Colosseum

We've done three tours over the years with https://www.througheternity.com/en/colosseum-tours/ and never been disappointed. I'd recommend a tour that includes the Forum and Palatine Hill which I found far more interesting than the Colosseum.

We are visiting Rome in March and booked a tour with them as well for the Colosseum Underground that includes the Forum and Palatine Hill. The underground tickets are more difficult to get, and increase the cost, but we are traveling with our 13-year-old and thought it might add something interesting for him. We looked through most of the companies in the guidebook and all had good reviews, so you probably can't go wrong with any of them. The other place we looked was https://www.toursbylocals.com. We are using them for an Early AM Vatican Tour. Good Luck!

We did the longer tour with Walks in June 2023 and were immensely disappointed. In fact, some folks peeled off from the group all together. We could hardly hear, it was ridiculously rushed (we were practically running through the Colosseum), rather chaotic, and not enjoyable. We do better on our own but in Italy it seems you have to buy these tours to even get in or you'll be standing in lines for an eternity. Have to agree with the prior comment that while the Colosseum seems like it will be the scene stealer, it's actually the Forum. Definitely get a tour with all three sites. My major gripe with the tours is you're hustled through to met their timeline AND once you leave each section (ex: you leave the Colosseum to go to Palatine Hill then leave there to go to the Forum) you can't go back in to explore or look at your own pace. Make sure you find a tour that ENDS at the Forum because that is where you'll want to really take it all in and probably spend more time after your tour is over. Just know in advance you cannot go back to the prior stops on the tour. It's worth making the recommendation to go to Musei Capitolini. The entire place is wonderful but if nothing else, go to enjoy the absolutely incredible views of the Forum!

Following and hoping to see some affordable options...the cost of tour groups is very expensive for a family of 4.

You might want to consider a private tour with medium sized groups--we're traveling (total 5 of us) in June. I did the math and found it cheaper to do a private tour with highly recommended Sonia Tavoletta.

We booked our tour with The Tour Guy. We were very happy with our tour. The guide was friendly and knew her stuff. We toured the Colosseum and the Forum.