You can purchase a ticket to the Colosseum for €12.00 and this will also include admission to the Palatine and the Roman Forum. The ticket will be valid for use on 2 successive days. If you choose to purchase the
Roma pass, the Colosseum is an eligible choice for one of your free tickets. With the Roma pass or the stand alone ticket, you will be able to explore the first 2 levels of the Colosseum. If you want to see more, you can book a guided tour of the hypogeum and the 3rd level for and additional €9.00 (as of 2013). For more information about booking this tour, check out my previous post,
Optional Extras.
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| Heading into battle |
Make sure you book using the
Colosseum’s website. There are other tour groups that offer a similar tour but I doubt their validity. Plus, booking through the Colosseum gets you a guide that works there; our guide introduced herself as an archaeologist and during the tour her knowledge was evident. Another bonus: the tours are comprised of small groups, about 20 people.
Our first stop on the tour was the reconstructed arena floor. We were at gladiator level, and the size of the building was more apparent than ever. It would be very intense fighting for your life against man or beast, even more so under the watchful stares of 50,000 pairs of eyes.
Next we descended to the hypogeum where we were able to see many of the original architectural components. This area survived because after the Colosseum fell into disuse, the area filled in with mud and dirt and it remained covered until excavations in the late 1800s.
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| The moss covered ruins indicate the amount of moisture present in the hypogeum |
The area is damp, dark, and prone to flooding. There is the possibility of your tour not visiting the area if it floods. You are warned of this possibility when you purchase your ticket. Also, you are reminded that access to the hypogeum and the 3rd level of seating are conditional on your ability to climb stairs. Visiting Rome is not for those faint of heart or weak in the knees.
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| View of the forum from the 3rd level of the Colosseum |
The final stop on the tour was the 3rd level. Due to recycling, this level in incomplete and does not go completely around the ellipse. Like the rest of the building it is open air, allowing views of the skeletal interior as well as parts of the nearby Roman forum.
I highly recommend this tour. We visited in the morning, in February, the low season, and the place was still packed. I can’t imagine the crowds during the high season. The first 2 (public) levels are very noisy and crowded, but during the tour the area is quiet and secluded, allowing you to fully appreciate the unique history around you.
The underground/3rd floor tour was definitely worth it!! So amazing and a very different view of the Colosseum! Also make sure to book online. When we were leaving the line for tickets was a couple hundred people long.
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