Rome: Colosseum with Arena Floor, Forum and Palatine Guided Tour
Rome, Italy
- 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Knowing where to start when visiting Rome's archaeological sites can be daunting, especially for first-time visitors. This group tour handles the planning, with an itinerary that includes the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. Step onto the amphitheater's restricted Arena Floor, something the majority of travelers aren't able to access. Gain deeper insights through your guide's commentary, which goes beyond what you'll find on the information panels.
- Choose from a variety of start times to suit your schedule
- Don't miss a word with an included audio headset
- Learn more than you could if touring these sites on your own
- Upgrade to a small-group tour for a more personalized experience
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
This tour gets you exclusive access to the arena floor, restricted to most visitors.
What's Included
- Official Professional Guide
- Audio Equipment to Hear the Guide
- Entrance to Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill
- Colosseum entrance ticket with arena access (valued at €24 per person)
- Colosseum reservation fee (valued at €2 per person)
- Note: Colosseum fees are as above. The remaining cost of the experience covers other services
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Transportation to/from attractions
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Basilica of Saints Cosmas and DamianVia dei Fori Imperiali, 1, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
The meeting point is in the square in front of the Santi Cosma and Damiano Basilica, in Via dei Fori Imperiali 1 (halfway, near the Roman Forum entrance). Our staff will be wearing a light blue vest with our logos on. Please arrive 15 minutes early—late arrivals cannot join the tour.
End point
- ColosseumP.za del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Itinerary
Your tour begins with a meeting at the local tour office near the Colosseum; then walk to the special entrance reserved for this tour.
Maximize your time at the Colosseum as you enter the amphitheater directly onto the Arena Floor, where gladiators once engaged in bloody fights. Visit the ring overlooking the underground sections of the Colosseum, and learn about its history from your guide, who has a degree in either art history or archaeology. Listen to anecdotes about the glory days of the arena and the lives of the emperors and senators of the time.
Next, leave the Colosseum and walk to Palatine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, where emperors and other wealthy residents lived. Take in views of the Roman Forum and Circus Maximus, then walk down the hill to explore the ruins of the forum, where your guide shares more stories and uses books and 3D pictures to show you how the site looked in Ancient Rome.
Your tour ends with a return to your starting point
Maximize your time at the Colosseum as you enter the amphitheater directly onto the Arena Floor, where gladiators once engaged in bloody fights. Visit the ring overlooking the underground sections of the Colosseum, and learn about its history from your guide, who has a degree in either art history or archaeology. Listen to anecdotes about the glory days of the arena and the lives of the emperors and senators of the time.
Next, leave the Colosseum and walk to Palatine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, where emperors and other wealthy residents lived. Take in views of the Roman Forum and Circus Maximus, then walk down the hill to explore the ruins of the forum, where your guide shares more stories and uses books and 3D pictures to show you how the site looked in Ancient Rome.
Your tour ends with a return to your starting point
1
Roman Forum
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Palatine Hill
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Colosseum
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Please note that names provided must exactly match IDs/passports for all participants (including children), or the Colosseum will deny entry. Bring valid ID for everyone—no nicknames, missing, or incorrect names/last names allowed.
- For minors, the age must be 17 or younger on the day of the activity
- The entrance tickets to the Colosseum cannot be changed or refunded
- Each traveler must show a valid ID matching the booking name for entry. Without ID, entry is not guaranteed
- Please show up at least 15 minutes before to do the check in
- Meeting time is subject to change; if this occurs, you will receive a call or message from the activity provider. Please provide your correct phone number and country code
- Late arrivals or no shows will not be refunded
- In July and August due to the heat the duration of the visit is 2 hours
- All visitors must pass through a metal detector to enter the Colosseum. No exceptions
- Not Allowed: Big backpacks, pets, weapons, sharp items, large bags, alcohol, drugs, sprays, glass.
- By purchasing this tour, you agree to our Terms and Conditions
- If you select the semi-private option, our tours generally include up to 12 guests per guide for a more personal experience. From time to time, we may adjust the group size to accommodate families or friends traveling together, and some tours may also run with fewer participants. This flexible approach allows us to offer the best experience possible.
- The Ancient Rome tour involves Steps and a lot of walking on un-even path especially in the Roman Forum . We highly suggest flat confortable shoes. This tour is not suitable for any person with recent surgeries, with disabilities and for people in wheelchairs due to the street level , up street level and steps.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.3
based on 6,729 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Amazing guide Laura, who was funny and knowledgeable. I learned a lot, even as a Roman history buff.
Make sure the tour is fully operating or ask for a refund. Tour guide said there would be a refund & Vistor has not reached out acknowledging the change in the tour…very disappointing
Loved seeing the colosseum. Was a great experience. Tour guide very informative. Only thing is it gets very busy so following with a group can be a bit much.
It was excellent. Our tour guide Massimo was very knowledgeable and friendly!
He explained everything very well! I learned a lot!
I would highly recommend this tour!
Guide, Massimo, was knowledgeable and informative. Group size was appropriate and not overwhelming. Good value.
It was beautiful & very informative. Our tour guide was ver passionate and made the tour very interesting.
I learned so much on this tour about the history, architecture, and everything about the experience of going to the colloseo for a show.
This was a good tour. It would have been better if it included the underground of the colloseum and considering the astronomical price I think it really should have.
Katarina was amazing and full of knowledge. She made the tour such a pleasant experience. The coliseum is full of such history. What a great experience on our trip to Rome.
All the key sites included without being too much. The guide was very engaging, informed and enthusiastic and the content was very well directed to the sites of interest as well as providing helpful background context.
Lots of information, skipping lines was helpful. Super disappointed that I thought we had booked a full experience ( getting down wheee animals and gladiators were kept) but we were only allowed on main floor ( which was cool, but for the price we expected more).
Loved the entire tour, especially our tour guide Ricardo. He gave so much context throughout the tour and made the experience of viewing these historical sites efficient and fun.
We had an English tour guide, but he talked to fast, walked to fast and really just kept repeating what he had said earlier.
I think the tour was fine, but our guide was rushing to get to his 3:00 tour.
Great tour, guide was very knowledgeable. She showed pictures and took us to great viewpoints with cool anecdotal details
Be prepared for an experience of a lifetime from a guide with more information than most university professors. There are a few physical requirements for walking the entire tour, heat during the summer, uneven footing throughout and stairs plus loud crowd noise. These are minor inconveniences for the experience but should be considered.
DO NOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME, JUST DO IT !
If you are lucky enough to have Georgia as a guide it is a double bonus!
Interesting and enlightening tour. Plethora of information. Lovely and funny tour guide. Made the long tour enjoyable
Wear comfortable shoes, there’s lots of walking on uneven paths.
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Incredibly well organised, constantly updating information and prompt responses when needed, would definitely advise anyone to book through yourself, to feel relaxed in your trips, and to get the very best experience possible.
Really informative. We enjoyed this very much!! Marcea gave us a really great tour. Never felt rushed through.
This is a totally worthwhile tour. The guide Paula was great! She’s exceedingly knowledgeable and a great story teller! The Colosseum, the Hill and surrounding are so fascinating! Be warned, if any walking difficulties, this can be a challenge! .
Arianna was so great! She was so knowledgeable and dispensed that knowledge with a constant smile. I highly recommend this tour!
The Guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. He was able to point out many details about the Colosseum that we would’ve never known.
There are no words to describe the massiveness and history of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill. Our tour guide, Paola, was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and articulate. Her command of the history of these ruins was quite impressive. A beautiful afternoon and a highly recommended experience.
The whole tour was wonderful! Our guide was so knowledgeable, and passionate about Roman history. Plus, skipping the line was so worth it!
Favi (sp?) led an outstanding tour of the Colosseum, Forum, arena floor, and Palatine Hill — knowledgeable, patient, and clearly passionate about history. Our first stop was walking through the stadium entrance onto the arena floor — very dramatic, goosebump-inducing, as if you yourself were a gladiator and you could hear the stadium roar. Favi wove in rich historical context at every stop, sprinkled in current Roman anecdotes where appropriate, and thoughtfully guided us to shade before diving into each site's story, which made a big difference starting just after 3pm in the heat. Honestly, without a guide like Favi, it's just a pile of ancient rocks — she brought it all to life. Highly recommend if you want a smart, fair, and genuinely engaging tour of these sites. She was the best tour guide I had across all guided tours I took on this Italy trip. Highly recommend!
We weren’t given good directions. Was there 20 minutes before the check in time and ended up missing tour by 3 minutes. The girl on the phone was helpful but still missed tour. Very upsetting and disappointing.
We did not actually go to the first or second floors of the colosseum, only the arena floor and then back out. That was disappointing bc we chose this tour so we could do arena AND other floors. The tour pace was a little slow for us. Felt like a lot of standing/waiting around.
our guide was great . she had an large personality, which brought everything to life. the Colosseum and forum were amazing. obviously you are going to be into your history if you are on this tour,and it doesn't disappoint.
Headsets were static continuously and it was very difficult to hear. Guide did not keep track of
Tour group and it was very easy to get separated from the group.
Very informative and entertaining. Guide (Paula?) was very well prepared and concerned about our understanding and well being (very hot!)
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