Colosseum in Rome lights timing

What time of year are you going?

Of course, at this time of year, sunrise is at 5:30 am, but of course it starts getting lighter before that time...

mid to late August ; sunrise looks to be between 6:20 - 6:30
Been to Rome before but never for photography so jumped on an opportunity to include a 23 hour stopover in Rome on another flight this summer.
Can wake up whenever needed though.

Not sure if they are auto lights (come on when dark, turn off when light) or controlled lights that are turned off a preset time.
Figure if know one knows for certain someone may have stayed in a hotel next to it and noticed if they were still on in the very early morning.

I hate to say it...we actually stayed in an apartment with a view of the colosseum out the window..we were a block away...and I never took notice! I was awake usually at 6am, butnever had the shutters open...hopefully someone else can help!

I will say - looking at my pictures from that trip (it was the second week of Sept, so darker a bit earlier) that we were over by the Col at about 8:30pm (judging from my time stamps) then up to Emmanuel monument and back by Col about 9:30 - there weren't many people about - not many in my photos anyways - you may be ok to go at 11pm or so and not run into too many people (unless you can find out if it is lit all night).

I appreciate it Nicole.
While I am not positive I am under the impression now that it does stay lit until start of light in the morning (automatic type) as reading attraction reviews on TA people mention watching the sunrise over it and some of those mention the lights on prior to that, so early pre-dawn sounds like my best option. I would prefer that blue hour type background over blackness so is better for light and will definitely not have people in the way at that hour.
It is also easier to only walk to the area of the Forum/Colosseum once.
I searched the term "sunrise" under the reviews section of the Colosseum.

Oh yeah - blue hour would be great. I kinda feel like the lights would be on as well. I was hoping someone from Rome would pop up - I'll ask on my couchsurfing site in the Rome forum and see if I get any response from folks living there.

My mom and I would get up and go walk over at 7am before any crowds came around. It was quite nice.

Oh - I just googled blue hour Colosseum photos - I'm gonna say it stays lit. Most could have been evening blue hour, as opposed to morning blue hour, but here is one that the fellow did in the a.m.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbarry5/17046711759

Ah ; perfect!!!
Thank you Nicole, great detective work.

This gentleman even mentioned doing exactly what I was hoping to do
"Anyway, on this particular morning, I shot the Colosseum during the morning blue hour, then fast-walked it over to a spot overlooking the Roman Forum. That makes for a pretty productive morning shoot, really"

Think that answers it for me.

Best of luck - hope the weather cooperates!

Yeah with 1 chance to get it right, not much margin but you win some you lose some when it comes to things out of your control.
Been to Rome a couple of times before and no printable photos (those were before my photo interests) so would be nice to just get one good one.
In a few years I hope to go ahead for more than 1 day, this just kind of popped up (same price as the airfare I was about to book) but went a little out of the way and gave me 23 hours in Rome ; vs. flying out a day later and having a 4 hour layover in the Amsterdam airport. Kind of crazy since our actual trip is to Norway.
Appreciate it!

Wow - sounds like a full day - but 23 hrs in Rome is better than nothing! I've def been more aware of my picture taking and best time of day for light since I first travelled over. And I started following people on IG to get ideas for picturesque spots...or Pinterest.

My one regret from our trip to Amsterdam in April was that we never stayed out into the evening. Now seeing lots of pretty nighttime photos of the canals, I'm kicking myself. But between just being tired (and actually being physically ill on day 3) and the evenings were quite cool, we just wanted to stay in. If I'd packed some warmer clothing, I may have ventured out. My best morning was the one where I left hubby snoring and went out at 7am to go over to the IAmsterdam sign...barely a soul around and I was able to get some shots of the sign without people hanging all over it, and a lovely sunrise to boot! But I imagine next time we hit Ams, it'll be during a warmer time of year, so I won't mind going out into the evenings.

PS - if you remember, you'll have to LMK how it goes!

Thanks Nicole!

Have never done an overnight layover. Had them long enough to venture out of the airport before but I am hoping the chance to fly direct, sleep overnight in a hotel and then fly again will feel more relaxed than a long wait at a airport midday or touring a city in between.

We will see.

I am fearful of those potential new restrictions on cameras in your carry-on, if I have to check the bag I will be in Rome with no camera!!! Even if that is not an issue for me, my fairly large tripod could be an issue, I have always checked that in a bag, since it is longer than would fit inside my carry-on, strapping to the carry-on may not work.

Little worried about the heat/humidity of Rome in August and totally uncertain of what to see/do in Rome since we have been to the sites and only time now to see limited things again. My wife is unaware of the trip details so I cannot ask her in advance if she would rather do to St. Peters again or the Colosseum again, for example.

I definitely try to get the photo locations I really want at their best chance for good light ; not always easy to do though.
Mid day I am fine taking family snapshots or have even used just my iPhone if I know I can return at a later date with the camera and tripod in-tow.
I find mornings are the easiest when on a trip with the family as my wife and daughter can sleep in and even have a relaxing breakfast while I am out. Skipping dinner for a nice sunset is not as easy to explain.

Funny you mentioned Amsterdam, I was giving serious debate to an option on the way home that stopped over for a similar most all day/overnight in Amsterdam on the return flight. I may regret it, as I have never been and like you enamored by the many night canal photos I have seen online but for whatever reason the option of AMS long stopover it allowed me to book but only if I did not do the beginning Rome stopover???
Seems to be something in the booking system that prevented me from having 2 almost all day stopovers on a single R/T
So I kind of choose Rome over Amsterdam. If it let me I would have booked both and left Norway a day earlier.

My first time in Rome, I stayed in the Pantheon area and the walk to the Colosseum was 15-20 minutes, so I wouldn't say you'd be out of the way at 4am.
I have a question for you because I will be there again in September: Where is it you plan to shoot from in the Forum area. The day I was there was packed with A LOT of sites and scenes, so vantage points in the Forum are not particularly clear in my aging mind.

Capitoline hill at sunrise is best for the Roman Forum

Good news for me they decided against the carry on electronic ban!

Thank you.

Re: the carry on electronics ban... I am still looking for solutions in case the idea comes back around and is instituted within 72 hours of a decision to enact it.

I have 8 weeks until departure, which I'm not so concerned about. It's the return in 10 weeks that I'm keeping tabs on. Especially bad for me (or anybody) if the ban were enacted while in Europe. That would eliminate one of my options for getting the camera safely back to the ol' homestead.

I don't think there is much chance of it coming up again this calendar year so no longer worried about it.
They made changes to the security protocols which is going to likely mean longer lines and more searches through our bags to inspect our cameras, batteries, ipads, etc... when taking flights to the US from Europe but they will surely give that a trial run for awhile before abandoning it.
They are even lifting the current ban from the current airports which is great news if you had booked a Turkish Air or similar flight. Those airlines need to comply to the new security protocols but from what I read it sounds like an outright ban is not going to happen anymore (at least not in 2017) ; if it was still on the table they would not have lifted the ban from those existing airports.