Nero's Golden Palace: with Colosseum
Description
Enjoy your visit to the Colosseum and descending into Rome's underworld for a tour of the Golden House of Emperor Nero. See this palace's stunning riches recreated in 3D, Virtual Reality, as you walk through this impressive archaeological site. We will visit the Colosseum, where you'll learn all about the terrible violence of the gladiator's games. Then, go underground to Nero's Golden Palace and discover the extraordinary wealth of Ancient Rome. Nero's Golden Palace (the Domus Aurea) was noted for its sheer extravagance, hence the nickname, that stuck. Although many of its riches are lost to time, you'll see them recreated in astonishing Virtual Reality* on this tour. ** order of sites visited may change
Tour Options
Itinerary
Visit the world’s most iconic amphitheater: the Colosseum. See the famous stadium where 80,000 Romans would have gathered to watch the blood sports on the Arena floor. Over 400,000 people died over the Colosseum’s 400 years in use, and 1,000,000 animals.
As you walk around the exterior of the Colosseum, you'll pause for a moment at the Arch of Constantine; the Triumphal Arch of Rome's first Christian Emperor. Discover the fascinating history of the Arch and how its iconic style spawned many copy-cats.
Nero's Golden Palace (the Domus Aurea) was noted for its sheer extravagance, hence the nickname, that stuck.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- 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.
- Dress code is smart casual. Bring a sweater to wear in the underground area as it can get cold
- Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
- Strollers are allowed, but not recommended, as stairs are steep and the ground is uneven. Children must be carried by an adult or be able to walk
- It is recommended that you bring a hat and sunscreen: Please note that sprays of any kind are not allowed inside the Colosseum.
- For security reasons all visitors and their luggage shall be screened. All objects (including mobile phones) must be put in a bag/backpack or in the tray for X-ray screening
- Large backpacks, camping equipment, bulky bags, luggage and trolleys are not allowed. Medium and small size backpacks must be checked, as any other bag, with metal detectors, opened and visually inspected by security
- Please notice that the Administration of the site, which depends on the Ministry of Cultural Assets and Activities has the faculty to close the Colosseum, or parts of it, with or without notice, for events, strikes, heavy rain, or any other reason. In which case, we will offer an alternative itinerary as it seems fit .
- Bring a jumper/sweater to keep yourself warm, the temperature inside the Domus Aurea is around 63 F // 16 C
- It will be possible to stop to use the restroom along the way, as needed
- 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.
Reviews(23)
Excellent experience, I have been 13 times in Rome and had not been able to coordinate the visit to the Domus Aurea, allows you to appreciate the grandiosity of the time
Absolutely excellent tour guide with suberb knowledge. Could not have been better. We loved it. Well -paced to accomodate a family member with a bad knee. Yet so packed with great information!
By starting with Nero's Palace you can see the basis of why the Colosseum was built onto the structure itself.
Our tour guide Elisa for the first half of the tour was amazing, and the Domus Aurea was very interesting. I would highly recommend.
The tour of the ancient city and the Coliseum was excellent. We had one of the best tour guides. She was previously an archeologist so I felt like she had some real in-depth knowledge. She had a bright and charming personality. Her English was easy to understand. I had high hopes for Nero’s Palace tour. The virtual tour was very cool but short. Most of the palace is still being reconstructed so it was really hard to envision what it would have looked like. Not a lot of frescos to view. Mostly underground so take a jacket with you...it’s chilly. Might be great for a structural engineer with an imagination. The virtual portion was the only worthwhile part of the Nero tour.
This tour package is perfect for anybody wanting to see Ancient Rome highlights in one day. Yes it is a lot of walking and you will be wiped by the end of the day but the tour guides do a great job of allowing breaks and not overloading with too much information. Nero's Palace was very interesting!
The first part of the tour, of the Colosseum and Forum, was easily five stars. The second part, Nero's Palace, was three, and a bit disappointing. Splitting the difference and giving it four. Overall, still worth the price. The tour of the Colosseum and Forum was led by Vincenzio (from Mars) who was funny, full of stories, and attentive to any and all questions we might have. It's impossible to fit the whole of both sites into just a few hours, but Vincenzio came close. After that portion of the tour, I had hundreds of photographs and a much more thorough understanding of Roman imperial politics. I was very much looking forward to Nero's Palace, so I was disappointed at how very crowded the tour was. Most of the time, I couldn't see or hear the guide (the Nero's Palace portion of the tour does not use earphones). I constantly missed information, and the guide offered no opportunity for questions. The VR portion, while impressive, was minimal. The majority of the tour was simply walking and struggling to get a view of whatever the guide was pointing at. That said, there were some seriously impressive things to see inside the Palace. Just be prepared to look them up later. You do need to wear a hardhat inside Nero's Palace, but it's no more dangerous than any light construction site, and far safer than Roman traffic. Be sure to wear a sweater, though--it's cavelike and cold.
Our tour guide, Vincenza, set the stage for understanding the time period, the place, the people and the environment of the Colosseum and the Forum. Information was informative, the specific stops along the way were beautiful to look at as well as deepened our understanding. The tour felt thorough and not rushed despite growing crowds. Vincenza moved us from space to space while sharing knowledge and allowing time for questions. After the Forum, he walked us to the Domus Aurea, where he departed and we joined up with another tour guide. The virtual tour was remarkable. Overall today was a day when I think I finally began to understand the relationships between these three areas. This is a great tour!
You need to go ahead and book this tour! We had a few wonderful hours with our very informative guide, Bea, and we learned a great deal from her. We started with a tour of the Colosseum, and then proceeded through the ancient Roman Forum. Bea was very thorough, and pointed out all points of interest and stopped to take the time to show us artist renderings of what the ruins would have appeared like in ancient times with a few books she brought along. We finished the morning (sadly without Bea) in the Domus Aurea. Here, another capable (albeit less enthusiastic) guide told us all about Nero's Golden Palace. The virtual reality reconstruction of the Domus Aurea is absolutely amazing. All in all, I adored this tour, and I would highly recommend it.
Each area was explained with the history, even if it meant correcting fallacies from the past. There IS a lot of walking, and stairs - so, plan this tour when you are rested. Having the Golden Palace virtual reality experience after the history of the rest of the tour was useful. (Virtual reality could have been the whole 5 hrs and I wouldn't have complained - it was awesome).
Dear capeizzy, Lovely to your you've enjoyed our Tour of Nero's Golden Palace, with Colosseum and the Ancient City and its VR experience. The Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Domus aurea are all covered in this combination tour, which gives a brilliant overview of the Ancient Heart of Rome even entering in the former Palace or Rome's most famous dictators. Great to read you found the tour informative and appreciated the VR Experience on the rediscovery of the Domus Aurea. We hope you will keep us in mind for future visits to the eternal city, as we develop new experiences on a frequent basis!
