As the millions of people who visit it each year know well, the Colosseum is a priceless relic of the ancient Roman Empire the most famous surviving building from the days of that once-glorious realm. Below you can see the Colosseum Rome tickets and tours we have compiled for you and sort them according to many options such as editor rating, user experience, and price.

Colosseum has always been a vital symbol of the mighty Roman Empire, which for centuries controlled a huge portion of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa—the largest empire the world had ever known. Today, the Colosseum’s imposing size and mysterious, romantic allure have made it the most famous landmark in Rome an icon as easily recognizable and as beloved as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

Several ticket types are offered for the visitors of Colosseum: guided tour tickets, special entry tickets, combo tickets and for the ones who don’t want to wait in the line, skip-the-line tickets. Below you can see explanations for each ticket type.

Skip-the-line Tickets

This is a standard ticket that allows you not to wait in the line and to enter the ancient landmark directly. Although you can visit main parts of the Colosseum with this ticket, exclusive parts like Belvedere (4th and 5th floors) as well as Underground are excluded. On the other hand, this tickets gives you access to the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum.

There are some extras on this ticket type like audio guide or a guided tour so that you will learn amazing details about the place.

Guided Tours

If you want to learn well about the history of ancient Rome, then you should choose guided tour. With a professional guide, fluent in English, you will experience and learn a lot about the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum. You can select to have a guided tour only for the Colosseum or Palatine Hill and Roman Forum together with the Colosseum – up to you. If Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum are also in your visit-list, tickets for Colosseum comes with guided tours for these two places as well.

Special Access Tickets

As explained above, standard skip-the-line tickets allow you to enter only to the main areas of the Colosseum. If you want to see all parts like Belvedere, go to Underground or go into the Arena, then you should select special access tickets for an amazing experience.

The Underground part, a.k.a. Hypogeum, is where deadly gladiators were waiting for their turn to fight for life on the arena. This area is located just under the whole structure. Colosseum Arena, where all events took place, barely stood until today; but there are still parts of the arena not ruined. Lastly, the Belvedere is simply the 4th and 5th floors of the main structure of Colosseum and it offers you a magnificent view of the arena.

Combo Tickets

Standard ticket to the Colosseum provides access to the main parts like the Colosseum itself, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum – but why not to have more! You can select combo tickets and visit the other popular spots like Vatican Museums. Although a combo ticket costs a little bit higher compared to the standard ticket, it also gives you the opportunity to have skip-the-line privilege as well as guided tours at some other popular places in the city like St. Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums. If your time is tight, then you can select a combo ticket and visit all popular places.

1. If your time is limited

If you don’t have much time and only one day, your ticket should be a combo ticket that allows you to skip the line, enter to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum as well as the other popular places in Rome like Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica so that you can see the most popular places of Rome in only one day.

2. If your budget is limited

If you have budgetary limitations, then you should go on with the standard ticket that enables you skip the line and see the main parts of the Colosseum as well as Palatine Hill and Roman Forum. Audio guide is an option for you, take it to learn the history of these places in the best way.

3. If a guided tour is what you need

Guided Colosseum tour is included in many tickets and a guide fluent in English and educated for that job accompanies you as you look around in the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum. Guided tours in Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum is also available as option.

4. If your main wish is to visit Vatican City

Standard tickets let you enter to the Colosseum area only, but there are some extended tickets that give you the chance to visit Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica and Vatican Museums. In order to experience Roman culture till the last, you should select these tickets that also enables you skip the line and have guided tour in the Colosseum area.

5. If you are curious about the exclusive parts of the Colosseum

There are several exclusive areas in the Colosseum like 3rd, 4th and 5th floors of the Colosseum (known as Belvedere), the Underground and of course – the Arena. Standard ticket holders are not allowed to access these exclusive areas, so it is required to buy ticket that allows you to enter these parts of the Colosseum. One remark: for the exclusive parts of the Colosseum, it is a must to enjoy the tour with a professional guide.

Timings

• What is the visit time? The Colosseum opens at 09:00 AM in the morning and welcomes visitors until the sun sets. Closing time is arranged depending on the existing season, therefore please don’t forget to check closing hour info here.
• Is there any days when the Colosseum is closed? The Colosseum welcomes its visitors every day in a year except 24tf of December, 1st of January and 1st of May.
• What is the best time to visit? It was already stated that the Colosseum is one of the most popular places for tourists in the world. So, between June and September in a year, the Colosseum may be very crowded. If you would like to enjoy less crows, then you should be considering a time between November and March.

Entrances

• What is the most optimum way of entering to the Colosseum? Skip-the-line tickets, which provides guided tour as well, is the best option. With that ticket, you can have exclusive access without waiting in the line and your guide will be with you during your visit at the Colosseum.
• Where is the entrance to the Colosseum? The entrance can be found at Piazza del Colosseo.
• Where is the entrance to the Roman Forum? The entrance can be found between the Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, at Vei dei Fori Imperiali.
• How to reach Palatine Hill? In order to reach Palatine Hill, you have two options: you can use the entrance gate close to the southern part of the Colosseum, or you can prefer a short hiking from the Roman Forum area.

An amazing audience calling for blood, vigorous aura, gladiator fight until one and only one is survived and an emperor watching all this bloodshed enjoyably: Welcome to the Colosseum.

Many things tried to bring the Colosseum down: big earthquakes, vandals, erupting of volcanoes and lightning storms for hundreds of years – but the Colosseum still stands in Rome, representing Roman culture of the past. The Colosseum was built in the 1st Century by the order of Emperor Vespasian and the purpose behind was creating an amphitheater for entertainment and sport activities.

It took more than 10 years to build the Colosseum that had 80 entry gates and columns, all built by using travertine limestone and concrete. Visitors and audience were welcomed at these entry gates so that they could feel the soon-to-occur bloodshed in the fighting ground.

The Colosseum is now, after almost 20 centuries, one of the most popular spots all around the world for tourists. In 2018, the Colosseum welcomed 7.6 million tourists from all around the world. You can feel the ancient Rome by enjoying a tour in this amazing place after getting your tickets. Your tickets will not be valid only at the Colosseum but also at the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill so that you can take your steps on the ground that once hosted gladiators, politicians, emperors and all kind of people from different classes.

Read on and keep the following rules and safety measures in your mind before visiting the Colosseum:

• At the moment, only online ticket reservations are accepted. No ticket counter in use.
• Wearing a mask and ensuring that it covers your nose and mouth is obligatory for all visitors during the whole visit
• Before entering the area, body temperature of all visitors will be checked via thermal scanners. If more than 99.5° F (37.5° C) is detected, that person will not be allowed to enter.
• Group tours are now limited with 14 people, no more. Maximum allowed count of visitors will be 600 for a day and visitors will enter into the Colosseum every 15 minutes.
• All entrances are closed but Valadier Entrance, so visitors will only use that entrance gate.
• No big luggage or any kind of beverage and food is allowed.

Arena

The gladiator fights took place in the Arena of the Colosseum. To visit this part of the Colosseum, you have to buy special tickets online. There you can see the half-roofed cellars where gladiators, murderous animals and slaves were nursed and prepared for the Colosseum battlefield. The gladiators, slaves and wild animals were lifted out of these dungeons by an ingenious system (a wooden cage was hoisted up by slaves using winches and elevator technology).

Imagine how magical that must have been back then: A cage suddenly appeared out of nowhere with fighting men and women or starving animals on the battlefield of the Colosseum.

The arena itself was completely covered with sand, because sand absorbs blood, which meant that not too much cleaning work had to be done after the bloody battles in the Colosseum. These fights in the Colosseum in Rome were fought one on one. So the depiction in numerous movies of dozens of gladiators fighting each other is false.

Often the gladiators were also used against starving wild animals. Usually these were lions, bears and other predators. But giraffes, zebras, hippos and elephants also appeared regularly on the battlefield of the Colosseum in Rome.

For example, did you know that many of these animals once lived in Morocco? Due to the frequent use (or should I say "abuse"?) of these animals in the Roman arenas, they died out in no time. Don't forget that to visit this part of the Colosseum you have to buy special tickets online.

Underground

The Underground is open for public visits but for that, visitors are required to buy guided tour that provides exclusive access to the Underground and to the Arena with a professional guide fluent in English.

What is included in the Underground tour?

Access to 3rd, 4th and 5th floors of the Colosseum, the Underground part and the Arena part are included in the Colosseum Underground tour. Although you have also access to the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum, this tour offers a professional guide only for the Colosseum.

How to buy tickets for Underground section?

In order to have exclusive access to the Arena and the Underground, you are required to buy a guided tour at the Colosseum.

What was the purpose of the Underground?

Before the due to death, gladiators were waiting for their turn in the cramped Underground section with almost no light source, in the dark.

Belvedere

The Belvedere is considered as 3rd, 4th and 5th floors of the Colosseum. Your only option to access Belvedere part of the Colosseum is to buy a guided Colosseum tour. With other tickets, you are not allowed to see Belvedere.

Roman Forum

Once a busy marketplace during 7th century (B.C.), the Roman Forum is located at the center. In the history, this place also hosted state treasury. Another famous feature of this location is that Julius Ceaser’s body was cremated here. Also, rumor says that the tomb of the founder of Rome, named as Romulus, was in the Roman Forum. There are several public areas, religious buildings and basilicas. During the years after the Roman Empire fell, the Roman Forum turned into a ruin mostly. Thanks to the modern technology and approach, preservation actions were taken in the past and it is now open for visitors from all around the world. Don’t miss the House of the Vestal Virgins, Temple of Vesta, Temple Antoninus and Faustina and Temple of Saturn if you want to see more amazing places.

Palatine Hill

Although it is smaller and simpler compared to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, the amazing Palatine Hill is as important as the others in the history of Rome. Studies show that the first Roman people settled at Palatine Hill in 10th Century (B.C.) and famous Roman emperors like Augustus and Tiberius also lived there. When you have a look from the Palatine Hill, you see the best view that you can experience in Rome. On one side, you will be amazed by the magnificent view of Aventine Hill, where the Circus Maximum Stadium locates, and on the other side, the Colosseum, the Capitol Hill and the Roman Forum all await to amaze you.

Below are the most frequently asked questions and correct answers regarding your visit to the Colosseum:

Q. Has visitor safety been ensured at the Colosseum during Covid19?
A. At the moment, to the purpose of ensuring visitor safety, only online booking is accepted. Besides, multiple scanning and safety measures are in effect during the visit times.

Q. Which safety measures was taken at the Colosseum and what are the rules?
A. In order to ensure everyone’s health, only online booking is accepted at the moment for visits to the Colosseum. Wearing a mask that covers mouth and nose is a must for all visitors during the visit and at the entrance gates, thermal scanners to check body temperatures of visitors are in use. There is also a limit to the number of visitors inside: at most 14 individuals for each 15-minute time slot, also valid for group tours.

Q. Are tickets to the Colosseum available?
A. Yes, they are. Since only digital booking is currently accepted, please book your ticket before coming to the Colosseum.

Q. Is there any cancelation policy for bought tickets?
A. Yes, there is a cancellation policy. Depending on the ticket you buy, different refund policies apply: You can get full refund if you cancel some tickets 2-3 days in advance, or partial refunds or no refund at all. Please check the cancellation policy in effect for the ticket type you choose.

Q. Is there any limit for the group size for guided tours at the Colosseum?
A. Yes. At the Colosseum, currently at most 14 individuals are allowed inside, so your group should consist of 14 people or less, otherwise every member of the group can’t access the Colosseum at the same time.

Q. What are hours to visit the Colosseum after Covid19? 
A. Colosseum welcomes its guests between 10:30am and 7:15pm, and no new entries after 6:15pm.

Q. Is skip-the-line ticket available?
A. Yes, it is available. This type of ticket will let you skip the entrance line and have exclusive entry to the Colosseum.

Q. What is included with a ticket to the Colosseum?
A. Skip-the-line entry and guided tours at the colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum are included with a standard ticket. There are some other ticket types that provide entry to the exclusive parts of the Colosseum like Belvedere, the Underground and the Arena.

Q. Do I need to print Colosseum tickets?
A. It will be better to print your Colosseum tickets in advance before your visit. However, if you do not print your tickets in advance, you need to provide proof of your purchase to exchange it with your real tickets.

Q. I want to experience the Colosseum as soon as possible! Can I skip the line with guided tours?
A. Yes. If you book a Colosseum tour, this will also give you exclusive entry to the colosseum without waiting in the line.

Q. Do you need a guided tour of the Colosseum?
A. Colosseum entrance includes Roman Forum, Capitoline and Palatine Hills. You can better understand this magnificent place where the Roman Empire was born and developed with hundreds of tours offered by expert guides. It would be more fun to get detailed information about the places you visited.

Q. Which Colosseum tour is best?
A. You can list more than 200 alternatives on our website according to their prices, Traveler's rating or editor's choice. In this way, you can list the most preferred or most affordable tours.

Q. How to access the Arena, Belvedere and the Underground?
A. If you book a guided Colosseum tour, then you can also have access to these exclusive parts of the Colosseum. Not guided visit to these areas is not possible.

Q. Can you visit the Colosseum at night?
A. It is possible to visit the Colosseum and Roman Forum at night. However, these visits are accompanied by a guided tour just like Colosseum Underground visits.

Q. Can I access Vatican as well with Colosseum tickets?
A. If this is what you want, you need to buy special tickets that gives you to the Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica and Sistine Chapel as well. Standard tickets provides access to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum only.

Q. How much time does it take to complete a tour at the Colosseum?
A. 1 hour for each landmark is the most optimum – that makes, for a complete tour of Palatine Hill, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, it takes around 3 hours.

Q. What is the best time to visit the Colosseum?
A. The most ideal days to visit Colosseum are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There are two ideal options as time. One of these is preferring the early hours which Colosseum will open in the morning. The other option is after 3:00 p.m. Colosseum will be less crowded during these times.

Q. Can you take pictures in the Colosseum?
A. There are restrictions for taking pictures at Colosseum, Roman Forum and other areas.