Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine with a guide

4.8/5

About 93,382 reviews on GetYourGuide

The official ticket costs 18 euros; this tour costs 59 and puts a licensed guide in front of the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine for two and a half hours. For a first visit, that is the money well spent. Add the arena floor if you can.

Free cancellationUp to 72 hours before, with a full refund
Entry ticket includedBooked for your slot and in the price
Duration: 2.5 hoursStart times show in the calendar
Live guideEnglish, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese

The Colosseum is the easy part. You walk in, look up, and the scale does the work. The Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill next door are the hard part: a field of broken columns, brick and grass that means very little without someone to tell you that this stump was the Senate house, that slab the spot where Caesar was cremated, and the hill above it the place every emperor wanted to live. That is what you are paying a guide for, and why the official ticket covers all three on one entry.

The official site sells the 24-hour ticket for the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine at 16 euros plus a 2-euro booking fee, and the Full Experience, which adds the arena floor or the underground, at 22 plus 2. Tickets go on sale 30 days ahead, carry each visitor's name, and are checked against ID at the gate. This tour sells for 59 euros with the ticket in the price, so the guide, the headsets and someone else doing the booking cost you about 41 euros.

It runs for two and a half hours, two in July and August, with a licensed guide in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish or Portuguese, and a small-group version for a little more. The order of the three sites can change on the day, at the Colosseum's say. Pick the option with the arena if you can: the floor was rebuilt over part of the underground, and standing on it, looking up at the tiers, is a different visit from looking down from the stands.

Why this one

GetYourGuide sells dozens of versions of this visit. This one has more reviews than any other guided Colosseum tour, about 93,000, and holds 4.8 across them, with guides scored 4.8 out of 5. That volume matters for a ticket that has to be named, dated and matched to your ID: it is a machine that works.

The cheaper choice is Ivo Tours' version at 39 euros, rated 4.5 from about 29,000 reviews, which takes the arena option through the gladiators' gate. It is the better buy if price is what decides it. It cancels up to 24 hours before rather than three days, but in bad weather the arena can close without notice and without a refund. If you want no guide at all, buy the official ticket yourself, and give yourself time on the Palatine.

Compared withColosseum: guided tour or the official ticket?

Good for

A first visit to Rome
Families: guides are good with children, and under-18s enter free on the official price
Anyone who wants the Forum explained, not just walked through

Not for

Plans that might change inside three days
Wheelchair users on the Palatine, which is steep and uneven
Repeat visitors who know the Forum: buy the official ticket and go at your own pace

When to go

How hot it is on the Forum, month by month. The afternoon high is the median daily maximum for central Rome over the five years 2021 to 2025, with the hottest day in ten after it; rainy days are the share with at least 1 mm of rain.

Month	Afternoon high	Rainy days
Jan	13°C / 16°C	33%
Feb	15°C / 17°C	24%
Mar	17°C / 20°C	32%
Apr	19°C / 24°C	36%
May	24°C / 29°C	37%
Jun	31°C / 36°C	19%
Jul	35°C / 38°C	10%
Aug	33°C / 37°C	22%
Sept	29°C / 32°C	27%
Oct	23°C / 27°C	32%
Nov	18°C / 21°C	40%
Dec	14°C / 17°C	31%

Modelled from historical weather (Open-Meteo, ERA5). The second figure is the hottest afternoon in ten. Rainy days is the share of days with 1 mm of rain or more.

From our Rome hotels

Walking times are routed from each hotel in our Rome edit to the Colosseum, where the tour meets; the exact spot is in your confirmation. Palazzo Manfredi looks straight at it.

Palazzo ManfrediColle Oppio4 min walkAn easy walk
The Inn at the Roman ForumMonti10 min walkAn easy walk
Six Senses RomeCentro Storico21 min walkAn easy walk
Rhinoceros RomaVelabro23 min walkAn easy walk
Orient Express La MinervaPigna25 min walkAn easy walk
Hotel San AnselmoAventino29 min walkTaxi, bus or metro
Eitch Borromini Palazzo PamphiljPiazza Navona32 min walkTaxi, bus or metro
Bvlgari Hotel RomaCampo Marzio34 min walkTaxi, bus or metro
ROMEO RomaCampo Marzio36 min walkTaxi, bus or metro
Donna Camilla SavelliTrastevere43 min walkTaxi, bus or metro

The facts

Duration: 2.5 hours, 2 hours in July and August
Language: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish or Portuguese, by departure
Included: Licensed guide, headsets, entry to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine; the arena floor with that option
Not included: The underground, food and drink, hotel transfers
Official price: 16 euros plus a 2-euro booking fee; Full Experience with the arena or underground 22 plus 2; under-18s free; free on the first Sunday of the month
Hours: From 25 October to 28 February last entry 3.30pm, closing 4.30pm; longer from March
Not allowed: Large bags, glass, sprays, food and drink, pets
Cancellation: Free up to 72 hours before
Price: From 59 euros on GetYourGuide; the calendar shows today's price
Run by: Crown Tours, Rome

What guests keep saying

Recurring themes in the tour’s reviews, in our words, never quoted.

Praised

Guides who can make the Forum make sense, with stories rather than dates
Patience and humour with children
A meeting point that is easy to find, and clear messages before the day

Complaints

A little rushed in places: two and a half hours across three sites is tight

The catch

Your name, exactly as on your passport
Colosseum tickets are personal. The operator needs the full official name and date of birth of everyone in the booking, and says entry is refused if they are wrong. Name changes on the official system are limited too.
What to do. Type the names from the passports when you book, children included, and bring the passports.
Three days to cancel, not one
Free cancellation on this tour closes 72 hours before the start, where most Rome tours allow 24. After that the money is gone.
What to do. Book once your Rome dates are fixed, not as a placeholder.
There is no shade on the Forum
The Forum and the Palatine are open ground. In the five summers we looked at, the afternoon high in Rome had a median of 34.5°C in July and 33.1°C in August, and one day in ten reached 37.7°C or more in July.
What to do. From June to September take the first slot of the day, a hat and water, and leave the Forum for the morning.
Security still queues
The ticket line is the one you skip. Everyone, guided or not, goes through airport-style security at the Colosseum and again at the Forum, and in high season that queue can be long.
What to do. Arrive at the meeting point when the confirmation says, not later, and travel light: large bags are not allowed in.
Winter closes early
From 25 October to the end of February the last entry is at 3.30pm and the site closes at 4.30pm, so an afternoon tour is short of light and time.
What to do. In winter, book a morning start.

Questions people ask

Good questions about Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine with a guide

Is a guided tour of the Colosseum worth it?

For a first visit, yes. The Colosseum explains itself; the Forum and the Palatine do not, and they are on the same ticket. This tour costs about 41 euros more than the official 18-euro ticket for a licensed guide across all three.

How much is the official Colosseum ticket?

16 euros plus a 2-euro booking fee for the 24-hour ticket to the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine, and 22 plus 2 for the Full Experience with the arena or the underground. Under-18s enter free, EU citizens aged 18 to 25 pay 2 euros, and everyone enters free on the first Sunday of the month.

Does this tour go onto the arena floor?

Only if you choose the arena option when you book. It costs more, and in exchange you stand on the rebuilt floor rather than looking down from the stands.

Does it include the underground?

No. The underground is a separate official visit, sold as part of the Full Experience, and not part of this tour.

What do I need to bring?

Passports or ID for everyone in the booking, with names matching what you entered, comfortable shoes and water. Large bags, glass and food are not allowed in.

How early should I book Colosseum tickets?

The official system opens 30 days ahead and the popular times go fast in spring and autumn. A tour like this one holds tickets of its own, which is often the way in once the official slots are gone.

The Colosseum

See dates and prices

If you book through our links we may earn a commission from GetYourGuide. It never affects which experiences we include. Operators cannot pay to be here. · Last checked: October 2026