You want to visit the Colosseum but you don’t know what type of ticket to choose? Here I inform you about the different tickets available as well as some advice to discover the Roman ruins.
Which tickets to choose for the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine Hill?
When looking for your Colosseum tickets, you will notice that most of the tickets also include a tour to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. If you are not familiar with them, you should know that they are the most important archaeological sites that gather many Roman remains next to the Colosseum.
You can choose between two prices to plan your visit:
- Classic Entrance at €18: this ticket allows you to access the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill as well as the temporary exhibitions.
- Full Experience at €24: this ticket includes the classic entrance and access to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and some additional archaeological sites such as the Palatine Museum, the House of Augustus, the Oratory of the Forty Martyrs, etc.
These entries can be combined with a guided tour.
Looking further on the ticket sales site, I saw that there is also an entrance called “Luna Sul Colosseo” for €25 that allows you to attend a guided tour of the Colosseum at the end of the day. If you are interested in this tour with fewer people, you should know that it does not allow access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. If you want to do it all, you’ll have to buy additional tickets.
Check out the current price on GetyourGuide.
Do I need a guide to visit the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill?
Of course, you can enter the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine Hill with a regular ticket and visit at your own pace. However, many guided tours are available.
We had chosen not to take a guide and we regretted it. On the one hand, there are very few information panels either in the Colosseum or in the Forum. This makes the visit rather superficial.
On the other hand, even though these are highly touristic places, there are no indications to understand where you can go (or not) according to the chosen tickets. There are few signs and no map is provided to help people find their way. It’s quite funny and very frustrating, but at the entrance of the Colosseum, we simply missed the access to the arena while we had Full Experience tickets.
Moreover, the tour does not make a loop and it is not allowed to go back down the stairs in the opposite direction…
To make the most of your visit, I strongly advise you to :
- Buy a ticket with a guided tour included (from 32 €). You will then have a lot of information about the ancient ruins that you will discover.
- Or take an audioguide or videoguide.
- Or at least prepare your visit by downloading a map of the places (Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill) to be sure not to miss anything.
How do I book a visit?
The easiest way is to make your reservation online on the official website: coopculture.it. There you will find the different tickets available with their conditions.
From what I’ve seen, the dates are open for booking on a rolling-month basis. I would advise you to book as early as possible to have a choice of dates, times and ticket types. We bought our tickets 8 days before our stay and the remaining slots were very limited (no more tickets in the morning!).
The validity time of your ticket starts with the visit of the Colosseum, so don’t expect to see the Forum and the Palatine Hill before, but rather after. For this reason, we would have liked to have had tickets for the first hours of the morning.
How long is the ticket valid?
The time of validity depends on the type of ticket chosen. The classic admission tickets to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill are valid at the time indicated on them and for 24 hours. Full Experience tickets can be used for 2 days.
Whatever ticket you buy, it must be used on the day and at the time indicated to enter the Colosseum. However, you should plan to arrive 15 minutes before, because there may be a wait at the entrance. Afterwards, you can go to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill once on the following day.
AmélieI love travels, photos and food. Through this blog, I like to share my experiences and travel tips.
