Colosseum Guided Tour
Rome, Italy
- 1 hour 15 minutes (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Rome’s Colosseum stands as its most iconic ancient landmark, but it can be overwhelming to navigate the complex ruins on your own. Learn about the Colosseum's history and architecture from your guide (if selected) as you explore the arena and tiers of seating. Upgrade to a private tour for a more personalized experience.
- Choose to tour with a guide for insights into the ancient amphitheater
- Tickets are valid to access the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Learn about ancient gladiator fights and battle reenactments from your booklet
- Choose from several time slots and English-, Spanish-, or Russian-speaking guides
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
Go beyond the Colosseum with included access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.
What's Included
- Official tour guide at the Colosseum (if option selected)
- Colosseum 1st and second level entry
- Roman Forum and Palatine hill ticket
- Colosseum entrance ticket (valued at €18 per person)
- Colosseum reservation fee (valued at €2 per person)
- Please note: Colosseum fees as above. The remaining cost of the experience covers other services.
- Private transportation
- Underground or Arena entrance
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- P.za del Colosseo, 21, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
Our meeting point will be on the upper level of the Colosseo metro station, right near the 'M' metro symbol and the 'SOS' sign, close to Caffe Roma. Just look for the 'Discover Rome Tours' staff, and you’ll easily spot us there!
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Colosseum
1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Infant seats available
- Most travelers can participate
- Please provide the full names of all travelers when booking. Failure to present a voucher with all travelers' full names at the ticket office prior to entry may result in denied entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
- Each traveler 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.
- Due to the Jubilee, some monuments may be under restoration. Please pay attention to any messages we may send regarding potential changes.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Tyrone_P
It was a great experience touring the coliseum. Our tour guide Sara was very helpful and friendly. Lots of interesting information she shared about the site and all its history. This tour is only of the coliseum but the ticket allows you into the Roman forum. Definitely a must try if you are considering.
Reviews
4.2
based on 1,368 reviews
Victoria_L, Apr 2026
Our tour guide was fabulous! She was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the details of the colosseum
Anna_J, Apr 2026
Great tour guide, very informative. Communication prior to tour was excellent. Really enjoyed this tour.
Matthew_D, Apr 2026
Appalling. You book. You are locked in. No refund allowed. You can’t plan alternative. You wait. They cancel you. You never had a ticket in the first place. Appalling. Had to text them so many times. No response. Worst experience. Avoid like plague.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for your review, and I’m truly sorry to hear that you felt locked in and frustrated with your Colosseum Guided Tour booking.
I want to clarify a few points for you and for other travelers reading this:
Our cancellation policy – We offer a full refund if you cancel at least 72 hours before the tour, and a 50% refund if you cancel between 24 and 72 hours before. This is clearly stated at the time of booking.
Colosseum ticket rules – The entry ticket is issued with the visitor’s name and, by Italian Ministry of Culture regulations, is non-transferable and non-refundable once issued. This applies to all tour operators, not just us.
If we canceled the tour – That is a different situation. If we canceled on you, you are absolutely entitled to a full refund or rebooking. If that didn’t happen, please let me know directly so I can correct it.
Getting help – If you were unable to reach us by text, please know that Viator’s customer support team is available 24/7 and can assist with refunds, cancellations, and booking issues at any time. They are your fastest route to resolving problems like this.
I understand your frustration, but I want to make sure future travelers know that help is always available through Viator directly, even if a tour operator is slow to respond — which I deeply regret happened here.
Please email me your booking reference at [discoverrometours@gmail.com] and I will personally look into why you received no response and whether our team or Viator should have done more.
Sincerely,
Discover Rome Tours Team
Renee_T, Mar 2026
This was the best tour guide! Very informative about the colosseum and the times. Meeting place was a little confusing but otherwise it was amazing.
Deanna_C, Mar 2026
It was not clear that we had to bring ear buds to listen to our phones for the audio. We ended up listening to it on speaker phone and the audio was terrible. Total waste. Better to join in on a live tour or just buy tickets for admission in your own.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Dear Deanna,
Thank you for your feedback, and I'm sorry to hear that the audio guide experience did not meet your expectations.
I do want to kindly clarify a few points for you and for future travelers:
Booking option – You booked the "Colosseum ticket with audioguide app" option, which clearly relies on guests using their own smartphones and earphones.
Advance notice – We sent you a message 3 days before your tour explaining exactly how the audio guide works and reminding guests to bring their own earphones for the best experience.
Upgrade offer – In that same message, we also offered you the option to upgrade to a live guided tour if you preferred. You did not take us up on that offer.
Speakerphone issue – Without earphones, the audio quality through a phone speaker in a noisy environment like the Colosseum is indeed poor. That's exactly why we recommend earbuds in our pre-tour communication.
That said, I understand the frustration of feeling unprepared. We will review our booking confirmation language to make the earphone requirement even more visible.
Please feel free to reach out to us directly at discoverrometours@gmail.com with your booking reference. We would like to offer you a small discount on a future live guided tour as a goodwill gesture.
Sincerely,
Discover Rome Tours Team
Edward_L, Mar 2026
Definitely need to book a tour. Too many individual tourists.
Great tour by Paola, informative and friendly.
Ryan_H, Mar 2026
The Colosseum is quite the location to do solo. Having a great tour Gide really brought it to life and added a great story to the building. The solo form admission Afterwards was a great walk through history.
Highly recommende the 1.15 hour tour as it's just the right amount of time with a guide and without.
hilary_d, Mar 2026
Tour was great and we learned so much in 90 minutes. Our guide was super knowledgeable! Highly recommend!
David_H, Mar 2026
Perfect short guided tour, about 1 ½ hours in total of the Colleseum and the ticket also gets you entrance to Palentine hill which we did the following morning as the ticket valid for 24hrs...definitely worth seeing if you have time
Don't get me wrong, if we had more time available to us, we would of liked to have seen the underground parts and the top level of the Colleseum but only in Rome for 2 nights and wanted to see other things.
Our tour guide Aphrodite was so knowledgeable on the history, clearly spoken and very understandable, we got to know alot more than we had expected...brilliant 👏
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for sharing your experience! It's wonderful to hear that Aphrodite's clear and knowledgeable guidance helped you get so much out of your tour, even with a limited stay. We're glad the 24-hour ticket worked well for your schedule, and we appreciate your recommendation. If your travels bring you back to Rome, we'd love to help you explore even more of the Colosseum!
Calum_M, Mar 2026
We loved travelling through the colosseum with Paulo. We learned so much in our tour. He taught us facts about the colosseum and also tied them to the historical context of a range of eras. Our family has been talking about things we learned ever since. It was great to be able to ask our questions and have interesting follow up discussions.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you, Calum! Paulo will be so happy to hear that your family enjoyed the tour so much. We're glad his insights and historical context made your visit memorable. Hope to see you again soon!
Julie_W, Mar 2026
This was our first time visiting the colosseum and our tour guide was extremely informative. You could tell he spent considerable time immersing himself in the the lifestyle, social structure and politics of ancient Rome. He was wonderful at not only answering questions but creating vignette examples for each presented scenarios that allowed us to put ourselves in the position of people during that time. Our tour guide's passion for the history of Rome and the colosseum was incredible.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much for your wonderful review, Julie! We're thrilled to hear that your first visit to the Colosseum was such a memorable experience.
It sounds like your guide's deep knowledge and passion for ancient Rome truly brought the history to life—especially through those vivid vignettes that helped you imagine what life was like during that era. We believe it's that kind of storytelling that makes a tour truly special, and we're so glad it resonated with you.
We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, and we hope to welcome you on another tour in the future!
Paolo_C, Mar 2026
For some reason, an authorized guy from the coliseum stoped and warned us that the tickets bought from Viator weren't valid but they let us through either way. Besides that, the tour was fine, the guide very knowledgeable and with the right amount of sarcasm.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, Paolo. We're glad to hear that overall you enjoyed the tour and found your guide knowledgeable—and that their style added to the experience.
We appreciate you bringing up the situation regarding the ticket check at the entrance. While we work only with licensed tour operators and authorized suppliers, we understand how unsettling it can be to receive conflicting information on the spot. Rest assured, all tickets provided through our tours are genuine and sourced through official channels.
We're glad the matter didn’t prevent you from joining the tour, and we hope you left with great memories of your visit to the Colosseum.
Tracey_B, Mar 2026
This experience was excellent our guide may have been young but did she knew her stuff, was clear and engaging and we really enjoyed every minute x
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much, Tracey! We're delighted to hear that you had an excellent experience and that your guide—despite being young—was so knowledgeable, clear, and engaging. It's wonderful to know you enjoyed every minute of the tour. We truly appreciate your kind words and hope to welcome you again in the future!
Peeraya_P, Mar 2026
Our guide Corinna was very knowledgeable.
I learned a lot about Roman history today.
The experience was amazing. Everything was very well organized. Highly recommended!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much for your amazing review, Peeraya! We're thrilled to hear that Corinna made your Colosseum tour such a memorable and educational experience. It's wonderful to know that everything was well organized and that you enjoyed learning about Roman history. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you on another tour in the future!
Inigo_d, Mar 2026
Excellent guide and very interesting tour at the Colosseum.Our guide explained in a simple way details about the venue.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback, Inigo! We're thrilled to hear that you had an excellent experience and that your guide made the history of the Colosseum both interesting and easy to understand. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your review, and we hope to welcome you on another tour in the future!
Bridget_S, Mar 2026
Was not a guided tour, it was an audio guide. Rick steves recoding, could have been better and longer explanations
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Bridget. We're sorry to hear that the experience didn't match your expectations. We want to clarify that the option you selected was for our audio guide package, which includes the digital booklet and access to our audioguide app. As an additional resource, we also provided a link to a Rick Steves audio guide. We regret if this was not made clear at the time of booking and appreciate your input regarding the depth of the explanations. Your feedback helps us improve, and we’ll take it into consideration for future enhancements. If you have any further concerns, please feel free to reach out to our customer support team.
Deirdre_A, Mar 2026
A must if you’re to understand the history of the colosseum . We had an Excellent guide who spent time.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Hi Deirdre_A, thank you for the fantastic review! We completely agree—a guided tour truly brings the history of the Colosseum to life. We're so glad you had an excellent guide who took the time to ensure you understood everything. Grazie for choosing us and for the wonderful recommendation!
Alistair_T, Mar 2026
Our tour guide Aphrodite was very well informed had a great knowledge of the local history and was able to answer all the questions.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Hi Alistair_T, thank you for the wonderful review! We're thrilled to hear that Aphrodite made your Colosseum tour so memorable. She truly is incredibly knowledgeable about local history, and we're so glad she could answer all your questions. We'll be sure to pass along your kind words to her. Grazie for choosing us!
John_W, Mar 2026
We really enjoyed this experience. Our guide was Aphradite and she was very informative and gave us plenty of opportunities to stay and take photographs. We arrived slightly late as it was a bit awkward to find the meeting place. We came out of the metro station but should have taken the stairs inside to reach the upper level. They waited and called us to see if we were there which we really appreciated. Would highly recommend this tour.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for sharing your experience! We're delighted that Aphrodite made your Colosseum tour so enjoyable with her knowledge and photo-friendly pace. We're sorry to hear the meeting point was a bit hard to find, but we're glad our team was able to reach you and help you join the tour. Thanks for your patience, and for the high recommendation—it means a lot to us!
Sarah_E, Mar 2026
Our tour guide (male in NY Yankees hat) was amazing! It was a very engaging and educational tour. Most I’ve ever learned in an hour!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much for the 5-star review, Sarah! We're thrilled you had such an amazing experience with your guide (NY Yankees hat and all!). It's fantastic that you learned so much in just one hour. We'll be sure to share your kind words with him. Hope to see you again in Rome!
Mark_R, Mar 2026
It’s gets very busy so book early we went at 09:30 so not too bad but when we had finished very busy,
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for your feedback and for highlighting the best time to visit! We're pleased to hear you enjoyed your guided tour despite the crowds later on. We hope to see you again in Rome!
Carolyn_W, Feb 2026
We thought we had paid for a guided tour however it was self guided. A good tour though and worthy of a visit
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Dear Carolyn_W,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit to the Colosseum and found it worthy of your time!
We would like to clarify that our "Colosseum Guided Tour" product offers two different options: one with a live professional guide and another with an audioguide app. Based on your booking, it appears you selected the audioguide option, which is designed as a self-guided experience using the app.
We apologize if this was not clearly communicated at the time of booking—we understand how disappointment can arise when expectations differ. Your feedback is valuable, and we will review how we present these options to make the distinction even clearer for future travelers.
If you ever return to Rome, we would love to welcome you back for a full live guided tour to experience the Colosseum from a different perspective!
Tonja_M, Feb 2026
My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and easy to understand. Entrance into the colleseum was easy this time compared to the first time I went. The tour company did everything.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Hi Tonja_M,
Thank you for the wonderful review! We're delighted that you and your family enjoyed the tour. It's great to hear our guide made the experience informative and easy to follow, and that we could provide a much smoother entrance than your last visit. Thanks for letting us take care of everything.
We appreciate you choosing us!
Thomas_S, Feb 2026
Don’t just admire from outside—get in there! Very cool tour and at the right price! Beyond history—cultural icon!
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Hi Thomas_S, thanks for the awesome review! We couldn't agree more—the Colosseum is a true cultural icon, and it's best experienced from the inside. We're glad you enjoyed the tour and found it to be a great value. Thanks for booking with us!
Adrian, Jan 2026
Informative guide Antonello was funny and knowkedgeable. Good value for money and well organised and efficient. Recommend.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Dear Adrian,
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a positive review! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the Colosseum tour and found it to be a great introduction.
It's wonderful to know that Antonello's knowledgeable and humorous approach made the experience both informative and enjoyable for you. We're also pleased that you felt the tour was well-organized and offered good value.
We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you back on another tour soon!
Warm regards,
The Team at Discover Rome Tours
Susan_L, Jan 2026
Guide was very hard to understand. Talked way too much about movies and very little about the history of the colosseum. It was very disappointing.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Dear Susan,
Thank you again for taking the time to share your feedback about your recent Colosseum guided tour. Your honest review helps us improve, and we sincerely apologize for the disappointing experience.
As mentioned, your concerns have been escalated to our quality team to ensure our tours consistently deliver the historical depth and clarity we aim for. We understand how important it is to balance engagement with accurate, meaningful storytelling.
If you’re open to further discussion or have additional details you’d like to share, please feel free to contact me directly at discoverrometours@gmail.com. I’d be glad to personally assist you and address your concerns.
We truly hope to have the chance to welcome you back for a more enriching and focused experience in the future.
Warm regards,
Discover Rome Tours
Nikolaos_D, Jan 2026
You'll be missing half of the experience if you visit the colosseum without a guide. Definitely don't hesitate to book one.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Hi, Thank you for your excellent review, Nikolaos_D. We're so pleased to hear you had a great experience with your guide and enjoyed the tour. We completely agree that a knowledgeable guide brings the Colosseum's incredible history to life in a special way.
Thank you for recommending us and for choosing Discover Rome Tours. We hope to see you again soon!
Warm regards,
The Discover Rome Tours Team
Renee_K, Jan 2026
Very informational and quick tour (1hr15max). The tour guide was very knowledgeable and I appreciated his passionate personal inputs/beliefs on events, it allowed for a debate/conversation with the group - that no one wanted to take advantage of out of respect for everyone else’s time, I believe - but it was very good with prompting interesting questions from the group. Very interesting tour, but it is Rome, after all. Enjoyed that one hour very much.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Dear Renee_K,
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful review of your Colosseum Guided Tour. We're delighted to hear you enjoyed the experience and found it both very informational and well-paced.
It's wonderful to know that our guide's knowledge and personal passion resonated with you. We believe that a great tour sparks conversation and curiosity, so we're thrilled that the atmosphere prompted such interesting questions from the group. We also appreciate your note about the group's respectful consideration of everyone's time—it's what allows us to maintain a rich, engaging experience within our schedule.
As you said, it is Rome, and we strive to make every moment here count. We're so pleased we could contribute to your visit with a tour you enjoyed so much.
Thank you for choosing us. We hope to welcome you back on another exploration of Rome's wonders soon.
Warm regards,
The Discover Rome Tours Team
Dave_M, Jan 2026
Not a guided tour, but only a starting point for what we could have done on our own. Hard to find the guide, who did nothing more than help with the app.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Dear Dave_M,
Thank you for your review. We’re sorry to hear the Colosseum Audio Guide App tour did not meet your expectations.
We understand the confusion. Your booking was for our self-guided "Audio Guide App" experience, which includes an on-site host to assist with app setup and entry. This differs from our fully narrated tours with a dedicated live guide.
To ensure all guests are aware of the options, our team offers an on-site upgrade to a live guided tour when available. We regret if this was not clearly communicated or if you were not given the opportunity to upgrade to better suit your preferences.
We have shared your feedback with our local team to improve the clarity of our service descriptions and the consistency of our upgrade offers.
If you have any further concerns, or if you would like to discuss your experience in more detail, please contact our customer service team directly. We would be happy to assist you further.
We hope you were still able to appreciate the majesty of the Colosseum.
Paula_B, Jan 2026
Tour was very interesting and Flavia was very knowledgeable. Would have liked more time in the colosseum.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Dear Paula_B,
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and for your kind words about our guide, Flavia. We're delighted to hear you found the tour interesting and her knowledge impressive.
We also appreciate your note about the timing. Our tours are designed to balance a comprehensive overview with the logistical realities of visiting such a popular site. We will certainly share your feedback with our team as we continually look for ways to enhance the experience for our guests.
We hope to welcome you on another tour in the future.
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