Walks (WalksDevour) · Colle Oppio
Walks runs this three-hour tour in groups of 16 at most: the Colosseum with your guide, then the Palatine and the Roman Forum. Pick it for the guiding and the small group, and pick the right option, because the arena floor comes with only some of them.
Walks is one of the big English-language tour companies in Rome and calls itself an official Parco Archeologico del Colosseo operator. This listing bundles six products under one title. The Group Tour - Gladiator's Gate is the classic: about 1 hour 35 minutes in the Colosseum, with the arena platform and the first and second levels, then 45 minutes on the Palatine and 40 in the Forum. The ticket behind it is the Park's EUR 24 Full Experience Arena.
Here is the catch. The inclusions say "Special access to Colosseum Arena Floor (if option selected)", and the $72 from-price is the cheapest of the six options. The options that carry the arena are Group Tour - Gladiator's Gate, Arena Express Tour, Private Tour - Gladiator's Gate and Private Underground Tour. The Colosseum Express Tour and the Colosseum & SUPER Sites Tour do not name the arena, and in September 2026 several guests who booked by the page title found out at the gate that their option had no floor access. One wrote that the operator told her "the title has nothing to do with what was booked". Read the option name before you pay, and expect the Gladiator's Gate group option to cost more than $72.
Two more things guests point out. The Arena Express option runs on the Park's EUR 18 Only Arena ticket, which gives about 20 minutes on the platform and no upper levels. And there is no separate gladiators' entrance for tour groups: guests say you go through the normal security line with everyone else. Anyone can buy the arena ticket on the official site when slots are left. What Walks adds is a guide, a held slot and the walk through the Forum.
Across the street from Oppio Caffè, Via delle Terme di Tito 72, at the gated entrance to Colle Oppio Park. The guide holds a yellow WalksDevour sign.
Every ticket is named. The guide hands over the tickets and you show a passport or ID card at the gate, children included.
On the arena options you walk out onto the wooden platform at the east end, then climb to the first and second levels. On the Arena Express you stay on the platform only.
Up through the imperial palaces, with views down over the Circus Maximus. Some guides stop at the House of Augustus.
Down the Via Sacra past the Arch of Titus and the temples. The tour ends inside the Forum, where you can stay as long as you like.
★★★★★We really enjoyed our tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum. Vincenzo was an extremely knowledgeable guide and taught us so much in 3 hours. The visit to the well preserved House of Augustus was amazing!
★★★★★Excellent tour, went through gladiator gate. Tour took 2.5hrs around colosseum & palatine hill. Guide very knowledgeable & didn't rush [...] Highly recommend
★★★★★Our guide, Niccolò from WalksDevour, was fantastic. Extremely knowledgeable, giving us many interesting facts about life in the time of the gladiators. I would recommend good footwear- trainers or similar- as the paths can be slippery and uneven in parts.
★★★★★Our small group tour wound up being our 3 plus one other couple which made it feel very intimate. We really enjoyed this tour!
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Only on some options. The Group Tour - Gladiator's Gate, Arena Express, Private Gladiator's Gate and Private Underground options include it. The Colosseum Express and Colosseum & SUPER Sites options do not, and the $72 from-price is the cheapest option, not the arena one.
Not as a private entrance. Guests report going through the normal security line with everyone else, then onto the platform at the arena's east end, where the Romans had a gate. The name describes where you stand, not a separate door.
The listing puts about 1 hour 35 minutes in the Colosseum on the full group option, arena and both levels together. The Arena Express uses the Park's Only Arena ticket, which allows about 20 minutes on the platform and no upper levels.
At Via delle Terme di Tito 72, across the street from Oppio Caffè, by the gated entrance to Colle Oppio Park. It's a five-minute walk uphill from the Colosseo metro. The guide holds a yellow WalksDevour sign.
Ready to book
Walks' group of 16 at most. Pick an arena option to get the floor.
Arena Floor, Roman Forum & Palatine TourThe arena floor in every option, a live guide inside the Colosseum, then the Forum and Palatine. Check in at the purple-flag office.★ 4.7 · 2 to 3 hours · from $91
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
Colosseum, Forum & Palatine, Arena OptionalA well-reviewed three-site tour. The low price is the Basic option without the arena; Arena Group costs more.★ 4.6 · 3 hours · from $55