C, May 2026
The underground tour was absolutely amazing and i would highly recommend it! Our guide was fabulous and spoke very good English. This was my favorite tour!
review_a, May 2026
Carmello was very helpful to me and my father. He was very knowledgeable about both the Colosseum, and Palantine. He also helped us capture some great pictures, and was friendly. Our group all ate at a restaurnt after per his recommendation, and the food was delicious!
Elaine_M, May 2026
It's very much worth the extra cost to have the opportunity to visit the underground areas of the Colosseum (and to get access to closed areas while other tourists look on in envy!). Our guide was excellent (sorry, it's taken me a few weeks to get a chance to write this, and I cannot remember her name). Definitely recommend doing this one, as you get to see many areas without crowds (and you can still freely visit the other areas after the formal part of the tour has ended, if you feel like braving the crowds)
Michelle_S, May 2026
it sucks that you have to pay such a crazy amount for something that the colosseum sells for much less. but for what is worth, this works, we were able to have our underground tour. This company plans the forum tour, then they leave you on your own to go to the colosseum and meet with the colosseum tour lead (not part of this company). Our spanish Forum tour with Tricia was very good.
Ana_C, May 2026
Very cool experience, definitely nice to be able to skip the long lines to enter without guided tours. Would’ve enjoyed it more if we could fully understand the guide, we definitely missed some of the facts. Very enjoyable overall.
dwoodruff, May 2026
The operator changed our booking without us knowing about it. We were supposed to do the colosseum and Ancient Rome. They changed it to colosseum and underground.
charline_P, May 2026
There was confusion as Ultimate Italy has changed the meeting site address but it was not changed on Viators sight. Actual tour was very good.
Hayley_D, May 2026
Awful - Notified us approximately a week before the tour that there was a time change, which was totally fine, however didn’t notify us that the tour was cancelled. We arrived at the new time, at the correct location and that’s when we found out our $500 tour was cancelled and now no one will respond about my request for a refund.
Danielle_K, May 2026
They claimed that we bought “fraudulent” tickets halfway through the tour and then told the entire tour we had to leave and would not see the Colosseum. They then showed us to the line to pay for entrance tickets. I spoke with several other tour operators and they indicated the underground portion of this tour you are buying is not guaranteed and then they scam you after they realize they cannot get you in the underground portion.
Alyssa_S, May 2026
This was an amazing tour, highly recommend!! Tour guides were so informative and thorough. Really appreciated the upgrade to the underground level which is 100% worth it!!
Lisa_H, May 2026
All I can say about this tour is WOW! I have been to the colosseum before and only had time for the general tour, but this is worth the extra time and money. To be able to go under the arena floor is mind blowing and was NOT busy at all. I booked our tour months ahead! It sells out fast!
Mariana_B, May 2026
Tour was great - the company was able to give us an upgrade to the underground which was so appreciated.
Instructions were clear as to where to meet up.
Ashley_F, May 2026
Great tour so much information and answers for all the questions. The Coliseum tour was great got in early before the crowds and in many the only ones in there whilst everyone else had to elbow people out of the way. The forum part tour guide was next level so much information and liked a joke and was so friendly. Great group also and so much to see everywhere. Make sure you have capacity on your device for all the pics. Highly recommend.
Morgan_C, May 2026
Underground tour was very neat to see the history, guide was knowledgeable and was away from the other crowds.
John_R, May 2026
There are different meeting places listed on the voucher which caused confusion and we missed our tour. We found the office but it was closed and we wasted all that money. Doubt we can be reimbursed
Ann_S, May 2026
We did the underground tour - our guide was excellent. Do not listen to those that say if you do the arena floor you see all the underground stuff. Not true, we saw amazing sites, inside the underground that you cannot see from above. Many artifacts and our guide explained how everything used to work. I personally was fascinated and this was a highlight of our Rome visit.
LaurenS, May 2026
Not good! Don’t think it was Viator’s fault as they told us it was coliseum’s fault but as we started tour we were interrupted by a lady who said underground part was cancelled. Then we would receive a refund but could then go on the free pallentine hill tour and forum tour and as that started we then were informed by entry person to hill, that our tickets wouldn’t allow us in.
The entire morning was a waste of time as both were cancelled. It really was disappointing to say the least!
Gave me a very bad taste of Viator and Rome!
monica_m, May 2026
The tour guide was very knowledgeable and made it a lot of fun for the group. The opportunity to do the underground tour of the colosseum was unforgettable. No confusing lines or instructions. Entry was seamless.
James_B, May 2026
We had the best time on this guided tour. You certainly get your money’s worth. The guide was brilliant, the pace was good and you get to see parts of the Colosseum that most visitors don’t.
Allie_B, May 2026
Took a tour of the Roman Forum as well as the colosseum which included the underground portion. It was amazing and very informational. My only critique was that our guide offered anyone to stop at a restroom about 20 mins into the tour during the Roman forum portion. Which ended up that we unfortunately had to wait 20 minutes for 4 ladies to use the restroom since the line was so long. It cut into our tour time which was super disappointing. I would’ve like to have had more time and information there.Nothing our guide did was wrong, but that was my only complaint is that maybe don’t offer for people to use the restroom OR if people need to go, it’s at their own risk and they catch up to the group when they’re done.
Sally_F, May 2026
Visiting the underground Colosseum made our visit extra special as we had not been able to include the underground on our previous visit. Priority access meant no queuing, our guide was very knowledgeable and this was definitely the highlight of our visit to Rome
Cheryl_N, May 2026
Great to see the underground areas. Tour guide was knowledgeable and had a lot of information.
She was hard to understand at times, talked fast.
Unfortunately bias against the church was present throughout the tour. This is her right but I didn’t appreciate it.
Judy_M, May 2026
Beware. This is a scam. You will not receive what is listed in the itinerary. The host will try to convince you that you didn't order their entire package even though the Viator App clearly shows all the details and the cost is very high for the poor service. We received less than half of the tour we purchased. Our guide seemed to hate her job. She only gave a short, rushed tour of the Colosseum and told us to go to the Roman Forum on our own even though a tour was to be included. Do not book with "The Ultimate Italy."
Christy_L, May 2026
The level of passion and understanding of the tour guide was incredible. It brought the whole experience to life. I would highly recommend not only the experience, but the specific tour guide we had. Unfortunately, I did not write his name
Steven_B, May 2026
A great tour that provides a deep dive into the history of both the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Special access into the underground portion of the Colosseum truly adds to the experience. Our guide was knowledgeable and provided lots of information on the various ruins.
David_S, May 2026
We had two guides; one for Palatine Hill, the Forum, and one for the Colosseum underground tour. There was an issue and we should have had 1 guide for the whole tour, apparently.
Both guides were nice, well informed, and had engaging conversation, but their Italian accents were so thick, it was difficult to understand their English. I mean really thick so that 1/2 of the information spoken on the tour was missed and great concentration was needed to keep up.
The Colosseum guide's transmitter had a range of about 5 feet and cut out in annoying drop-outs all the time. These issues made me feel like I did not get my money's worth compared to the last time I took this tour a few years ago.
Stephen_P, May 2026
The tour guides were tremendous. It was informative and paced well. Once we finalized the meeting location the tour was great. My only area for improvements is in coordinating the tour meet-up. It was confusing as the area is crowded and traffic is heavy.
Amie_R, May 2026
Our guide, Chris, was amazing! He knew so much information and shared it so well!
The only even-a-little-bit negative thing was that, because of some pending issue not within the company’s control, Chris could not accompany us underground and the guard who did shared ZERO information with us!
christine_p, May 2026
A fantastic tour with a brilliant guide. Very special to do the underground sections. The whole thing blows one’s mind!
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