Trying to time the purchase of tickets to the Colosseum. We were successful with Vatican tickets and purchased exactly at midnight (Rome time) 60 days out. The Colosseum seems to be 30 days out but when I checked at 4pm Mountain time, they were all sold out? Has anyone mastered the timing? Thanks for your help!
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16609 posts
What day and what ticket are you looking at?
Posted by
OP
19 posts
Just was looking ahead for timing and tried to book the entry which includes the underground for the 9th of September (30 days from today) but was sold out.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16609 posts
Tickets for the underground are THE most in-demand tickets in Rome, When they become available, they can sell out in a matter of minutes. Just IMHO, it's not a huge deal if you don't get to see that part as many millions of visitors didn't get to do that before it was ever opened to the public, and haven't managed to get tickets for it since.
I'd suggest booking a ticket which includes the arena as you can peer down into the underground from above.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16609 posts
Would you happen to be in Rome on Thursday the 8th of September? Just so happens that there looks to still be a few (very few!) tickets for the Colosseum's English tour at night, which includes the underground. The drawback to this one is that it doesn't include the Palatine and Forum but if the underground is mostly what you're interested in, then give it a go. MUST JUMP QUICKLY!
Posted by
Valley of the Sun
135 posts
I've been tracking this and it appears COOPCulture releases tickets sometime in the morning Rome time. I'm on Mountain Standard time and that would translate into sometime between 11PM-5AM.
I haven't stayed up all night to find out when!
I'm trying to get tickets for Underground on Monday 3 October....
Let me know if you find out when they release the tickets. I might set an alarm....
Posted by
OP
19 posts
We were SUCCESSFUL in obtaining our tickets to include the underground. Not sure if we were just lucky but sharing this info to assist others...
I'm still not sure what time they 'drop' at the 30 day out window but I got up at 4am (Mountain time) and the day I wanted already only had 2 tickets remaining. I quickly grabbed them and entered all info to make the purchase and the system 'timed out'. After refreshing multiple times, I went back in and they were gone. Not wanting to settle for tix without the underground, I spent about 45 min opening new windows and checking availability. One of the times, 5 tix actually appeared showing 'available' and I tried again entering all of my info which again, timed out. I did notice that in the phone number field that I entered, it was shaded unlike the rest of the fields so when 2 more tix became available, I left the phone number field blank as it was not required. My purchase went through, yay!
So, although I have zero expertise in getting these tix, I think persistence plays a big part. Perhaps when people try to purchase and their system 'times out' as mine did many times, the tix go back in the queue? Or maybe, payments do not successfully process and those tix go back in the queue? Or it could be that they don't release all the tix at once? Just not sure.
Best of luck to all those in pursuit of these tix and have a wonderful trip!
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16609 posts
Persistence is a virtue. So is patience, I'm told.
You've admirable amounts of both; VERY well done! 🌟🎟
Posted by
4 posts
I have been as persistent as can be. I check the coopculture app every 10 min or so, a bit neurotic. But I’m trying to get 6 tickets for the Colosseum Full Experience English Speaking Guided Tour (which includes the underground & arena) for September 15, 2022. I even woke up in the middle of the night to get them but had no success. Any help would be appreciated?!?! Is there any private tour guides that we could hire that can get tickets and have access to both underground & arena? Thank you in advance for any help.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16609 posts
This might be a possibility. It's pricey but right in line for non-Coopculture underground tours when available at ALL but if you feel you must see the underground..... IMHO, a bonus is the included, guided tour of the Palatine and Forum as they're more complex sites than the Colosseum.
https://theromanguy.com/tours/italy/rome/colosseum-dungeons-tour-with-roman-forum-palantine-hill
Some of the other companies that used to offer underground tours no longer do as even THEY can't land tickets!
Edited to add:
I see this coopculture night tour in English is already sold out for the 15th. It MAY become available today for the 16th and maybe the 17th though so keep checking for openings if those dates would work for you. Yes, they'll sell out quickly! You do not get access to the Palatine and Forum with that ticket.
Posted by
4 posts
Thank you, I appreciate the help.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8913 posts
Even if you reserve with a tour group, it still is not a “done deal”. Sometimes they are able to get tickets and the tour takes place and sometimes they can’t get tickets and the tour is cancelled or the underground dropped from the tour.
Posted by
16 posts
I ended up abandoning our plans to do the underground for this exact reason. I watched the website for 2 days and while it was easy to get the regular or the full experience + arena tickets for any time as they opened up, the underground ones seemed to be immediately gone (or only had 1 ticket left) even if I refreshed constantly within a 15 minute period. We decided just to do the full experience + arena, which again we could get any time we wanted. Since we've already spent a pretty penny on tickets/tour guides for the Vatican, Uffitzi, Pompeii, etc., we decided that paying the 3rd party price for the underground tickets weren't worth it this time for us, especially since they usually only had the midday tickets left which probably would have made us hot and miserable for the whole tour.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16609 posts
kevlarcardhouse (LOL, what an interesting posting name!) you are among many others who've thrown in the towel and opted for the full experience + arena tickets. They're just a lot less hassle to get, and I've read some positive things about that tour; you can peer down over the edge of that floor into the underground so you do get to see some of it!
A wise decision, methinks. Oh, and Carol is spot on: just because an indy tour company is offering underground tours doesn't mean they'll be able to land tickets themselves.
Posted by
16 posts
Yes, I forgot to mention that Carol is right in that regard. I visit another forum with a travel section and there have been posts all summer of people who booked the underground tour with a reputable tour company and get told a few days ahead of the booking that the company scored fewer tickets than they were hoping for and will have to cancel.