Colosseum Guided Tour: Arena Floor, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum

Step out of the highly-trafficked areas of Rome's most famous attraction with this special-access Colosseum arena floor tour. You’ll enter the Colosseum via the ‘Gladiator’s Gate’ – the side entrance once used exclusively by gladiators.

 This Exclusive Entrance is not only the quickest way to get into the Colosseum; it gives you the full gladiator-eye-view of what it was like to enter the amphitheatre for combat nearly 2,000 years ago. Once inside, you'll embark on an in-depth Colosseum Arena Floor tour.[readmore]Standing on a wooden reconstruction of the original arena floor, you'll have amazing, 360-degree views of the Colosseum. This area is closed to the general public, so it's also one of the best places to soak up the majesty of the building and listen to your expert guide tell stories about the famous blood sports that once took place in the very place you are standing. 

After your Colosseum arena floor tour, you'll also get to explore the general access areas of this monumental building with your guide and group (of no more than 25 people). Over the course of an hour, you'll see the first and second tiers, including a balcony which offers a great viewpoint over the Roman Forum and Arch of Constantine.

Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Leaving the Colosseum, you'll skip the line into the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill for a fully-guided tour of the centre of ancient Rome. As they are active archaeological sites, these attractions can be difficult to decipher, but with an expert guide to lead you, the ruins will come to life. Highlights include the cremation point of Julius Caesar, Senate buildings, opulent palaces, and the Temple of the Vestal Virgins.

We've kept this tour affordable by increasing our standard group size (although still smaller than a lot of other Colosseum tour operators). At 25 people or fewer, your tour will be a little less intimate than our Premium Colosseum Tour, but it won't be cattle-herding either. We include headsets for every guest, so you won’t have to struggle to hear your guide, which is a good thing because they're well worth hearing. Throughout the tour, your guide will focus more on the stories and legends of these sites than a long list of dates and emperors, so you leave with a vivid picture of what life was like in Ancient Rome and a handful of stories you'll be repeating for years to come.