Rome Colosseum Tickets And Tours

The Colosseum is the heart of Rome. When you see it, your traveller's soul shrinks a little. You've seen it in photos, films... but when you look up and see it in person, you realise that you're finally in Rome. Find out everything you need to know about tickets and visits: how to buy them, the best options, prices and opening hours.

The best option

Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Tickets with Audioguide

The Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill: skip-the-line tickets at the ticket office

Perfect if you want to discover the best of Ancient Rome by purchasing tickets in advance and enjoying priority access.

From €25 at Hellotickets

With this ticket, you can see the interior of the world-famous Colosseum, the most famous amphitheatre in the world. I can assure you that no matter how many times you see it from the outside and photograph its façade, its interior is, if possible, even more surprising. In addition, you will have access without having to queue at the ticket office, which will save you a lot of time, and it includes an audio guide that will allow you to learn all about its history and the secrets it hides.

This ticket also allows you to visit the Palatine Hill, which is the most central of Rome's seven hills and one of the oldest parts of the city. You will also have access to the Roman Forum, the central area of ancient Rome, a huge esplanade with archaeological remains that, if you manage to enjoy them outside of the hottest hours of the day, will leave you impressed.

Why choose these tickets: this is the most economical option for visiting the interior of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, saving you from the long queues at the ticket offices.

Recommended if... you want to access the interior of the Colosseum and visit the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill at a very affordable price with priority access.

As with practically all visits in Rome, it is best to book your tickets online and in advance. Bear in mind that the Roman Colosseum can hold 3,000 people and queues at the ticket office can last for hours, so booking tickets to the Colosseum in Rome in advance is the first piece of advice for any visit to the city. On websites such as Hellotickets you will find the best prices for both tickets and guided tours, and you will also be entitled to free cancellation. Here are the best options:

• Tickets for the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with audio guide, from €25
• Tickets for the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with multimedia experience, from €34
• Tickets for the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with tourist bus, from €65
• Offer: Tickets to the Colosseum and Roman Forum + Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, from €103
• Guided tour of the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, from €35
• Guided tour of the Colosseum with access to the arena, from €48

Best of all, when you purchase your tickets for the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine Hill, you will also have access to the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. Remember that you can also complete your visit by adding a guided tour or taking an audio guide.

If you're wondering how much tickets or tours cost, I'll tell you more about that later, but adult tickets are available for around £24 and guided tours usually cost less than £40, depending on whether you book during high season, whether you want an express tour or a more comprehensive tour that also takes you to the Forum, etc.

Absolutely yes, don't hesitate to book a guided tour of the Colosseum. The size of the Colosseum, the amount of detail it retains, its stories and anecdotes from Ancient Rome and, of course, the walk through the Roman Forum, are not the same without an expert guide. During a guided tour of the Colosseum, you will make the most of your time: you will know where and what to look at, you will understand what you are seeing, and you will return home with lots of memories.

Another great advantage of visiting the Colosseum with a guide is that there are many tours available in Spanish, so you won't have to worry about doing the tour in English. On the other hand, depending on how much time you have (or want to spend), you can choose between complete tours that take you around the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum or express tours that only show you the inside of the amphitheatre.

And of all the guided tours offered at the Colosseum, you can also choose between those that include a visit to the Arena and the Gladiators' Gate or those that are limited to touring the amphitheatre from the stands. As you can see, there are options, budgets and tastes for everyone, so there's no excuse not to join a guided tour. You won't regret it!

Best guided tours of the Colosseum

If you opt for a guided tour of the Colosseum, here are the most popular options:

• Guided tour of the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, from 35
• Guided tour of the Colosseum with access to the arena, from 48

Taking a guided tour has a number of advantages, which I will outline below:

• Guide: The guides are experts in history and archaeology and offer detailed information and interesting anecdotes that can greatly enrich the experience.
• Organisation: With a guide, the tour is planned and you can make better use of your time. You won't get lost in this immense monumental space.
• Interaction: During the guided tour, you have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in discussions.
• Safety: With a guide, you can feel safer in such a crowded space.
• Understanding: Guides often use visual aids to facilitate understanding of their explanations.

Tickets to the Roman Forum are included in tickets to the Colosseum and with practically all guided tours. Therefore, despite being a paid area, you will not need to pay extra or buy a separate ticket if you have booked your ticket to the Colosseum.

If you decide to take a guided tour, the guide will accompany you throughout the entire route, including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. If, on the other hand, you prefer to visit on your own, you can visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum on different days.

Yes, you read that right. There is a way to save time and money by getting tickets to the Colosseum and the Vatican together. Both are must-see attractions during your trip to Rome, so I encourage you to book your combined ticket to the Colosseum and the Vatican, which will give you access to both attractions.

During the visit, you will be accompanied by an expert guide at all times and will also have priority access, so you can skip the queues at the Vatican and the Colosseum.

If you are planning your visit to the Colosseum, you should know that there is the option of descending into the amphitheatre's arena itself, to get a unique perspective of its stands and a much more detailed view of its tunnels and underground galleries.

This part of the visit is, for me, the most interesting: you will feel like a real gladiator and complete the experience by visiting a unique part that not everyone has access to (capacity is more limited and you can only visit as part of a guided tour, accompanied by an expert guide). Don't hesitate to book your guided tour of the Colosseum with access to the arena, and if you want more details, you can read my article on visiting the arena and the underground passages of the Colosseum.

You can get an individual ticket for €17 at the ticket office, but you will have to wait in long queues under the sun. It is best to buy tickets online and in advance.

An express guided tour of the Colosseum, which lasts one hour, costs around €40, and for a little more (€46) you will have full access to the guided tour of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.

There are no discount coupons or free tickets to the Colosseum as such, but there are reduced rates for teachers, children, art students and people with disabilities.

If you want to know more about what you can see for free or how to get cheap tickets and discounts for the Colosseum.

The Colosseum is open all year round except on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Although the opening and closing times are always the same, please note that the last admission of visitors is one hour before closing time.

My recommendation: if you have decided to buy your ticket at the ticket office, get there early (very early). You can check the Colosseum's opening hours in detail here.

To control tourist numbers, whether you buy your tickets in advance or not, you must select an entry time. The last admission is one hour before closing time and you must arrive at the priority ticket office (no queues) 30 minutes before your selected time. You can only be 15 minutes late for your chosen time. Once inside, there is no time limit beyond the opening hours.

There is so much to see and do in Rome that if you are going to be in the city for a considerable amount of time, you have probably already considered purchasing a pass such as the Roma Pass, which allows you to save time and money on your visits to the most iconic monuments.

The Roma Pass tourist card includes free admission to the Colosseum with an audio guide and allows you to skip the queues. You can also visit St. Peter's Basilica and other museums with priority access and an audio guide at a 20% discount. It also includes round-trip transfers to Ciampino or Fiumicino airports.

You have the option of purchasing it for 48 or 72 hours, during which time you can use all urban transport for free. In addition to discounts or preferential access to certain museums, with this card you can choose one or two museums of your choice for free admission. Find out more here: Rome Pass.

If you decide to buy tickets on the day at the ticket office, even though you may encounter long queues, I recommend going early (even before the ticket office opens at 8:30 a.m.) or buying them at the Palatine Hill ticket office, where there are usually fewer people.

If you are still determined to buy tickets the "old-fashioned way", i.e. at the ticket office, I recommend wearing a cap or hat and bringing a soft drink or bottle of water, as you will usually have to wait in the sun (there is very little shade in the area). However, I encourage you to consider booking your tickets online in advance, as there are many options available.

When choosing your entry time, avoid the hottest hours of the day (which in Rome are very hot indeed). However, there is more shade in the Colosseum than in the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, so bear this in mind if you are visiting them on the same day.

Another tip I can give you is to avoid public holidays and weekends as much as possible. There are usually more people than usual, which can spoil your experience, as you will have to "dodge" pedestrians in the Roman Forum.

The Colosseum is a short distance from the centre of Rome, so if you are staying in a central area, I recommend walking; it is beautiful and Rome is a city to be discovered on foot. As a rough guide, Google tells us that it is a 20-minute walk from the Colosseum to the Trevi Fountain.

• Taxi: you can take a taxi to Piazza del Colosseo 1.
• Metro: if you are further away from the centre and don't want to spend too much, take line B to the Colosseo stop.
• Bus: C3, 60, 81, 85, 87, 175, 628.
• Tram: number 3.

The Colosseum is Rome's most iconic monument, so you'll have no trouble getting there, whether you ask for directions on public transport or find yourself lost while walking. If you want to plan your visit to the Colosseum in detail, here's my article on how to get to the Colosseum, and be sure to book your guided tour of the Colosseum in advance.

Although it would be ideal to have all the time in the world to visit each of Rome's monuments, the truth is that when we travel, we are almost always watching the clock. That's why it will help you to know that the estimated duration of an in-depth visit to the Colosseum is approximately 2 to 3 hours. You can see it in less time, but you'll need at least an hour to take your time.

If you're organising your visit and want to plan everything according to a schedule, I recommend my article on the duration of a visit to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

You won't find any food inside the Colosseum, but you may find a street stall nearby where you can grab a snack.

However, my advice is to hold off on eating until you've finished your combined visit to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum (if you start early, this is feasible) and then look for a restaurant further away from the area to save money and get better quality.

In any case, don't worry: I've prepared these lists of the 5 best places to eat near the Colosseum and the 10 best ice creams in Rome so you don't leave there hungry. But if you want a safe bet, I recommend booking a food tour of Trastevere.

The Roman amphitheatre is a great place to visit with children (remember that children under 18 do not pay admission); especially those who like Roman history will have a great time running around its corridors.

Just remember to bring plenty of water and other liquids to keep them hydrated and protect them from the sun with hats, sunglasses and sunscreen. To organise your family trip, I recommend reading my article on visiting the Colosseum with children.

If you want to make your trip to Ancient Rome through its amphitheatre even more complete, there is the option of a virtual reality ticket. This also includes skip-the-line access, an audio guide in several languages and virtual reality glasses at your disposal throughout the visit. This is an ideal option if you are looking for a different experience that transports you directly to the first century without leaving the Colosseum stands.

This guided tour of the Colosseum is undoubtedly the most original and informative (and certainly a good choice if you are travelling with your family, as the younger ones will not want to miss a single detail of the virtual reality experience). During the tour of the Colosseum, in addition to the guide's commentary, you will wear virtual reality glasses, which will show you the Colosseum's stands as they were in Ancient Rome. It is a totally immersive and very complete experience.

If you are already convinced that a visit to the world's most famous amphitheatre is one of the essentials of your trip to Rome, you just need to keep the following points in mind to make your visit much more comfortable and tailored to your needs.

Here is some useful information, but if you want to know more details, you can consult my guide on tips for visiting the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

• You can enter with a small or medium-sized rucksack, but you will have to pass it through the metal detector. Forget about camping rucksacks, bulky bags or suitcases and trolleys; you will have to leave them at the ticket office at the entrance and pay a supplement.
• The Colosseum is accessible to people with reduced mobility: there are three wheelchairs on the first floor and five at the main entrances to the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
• When you discover the size of the Colosseum, you will want to take a thousand photos: I recommend that you set aside some time for this before or after your visit and look for a good vantage point in the surrounding area.
• It is essential to bring plenty of water, sun cream and protection from the sun. There are many sunny areas in the Colosseum where it gets very hot, and high temperatures can spoil your visit. I would like to take this opportunity to leave you with a series of plans for things to do in Rome in summer.
• If you are interested in an in-depth visit to the Colosseum, you can hire an audio guide, book the Colosseum tour with virtual reality or, for the TOP level, consult the information on guided tours.
• If you want to use the official audio guide or video guide, you will need to request it at the ticket office. The first lasts one hour and 10 minutes and the second lasts 45 minutes. The audio guide costs approximately €5.50 to hire and the video guide €6; both will be returned once the visit is over.
• In my opinion, it's a very good idea to do both visits in one day and leave the rest of your time to enjoy a pizza, take pleasant strolls through the narrow streets or enjoy the evenings in Trastevere...
• It is best to buy tickets online and in advance to get a good price for Colosseum tickets.
• And most importantly, get up as early as you can to visit the Colosseum with a reasonable number of tourists and you will enjoy a more relaxed visit in cooler temperatures.

Probably one of Rome's most iconic monuments, it was built in 72 AD by Emperor Vespasian and was used as an amphitheatre for shows that the people could attend free of charge. The main events at the Colosseum in Rome were the famous gladiator fights and wild animal fights.

The Colosseum is the most famous amphitheatre in the world and one of the most visited monuments; of the six million tourists who visit Rome each year, five do not leave the city without walking through its 80 arched entrances, observing its three floors of columns, touring the galleries, watching the Arena from the stands and marvelling at the network of underground rooms where the animals were kept.

The history of this marvel of Roman architecture (whose name comes from a huge statue of the "Colossus of Nero" that stood next to the amphitheatre) is enough to fill libraries, but it is better to discover it by exploring its nooks and crannies. To do so, the first step is to book your ticket to the Colosseum.

If you are interested in visiting the Colosseum and ancient history, you may also be interested in booking an excursion to Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. You can read this post I wrote about 5 Best Day Trips to Pompeii from Rome

If, after visiting the Colosseum, you feel like continuing to explore the streets of the city, it is best to book a guided tour so you don't miss a thing. There is also the option of taking a guided tour of the city at night, where you can see it in all its splendour when it is lit up. In this guide, I summarise what, for me, are Top 11 tours of Rome.