Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Itinerary.

Some tough questions to answer. Questions 5 and 6 will depend on your level of interest. We spent 6 hours on a on a tour that included all three with the quickest being the Colosseum. All we did though was see the main level. I thought the exterior of the Colosseum was more interesting to look at than the interior, but with a tour of the top and bottom it might be greatly improved. We spent about 5 of our 6 hour tour at the Forum and Palatine Hill and thought they were far more interesting, but without a tour all I would have seen were piles of rubble with no understanding of what it was and likely would only spent a couple of hours. Those sites are large and it takes time just because of that.

Thank you for posting! I am working on my Rome itinerary and am struggling a bit with figuring out answers to some of the same questions you are asking. I have my fingers crossed for securing a Colosseum Full Experience Attic Ticket. My trip is in October, so too soon to try,
I have read on various sites that say to allow an hour for each - Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill. I don't know if that amount of time also includes each of the Super Sites. It is recommended to take a Roman Forum/Palatine Hill tour rather than doing it on your own and I do think that would be a smart choice. However, I would prefer to go at my own pace, linger over the interesting and move on from what doesn't appeal to me. And, I love to take photos, so solo would allow me as much time as I wanted. I am thinking a minimum of 4 hours for me, but am interested in what advice others offer.

I have read on various sites that say to allow an hour for each - Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill.

That seems rather impractical. They give you 24 hours to visit the Forum after the Colosseum for a reason. If you get the attic ticket, that gives you additional things to see beyond the standard views. The "museum" exhibits on the upper level showing the history of the structure through the ages are interesting and you may want to take time with them. Plus you may have to navigate through crowds within the passageways.

For the Forum/Palatine, I would suggest doing on your own, given your preferences. Read the RS walking tour in advance, and have the tour on the Audio Europe app on your phone so you can listen while walking through. The SUPER sites will add more time - try to determine exactly where they are before your visit - we found that they were not well marked when we were there. A YouTube video or two in advance would be helpful as well.

So your four hours may be on the short end of reasonable. And to save time, bring water and snacks with you

i thought they sold out in seconds. do you think some one canceled and you slipped in?

They release the tickets by time slots, so for instance at 8:30 a.m. (Rome Time) on August 7th, they will release the tickets for 8:30 a.m. September 8th. Refreshing the website every 15 minutes is crucial to not miss your desired time slot.

I have my fingers crossed for securing a Colosseum Full Experience Attic Ticket.

The Colosseum - Full Experience Attic Tickets release every 20 minutes starting at 8:50 a.m. (Rome Time), FYI. So if you can't score the 8:50 a.m. ones, be sure to refresh the website every 20 minutes.

Below are a few tips for purchasing Colosseum tickets:

1) I found that refreshing the website at (let's say) 8:50 a.m. on the dot, or 9:10 a.m. on the dot, etc... didn't work (meaning new time slots/tickets weren't available yet). So I would recommend waiting 20 to 30 seconds after the clock hits your desired time to hit refresh, so that the new time slots/tickets show up. Basically, once the website asks "to verify that you are human", you know that the refresh is more likely successful.

2) However, DO NOT REFRESH TOO OFTEN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME or you will end up being "blocked" and won't be able to purchase tickets (I did several test runs on other days thankfully...) Trust me even clearing your cookies and caches or re-trying with an incognito window won't work... Therefore, refresh two to three times (four MAX) once the clock hits your desired time and then wait for the next time slot (in your case every 20 minutes).

3) The more devices the better. I had my laptop, my cell phone (on LTE) and my husband's cell phone (on LTE), so basically three different "IP Addresses" in case one of them ended being blocked (which did happen to my laptop). I ended up securing the Attic tickets with my husband's phone and the Underground & Arena tickets with my phone.

4) Don't waste your time putting the number of people, just go straight to the next month and click on your desired date. If you're lucky and the date is "open" (aka clickable), you will be able to select the open time slot, and then select the amount of tickets.

From there, it's a game of pure luck... If it does goes through, fill out all the necessary information (First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone Number, Credit Card info, etc...) as fast as you can to secure the tickets (even if it says you have 15 minutes to finish your transaction) because sometimes the cart does error out and the tickets disappear as you proceed to the next phase of securing the tickets... (it happened to me.)

If it does not go through, keep selecting the amount of tickets (do not refresh) until 1) it either goes through or 2) it errors out (and then you refresh the page).

5) If you're trying to purchase the tickets on a laptop or desktop, make sure to minimize the font of the screen, so that you don't waste time scrolling down to select the time slot and the number of tickets. Basically minimize your screen until you can see the entire page without having to scroll.

6) Be extremely patient and persistent! You'll get them! Good luck! :)