Gladiator’s Gate: Special Access Colosseum Tour with Arena Floor
Description
Get a gladiator’s view of the Colosseum, then explore the Roman Forum on a walking tour through the heart of ancient Rome. With special access ticket, you'll enter the arena via the Gladiator’s Gate, stand where gladiators once fought, hear tales of ruthless crowds and emperors, then explore the Colosseum’s first and second levels with your guide. Finish with a tour of Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum with even more stories that bring the ruins to life.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your guide near the formidable hulk of the Colosseum, the gigantic arena that drew Romans of all walks of life to watch violent fights between gladiators and beasts. Bypass the crowds and head straight inside, entering the Colosseum through a special gate once used by gladiators themselves. Walk right onto the arena floor—an area not usually accessible to the public—and learn about the harrowing events that took place here for entertainment's sake centuries ago. If you want to enter through the legendary Gladiator's Gate and walk directly onto the arena floor, select the Gladiator's Gate Group Tour option at time of booking. Short on time? The Arena Express option offers a streamlined experience with a guided tour of the Colosseum arena floor and the Roman Forum. While the Colosseum Express option includes a guided tour of the Colosseum's first and second tiers (no arena floor) and the flexibility to explore the Forum on your own afterward.
If option with the guided Roman Forum selected: The adventure continues at the Roman Forum. You’ll appreciate having a historian as a guide here. As you wander the streets, they can make sense of the ruins for you, pointing out the subtle differences that reveal whether the structure is a moneylender’s shop, public bath, or any number of common ancient structures. Learn what life was like in the days of Caesar, Nero, and Hadrian, and how Roman society functioned.
Finally, climb the hill to see the palaces of Palatine Hill, built on the grounds where Romulus and Remus were discovered by the she-wolf in the legend of Rome’s founding. After an incredible day of making ancient history come to life, you’ll part from your group feeling more in touch with the beautiful ruins of Rome. If you choose the Colosseum & SUPER Sites tour when booking, your Palatine Hill and Roman Forum tour (which will take place before your Colosseum visit) includes access to the SUPER Sites. Normally off-limits to visitors with standard access tickets, these are some of the most breathtakingly beautiful ancient ruins in all of Rome. One highlight is the Casa di Augusto, the house of Caesar Augustus, with vibrant frescoes that rival those in Pompeii.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- 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. Name corrections are possible up to 7 days before the visit. After this, changes may not be possible.
- 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 multiple options. Take a moment to choose the one that best suits your interests.
Reviews(4,140)
Our guide was great, knowledgeable and funny. So much information and great tips for your free time after the tours ends inside
This was a good tour to do for our first visit to Rome , our guide navigated the crowds got us to where we needed to be and kept us in the shade as much as possible, pointed out hydration stops and reminded us how important it is to keep hydrated in the heat. Only confusing part was the meeting spot and the colours to look out for was different to all the messages sent. We were told they had re branded, just need to update that information going to customers to avoid confusion.
We got rebooked on a different tour title ‘Premium Colosseum’ tour on the same day because the tour company couldn’t get tickets with floor access. This was a bummer - we felt like we paid for ‘special access’ but just got normal access without any refund. Our tour guide Sara was excellent - her knowledge of the three areas we visited was incredible. There was a lot of walking up/down stairs and up to Palentine Hill with the tour we ended up doing.
Our guide was fantastic and very entertaining.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and made it a great experience. We would highly recommend this excursion.
Well worth it. Strenuous walk through the sites but guide took it #teady with plenty of breaks and was supra knowledgeable
Anna gave a knowledgeable tour. The gladiator’s gate gave us access to the coliseum floor as well. We also did palatine hill and Roman forum. It was a nice tour that covered a lot of the must see history.
Be prepared to be on your feet, walking in the sun 🌞 for 3 hours. Wear comfortable shoes. Bring a water bottle.
The tour we booked was changed by the tour company and the rescheduled tour had a different time, and was not the same tour that we purchased and paid for in advance. It was very disappointing because the replacement tour did not include the gladiator level access. When this was brought to the attention of Viator, they declined our request for a refund. As Viator charges a premium for the tour service, we expected a better and different response.
It would have been preferable if we had actually participated in the tour I paid for. We arrived at our designated meeting point around 1:35 PM only to discover that the Gladiatour tour we had scheduled was completely replaced with a different tour. Consequently, we did not receive the experience we had reserved and paid for several weeks in advance. I am unsure whom I should contact regarding this issue or how to proceed with obtaining a full refund. We were extremely disappointed and expect thorough acknowledgment and resolution of this matter.
