VIP Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill & Special Access Sites
Description
Discover Ancient Rome with special access to the exclusive ‘Super Sites’. Beyond the iconic Colosseum and Roman Forum, step inside beautifully preserved villas and buildings not seen by most tourists. Explore early Christian sites, wander through the childhood home of a Roman Emperor with vibrant original frescoes, and enter the Domus Tiberiana, touched by Nero himself. This expertly guided tour is designed for curious travelers ready to go beyond the usual highlights and uncover the deeper stories of Rome’s imperial past.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Begin your journey through ancient Rome with a visit to the Forum, where you'll be transported back in time to experience the daily life of the empire’s citizens. As you walk along the same stones that Julius Caesar and Mark Antony once did, your guide will make the ruins feel alive again with fascinating stories and anecdotes.
Head up Palatine Hill and into the SUPER Sites, a collection of exquisitely preserved ancient villas, temples, churches, and more. This area is rarely accessible to visitors, but with special access tickets secured in advance, you'll walk right in. The specific sites you'll visit will vary depending on what's open the day of your tour. A few possibilities are the House of Augustus, the onetime home of Caesar Augustus with vibrant frescoes that rival those of Pompeii; the church of Santa Maria Antiqua, a rare example of early Christian art and architecture; or the Domus Tiberiana, Ancient Rome's first imperial palace dating to the first century AD. No matter which of the SUPER Sites you visit, you're guaranteed an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience away from the crowds.
Finally, no tour of ancient Rome would be complete without a visit to the Colosseum. You'll ascend to the first and second tiers and immerse yourself in the reality of a day at the games, from animal hunts and halftime executions to gladiatorial combat and gambling.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- 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.
- This tour is fully refundable up to 7 days prior to the event. Within 7 days, this tour is 100% non-refundable.
- 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, Palatine Hill, and House of Augustus 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.
Reviews(258)
Antonio provided an excellent tour. Would definitely recommend for an informative and enjoyable exploration of the colosseum and forum.
Mr. T was knowledgeable, professional and entertaining. He made the history come alive for our group while being considerate of us in the heat.
When I booked this tour, it was called “colosseum arena floor & VIP Caesar’s palace super sites tour” and my confirmation email says the same. The description said “walk where the gladiators walked” I booked it specifically for the arena floor. Come to find out on the tour that we are not going on the arena floor, apparently they changed that a year ago (I booked this a month ago). Funny enough they have changed the name of the tour on the website and when I go to manage my booking on walks website, the name of the tour doesn’t mention the arena floor anymore. Would’ve been nice to be informed as I could’ve booked a tour for half the price to visit the same spots. It also says super sites, plural, but we visited one out of the 7 and it wasn’t all that spectacular. I wanted to see the Santa Maria Antiqua as well but that did not happen. The tour also said 3:30-7pm, it was over by 6:20 and the guide said they start ushering people out by 6:30 as they close at 7. Why do you have it scheduled until 7 then? We also spent a lot of time standing around with him talking vs actually seeing the views of the colosseum and Roman forum. He kept explaining things and saying you’ll see when we get over there.. why not explain it when we can actually see what you are talking about? We spent 10 mins total in the actual forum. All in all very disappointing. Writing a review on the company website or getting ahold of them for a reimbursement of some type or even an apology is next to impossible as well
Dario, our guide was so knowledgeable and made our experience memorable. It was such a hot and humid day
Brilliant Tour. Very organised from start to finish and my tour operator for the day (Anna) was excellent, extremely friendly, enthusiastic and very knowledgable on the tour topics/history. I learnt loads and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Limited restrooms. Very long tour with many steps. Excellent guide. Very informative but a lot to take in in 3 hours
Olga was a very knowledgeable and patient guide. We enjoyed our tour of the coloseum and ruins! Well organized, easy to find. Love the headsets. A+
I can’t recommend this tour enough! My partner and I did the tour in mid-July. Olga was our tour guide and she was an absolute font of knowledge. She was very engaging, happy to answer any and every question and knew so much interesting information about the forum and the colosseum. The VIP tickets are worth the extra money, we got to see inside August’s palace which was super interesting. If you can get on a tour with Olga you will not be disappointed, her knowledge extends to the entirety of the city of Rome and she made it by far the best tour I have been on!
Although informative, we stayed in place most of the time. We were not able to explore the many artifacts and rooms other than from afar, instead showed pictures from a book. We were also under the assumption(what we thought we paid for)that we would be going to the ground level and seeing the Gladiator Gate at the Colosseum and all we did was go to the second level and again find a shaded area to sit and listen.
Dear Daniel, Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. I’m very sorry to hear the tour didn’t meet your expectations and that the pacing and presentation left you feeling disappointed. We always aim to deliver engaging, dynamic experiences, and it’s clear from your comments that we fell short in this instance. Your feedback is incredibly valuable and will be shared with our team as we continue refining and improving our tours. All the best, Samantha.
Enjoyed our tour. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Highly recommend this tour. This tour covers multiple attractions in detail.
