Is it easy to tour Colosseum yourself or do you need a tour, are lines bad like Vatican? What about in July?
Posted by
New England
1662 posts
Hi ob3,
Yes, it's pretty easy to tour the Colosseum on your own.
Maybe the collection of recent threads may help you
I think tickets may sell out fast for the Colosseum, especially in July. Lines will be long.
https://www.coopculture.it/en/it/colosseo-e-shop.cfm
https://www.coopculture.it/en/it/ticket_office.cfm
Have you checked/compared tours from TheRomanGuy, WalksofItaly and DarkRome? Also, someone posted a reference to EternityTours.
Tickets bought yourself will be cheaper than a guided tour of course, but, guided tours are longer in length, get you in faster, and if someone is really into the depth of its history, then perhaps investing in a tour may be better.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16687 posts
Is it easy to tour Colosseum yourself....
Yes. We've done it with just our own guidebooks and an audioguide. Understand that you can only self-tour the main areas of the arena on your own, not the Underground, Belvedere or Arena Floor. All of these require an escorted tour.
...or do you need a tour?
An audioguide or escorted tour can help you understand what you're looking at if you don't want to do the pre-reading yourself. Rick offers a FREE audioguide tour you can download to your own devices:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy
....are lines bad like Vatican? What about in July?
YES. You do not want to try and sightsee this one without a pre-purchased, timed-entry ticket if visiting during summer high season. It's the #1 tourist attraction in Rome so ticket lines can be very, very long. If you are visiting in July, you'll want to spring for any tickets still available.
Posted by
Tennessee
41 posts
I’ve toured the Colosseum on my own with Rick’s guide. I wish I had taken a tour with a live guide. Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing being there and you can do it independently. But experience has taught me that great sights are better with a guide. So I’ve booked a tour with The Roman Guy in a few weeks for the underground, Colosseum and Forum. Especially since I’m taking my 12 and 13 year old kids this time, I wanted an expert teacher. I’ve cherry picked sights on our 3 week tour to pay for a guide to enhance our learning and experience.
Posted by
Seattle
221 posts
The advantage of being at an immense and ancient structure as the Colosseo while being guided is equal parts savvy time-saving elements well worth the cost (& more so at this vastly busy with visitors site) and the illuminating/informative/personal input received from a qualified guide. During recent visit, general entry tickets were sold for the day before noon. Maximum 3,000 allowed in at a timed schedule. Our group had a timed entry which worked perfectly and entering at the groups entry was terrific due to lack of any line and the lower level access we were going to enjoy on the visit. Amazing to realize how massive this arena (‘sand’) is and how long it has stood. Have an awesome time in Rome.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32392 posts
Yes, it's easy to tour by yourself. You might consider buying the entrance ticket on your own and then take one of the tours that are offered inside the Colosseum.
I'd suggest having a look at the RS Italy guidebook, as there are good suggestions in the book on how to avoid the long ticket queues, which will probably be excessively long in July. As I recall, you'll have to go through security before entering the Colosseum so be sure to allow time for that.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16687 posts
Just to add, if interested in a guided tour, these are the most economically priced tours you can buy:
July tickets for either "ordinary entrance" or tours are not yet available. See the schedule for ticket/tour availability on the right side of this page:
https://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm
If you decide to self tour, ordinary-entrance tickets will go on sale.....
QUARTERLY OPENING JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2019 Tuesday, May 21st at 3 pm
(italian time): The pre-sale of the first set of tickets with
scheduled entrance time for the ordinary access of the Colosseum, of
tickets with scheduled entrance time to the Coliseum arena, in
quarterly availability for the months of July August and September
2019 will be released both online and through the call center.Wednesday, May 22nd at 3 pm (italian time): The pre-sale of the second
set of tickets with scheduled entrance time for the ordinary access of
the Colosseum, of tickets with scheduled entrance time to the Coliseum
arena, in quarterly availability for the months of July August and
September 2019 will be released both online and through call centers.
I'm a little unsure when the tours I linked above will be available but I'd start watching the online calendar around the same time ordinary tickets go on sale.
Posted by
50 posts
Yes, it is very easy to tour Colosseum on your own. Be sure to book a ticket online to avoid long lines. But it's also interesting to get a guide, makes the tour more interesting and informative.