Colosseum Guided Tour in Rome Italy
Saturday, September 09, 2017
ChaMike at the Colosseum Dungeon and Upper Level Tour.
My favorite movie of all time is Russell Crowe's Gladiator. I am a big fan that I even took up Communication in college so I could work in Hollywood to make Oscar Award winning pictures like that. Well, I didn't end up in Hollywood but I ended up as a TV producer and Mike's wife that made it possible for me to travel to my favorite movie locations like the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is an oval shaped amphitheater in the center of Rome and the largest amphitheater ever built. The best kept ruins of the Roman Empire which dated way back AD 72 under the rule of Emperor Vespian. It was built as a gift for the people and was used to bring people closer together through entertainment as this became the stage for gladiator and other spectacles.
How to get here:
Metro | Colosseo Station Line B
Bus | There are several bus stops around the area
You can take a cab or an uber too. Like what we did during our first visit on our first day.
Colosseum at Night
The moment we arrived in Rome, we took a cab from our Airbnb to visit the Colosseum. It was the first place we went to because we were so excited to see the Colosseum at night as it had that mystical feel.
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| Colosseum at night |
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| Can't believe Mike and I were standing right next to the Colosseum |
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| If you want to see the Colosseum with very few people, better visit it at night |
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| They also offer guided night tours but it's way too creepy for me! |
The next day, we went to the Colosseum via the metro
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| Inside the Rome metro |
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| On our way to Colosseo station |
Opening times:
Open everyday except:
January 1, December 25 & May 21
Opening:
8:30 am
Closing:
7:15 pm | Last Sunday of March to end August
7:00 pm | September
6:30 pm | 1st October to last Saturday of October
4:30 pm | Last Sunday of October to February 15th
5:00 pm | February 16th to March 15th
5:30 pm | March 16 to last Saturday of March
* Ticket booth closes one hour before the Colosseum closes
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| Colosseum during day |
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| Mike with his stallions |
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| The Colosseum looked so grand during the day |
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| There are 80 entrances going inside. |
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| It was really sunny during our visit but the temperature is still cold thus the sunnies and trenchy |
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| The Colosseum is as masculine as my man |
Colosseum Standard Ticket
Entrance to limited areas inside the Colosseum. Included in the standard ticket is entrance to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill valid for two days where you can walk freely during the validity of the admission ticket.
Standard Ticket prices:
Full | € 12
Reduced | € 7.50
for European Union people between 18 to 25 years old
Ticket online reservation fee | + €2
It is advisable that you book your tickets online to avoid the long queue. You'll have to wait for almost an hour just to line up for the booking of ticket alone.
Colosseum Guided Tours
Mike and I, being big fans of the movie, felt that we had to visit the Colosseum in a deeper level; it should be something very memorable. So we availed a guided tour in advance thru TickItaly. TickItaly is an online travel agency that arranges special tours from different cities in Italy. In Rome, there are many special tour options at the Colosseum: Colosseum at night tour, Colosseum and Ancient Rome and Colosseum Dungeon and Upper Level Tour. We availed the latter as we wanted to visit the third floor and the underground level of the Colosseum, these areas are exclusive for this special tour only. Standard tickets only allow visitors on the first level.
Colosseum Dungeon and Upper Level Tour Ticket price:
€ 33
This was what we paid for. Included in the fee is the entry for regular ticket holders inside the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. So after the special tour, guests are free to roam around.
Upon booking, you will also have to indicate a particular time you want to visit so that they can control the guests per time/hour. The Colosseum is huge so you have to ask around where the line for the special tour is located. It is very important that you come an hour before the intended schedule because of the waiting time in the line and security check; the tour guide will not wait for late comers.
Even if we availed online, the queue for the special tour was still long. We were waiting in line for quite a long time (longer than expected) when I noticed that we were almost behind schedule, I skipped the line and showed my voucher to one of the staff and when they checked my schedule they let us in right away.
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| Queueing |
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| After the security check, we exchanged our voucher to actual tickets in one of the counters. |
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| Our ticket good for two days |
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| Meeting point #3 |
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| Wireless audio guides and earphones |
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| Wore them during the entire duration of the trip. Very useful as we heard our guide loud and clear. |
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| This locked access is exclusive for special tours |
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| My heart was pounding really hard while I was walking towards the arena |
In October 2010, a great deal of restoration took place making it possible for tourists to visit areas of the Colosseum like this part of the arena. And yes, we were able to set foot on the restored arena with very few people who also availed of the guided tour. Though the stage was just a restoration, seeing the whole arena from that perspective was just awesome! I felt like I was a gladiator.
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| Was marveled over this view! |
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| Scene from the movie, Gladiator |
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| 'What we do in life echoes in eternity' moment |
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| Gladiator feels |
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| View from the other side of the arena- standard ticket holders |
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| Actual standard ticket holder area |
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| View from the standard ticket holders area of the VIP guided tour |
It was so exciting when we had the floor all to ourselves. Too bad we were too shy to ask other guests to take photos of the both of us.
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| My Colosseum OOTD |
Top | H&M
Pants | GU
Trenchcoat & scarf | Uniqlo
Sunnies | Georgina Sasha
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| I felt like a VIP standing here |
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| Are you not entertained? |
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| Is this why you're here?! |
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| My Gladiator *swoon* |
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| Enjoying every moment of it |
Part of the restoration project was also to rebuild the exact replica of the Colosseum's animal lift. This was used to bring lions and bears to battle to the death.
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| Animal lift |
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| Going to the dungeon |
After a few minutes of roaming around, the guide escorted us to the underground level.
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| Underground level. This area used to be filled with water. |
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| It can carry a huge amount of weight |
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| worms eye view of the rebuilt arena |
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| These stones are still the original stones of the amphitheater |
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| It was dark and misty and a little bit creepy |
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| During the whole tour the guide kept on warning the group not to step on the stones as to prevent them from ruining. |
After the dungeon tour we went to the third level via stairs (take note that stairs is the only access going up the third level).
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| Going up the stairs to the third tier |
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| Creepy hallway |
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| Roman Forum and Palatine Hill |
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| Nice backdrop |
Of course it has a marvelous panoramic view of the Colosseum itself. The view was truly breathtaking!
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| This vast area gave me goosebumps |
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| This area is not accessible to the general public |
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| We were like the emperors as we experienced the incredible height of the amphitheater |
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| They say that there are 5 million tourist every year visiting the Colosseum. |
This was also the exact location of the movie, Roman Holiday.
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| They're at the exact same spot! |
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| What a coincidence! |
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| This time, we were brave enough to ask someone to take a photo of us here. |
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| Another bucket list got ticked off on my list |
Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
Located in the same archeological area. These two are just adjacent to each other where you can walk freely in between. Roman Forum was where the religious and public life in Ancient Rome took place. The Palatine Hill is the first settlement of Rome, which stands 40 meter above Roman Forum. Unfortunately we weren't able to visit the Palatine Hill because of time constraints though we were able to go around the Roman Forum and imagined that Julius Cesar actually walked on this area hundreds of centuries ago.
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| Roman Forum |
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| After the fall of the Roman empire, the Roman Forum was forgotten. |
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| Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, one of the most intact ruins at the Roman Forum |
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| It's a bit sad that they weren't able to restore Roman Forum's glorious splendor |
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| It was totally ruined leaving a few pieces of architecture behind |
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| Arch of Septimius Severus from behind |
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| Column of Phocas on the left area |
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| Eventually became a pasture land |
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| Goodbye, cesar |
As what Maximus said "Imagine where you will be, and it will be." This was absolutely true to me. I had been imagining myself visiting Rome especially the Colosseum and it was granted to me. I actually visited the Colosseum!!! My wish came true and it was even more than what I desired.
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