Question About Colosseum Tours

Hi Anna (your posting name is a hoot!)

I've been poking around coopculture off and on for a week ( I used to have a pretty good handle on the thing) and I'll agree that it's never been the easiest site to navigate/understand. Pulling it up again per your question, I think the €22.00 tour (+ € 2:00 booking fee) is for visitors bringing their own guide - or maybe guides bringing their own clients - as it doesn't include the extra €10.00 guide fee mentioned in the € 32.00 (+ € 2:00 booking fee) educational tour info. That extra €10.00 covers the cost of the guide coopculture will provide for particular tour (Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill - Full Experience Underground And Arena English Educational Tour.)

Does that sound like a sensible explanation to you? 🤔

Kathy, yes, that does make sense! In doing more research, I think I've pieced together that the Educational Tour provides you with an official guide, whereas the "regular" tour is pretty much on your own. The word "educational" instead of "guided" threw me off. Thank you for your help!!

Yup, that's how it looks to me too. So I'd jump on your booking, OK? Due to the economical price, the coopculture tours tend to sell out early...or have during NORMAL travel years, anyway.

Hope you have a great time in the Eternal City!

Kathy, I just bought the tickets! I'm so excited for my first trip to Rome! Thanks again for your help and advice.

I'm glad to have found your post, as I came on to ask the same question since the site isn't the most clear. Does anyone know when the October 2021 tickets will be released?

Hi Bri - Gosh, I wish I had an answer for you but it looks to me like coopculture is just getting organized again after the long and painful shutdown. In the past, it has also been known for instituting umpty changes with little advance notice! What with the pandemic situation still being fluid, it's possible that we'll be seeing some changes to the ticket release timing/visiting procedures as time goes on.

What I'd do for the time being is to keep a close eye on the website: check in every day or every other day as your schedule allows. If having to venture a guess, it would be that opening sales for the last quarter of the year will be coming up pretty soon; very possibly any day now.

Thanks Kathy,

I finally got an email back this morning about when Oct 2021 tickets go on sale:

Dear customer,
We suggest you to check our website between the end of August and the beginning of September 21.
Regards

Wow, I'm a little surprised that they wouldn't go on sale until late Aug/earlySept. for October but really glad that they got back to you! Thanks for sharing the useful piece of info! :O)

What covid proof will we need to provide to visit? As US citizen, just our original white CDC vaccine card? Anyone done? I wanted to try the Vatican too but unsure if I will have what they want in their format

hardin.traveler. per this post from excellent resource Ron (RnR), U.S. CDC vaccination cards will be accepted at venues where proof of vaccination is required. You may also have to produce additional proof of identity.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/entry-restrictions-as-of-august-6-2021

See this on the coopculture site as well:

https://www.coopculture.it/en/article/green-pass-required-to-access-the-places-of-culture-in-italy/

"With reference to people coming from the countries of Israel, Canada, Japan and the United States, it should be noted that in relation to vaccination certificates issued by the health authorities of these countries, in accordance with the provisions of EU Recommendation no. 2021/912 of 20 May 2021, they must include at least the following data:

Identifying data of the person
Data regarding the type of vaccine and date(s) of administration.

Please note that certificates must be accepted if they are in Italian, English, French or Spanish.
If the certificate is not issued in bilingual form and not in one of the four languages indicated in the Order of the Minister of Health of 18 June 2021, it must be accompanied by a sworn translation."

As our personal CDC cards do contain all of the required info, in English, they currently would be accepted. That said, the COVID situation is fluid so changes in requirements and procedures can occur at any time.

We did the underground educational tour with guide in English the last week of July. It was very good and informative. On the site as “ Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill - Full Experience Underground And Arena English Educational Tour”.

Thanks, jas3150! That's exactly the tour I booked. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Thanks from me too, jas3150! Good to hear from someone who has very recently taken that tour that it was indeed the "right" one! :O)

Hello! I just booked this tour for next week and wanted to ask how early you needed to arrive to the colosseum for the tour? We are booked for noon and wasn't sure if this is exactly when the tour starts or if we will need to que ahead of time for this? As well were you able to explore the colosseum on your own after or were you made to leave immediately after the tour? Thanks!

Which tour did you book? This one (34-euro tour)?
https://www.coopculture.it/en/products/the-wonders-of-the-colosseum-visiting-the-underground-and-the-arena/

If so, this is what it says:
"The entrance to the Colosseum is at Sperone Valadier.
It is strictly necessary to arrive at the dedicated access gate 15 minutes before the booked time, already in possession of his/her access admission ticket."

I should add that there apparently was some confusion around the other, 24-euro tour:
https://www.coopculture.it/en/products/full-experience-ticket-with-access-to-the-arena-and-underground-of-the-colosseum/

Someone who took it recently reported that the difference between this one and the 34-euro tour I'd linked above is that they only had a guide for the underground section; not for other parts of the Colosseum included in the tour. See Ruth's review here:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/tickets-for-underground-colosseum

The same arrival time of 15 minutes before the tour applies to the 24-euro tour as well.

Is coopculture a legit site? The tickets for going underground in the colosseum are so much cheaper than on Viator

As tdw said, coopculture is the official ticket office for the Colosseum and other cultural attractions and/or experiences you'll see featured on the website https://www.coopculture.it/en/. Yes, their tours are very attractively priced and normally sell out VERY quickly, especially during high and shoulder seasons.

Viator is just a 3rd party broker; they do not operate any tours themselves. That can be an issue when something doesn't go according to plan and you're left to work it out with a middleman.

We got there 15 minutes prior to the reservation time. There was no line, we walked right in. You then go to the window to get your headset and they tell you where to wait for the guide. The guide takes you through the underground and then up to stage level. After that, you’re on your own and can take as long as you like.

Great thanks Kathy and Anna! I booked the 34 Euro tour and appreciate your insight!

Have a great time, tarynirvine!

We were there a few days ago, and there were definitely lines. We were directed to the line for reserved tickets with Coopculture, went through security and green pass checks, directed to another line to get our headsets, and then directed to a specific gathering area for our particular tour (full experience). Definitely get there early. I’d say 15 minutes is an absolute minimum.