Small Group Tour: Colosseum & Roman Forum with Arena Floor Access
Description
Step onto the arena floor like a gladiator when you take this exclusive tour of the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Your friendly professional guide will take you and your small group through the special gladiator gate entrance to stand directly on the arena floor. Here, you will get to feel what it's like to look up at the stadium the way gladiators would on the day of battle. After learning about the daily lives and fighting styles of the gladiators your guide will take you up to the next level so you can see the arena from the view of the excited spectators, where you will learn all about the games and the emperors who hosted them. Your guide will also take you to the Roman Forum, the city center of ancient Rome with it's temples and government offices. From here you'll go up to the Palatine Hill to hear your guide tell stories of the emperors as you walk through the palaces they built and lived in.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Take in the oldest part of Rome when you visit the Roman Forum to see the government buildings, temples and ancient roads that were home to daily life in Ancient Rome. Pass by the senate house, the temple of the Vestal Virgins and the Temple of Julius Caesar where his ashes were laid to rest. Walk on the road built by Emperor Augustus and marvel at the beautiful ruins that can still be seen today.
Make your way from the forum up to the Palatine Hill where Emperors built their palaces. Once home to the founder of Rome, Romulus, the Palatine Hill is where Rome originates. Throughout Roman history emperors were born and died on this hill. Many of them built grand homes we call palaces thanks to the name of the hill. You will walk through the ruins of these palaces as your guide tells you the entertaining stories of the emperors and the history of Rome. You will even get a peak at the Circus Maximus, the stadium where chariot races were held, as well as Emperor Domitian's own private stadium on top of the Palatine Hill.
You will feel like a gladiator about to go into battle when you enter the Colosseum directly onto the arena floor using the special access Gladiator Gate. This special entrance is only for those who book this special Arena Floor experience. Once you are on the floor, you will be able to look up at the stadium where over 50,000 spectators would sit to watch the day's events. The culmination of which were the gladiatorial battles. Your guide will tell you all about the different styles of fighting as well as the daily life activities for the gladiators. From here you will proceed up into the stands themselves to get the point of view of the fans, and some excellent photo opportunities. This is where your amazing guide will tell you all about the many events that were part of the games, including animal parades, exotic animal hunts and even public executions at lunchtime. This is the most complete Colosseum experience you can get and we know you will love every minute of it.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- 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.
- 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(937)
Mike or Mitch did an amazing job. Very knowledgeable and interactive with the small group throughout the tour. Stopped for breaks and answered all of the questions
The tour guide was very knowledgeable and funny. He did move pretty fast for this senior, and especially in 100 degree heat, so that impacted my enjoyment. Perhaps in this type of weather the pace should be slowed. Less info is better than struggling to complete the entire tour.
Great tour and our guide really gave us the deep socio-political history of the colosseum. We were there in August and did 9am tour, would recommend to avoid the heat.
Ciao David, we're so glad you enjoyed the tour! Our guides are passionate about the history we get to share with you, and it's a treat to have guests on tour who appreciate it too!
A great and informative tour. Mitch was a great guide. He covered a lot of ground with the history of the areas we were walking through. Tour was about 2.5 hours with an option to extend it on your own from the floor of the Coliseum. I have been to the forum and coliseum previously and each tour guide gives you slightly different info and stresses different parts. My family and I enjoyed it and would use Roman Vacations for tours again without hesitation.
Ciao! Thank you so much for your recommendation, we are looking forward to seeing you again in the future!
The Colosseum tour was an amazing experience, and Mitch was absolutely excellent! He was knowledgeable, engaging, and made the history of the Colosseum come alive. His explanations were clear and interesting, and we really enjoyed the tour from beginning to end. I would definitely recommend both the experience and Mitch as a guide.
Ciao! Thank you so much for your kind words, we are really glad that you enjoyed the tour with us!
Russo was an excellent tour guide! Very knowledgeable and helpful! I would recommend this tour to everyone!
Ciao, Thank you so much for your kind review, we are glad that you enjoyed the tour with our tour guide! Safe travels! Kind regards, RomanVacations
It was a great tour. Guide was very experienced and friendly. Headsets at times made understanding what he was saying difficult, but he was always open to questions if you didn’t catch the information.
Ciao! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback, we appreciate it! Safe travels back home and hope to see you again!
This experience was amazing and paying extra for the arena floor was worth it. Our guide Mike was incredibly knowledgeable and funny. He made the experience even better. This was an amazing trip.
Ciao, Thank you so much for your kind review, we are glad that you enjoyed the tour with our tour guide! Safe travels! Kind regards, RomanVacations
Our tour was great. We had a fabulous tour guide who gave us a ton of information. There is a lot of walking involved. But the tour and the sites are amazing
Ciao Judith! Thank you so much for sharing your opinion with us, we appreciate it! Safe travels and we are looking forward to hosting you on one of our other tours!
Excellent Tour! 15 out of 10! You ask why? Our phenomenal tour guide!!! She was engaging! Definitely an expert in Roma history! Important & essential for me is that she addressed everyone’s needs. Ensuring everyone could hear her! She had the ability to keep everyone (including the children) interested in learning the sometimes gory details of the coliseum and Roman history. Noteworthy is @ the beginning of tour she asked if everyone had something to drink & reminded everyone hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Thank u for the best tour!
Ciao Donna! We are glad to read that you enjoyed the tour so much! Safe travels back home and we hope to see you very soon!
