Colosseum Arena Floor, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill Guided Tour

The Gladiators' Gate and the Colosseum arena floor

Few visitors ever stand where the fighters did. On this tour you enter at arena level through the Gladiators' Gate at the eastern end of the amphitheatre and walk out onto the partly reconstructed wooden floor. Looking up from the centre, the four tiers of seating that once held around 50,000 spectators rise all around you, and the scale of the Flavian Amphitheatre, inaugurated in AD 80, becomes real in a way the upper terraces cannot match.

Your guide explains how the games were organised, from the morning animal hunts to the afternoon gladiator contests, and how the seating reflected Roman society, with senators close to the action and ordinary citizens high above. This Colosseum arena floor tour spends about 30 minutes here. In heavy rain the floor can be closed at short notice, though entry through the gate still takes place.

The Colosseum underground

Beneath the arena lies the hypogeum, a two-level network of brick corridors, cages and service rooms added under the Flavian emperors after the opening. Here animals were held before the shows, fighters waited for their turn and stagehands worked a system of wooden lifts and trapdoors that could make wild beasts or scenery appear suddenly in the middle of the arena. Grooves in the walls and the bases of the lifting shafts are still visible.

Access to the underground is restricted and only possible with a guide, which is why this Colosseum underground tour option sells out early in spring and summer. You spend about 25 minutes below ground, where it is noticeably cooler, before returning to the upper levels to look over the whole interior from above. The underground is included only in the default option.

The Roman Forum and its triumphal arches

From the Colosseum you walk along the Via Sacra to the Roman Forum, for centuries the centre of politics, justice, trade and religion in Rome. The Arch of Titus, built after AD 81, marks the entrance with carved reliefs of a triumphal procession. Further on stand the brick Senate House, the eight columns of the Temple of Saturn that guarded the state treasury, the circular Temple of Vesta, and the Arch of Septimius Severus at the far end.

Your guide brings the ruins to life with the stories of elections, speeches from the Rostra and the funeral of Julius Caesar, whose temple still stands in the square that bears his name. Expect about 45 minutes in the Forum. The ground is uneven and partly unshaded, so comfortable shoes and water make a real difference.

The Palatine Hill and its views

The tour ends on the Palatine Hill, the most central of Rome's seven hills and, according to tradition, the place where the city was founded in 753 BC. Later the emperors built their palaces here, so large that the hill's name gave us the word palace. You walk past the remains of the imperial residences, their courtyards and the great stadium-shaped garden, along paths shaded by umbrella pines.

From the terraces the view sweeps over the Roman Forum on one side and the long oval of the Circus Maximus on the other, with the domes of the city beyond. Many travellers ask whether the Palatine Hill is worth visiting after the Colosseum; for the views and the quiet alone it is. Your guide spends about 30 minutes here, and you are free to stay on with your ticket afterwards.

Planning your Colosseum and Forum day

The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill open at 9:00 and close about an hour before sunset, so closing times range from mid-afternoon in winter to early evening in summer. The 10:30 start of the default option gives you morning light in the arena and finishes before the hottest part of the day.

The best time to visit the Colosseum is from October to April, when the crowds and temperatures are lower, but small groups and timed entry make summer visits comfortable too. Every participant must carry a passport or ID card, as names are checked against the tickets, and an airport-style security check takes place at the entrance. After the tour you are close to the Imperial Forums and Piazza Venezia for the rest of your day.