Rome: Colosseum Guided Tour with Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
Description
Visiting the Colosseum is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Make the best of your Colosseum visit with this flexible experience. Learn about the history, features and tales behind the Colosseum, the greatest entertainment venue of all times. Find out about the political and social background of the Roman Empire before, during and after the construction of the Colosseum and get to know its purpose and its role within the Roman society. Explore the Palatine Hill and Roman forum, and revive the Ancient Rome!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Dive into the ancient history of the Colosseum. The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheater, is an oval magnificent architecture in the center of Rome. Built of travertine, tuff and brick-faced concrete. It is the largest construction ever build in ancient Rome. It is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Emperor Vespasian began the construction in 72 AD and was completed in 80 AD by its successor Titus.
Explore the ruins of the Ancient Rome. The Roman Forum was the very core of the Eternal City. This is was the political, religious and financial center of the city and all the Roman Empire. The Forum is where some of the most important Ancient Roman buildings were, and their ruins now are. Tickets are provided to you once inside the Colosseum. The guide will send you the PDF tickets on your favorite electronic device so you can explore the Roman Forum at your own pace. After your visit at the Colosseum, once at the exit, turn right and head towards the triumphal Arch of Titus. On the right you can see the entrance to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill areas.
The Palatine Hill is where everything started. This is where Romulus, the first king of Rome, established the first layout of the city. Explore the ruins of the imperial palaces and walk through the Farnese Gardens to get to the high view point of the terrace. From there you have a great view of the Roman Forum below. The two areas are connected and you can visit them both with the tickets provided.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The meeting time might change by 30 minutes. In this case we will inform you in advance
- Each traveler must present a valid passport or ID (a photo of the ID is acceptable) that matches the name provided at the time of booking to ensure entry to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Providing incorrect names will result in denied entry, and no refund will be issued.
- The itinerary order might change. It is possible that you will visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill first and then the Colosseum
- The costumers need to show up 20 mins before at the meeting point in order to guarantee a smooth departure of the activity.
- Please ensure that the full names and birth dates of all participants are provided at the moment of booking, as entry cannot be guaranteed if the booking information is incomplete. All customers must have a ticket, even if they are eligible for free entry.
- Please note that entry to the Colosseum requires passing through a metal detector security check. On busy days, a queue may form for this procedure.
- Not suitable for travelers with mobility impairments
Reviews(3,113)
What can I say? An excellent tour and brilliant informative guide (Adriano) who looked after everyone very carefully and had such huge knowledge that he shared with us so helpfully. Take this tour if you want to see the Colosseum and all the surrounding sites. Well worth your time. Thanks again!
Was very hot but guide took time rosary and find us shade Very informative LOTS of walking. Wear good shoes
Easily the best ‘guided tour’ we have ever had! Our guide did her University Degree Research on the Colloseum. It was obvious that she really loved her subject. Everything very well explained and colour explanations that she had prepared herself made visualisation easy. Tour lasted the entire 3 hours, the only way it could be improved would be to add more time!
Visiting the Colosseum and the Forum was always on mind. I am glad that the visit was not a disappointment despite the excessive heat. Our tour guide was excellent. I really loved her knowledge sense of humor, and British accent. She did her best to move us around despite the heat and crowds. The group was genuinely interested.
Excellent your guide, very informative, fully recommend!
My friend and I visited the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill this past February, and it was absolutely breathtaking. Standing amidst the ancient ruins really gives you a sense of the sheer scale of the Roman Empire. The views from Palatine Hill are incredible—perfect for photos! A few honest tips for fellow travelers: February weather is unpredictable: It’s late winter, so the temperature fluctuations are real. When the sun is out, it’s gorgeous and warm, but the moment the wind picks up or clouds roll in, it gets freezing. Layering up is a must. Wear proper shoes: The terrain consists of uneven ancient cobblestones and dirt paths. My friend and I easily clocked around 20,000 steps here. Leave the fashion footwear behind; you absolute need comfortable sneakers. Get an audio guide or tour: There aren’t many detailed information plaques on site. Without some historical context, it can start to look like "just a bunch of rocks." Download an app or audio guide beforehand to get the most out of it. Overall, visiting in February meant way fewer crowds and shorter lines than the summer months. Highly recommend!
We enjoyed this so much! Alessandra was our guide and she had so much knowledge and experience through education and practice that we learned so much from her. She pointed out so many interesting things and took her time explaining things to us. We are glad we did this tour and that we got to be with Alessandra!
It was an awesome experience! The tour was so interesting. My visit was during May and it was hot. Make sure you bring comfortable shoes and a hat. The view from the Palatine Hill was worth the effort. I highly recommend this tour!
We did not realize we were booking a group tour with headsets. Our children were not comfortable with the headsets. The tour guide had zero enthusiasm. The meeting spot was also difficult to find. Will not be using Viator again.
We are sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations and that your children felt uncomfortable with the headsets. However, we would like to clarify that it is clearly stated in the tour description that this is a group tour of up to 25 people, and that radio headsets are provided (and required for groups larger than 7 participants) to ensure everyone can hear the guide properly. We always recommend carefully reviewing the full description before booking, so you can select the experience that best matches your needs and preferences. Thank you for your feedback.
The tour guide was just fine, but the tour asked us the night before to switch from an 8:30 tour to a 10:00 tour. We saint would press us for time because we had another tour across the city at 2:00 and we wanted to have lunch. Unfortunately the timing did not work out. We really wanted to see the Colosseum and because the tour started in the Roman forum and went to other areas first we rushed through the Colosseum at the very. The entire afternoon was stressful rushing to our next tour and disappointing because we didn’t see and spend time where at the main attraction.
Thank you for your feedback. We are glad to hear you were satisfied with the guide, but we are sorry that the timing of the tour affected your overall experience. We would like to clarify that the time slots assigned for Colosseum entry are issued by the official ticket office and are not always available exactly at the requested time. For this reason, slight changes to the tour starting time may occur. This is also clearly stated in the tour description and should be considered before booking. In addition, we always inform guests in advance of any schedule updates. After checking your reservation, we can confirm that the message regarding the time change was sent 3 days before the tour, not the night before, to give you enough time to decide or arrange alternatives if needed. Your tour also finished around 12:30, which still allowed sufficient time to reach the Vatican area and have lunch before your 14:00 tour without rushing. We are sorry that the experience felt stressful, and we appreciate your understanding. Best regards, Diana
