Colosseum
The shady business behind Colosseum Tickets
The Colosseum is possibly the most popular and overcrowded tourist attraction in the world. Official tickets can solely be purchased on the Colosseum's own website or at the door. All tickets that you obtain via other sources, such as guided tours, have been pre-purchased by the tour operator in advance and are more expensive and aggressively marketed. Odds are that when the official Colosseum tickets are sold out a reseller may still have inventory available at a premium.
When not buying at the official website, make sure to pay attention to the offered services. Most notably those are:
- An official but resold ticket, meaning you get a real, digital ticket but at a higher price
- A "getting-in" service which involves a tourguide essentially getting you into the Colosseum using a group-ticket they own. Once inside you're on your own and the tourguide leaves
- A tour with an (official) tourguide, including a Colosseum access ticket;
On the plus side, when official tickets are sold out then Online Travel Agencies such as Tiqets collect many different ticket sources under one product, making it easy and convenient to get tickets for your preferred date. This may force you to buy a guided tour but in the end that is likely to improve your experience!
Different type of Colosseum experiences
The Colosseum contains 3 areas that can be visited depending on the obtained ticket:
- The Arena Floor used to be a wooden floor on top of which the spectacles took place. It was partially reconstructed and can be visited to see the arena from the gladiators' perspective;
- The Underground Area is a network of tunnels and chambers below the arena from where elevators and pulleys used to lift slaves and animals to the arena floor;
- Spectators watches the show from the Balconies. Higher-up balconies were reserved for lower-class citizens and women and the front-row seats were for the elites.
Tickets with Balcony access:
- Colosseum & Mamertine Prison
- Colosseum & Roman Forum + Audio Guide
- Colosseum, Arena & Roman Forum + Audio Guide
- Colosseum & Roman Forum + Guided Tour
Tickets with Arena Floor access:
- Colosseum, Arena & Roman Forum + Audio Guide
- Colosseum Arena Floor + Express Guided Tour
- Colosseum Arena Floor & Roman Forum + Guided Tour
- Colosseum Arena & Roman Forum + Small Group Guided Tour
Tickets with Underground access:
These tickets tend to sell out fast due to the limited capacity of the underground area and the requirement be accompanied by a guide.
Ongoing Exhibitions
There are currently no ongoing exhibitions
See all ongoing local exhibitions in Rome
Tickets for Colosseum
Nearby
- Spanish Steps → 1.9 kilometer
- Castel Sant'Angelo → 2.5 kilometer
- Borghese Gallery → 2.6 kilometer
- St. Peter's Basilica → 3.1 kilometer
- Saint Peter → 3.2 kilometer
- Vatican Museums → 3.6 kilometer
- Airport Transfer Rome (Fiumicino) → 23.5 kilometer