Best Colosseum tours

Jessica, if all you want is a basic tour (no underground or belvedere levels), then this is the tour I would book:

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=E6A1B5B3-BFDA-AC94-6929-0161B2E3A0C0&catalogid=BDB46B8C-0C49-10F2-6036-0167A8502B26&lang=en

It's a 45-minute tour offered by the official website for this attraction, and your ticket includes entry to the Forum and Palatine as well. You do have have to choose an open time slot for the tour, and then can visit the Forum and/or Palatine afterwards (but not before). I have not taken it but it's a very good price and, as with all tours or reserved ordinary-entrance tickets, you avoid the TICKET queue but not the security checkpoints; no one can skip those at any attraction which has them.

You don't say when you're planning to visit so tickets for whatever month that is may not be available yet. The morning tours also sell out the fastest.

Jessica, we used Walks of Italy for Colosseum and Vatican tours in Rome and St Mark’s in Venice. Their guides are very professional and informative. All tours were well worth the money.
This trip was my sister-in-law’s and my first visit to Rome and to Italy. It can be overwhelming to try to plan every thing that you want to do and see. So we did one tour per day, then wandered around on our own the rest of the day with no particular goal. It kept the anxiety down and we were able to relax and enjoy the sights and just being in Rome. We also took the Eating Italy Sunday food tour in the Jewish Ghetto.
Enjoy your trip.

Thank you all!

We used Walk of Italy for recent Colosseum and Vatican tours. Both met around 9:45-10am and lasted about 3 hours. Since we were traveling with our teen daughter, I booked later start times that worked well for us. Guides were excellent and we felt like we learned a lot. I’m not sure when your trip is, but we booked last November during a Black Friday sale and saved 20%.

Check out Presto tours! We used them for private tours of the colosseum and Vatican. I felt the price was reasonable. Kirsten was wonderful to arrange everything for us last minute. Our guide Jason was amazing!

We used through eternity for a Roman forum/palatine hill/colosseum tour. In total 14 people, split into 2 groups with their own guide. The tour was about 3.5 hours and we were given lots of history. We were given specific directions for our meeting point which was easy to find. Our guide took pictures for us.
We bought tickets a few months in advance.

Also used Walks of Italy and loved it! Did Palatine Hill and Colosseum and learned so much.

anyone ever use the roman guy?

anyone ever use the roman guy?

I haven't personally but along with WOI, that company gets lots of raves on the forum from posters who have.

3rd-party tours of the Colosseum by the better companies (WOI, Roman Guy, Context, etc.) can be very good indeed but are quite a lot more expensive than the coopculture tour I'd linked for Jessica. For the tourist on a budget, with time constraints, and/or who are happy with the basics, it's a good choice.

The new Coopculture 3-hr. tours - which include guided narration of the Palatine and Forum as well as the Colosseum - are very attractively priced as well but are only available in English once per day and appear to be selling quickly.

anyone ever use the roman guy?

I have not taken a tour with them. But, from the reviews they get, they are a very good to excellent tour company.

A lot of the guides have been with TRG for many years - including Sean - who used to lead tours (or maybe still does.) He spent over 10 years FT in Rome. It seems he has branched out into other parts of the company and may split his time between the States and Italy.

Sean narrates many of the YT videos about Rome, The Vatican City, and Italy. His colleague, Bojan is in some of the videos too. A couple of other guys are featured also.

Check out their YT vids if you have not done so. Or, they may help others browsing this thread. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRomanGuyTours
Scroll to their other (specific) videos.

The videos are entertaining, down-to-Earth, have many helpful suggestions and tips for the newer traveler and maybe a refresher for others. I have enjoyed watching them. I don't know Sean or anyone from The Roman Guy.

-corrected typo

one of the reasons I would consider taking their tour is because of their excellent youtube videos. I feel like they go the extra mile in encouraging people to travel and educate them on what to expect, so I would like to thank them by soliciting their business.

they go the extra mile in encouraging people to travel and educate them on what to expect, so I would like to thank them by soliciting their business.

Definitely nice idea! As you mentioned, their videos "say it all." And they really seem like a fun group. I enjoy the animated attitude of the narrators.

Eventually, I would like to take a tour with them on another return trip to Rome. My last two, I sort of self-served myself.

People have also taken Walks Of Italy tours and have been very satisfied as well. Dark Rome Tours occasionally get mentioned.

Have fun!

I would definitely agree that Walks of Italy are very good and worth it. We took the Gladiator Gate tour and it was great. Also took the hidden gems tour and it was nice to visit surrounding areas. Highly recommended...

when I was in the Colosseum I saw a few guides, some had huge groups and some had small groups which looked better but might be pricey, some of the guides seemed to be non Italian and a lot fo good guides are for sure Italian, they all looked like good fun and a good option especially for skipping that crazy line.