Gladiator’s Gate: Special Access Colosseum Tour with Arena Floor

Recommended by 93% of travelers

Rome, Italy

High interest

Booked 2 times today.

3 hours (approx.)
Group discounts
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.7

· Aimee_H ·

May 2026

Really great experience! Francesca was a wonderful guide and very knowledgeable. The group was small with just 4 of us and our guide made sure we got to see everything! Highly recommend!

· Paul_H ·

Apr 2026

What an awesome experience. The sights were amazing but our tour guide (Flavia) was perfect in every way. She's an actual archaeologist and really knows the facts of this amazing structure. She explained detailed, historical facts and answered all our questions. Very interesting and impressive sight.

Explore our promoted experiences

Private tour: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill - VIP Service

Rome, Italy

5.0

(3)

Private tour: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill - VIP Service

from $1,409

vatican :Papal Audience Guided tour & St. Peter’s

from $41

Likely to Sell Out

Rome, Italy

Guided Tour of the Colosseum with Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

from $82

Viator earns higher commissions on experiences featured here

Overview

Walk in the footsteps of ancient gladiators with a group or private tour. Stand where gladiators once fought and hear stories of Rome's ruthless games and battles, then explore the Colosseum's first and second levels with your guide. Finish with a visit to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum to complete your journey through ancient Rome.

Choose from a range of packages to suit your needs
Colosseum tickets are included for added value
Learn about the gladiators and the battles they fought from your guide
Choose between private and group options

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Gain special access to the arena floor through the Gladiator’s Gate, with a guide to provide insights.

What's Included

Colosseum entrance ticket (Full Experience Ticket €24)
Gladiator’s Gate tour option : Special access to Colosseum Arena Floor
Ticket for Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
VIP Caesar & Colosseum tour option: Access to Roman Forum SUPER Sites
Small group of 16 guests maximum
Local English-speaking guide
Headset (groups over 6 people)
Note: Colosseum fees are as above. The remaining cost of the experience covers other services

Gratuities
Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Via delle Terme di Tito, 72, 00184 Roma RM, Italy
This tour meets at Via delle Terme di Tito, 72 (Oppio Caffè). Meet directly across the street from Oppio Caffè at the gated entrance to Colle Oppio Park. Meet your guide at the entrance of Colle Oppio Park on the corner of Via di Terme di Tito and Via Nicola Salvi.

End point

Foro Romano, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Colosseum/Roman Forum

Itinerary

Meet your guide and group on Via delle Terme di Tito steps from the entrance to the Colosseum.

Enter the arena floor—an area not usually accessible to the public—through a gate once reserved for gladiators and learn about the harrowing games and battles the Colosseum hosted centuries ago.

After the arena, head to the first and second levels to see where the Roman crowds once sat and gaze out over the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill—your next stop.

Leave the Colosseum and walk to Palatine Hill as you hear tales of imperial-era Rome. Explore the area and hear your guide regale the group with stories of war, politics, and betrayal, and get introduced to some of the ancient world's larger-than-life characters.

Finish your tour near the Roman Forum.

NOTE: New rules decree that only small backpacks and regular-sized handbags are allowed inside the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. All guests must now pass through a security check, and those with large bags may not enter (there aren't any storage facilities).

Colosseum

1 hour 35 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Roman Forum

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Palatine Hill

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.

The full names of all participants must be provided at the time of booking and match the names on their ID. The Colosseum requires all guests (including children) to present government ID at the time of entry. Therefore any guest that does not submit their name in advance of the tour, or who does not bring their ID to the meeting point, will be refused participation without refund.
The Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill may close occasionally. We'll notify you of any changes in advance if possible. For last-minute closures, updates will be given at the start of the tour.
Walks is an Official Parco Archeologico del Colosseo Operator approved to lead guided tours of the Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill.
Please note: This tour offers different options to help you customize your visit to the Colosseum. Take a moment to choose the one that best suits your interests.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 7 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.

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

4.7

based on 4,096 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Arena floor express tour

Linda_L, May 2026

It would have been helpful if Viator had put the tour operator info in our booking detail. Without that it made our ability to locate our guide and his team a bit challenging. But we did connect. We had a very Detailed overview of coliseum from perspective of arena floor. Learned lots of history of the culture at the time of this magnificent facility. Our guide was a historian so he had great information to share. After the coliseum we walked to the entrance of the forum where we got a short introduction before he left us (group of 6) to explore on our own. The experience was supposed to be 3 hrs but was closer to 2.5.

Exceptional tour!

Kathleen_M, May 2026

Wow! The tour was amazing as was our guide Amber. She was extremely knowledgeable, charming and patient. We would recommend her to friends planning a trip to Rome.

Fantastic tour!

NICOLA_G, May 2026

This was such a great tour and Kylie our guide was so incredibly knowledgable. Despite the biblical rain that decided to arrive halfway round the tour, Kylie handled this with grace and humour and despite us all being soaking wet, she kept spirits high. I can’t recommend enough that going somewhere like this, you need a guide - there’s so much you can’t comprehend or understand without their expert knowledge. Loved it!

Very interesting tour

Andrea_M, May 2026

Tour was very well organised and easy to find meeting point. Eddy was super knowledgeable and very passionate about his craft and Rome, we learnt a lot

Diabolical

Dawn_C, May 2026

Absolute diabolical service from Viatour. We arrived at the meeting point. It was a restaurant. Didn't see a guide. We ran around for 2 hours. We missed the tour because we didn't get the correct information

Response from Host, May 2026

Hi Dawn, We are sorry to hear that you were unable to join your tour. We understand how frustrating it is to miss a scheduled event, especially one involving a site as significant as the Colosseum. Our meeting instructions are provided to ensure all guests can arrive at the designated location in time for the scheduled departure. Because these tours operate on a strict timeframe to meet entry requirements, we are unable to delay the start for late arrivals or provide a guide once the group has moved into the site. While we recognize this was a disappointing outcome to your day in Rome, we must adhere to our check-in policies to ensure the experience remains on schedule for all participants. Kind Regards, Gerard

The guide provided a lot...

PHILIP_H, May 2026

The guide provided a lot of historical details during long stops on the tour. However while walking there was little time to see and take pictures of the many interesting ancient structures. On one occasion the guide did not know we had been left behind and we had to negotiate our own way through the Forum security. We would have preferred shorter stops with a little less information and a slower walk between the stops.

Wow

Donna_P, May 2026

Our tour guide Lily was outstanding! My only regret was that we did not do this tour on day 1 in Rome. The history, culture and geography put everything else in Rome in perspective. Lily's descriptions and analogies really brought the Colosseum to life.

Outstanding mix of history and raw experience

Stephen_J, May 2026

This is a busy busy place but with headset and very knowledgeable guide who negotiated the people with expertise it was a stunning introduction to the greatness of the Roman Coliseum

Free history lecture

james_m, May 2026

We were treated to an extended history of the use of the arena during our walking tour that was very thorough though the ear pieces had a tendency to echo which prevented us from hearing some of the info.

Fabulous

Aimee_H, May 2026

Really great experience! Francesca was a wonderful guide and very knowledgeable. The group was small with just 4 of us and our guide made sure we got to see everything! Highly recommend!

Great tour of Colosseum and Palatine and Forum

Nancy_D, May 2026

Knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide, great at keeping the group together, a lot of walking. Still waiting in lines with group to get into Colosseum.

I loved the tour!...

LuzVictoria_S, May 2026

I loved the tour! Francesca was very knowledgeable and friendly. It is a long tour though so wear comfy shoes. 100% recommend!

Great guide, meeting place could have been more clear.

Ryan_B, Apr 2026

Our guide was fantastic! He had so much knowledge and so many interesting facts. He was clearly passionate about the area. Finding the meeting place wasn’t the clearest. It’s at a park across the street from the address given. Which is a restaurant Oppio Cafe

Amazing sight with great guide.

Paul_H, Apr 2026

Amazing

Cathy_G, Apr 2026

Being able to see where everything happened, was amazing. We did a lot of walking, but I did fine with the pace of it! 71 yr old.

Maria the expert Roman tour guide !

Keith_E, Apr 2026

Maria was a fabulously knowledgeable tour guide. She had incredible depth of understanding of the Roman history on the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palantine Hill. What was especially beneficial for us was the artistic impressions she had showing how the buildings originally stood look like so we could see a virtual real life comparison.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Dear Keith, Thank you so much for your kind review! We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed your Gladiator’s Gate Colosseum tour. It’s wonderful to know that Maria’s deep knowledge of Roman history helped bring the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill to life for you. She is truly passionate about sharing the stories of ancient Rome, and your feedback will mean a great deal to her. We’re especially glad that the visual reconstructions added to your experience, helping you better imagine how these incredible sites once stood in their full grandeur. It’s always our goal to make history as vivid and engaging as possible. Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts—we really appreciate it and hope to welcome you on another tour in the future! Warm regards, Tom Walks & Devour

Colosseum tour

Margaret_H, Apr 2026

The guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. She was fluent in English and had no accent so she was easy to understand. Our experience couldn’t be better.

Wrong tour

Bob_N, Apr 2026

Need full refund on today’s tour. We did not get the Arena floor tour. Your guide had the wrong tickets. We were all the way thru the line when she discovered this. About 12 people in our group paid for the arena floor gladiator entrance and did not get it Please respond asap

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Dear Bob, Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and I’m very sorry to hear about your experience. This is certainly not the standard we aim to deliver, and I understand how frustrating it must have been to miss out on the Arena Floor access you had booked—especially after already entering the site. We take this matter seriously and are currently looking into what happened, and in the meantime, please contact us at feedback@walks.org with your booking reference number so we can review your experience more closely. We truly appreciate your patience and the opportunity to make this right. Warm regards, Princess Walks Feedback Team

Tour was good,...

Erin_L, Apr 2026

Tour was good, educational and interesting. Would highly recommend for families, we all enjoyed it very much.

Must See

Kelli_G, Apr 2026

Great guide . Amazing experience ! Water fountains, and restrooms available. Be prepared for line ups .

Our guide Eddy was great....

Sylvia_S, Apr 2026

Our guide Eddy was great. Very engaging and full of information. Learned a great deal about the Coliseum & the Forum.

Beautiful tour and...

Ted_D, Apr 2026

Beautiful tour and experienced and educated guide. Was a little fast paced, but needed to be on a very sunny day!

The tour as is was is...

darold_m, Apr 2026

The tour as is was good. Good knowledgeable guide. It was not what we thought it would be though. Your 'special access to the arena floor' is to look into the gladiator rooms from the floor above. There are tours of the gladiator rooms but this is not one of them. Don't be fooled by the 'special access'. The tour company is not saying anything like this. It seems to only exist on Viator's website.

Can’t miss it! Literally

Amanda_O, Apr 2026

We absolutely loved our time with Jaber. 46 years experience and he showed us the best time! So knowledgeable and thrown in some humor.

Poor communication

Mitzie_W, Apr 2026

The communication was very poor. We were given the street address as to where to meet without telling us that in Rome the address is written on the building. We were dropped off by our taxi and had no idea where exactly to be to meet our guide. We were not given a specific site like in front of the cafe that would have been helpful to find our guide.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Dear Mitzie, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We’re very sorry to hear that the meeting point instructions were not clear and caused confusion at the start of your tour. We understand how stressful it can be arriving in a busy city like Rome and not having precise directions on where to meet your guide. Your feedback is incredibly valuable, and we will be reviewing our pre-tour communications to ensure clearer, more detailed meeting point instructions are provided—such as nearby landmarks or recognisable reference points—to help future guests locate us more easily. We appreciate your comments and thank you again for bringing this to our attention. Kind regards, Princess Walks and Devour Feedback Team

Our guide, Davide, was...

Lucy_G, Apr 2026

Our guide, Davide, was very knowledgeable and also very engaging. He made sure we saw all of the key sites and gave us information fitting to our family group of parents and teens. He gave us a very good feel for the historic area we were looking at and life in Roman times. We throughly enjoyed our tour and were able to stay in the Palatine/Forum area exploring further once the tour had finished which we enjoyed.

A FANTASTIC experience with Emily!

Susan_B, Mar 2026

I wasn’t sure we would all be captivated by a 3-hour tour, but each one of us was thrilled with the experience! Emily was a phenomenal guide; she explained the history of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill in a concise, readily understandable manner, and she was able to answer all of our questions in depth. The places themselves are awe-inspiring, but without Emily’s guidance, we really wouldn’t have appreciated the significance of all these ruins. Additionally, I would caution visitors about the lines/crowds. Even at the end of March, it was crowded. With Emily, we were able to bypass the lines and saved sooo much time. Definitely bring refillable water bottles, since there are so many places to get water. Huge thanks to Emily for sharing her vast knowledge and good spirit with us!

A must do especially in the off season

Ashley_D, Mar 2026

Frankie was great! The meeting location was a little hard to discern, but look for other people standing around and it’s probably your group! We had a relatively small group so things moved along at a good pace. We enjoyed our tour. The colosseum is a must see and having access to the arena floor (we heard it’s unbearable heat during the summer months so don’t waste your money) was amazing. So much history and unbelievable brutality, but a wonder of a structure

Great experienve

Sterna_V, Mar 2026

Just the right amount of time to learn a lot, and the guide was knowledgeable. we liked the smaller group

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thank you for the 5-star review, Sterna! We are so pleased to hear that you had a great experience on our Gladiator’s Gate tour. It is wonderful to know that you enjoyed the small group setting and found the tour duration to be just right for learning the history of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We aim to provide an intimate and informative experience without it feeling overwhelming, and we’re glad we hit that balance for you! I will be sure to share your feedback with our Rome team. Kind Regards, Gerard

This trip exceeded our...

Linda_M, Mar 2026

This trip exceeded our expectations- Fabio not only shared his great knowledge of the Roman period but he brought the Colosseum & Roman Forum to life with charm , enthusiasm & humour . Would highly recommend!