LivTours · Colosseo metro (upper exit)
LivTours takes no more than six guests through the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine, with the arena floor on one of its three options. Pick it for the group size and the best rating of any tour here, and book the ARENA option by name.
Read the option list before anything else. This listing has three: Colosseum ARENA & Ancient Rome, Option WITHOUT the Arena and Private Tour UPGRADE. The arena floor, entered through the Gladiator's Gate, comes with the first one. The listing's own wording is "access to the Arena Floor through the Gladiator's Gate entrance (if option selected)". The from-price shown on Viator is for the cheapest option, which can be the one without the arena. The arena option costs more; check the option list for your date.
What you pay for is the group. Six guests is the cap, and reviewers keep coming back to it: questions get answered, the guide finds quieter routes, and a few groups ended up with the guide to themselves. The listed itinerary puts the Colosseum first, for about an hour and a half, then the Forum for an hour and the Palatine for half an hour, though the order can change with the entry slot. Guides include archaeologists and art historians, by guests' accounts.
Two points before you pay. The 24-hour cancellation window is the most generous of any tour here, but LivTours warns that start times can move with ticket availability. And this is about three hours on foot with plenty of steps, so a guest suggested it's not ideal for young children. The cheaper way to stand on the floor is the official Full Experience Arena ticket at EUR 24, if you can get one; LivTours adds a small group and a guide, not access you can't buy yourself.
Largo Gaetana Agnesi, under the red Metro "M" sign outside the upper-floor entrance of Colosseo station. Not the lower exit by the Colosseum.
Through security with your guide. On the ARENA option you walk out onto the platform, with the closest view of the underground you get without an underground ticket.
Temples, the Senate house and the Via Sacra, at a pace six people can keep.
The imperial palaces and the view over the Forum to finish. The order of the sites can change with your slot.
★★★★★So much better being in a small, intimate tour like this than those large group tours. The large group tours might be cheaper but the extra money spent was so worth it! [...] Our guide seamlessly moved us around and into other places where no other groups were.
★★★★★Paula also knew all the work arounds to get us to entrances so that we would not have to stand in long lines and she walked a reverse path to keep us mainly going down hill at a comfortable pace.
★★★★★Guide was incredibly knowledgeable as an archeologist [...] She provided incite on the happenings underneath of the coliseum floor and how individuals and animals moved about.
★★★★★Our group of five was small enough to be able to engage in conversations and ask questions.
Read next:
Colosseum ARENA & Ancient Rome. The Option WITHOUT the Arena has no floor access, as its name says, and the Private Tour UPGRADE turns the tour into a private one for your party. Check which one your price is for before you pay.
Not necessarily. Viator shows the cheapest option, and that can be the one without the arena. The arena option costs more; check the option list for your date.
In Largo Gaetana Agnesi, under the red Metro "M" sign at the upper-floor entrance of Colosseo metro station (Line B). The station also has a lower exit by the Colosseum; make sure you're at the upper one.
Yes. Children aged 3 to 17 have their own price band and under-3s go as infants. All of them need a named ticket and ID. It's three hours of walking with steps, so think about whether younger kids will last.
Ready to book
Six guests per guide and the best rating here. Choose the ARENA option to stand on the floor.
Small-Group Colosseum & Forum with Arena FloorFifteen people at most, the arena floor written into the base ticket and a certified guide for all three sites.★ 4.8 · 2 hours 30 minutes · from $97
Gladiator's Gate Colosseum Tour, Arena OptionWalks' groups of 16 through the Colosseum, Palatine and Forum. The arena floor comes only with the arena options.★ 4.7 · 3 hours · from $72
Private Underground, Arena & Ancient Rome TourUnderground, arena and both tiers with your own guide, plus Forum and Palatine. Non-refundable, priced per person.★ 4.7 · 3 hours · from $516