Underground tours sold out. tour recommendations? How is the construction underground?

Posted by jenncaroline on 06/23/15 04:39 PM

Thank you all for reading. I started planning my trip in May for July so I'm figuring out things the hard way! I called the colosseum and they said the underground tours are booked to September and because of the language barrier I could not find out if there was a waiting list for the tours. I asked if other companies did this underground restricted area tour and he said no. but again, the language issue. Thoughts? Should we just buy the headphones(RS said that doing this helps cut the line) and/or use RS audio or join a tour company. Any recommendations on companies?

TIA

Also, how is the construction? I keep reading that a lot of the underground tour is off limits bc of digs and constructions....truth, would you still pay the extra for the tour?

Posted by Archimedes

Fairfax, Virginia

06/23/15 05:10 PM

331 posts

There are a number of private tour operators offering the underground/3rd level tour, but at a higher price. They may have some spots open in their tours. Here's a couple, I am sure there are others:

https://italywithus.com/colosseum-dungeons-upper-ring-plus-ancient-rome

http://www.darkrome.com/tours/rome-tours/colosseum-night-tour

I haven't taken either, so this isn't a recommendation.

Posted by va from va

Alexandria, VA

06/23/15 06:49 PM

771 posts

We did the VIP Underground Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill tour with Walks of Italy and it was great. They have open dates in July. It wasn't cheap, but we felt it was well worth the money. No lines for anything, everyone has their own headphones to listen to the guide, and besides being informative and entertaining, she knew all the shady spots to stand in while explaining things! You can check reviews on Trip Advisor.

Posted by jenncaroline OP

06/24/15 05:45 AM

30 posts

I found an underground tour at walks of italy. pricey but no other choice. At least I got a tour thought the vatican site for a reasonable price but I booked that one months ago :/ thanks!

Posted by SuzieeQQ

San Diego, CA

06/25/15 01:23 AM

344 posts

You go ahead and explore your options for the Underground Tour. Something to keep in mind: I went on the Underground Tour 2 years ago via the Coliseum Tours, not a private tour. I had heard so many positive things about it here and elsewhere that I expected it to be one of the highlights of Rome.

Personally, if I had to do it again...I would not have gone on the Underground Tour. We had a good, interesting, understandable guide however I just didn't think it added that much more to the overall Coliseum experience, which was wonderful. If I had not bought those tickets, I always would have thought I had missed something. Many may disagree with me, but I did not think , for the money, that the underground portion of the tour added THAT much to the value of an overall outstanding piece of history. I am NOT recommending you avoid the underground, but if you can't get a underground ticket, don't worry, the Coliseum is still wonderful and breathtaking.

Posted by Chris

Mahone Bay, Canada

06/25/15 05:42 PM

328 posts

We did the Underground/Third Tier tour in May. It was interesting and I'm glad we did it but I don't think it measured up to all the hype. From what I understand (others may correct me) having not been on the regular tour, there are three things you get to do that you don't on the regular tours. You get to walk out on the wooden platform/stage at the ground level of the colosseum (so it's really just another angle to view the monument from), you get to go to one small and very limited area of the underground (the area directly beneath the wooden platform/stage), and you get to go to one small and very limited area of the third tier (so, basically, just one more angle to view the monument). Again, it was interesting but if budget is an issue, I won't worry that you are missing a lot by not getting to do the Underground and Third Tier.

We did the VIP Colosseum Underground, Forum and Palatine Hill Tour with Walks of Italy and it was very informative. For me, the Forum and Palatine Hill portions were especially interesting. I think the best part was not having to wait in any lines. We used Rick Steves name (all one word) as a discount code to get 10% off.