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Exclusive Colosseum Arena Through The Back Door

Rome, Italy
Great choice
5+ bookings last month.
  • 1 hour (approx.)
  • Offered in: English

Overview

One of the world’s most-visited landmarks, the Colosseum is a must during any trip to Rome. On this express tour, make the most of your day and enhance your experience with exclusive access to the restricted Gladiator's Gate and arena floor. With your guide, you’ll explore the Colosseum inside and out in just an hour, with time to snap photos from the arena and tiers of seats.
  • Hear stories about the Colosseum’s history from your guide
  • Included audio headsets mean you won’t miss a word of the tour
  • See areas of the landmark that are off-limits to most visitors
  • Cover the amphitheater in just an hour to optimize your day in Rome

What's Included

  • Professional English Speaking guide
  • Colosseum entrance ticket with arena access (valued at €24 per person)
  • Colosseum reservation fee (valued at €2 per person)
  • Headsets to hear your guide clearly
  • Note: Colosseum fees are as above. The remaining cost of the experience covers other services
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

  • Via dei Fori Imperiali, 25, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

    Meeting Point: Via dei Fori Imperiali, 25, 00186 Rome (RM) Please meet in front of the Tourist Information Point at Fori Imperiali. Our coordinators will be identifiable by their “The Ultimate Italy” t-shirts.

End point

  • Colosseum
    P.za del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

Itinerary

1

Via dei Fori Imperiali, 1

15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

2

Colosseum

20 minutesAdmission Ticket Included

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Stroller accessible
  • Near public transportation
  • Most travelers can participate
  • The tour reservations have strict timing. To join the tour you are required to be at the meeting point for check-in at least 30 minutes prior to your tour departure time.
  • Please provide the full names of all travelers when booking. Names must match with IDs.
  • Please be advised capacity regulations and security may delay the tour departure This could also influence the smooth running of the tour especially on national holidays and events.
  • Cancellations, changes or issues due to weather, security and events held by the monument are beyond our control and are directly decided by their administration team. These issues will be reviewed by us and dealt with on an individual basis but are the responsibility of the monument.
  • All visitors must pass through the monument/attraction security check please allow at least 30 minutes to clear security.
  • The exact timings and reservations can vary, depending on the monument's availability and can be subject to last minute changes. Departure time can differ up to 30 minutes from your selected time.
  • Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair.
  • Please be aware that large bags/backpacks/suitcases are not permitted in the monument/ attraction. Only very small bags are allowed. Please do not bring these items with you on the day of your tour as there are no cloakrooms at the monument.
  • 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
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult.
  • Pets are not allowed inside the venue
  • Meeting Point: Via dei Fori Imperiali, 25, 00186 Rome (RM) Please meet in front of the Tourist Information Point at Fori Imperiali. Our coordinators will be identifiable by their “The Ultimate Italy” t-shirts.
  • If you arrive late for the meeting time, it will not be possible to join the group or reschedule, unless you pay for the activity again. As per "No Show" rules you will not be entitled to a refund.
  • Purchasing the guided tour, you are acknowledging and consenting that the Colosseum Underground admission fee is 24 € for adults, along with a 2 € booking fee, and free entry for children under 18. The remaining amount covers professional licensed tour guide along with other services, headsets, booking fees, and tour amenities. The tour operator provides transparency and is looking to ensure your understanding of the cost breakdown, enabling you to fully appreciate the value of the guided tour.
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers

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

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.4
based on 61 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

Guide was amazing with...

Antonella_L, Jun 2025
Guide was amazing with her knowledge and witty jokes as the temps were close to 100F. She gave us sun breaks in the shadows as she talked. Best part is we were able to skip all the longlines through security and different checkpoints. As there were children-she was able to change meanings- very mindful.

Wonderful experience! Take the 9am tour! Less people :)

Leah_V, May 2025
We had a great experience. I recommend going on the earlier tour as the crowd definitely showed up when we were finishing. This was my second visit to the colosseum and I learned so much more. Great guide! Took my youngest 5yo and she was able to keep up with the tour. Lots of stairs and walking. Very enjoyable! So glad we took the tour and didn't wait in regular lines. We walked right in!

Great tour giving us...

Barry_Z, May 2025
Great tour giving us detail throughout history. Guide was knowledgeable and was good at keeping all on track.

Great experience getting...

Morgan_H, Apr 2025
Great experience getting to know about how the colosseum came to be, it's history and how it ended up as it is today. Our guide gave great info and had many reference images for us to understand all the changes

Excellent tour guide worth every penny

Luz_F, Mar 2025
Absolutely worth every penny. Excellent guide great information. So glad we did. The information and ease of following her through the crowd was good

Great day

Tara_P, Dec 2024
Well done the colosseum tour was excellent then your on your pace for the forum, no wait and small group, head set guarantees you hear everything😁

Awesome tour.

Pamela_M, Nov 2024
The tour guides knowledge on the subject was fantastic. Great experience. The small group made a big difference.

Great Colosseum Tour!

Amanda_B, Nov 2024
This tour was excellent. My husband and I are not “long tour” people so this express Colosseum tour was the perfect length (as many others we saw were 3-4 hours). Received enough content and information. Easy and quick line access and our tour guide was funny and kind. Would happily recommend this tour to others.

Colosseum tour.

Pamela_L, Oct 2024
Colosseum express tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and funny. She made our tour interesting and fun.

Experience of a lifetime

Christine_C, Sep 2024
Our guide was awesome explaining the history and to stand in an amazing structure like that was so worth the admission!!

Great guide

Allie_S, Sep 2024
Loved the commentary throughout the tour, made it all more meaningful. Glad it was small tour too, Pedro was a great guide

Exceptional Tour and Sights!

Sheri_B, Aug 2024
Amazing tour! Our tour guide was fantastic and very knowledgeable. The sights were phenomenal and loved the short video explaining what the gladiators wore and how they approached the arena.

Awesome tour

Diane_q, Aug 2024
Our tour guide was amazing - very informative and the tour itself was perfect amount of time to fit in other sites that day.

Perfect Guided Tour for Kids

Dana_M, Aug 2024
The tour guide was engaging and really painted a wonderful picture of the games held at the Colosseum. She kept us in the shade as much as possible. Overall it was a fantastic experience.

Great Colosseum Tour

Marc_J, Aug 2024
The Colosseum Express Tour With Gladiator's Gate Access tour was very informative. Luckily we booked this for late in the day as it was incredibly hot.

Colosseum Tour

Renee_G, Aug 2024
Great tour! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and was incredibly nice. She was very helpful on directions to surrounding sites.

Coliseum tour

Teresa_H, Jun 2024
Good experience seemed a little unorganized Tour guide was very nice. Glad we booked tour as lines were very long if you didn’t have tour

Decent tour into the colosseum.

Alexander_K, Jun 2024
Tour guide was good. Had a lot of knowledge. I can’t in good faith give this 5 stars, as all these tour companies are scalping official tix and reselling them at 3-4x the price. Granted, a tour guide is included with the scalpers, but it is virtually impossible to buy tickets from the city’s official site. I woke up at 1am and was on the site as soon as tix for my day was released, but they sold out immediately because of the tour bots. We met by the cafe but had to ask around to strangers to find the right person who’s list we were on.

Waste of money book another tour

alexandra_k, Jun 2024
Terrible experience would like a refund Tour time was moved up without confirmation that we had received the email. We arrived at agreed apon time that I put purchased and time still on my eticket which was an hour later then new time. Me and my partner walked around aimlessly looking for our tour guide and didn’t find her. Please contact me to arrange a refund or some kind of compensation the company was unprofessional and did not even try to contact our tour guide to assist us with finding our group when we arrived just advised us to look for a women names Marta

Enjoyed our tour of the...

Kevin_H, Jun 2024
Enjoyed our tour of the Colosseum. It was quite crowded but great to see it. Tour guide was excellent.

Very good experience

Angela_K, May 2024
Sara was an excellent guide! The company seemed pretty organized (more so than the other companies we used) and the pick up location was excellent. Thank you!

Overall pleased with tour

Lora_M, Oct 2023
It’s a good tour in that they let you go through arena area and skip the line, but it is not worth the cost if the tour. It lasts barely over an hour. To note-it does let you into Roman forum and palatine just not guided

Best guide ever.

KAREN_S, Oct 2023
Our tour guide (Fredrica?) was very knowledgeable and so informative. We loved her enthusiasm and extra details she provided. She really cared about the history and her culture which translated into a fantastic experience. She is most definitely a valuable team member and our favorite guide over a 3 week vacation.

Great location! Walking distance to termini station.

Carol_S, Oct 2023
Great location!! So close to the train station and many restaurants within walking distance. The kitchen isn’t well equipped at all. Not even a coffee maker so be prepared to eat meals out.

Friendly and knowledgeable tour guide

Faye_J, Oct 2023
Roberta was very friendly and knowledgeable, the only issue was the tour started later than the time stated.

Great skip the line tour!

Amanda_M, Aug 2023
We enjoyed our guide and the meet up was simple! We did the 5pm after arriving to Rome later in the day so it was nice to have an activity and not have to wait!

Some new facts about...

Nico_L, Feb 2023
Some new facts about Colosseum but not interactive and not very focused on audience, especially for kids

Our guide was very...

Sue_G, Sep 2022
Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave interesting information about the colosseum. I highly recommend this trip.

Arena floor colosseum tour

Stellios_M, Jul 2022
Great tour and guide. Spent a few hours searching for the perfect tour of the colesseum and this one was added at the perfect moment. Nicola our guide was very knowledgeable and personable. We took the arena floor tour and i thought the extra access was well worth the money. Nice job trip advisor and ultimate Italy tours

Speed tour was unintelligible and not as advertised

Amy_C, Nov 2021
We had signed up for the 5:00 tour and then we were asked to move to the 6 pm tour. We were told multiple times that it lasted 1.5 hours. We left the tour office at 6. Were rushed across the street to the colosseum and then pushed through security with no explanations (first time we’ve been asked for ID with our Covid cards in a week of travel here so we had to scramble). We then waited for our guides after security and were left alone for about 10 minutes before another guide came and found us and seemed annoyed with the group that we weren’t in then right area to meet her. Again, no guidance or explanation. The guide then spoke extremely rapidly and flashed photos past us faster than we could see them and rushed us through the basement and top area. She seemed very intelligent and well versed in the history but we were rushed through so much it was impossible to understand and follow what she was saying. She hurriedly brought us outside at 7:06. So the whole tour was 1 hour and 6 min counting the walk from the tour office and the security line. We felt this tour was much less value for our money than any others we have been on this week. Very dissatisfied it wasn’t as advertised.
Likely to Sell Out

From $50.07

per person

-You will not receive a refund if you cancel.

Book ahead!
On average, this is booked 56 days in advance.

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