Touring the Coliseum Underground

It's a very interesting tour. The best way to book a reservation is through the official site. You can call 001 39 0639967700. If you already have a romapass for entry let them know or they will charge you admission as well as for the tour. Donna

We tried to do this but they keep shutting the lower and upper sections (and then reopening them). Definitely call the official number--I tried to go through another recommended company since I already had booked through them and they said that going through the number listed in the post above was the only way to do this. Just fyi, depending on when you go, it may or may not be actually open depending upon safety/conservation issues...it's like the Domus Aurea in this sense.

We hoping to tour the underground areas of the Coliseum, too. Official web site says only way to do it is with a guide at a price of 27.5 euros. Includes the 3rd tier or upper areas of the Coliseum but not the nearby Forum or Palatine Hill. Combo admission to Coliseum, Forum and Palatine Hill is about 15 euros, without a guide. Any advice on whether the extra money for the Coliseum view and underground is worth it? We're taking our 15-year-old grandson who might like the underground tour. Would hope to use Rick's podcasts instead of hiring guides. Any thoughts appreciated. Going late June.

I recently purchased tickets for this tour through tickitaly.com for the first week of June. Everything went smoothly, and I was told that my tickets also included the "regular" Colloseum tour as well as the Forum. You can request a specific time for your tour, and they get you in as close as possible to that time. Then they email you vouchers to print out and bring to the Colloseum. I feel that this is a better way than calling, as you don't have to call at 6 in the morning to deal with the time difference, be put on hold, or deal with any potential language barriers.

There are multiple ways to get reservations/tickets as shown above. But, the cheapest and most sure way is to go through the actual official company (Pierreci) that runs the site, and yes, you have to call for it. It is only 9.5E per person if you book through them direct. I called last week for May 14, and it was easy. No language barrier, got my reservation code, the time I wanted, only got charged 9.5 per person as we will be using Roma Pass. Do a search on this board to find a lengthy discussion on it with detailed direction on how to call (it's easy though-all menus are repeated in English after said in Italian). It took me about 5 minutes to book with a very nice lady who spoke enough English to make it happen! :) For a few pics and a write up on the experience, check out this article and the links in it:
http://www.revealedrome.com/2011/03/the-colosseums-underground-has-re-opened-hypogeum-rome.html

Jeff, The posting was posted by myself after we saw the Colosseum in March this year, it's called: "Booking Colliseum Underground-SEEN 2DAY! DO NOT BOOK 4 MORE THAN 9.50EUROS!" and was last commented on April 5, 2011. Calling is so simple. I said "Parla Inglese" and boom she spoke English, very simple!! There is ALOT of info on it, especially about how easy it is to call and just pay 9.50 euros each for 19E total. There's also info about other tours you can purchase, like Amy did which is 40E with a personal tour guide for for just yourself which includes the 3rd tier and some other things I think... Definitely check out the post b/c lots of ppl put lots of info on it.