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Did you experience either of these Colosseum tours?

I am interested to hear from folks that have experienced the Colosseum Underground tour and/or Attic tour. How did you like those areas? If you got to both, did you have a favorite? We are traveling to Rome next month, so I want to try and get tickets.
Thanks!

Posted by
16537 posts

Haven't done either but I wouldn't personally book any tour of the underground through a 3rd party (Viator, Get Your Guide, etc.) or independent tour company. If it's important to you to access it, book it only through Parco Archeologico Del Colosseo's own official ticketing website (below.) It is not Coopculture, as stated in the website linked in the previous post, and hasn't been since this past spring.

https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/

Too many visitors have been disappointed by having their tours cancelled right before their trips due to those companies not being able to get tickets they've pre-sold to their customers. Underground tickets are hard to land!!!!

Posted by
125 posts

I have taken both tours…the Underground and the Attic.
If you are trying to buy tickets for one of these on the official site, keep in mind that the tickets are hard-to-get and usually sell out within minutes (often seconds) after they become available.

When next month are you going?

Our entire family of 12 is going toward end of November and I will be attempting to purchase Attic tickets for my son and daughter-in-law and for my son-in-law and his father the end of this month.

Attic tickets currently are being released 30 days in advance and in 20 minute increments tied to the admission time. Underground tickets are also being released 30 days in advance…also tied to the admission time.

https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/eventi/full-experience-attico/

https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/eventi/full-experience-sotterranei-e-arena/

You need to be online at exactly the time the tickets become available…Rome time (and remember Italy goes off DST on October 27th at 3am, whereas where I live in the US we do not go off DST until November 3).

Personally, I greatly preferred the Attic over the Underground.

Posted by
91 posts

Thanks everyone for the help! I plan to let my kids decide which area I try and get tickets for, and they asked if you could explain what you liked better about the Attic. Was it the views? Was the underground rather empty of things to see/ or too crowded?

Many Thanks!

Posted by
1047 posts

I really wanted tickets to the Underground but suspect that the tour groups, such as Viator, snap those up and know exactly when they go on sale to do so. So, I looked at one of them ?GetYourGuide? can't remember. It turns out that I could get those tickets! HOWEVER, I read the fine print and emailed them for clarification: IF they can't actually get tickets for the Underground, they would instead put me on a different tour--such as the Attic or whatever they had available. Not only would I not receive a refund, but they would assign a different time if necessary e.g., I wanted a 3:00 p.m. tour but might get the 8:00 a.m. tour! They were very responsible in their email and answered me quickly for which I was appreciative. The message was that I was to keep my entire day open. That didn't work for us.

Posted by
16537 posts

Lindy, your experience is why I recommended booking with the official website, even though the tickets for the two areas the OP is asking about are hard to land. Everyone and their brother wants the underground, and I personally think FOMO for the thing is a bit overrated as you can see down into it from above. Some of the better tour companies, such as Walks of Italy, have apparently quit offering underground tours altogether likely due to inability to get their hot little hands on tickets. I'm reading that tickets for the attic are also selling out almost immediately upon becoming available.

Some disappointed posters:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tourist-scams/tickets-canceled-with-get-your-guide

It may be a tad easier getting them for next month, though.

Posted by
16 posts

We somehow managed to snag two "full experience" Attico tickets for our trip just this past May. I'm chalking that up to dumb luck. I've never understood the appeal of the Underground, so take this with a grain of salt, but I thought the Attico was awesome. The views were amazing and being so high up really helped us to appreciate the scale of the Colosseum. I'll also give bonus points for being able to see the (shockingly unattractive) seagull chicks in their nests. Good luck!

Posted by
91 posts

Thanks so much for the links! I also found this great video showing the two areas. Posting it here in case future readers find it helpful. Fingers crossed I am able to get tickets. My husband now wants to go to both! :)

Jaw-dropping Views From The Colosseum's Attico - Don't Miss This! by RomeWise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVZLHVVeZ-Y

Posted by
38 posts

I was there in April. Booked everything through official sites about 2 months in advance. They were checking passports at the gates.

Posted by
16537 posts

Booked everything through official sites about 2 months in advance.

Tickets on the official website for almost all Colosseum options only go on sale 30 days in advance. Looks like "Full experience with entry to the arena" is currently only available 7 days in advance: showing not available online beyond Nov. 2 and sold out before that point.

Posted by
125 posts

Kathy…I believe tickets for “Full Experience with Arena Access” are still available for Nov 1st and 2nd, correct?

Posted by
16537 posts

DOH!!! Yep, there are tickets for that one still available for November 1 and 2 (but not beyond) so I didn't note that correctly. I guess the purpose of that post was just to note that no tickets are available more than 30 days in advance - not 2 months - and some for fewer than that.