Colosseum tours-confused

This is the best resource I know of for booking info on the coopculture Colosseum tours and entry tickets:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187791-i22-k11374811-2018_underground_belvedere_booking_process-Rome_Lazio.html

If you want the Underground and Belvedere tour (which includes the arena floor) then that's what you should book. These are guided tours as you can't visit the underground or Belvedere on your own.

http://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=49E975FB-0042-5AF5-1520-016224C20939&catalogid=6272ABD3-4F70-D1A5-083E-016224E0B819&lang=en

If they don't make another change to the purchasing schedule, tickets for July will go on sale on the first Monday in June at 9:00 AM Rome time. From this page of the coopculture website:

https://www.coopculture.it/en/ticket.cfm?office=Colosseo%2C%20Sotterranei%20%2C%20Terzo%20Ordine%20e%20Belvedere&id=0&evento=6

"Each first Monday of the month, at 9 am, the online reservations for Colosseum’s Underground and Belvedere will be activated in the (following) monthly availability."

Specific to using a Roma Pass as your general entry ticket (from Donna's FAQ):

"10) How do I book a tour if using the romapass for free entry or if I have already purchased entry tickets?
You will choose the "free ticket plus tour" option. This way you'll only pay for the tour."

Thanks so much!

You'll be able to book tours for July on the first Monday in June.

The underground tour and the underground/belvedere tour are two different tours. The underground/belvedere tour includes elements from the underground tour as well as the belvedere tour.

If using the romapass you'll book the free ticket+tour option when you go to book your tour.

Donna

I’ll be in Rome in June and bagladyp’s question confuses me. Do you have to buy tickets to the coliseum before you get to Rome?

Pam, you really should. As the #1 tourist attraction in Rome (Vatican Museums are almost equal) ticket lines can be very, very long, and that's before you get to get security-check line.

You can buy general-entry tickets, or tours as they become available, on this site:
https://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm

If you really don't want to purchase before you go, then do NOT try to buy them at the Colosseum. Go to the ticket offices at the Palatine or Forum where lines are shorter, although people are catching onto that trick. The Palatine office likely has the shortest line. Tickets are good for all three sites although the Forum and Palatine must be visited at the same time: you can't leave the secured area of one and return to do the other.

Coopculture tours sell out in mere minutes when they go up for sale, and are probably sold out for June as they became available on March 21st: a different sale schedule than July and months beyond. You can purchase general-entry tickets to see parts which don't require a tour, however.

Speaking of the Vatican Museums, you'll want to pre-purchase tickets for that one as well if it's on your to-do list:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

Editing to add: I don't know where else in Italy you're going to but there are a couple of attractions in Florence (Uffizi and Accademia) that one should pre-purchase tickets for to avoid very long queues, and pre-reservations are mandatory for Galleria Borghese in Rome.

Thanks. I had no idea and I’ve read a few of Rick Steve’s books too. A friend and I will be in Tuscany for 10 nights on our own (based in Florence for 6 nights, Lucca for 4 nights) then a Tuscany fiber arts tour for 9 nights and then on our own again in Rome the last 4 nights. I thought buying the Firenze card and the Roma pass when we get there would be enough. I guess not.

I thought buying the Firenze card and the Roma pass when we get there
would be enough. I guess not.

OK, you didn't mention purchasing these passes. The Firenze Pass will serve as your "ticket" to the Uffizi, Accademia and other attractions in Florence that it covers within the life of the pass.

With the Roma Pass, you get one 'free' attraction entry with the 48-hour pass, and 2 'free' entries with the 72-hour pass. You get a discount on entries to other attractions it covers. You may use it as your general-entry ticket to the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine (counts as a single attraction) but it doesn't cover any tours. If you have the 72-hour version and wish to see the Borghese as your 2nd free entry, you must still make an advance reservation by phone: see the Roma Pass FAQ page. This pass does not cover entry to the Vatican Museums so you'd need to purchase that ticket separately.

With the passes, you can skip the ticket lines at your 'free' attraction choices but you must still pass through any mandatory security queues: no one can skip those. Also be aware that transport piece of the Roma Pass doesn't cover buses or train to or from the airport.

Thank you. I’ll have to print all of this information out. Thanks for your help and I’m sorry I highjacked bagladyp’s question.

Pam, both passes have websites that will fill you in on what you need to know about them:

http://www.firenzecard.it/?lang=en
http://www.romapass.it

Thank you again. I’ve saved all of this info. I’m sure it saved me a lot of time and trouble.

You're welcome. Just understand that the OP's situation is different from yours unless you're also intending to try and book a coopculture tour using the Roma Pass for the general-entry piece. You also do not have to pre-book entry tickets to the Uffizi and Accademia if using the Firenzecard.

I guess part of my confusion is the difference between the underground and belvedere verses the undergroung and arena?

The Underground is directly below the Arena. The Arena is where the games took place - now partially rebuilt at one end. The Belvedere is the 3rd, 4th, and 5th levels although on the tour I took earlier this month we went directly from the second level to the 5th level. There was apparently work going on around the 3rd and 4th levels. The general admission ticket gives you access to the 1st & 2nd levels but not the reconstructed portion of the arena. You can however, get right next to the uncovered underground area.

Also, when I was there they had a special entry line for visitors with a ROMA pass. It was clearly marked and a staff member was there to verify you were in the right line.

If you book the Underground + Belvedere tour, it includes the arena. But your problem is that June tours went on sale on March 21st and are probably all sold out. As I said previously, with your Roma Pass you can still see the internal parts of the Colosseum that do not require tours - Belvedere and underground both require them - but it doesn't provide you any special tour-booking privileges. You would have to get on the page of the website which lists them, see if there are still any openings, and purchase them separately if slots are available.

But here's the deal: the underground and upper tiers (Belvedere) were not open to visitors for many, many years. Many thousands of people - including myself - went to the Colosseum without seeing these sections and didn't feel like they'd missed out. So, if you can't land a coopculture tour or don't wish to pay the price for a private company which does them, it's not the end of the world.