New Colosseum Tours- for any tours that go to Rome
This may be old news, but here is some info for anyone on a Tauck tour to Italy that includes Rome. Ever since I purchased tickets for various free time attractions before our Classic Italy tour a few years ago, I've been getting an e-newsletter from an outfit called Weekend in Italy.
Their latest newsletter says "recent restorations have made it possible for you to experience this monument almost in its entirety -- you'll find it very different from your last visit." They are offering two new tours of the Colosseum in Rome. Likely other tour providers like Viator, are doing the same. You can get tickets (good for two days) cheaper by buying from the official Colosseum website- 21 € (12 for entry + 9 for either special tour) but it doesn't include a guide. The WinI cost is 25 €, but it sounds they provide a guide. I wish these areas were open when we went.
I have never dealt with WinI (that I know of) so can't speak to their services or endorse them. Here are their tours.
Note: These specifics apply to WinI tour but may match what others provide.
1. Access to the top ring (belevedere) of the monument
Your tour takes you up to the astonishing 4th and 5th levels. The view from these heights has no equal, and you won't forget it. More than that, your guide will introduce you to stories, details, and mysteries of this, the most celebrated arena of the ancient world.
Access to the upper levels of the Colosseum is permitted only for groups of 25 people maximum, accompanied by a guide.
Please Note: each client is allowed to book maximum 6 people per each entrance slot.
Includes:
Access to the level of the first raised tier
Exhibition, if present
Access to the 3rd level with view onto the Via dei Fori Imperiali
Access to the 4th and 5th levels - 360 degree view of the Colosseum
Times and languages:
Italian: every day at 2:10 pm
English: every day at 11:10 am, 1:10 pm, 1:50 pm
Spanish: every day 2:30 pm
Tour duration: 75 minutes.
Reservations are required.
2. Colosseum Underground, the Hidden Stories
At the bottom of things, the Colosseum Underground tour allows you to roam the interior spaces of the Colosseum, including the hidden levels below ground. It is here that slaves executed their tasks quickly and efficiently, hidden from the eye of the spectator.
Access to the undergrounds is allowed only to groups of maximum 25 people, accompanied by a guide.
Attention: each client is allowed to book maximum 6 people per each entrance slot.
Includes:
access to the arena
undergrounds
first floor (and exhibition, if present)
view over the Square of the Colosseum from the Valadier Terrace
Tour lasts 75 minutes.
> Times and languages:
English: 9:20am, 9:40am, 10:40am, 11:20am, 11:40am, 12noon, 12:20pm, 1:20pm, 1:40pm and 4:20pm
Italian: 10:20am and 3pm
Spanish: 11:00am, 1:00pm and 3:20pm
Reservation is mandatory.
Their latest newsletter says "recent restorations have made it possible for you to experience this monument almost in its entirety -- you'll find it very different from your last visit." They are offering two new tours of the Colosseum in Rome. Likely other tour providers like Viator, are doing the same. You can get tickets (good for two days) cheaper by buying from the official Colosseum website- 21 € (12 for entry + 9 for either special tour) but it doesn't include a guide. The WinI cost is 25 €, but it sounds they provide a guide. I wish these areas were open when we went.
I have never dealt with WinI (that I know of) so can't speak to their services or endorse them. Here are their tours.
Note: These specifics apply to WinI tour but may match what others provide.
1. Access to the top ring (belevedere) of the monument
Your tour takes you up to the astonishing 4th and 5th levels. The view from these heights has no equal, and you won't forget it. More than that, your guide will introduce you to stories, details, and mysteries of this, the most celebrated arena of the ancient world.
Access to the upper levels of the Colosseum is permitted only for groups of 25 people maximum, accompanied by a guide.
Please Note: each client is allowed to book maximum 6 people per each entrance slot.
Includes:
Access to the level of the first raised tier
Exhibition, if present
Access to the 3rd level with view onto the Via dei Fori Imperiali
Access to the 4th and 5th levels - 360 degree view of the Colosseum
Times and languages:
Italian: every day at 2:10 pm
English: every day at 11:10 am, 1:10 pm, 1:50 pm
Spanish: every day 2:30 pm
Tour duration: 75 minutes.
Reservations are required.
2. Colosseum Underground, the Hidden Stories
At the bottom of things, the Colosseum Underground tour allows you to roam the interior spaces of the Colosseum, including the hidden levels below ground. It is here that slaves executed their tasks quickly and efficiently, hidden from the eye of the spectator.
Access to the undergrounds is allowed only to groups of maximum 25 people, accompanied by a guide.
Attention: each client is allowed to book maximum 6 people per each entrance slot.
Includes:
access to the arena
undergrounds
first floor (and exhibition, if present)
view over the Square of the Colosseum from the Valadier Terrace
Tour lasts 75 minutes.
> Times and languages:
English: 9:20am, 9:40am, 10:40am, 11:20am, 11:40am, 12noon, 12:20pm, 1:20pm, 1:40pm and 4:20pm
Italian: 10:20am and 3pm
Spanish: 11:00am, 1:00pm and 3:20pm
Reservation is mandatory.
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Comments
May 2016 Classic Italy, Small Groups- Tauck also provided us with "pre-reserved tickets to visit the Colosseum without standing in lines" (except for the security screening), but neither the lower or upper levels were open to us. Also, neither our Tauck TD nor local guide entered with us and no audio guides were provided. After being escorted to security, we were given a time and place to meet the TD and guide afterwards (for the group photo in front of the Arch of Constantine.) The TD and guide walked with us through part of the Forum, before we re-boarded the bus. I don't know what Tauck's current Colosseum visit includes. There was free time after the Colosseum visit so part way back to the hotel after driving by the Circus Maximus and a few other ruins, the TD let a number of people off to walk to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, etc.
Timing in Rome on both Classic Italy tours can be a real crap shoot- everything revolves around the scheduling of the visit to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel which can change at the last minute- we went there right away the afternoon/evening we got to Rome instead of the next day. Some tours end up going in the morning. We were advised of this possibility ahead of time, but our two day schedule was nothing like the website and green book itineraries or even the weekly go sheet provided by our TD. So the info I provided is just a head's up and likely more useful for tours that start or end in Rome.
We did the Small Group Classic Italy late 2017. We took our group photo in the same place before we entered. Indeed we skipped all but the security line and that took about 15 minutes. (EVERYBODY goes through security) The TD and the local guide went inside with us and the local guide gave a 30 minute presentation of the history and activities at the Colosseum. We had a nice shaded area where most of us could sit down during the presentation. We were advised to be at a meeting point at a particular time. This gave about thirty to forty minutes to wander around on our own inside the Colosseum. The top and bottom were not open at that time. We had a short walk around the forum with the guide and then back to the bus.
It was a very enjoyable and informative stop.