New Rules for Colosseum Tickets

Paywall. Can you please somehow post the content?

Can't see behind the paywall either but this maybe related:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/some-potentially-good-news-for-colosseum-visitors

Wow. That's really weird. No paywall for me. I use the uBlock Origin ad blocker. I wonder if that disables their paywall.

Here's what it says:

If you’re heading to Italy's biggest tourist attraction, you won’t want to leave home without checking how to buy tickets under an updated system that comes in from Wednesday, October 18th.

Changes intended to make official tickets for Rome's Colosseum easier to purchase will come into effect from Wednesday, after Italy's culture ministry announced the first details of the new system on Monday.

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri hailed the move as a "positive innovation that we’ve been asking for for some time."

The changes will "help reduce the phenomenon of ticket scalping, queue-jumping and mass purchases of tickets which manipulate the price,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

If you’re planning to visit any time soon, here’s how you get a ticket.

What's changing?

The main change is that tickets to the Colosseum are now named. That means you'll need to show ID with your ticket when you arrive, and you won’t be able to visit without identification that matches your named ticket.

It should also now be easier to get hold of tickets both online and in person, after months of complaints from visitors that tickets were frequently sold out.

Official online ticket sales will now be through the official website only, at www.colosseo.it. They will no longer be sold via the Società Cooperativa Culture (CoopCulture) website, which was previously the official online vendor.

For in-person sales, a new ticket office has been opened near the Colosseum at Largo della Salara Vecchia in addition to the existing one at Piazza del Colosseo, the culture ministry said.

The number of physical tickets available at ticket offices has been doubled to keep up with demand.

Individual visitors can also purchase tickets by phone from the official call centre or through the ParcoColosseo app,

Visitors to Rome's ancient Colosseum have complained of difficulties in getting tickets via official channels throughout 2023. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

It's currently unclear what the best option is for those looking to book group tour tickets, with methods for tour operators to be announced in the next few days, according to the Colosseum’s website.

Cinzia Renzi, President of tour operators' association Assoviaggi, said that the ticketing system will be difficult for travel agencies to manage, as half of tourism in Rome is organised tourism.

At present you may need to contact the Colosseum's management via the official website if you want to book a group tour.

What identification will I need?

Suitable ID to be shown with your ticket on arrival includes:

Passport
Identity card
Driving licence

Why has this rule been implemented?

The culture ministry said it was bringing in the rules to prevent resellers using automated software to buy up the tickets online and sell them at higher prices elsewhere.

The change comes after Italy’s competition watchdog launched an investigation in July into Società Cooperativa Culture (CoopCulture), as well as the websites Tiqets, Musement, Viator and GetYourGuide, following complaints from visitors who found official tickets were frequently unavailable to purchase.

How much do tickets cost?

A regular 24-hour ticket is currently priced at €16 and allows access to the first and second floors of the Colosseum plus the Roman Forum and Palatine. The reduced fare for the same tickets is €2. Visitors are advised to come 10 minutes before their time slot begins.

Entrance is free on the first Sunday of every month.

What are the opening hours for the rest of the year?

Until October 28th, the opening hours are from 9am - 6.30pm daily with the last entrance being at 5.30pm.

From the October 29th until December 31st, regular opening hours are from 9am - 4.30pm.

Hmmm. A lot of that info is what I'd seen too, Kathleen, with a rather large exception:

"Official online ticket sales will now be through the official website only, at www.colosseo.it. They will no longer be sold via the Società Cooperativa Culture (CoopCulture) website, which was previously the official online vendor."

Right now the https://colosseo.it/ site states that, "The purchase of tickets to visit the Parco archeologico del Colosseo is possible exclusively online through this web page and that of the Official Concessionaire CoopCulture. INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ARE ALSO SOLD AT THE TICKET OFFICE IN COLOSSEUM SQUARE. "

https://colosseo.it/en/opening-times-and-tickets/

Clicking "Buy tickets" on www.colosseo.it. still throws you into the Coopculture site. It's just a little weird that the official site wouldn't be publishing an upcoming change of Coopculture as the online ticketing vendor 'cuz it would be sort of a big deal?

BEWARE! I did all my research, and purchased tickets thru COOP Culture. They said I would get an e-mail with a confirmation number, which I could exchange for tickets at the entrance. I got an e-mail from "pagonline." It had a confirmation number, just like they said it would. It had the amount of the transaction, as one would expect. So it looked good to me, and I didn't translate the several paragraphs of Italian in the email until later. When I finally did, it said my transaction had been refused ("RIFIUTATA") but with no explanation why. I never got an alert from my credit card company that they had rejected a transaction, so I wasn't suspicious. So now, a week later, I discover that I don't actually have tickets for the Colosseum and tickets are no longer available.

Evan, all is not lost....
Go to either of the on-site ticket offices and buy them there.
https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/italy-rome-colosseum-new-ticket-system.html

Yes, there may be long lines (although it should be better now that there are 2 offices) and go with your ENTIRE party and your IDs should your tickets be for immediate entry. Go either early AM, before 9:00, or later in the afternoon. See the end of this thread; Gene's and my ow posts.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/too-late-to-plan-a-trip-to-italy-over-this-holiday-season

UPDATE
I discovered that basic entry tix are sold out, but "Full Experience" tix remain (22E vs 16E, adds access to the floor of the arena). Since their website refuses to process American cards, the only recourse was to call the phone number for COOP Culture. The menus are in both Italian and English, and I was able to purchase my tix from an English-speaking human. This took about 20 minutes--dunno what the cost of the international call will be yet. The only catch is that he misspelled both our names on the tickets. Murphy's Law dictates that we will present them to the most-uptight ticket-taker, who will decide that we're not the actual purchasers because the names don't match our passports exactly.

Evan, I haven't heard that "their website refuses to process American cards" cause American travelers do their bookings that way all the time. Your card may have been lacking 3rd-level security protocols required by some ticket booking sites. It's an anti-fraud thing, and you have to call your credit card company and ask to be enrolled in the protocol. This problem commonly pops up when trying to order tickets to the Vatican Museums through their website too.

It could also be a browser issue but I'd start with the 3rd level security.

The number of physical tickets available at ticket offices has been doubled to keep up with demand.

I couldn't help but think the above quote, from the article, is missing an additional statement which should be: "As a result of doubling tickets, we also increased the size of the Colosseum".

LOL. Ok, I joke.

But I thought the Colosseum is already quite crowded. And now they are going to increase the number of available tickets?

I had the US credit card problem trying to buy tickets to the Pantheon. Another thread suggested PayPal. I picked alternate payments and their were a couple Italian banks that would process through PayPal. I selected one, it open a Pay[al page, I logged in, added a CC and clicked pay. It went through fine and processed and I got my tickets.

catotti, do you remember which banks accept Paypal? Thanks.