The Colosseum, Rome

The Colosseum is worth going inside, and most first-time visitors get the best value from the official 24-hour ticket. It costs €18 for an adult (about $20) and covers the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Pay €24 (about $27) for the Full Experience only if standing on the arena floor is the point of your trip.

The amphitheater was built in the first century by the Flavian emperors and opened in 80 AD with 100 days of games. The official site calls it the largest amphitheater in the world, and the park that runs it counted 14 million visitors in 2024. Every ticket has a set entry time, and the official site opens each date 30 days ahead.

In our experience, the people who enjoy it most booked the first slot of the day on the day it opened, then walked the Forum afterward. The ones who struggled bought a "skip the line" tour from someone at the gate. The entry time matters more than the ticket type here.

Snapshot

Prices and hours checked November 7, 2026, on colosseo.it, the official site of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo. Dollar amounts use the European Central Bank rate of November 6, 2026 (1 euro = 1.1165 dollars), rounded to the nearest dollar.

Why Visit the Colosseum

You can see the outside for free from the piazza and from the Metro exit, and plenty of people stop there. Going in gets you the view across the arena from the second tier. You also look down into the tunnels where the animals and stage sets waited.

The three things we wouldn't skip:

Also on every ticket: the Colosseum Museum on the upper level, the Roman Forum with its museum and the Curia, and the Palatine Hill with the lower floor of the Palatine Museum and the House of Augustus (closed Mondays). The attic, the third level with the panoramic lift, needs its own €24 ticket and a tolerance for steep steps.

Plan Your Visit

Our pick: the 24h ticket for most families, because the view from the second tier is the same and the Forum and Palatine are included. For two adults with two kids under 18, that's €36 (about $40). The Full Experience for the same family is €48 (about $54), and it's the one that sells out.

How to Reach, Entrances & Accessibility

Tours & Experiences

Most visitors don't need a tour of the Colosseum itself. The official timed ticket gets you in, the free MyColosseum app from the park has audio guides, and no tour of any kind skips the security check.

A guide earns the money in two cases. The first is the underground, which the park sells as a Full Experience ticket with an educational tour for €32 (about $36) per adult. The second is the Roman Forum, where the ruins don't explain themselves and forum regulars say a guide helps more than it does in the amphitheater. The park also runs A Night at the Colosseum on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM, for €50 (about $56), sold only on the official site from 7 days ahead.

Skip it if: someone outside the gate offers you a "skip the line" tour. Reviewers on Tripadvisor report paying €50 for one and being sent to the regular line. The park's own advice is to use only official sales channels and to check that the price you pay matches the face value printed on the ticket.

Resellers such as GetYourGuide sell guided visits with arena and underground access on their own time slots, for more than the official €24 ticket. That's worth it when the official calendar shows nothing for your date, or when you want a guide anyway. Read the cancellation terms before you pay, because the park itself refunds only for forced closures.

Don't leave this until you land in Rome. Official dates open 30 days ahead, the underground and attic go in minutes, and spring, summer and the Christmas week fill first. Pick your date and lock in a slot today.

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History

The Flavian emperors built the amphitheater in the first century AD. Vespasian started it on the site of a lake in Nero's palace grounds. His son Titus opened it in 80 AD with games that ran for 100 days, from June to September. The name comes from a colossal statue that stood beside it.

The first underground machinery was wooden, with 28 hoists by the park's count, and Domitian rebuilt the tunnels in masonry. Brick stamps show work continuing from his reign (81 to 96 AD) into Trajan's (98 to 117 AD). The passage named for Commodus, who ruled from 180 to 192, let the emperor reach his box without crossing the crowd.

Gladiator fights were abolished in 438 under Valentinian III, and the building slid into other uses. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance it was a quarry, and some of its stone went into St. Peter's Basilica. Parts of it housed workshops, animals and families.

Serious study began under French rule, when the architect Carlo Lucangeli explored the underground between 1810 and 1814. Pietro Rosa excavated it in 1874, and archaeologists returned in the 1890s. Today the Parco archeologico del Colosseo, set up by decree in 2017, runs the site with the Forum and Palatine.

Visitor Reviews

We read the recent threads on the Rick Steves travel forum, where American travelers compare notes on Rome. Two things come up again and again: how fast the special tickets go, and who to trust.

On September 3, 2025, a regular named Kate wrote of the underground tickets: "they can sell out in seconds" (Colosseum tickets sell out the second they open up for sale?). In the same thread, jeff offered the consolation that "you can look down into the underground from the regular areas."

On January 15, 2025, jeff explained the release pattern: "So a 9am ticket goes on sale at 9am Rome time 30 days in advance" (What time do they arrive to purchase?). That's 3:00 AM Eastern.

On December 31, 2025, Cyn warned a couple who couldn't find Full Experience tickets for late January about the tour companies that buy up slots, and added: "Scams are rife in Rome, sadly." (Colosseum tickets).

The fix is the same in every thread. Be on the official site 30 days before your slot, take the basic ticket if the special ones are gone, and ignore anyone selling at the gate. Compare the tickets.

Nearby Attractions

Your Colosseum ticket already covers the first two, so the day plans itself.

Don't pair the Colosseum with the Vatican Museums on the same day. They sit on opposite sides of the city, each needs a timed ticket, and each takes half a day on its own.

Frequently Asked Questions