Want to visit the Colosseum by night?
This is one of my favorite ways to visit Rome's most iconic monument.
It's an exclusive visit and brings the structure's history to life like no other visit can.
Find out everything you need to know about seeing the Rome Colosseum at night, from what you will see to how to book.
Colosseum night visits will resume spring 2024!!
Check back for more details.
If you want to visit the Colosseum at night, you need to know:
No time to read the whole thing?
I highly recommend visiting the Colosseum at night!
Just know this ticket does not come with entrance to the Roman Forum / Palatine Hill.
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Rated 5 stars!
Visiting the Colosseum at night is really special, not only because of how beautiful it is from the outside (which you can of course see regardless.)
When you first go in, you will see and really appreciate the architecture of the corridors, because they are totally empty!
Then, as you go around on the main level of the Colosseum, your first impression will be of the silence.
It's dark all around you and hardly anyone else is there, so you get to appreciate what you are looking at even more, because there is no sound, other than the guide, to distract you.
On a night visit to the Colosseum, you will visit the main and second levels of the Colosseum, which you can do also during the day.
But you will also get to go out onto the Colosseum arena floor . . .
. . . and, you will visit the Hypogeum below. Unfortunately, at the time of this update the Attic levels are not included in this visit.
This is another thing that makes this visit so special, as these areas are not accessible with a regular daytime entry ticket, and booking a visit of them, can be hard to come by as there is limited number of tickets to those areas.
Colosseum Ticketing Update April 2024
A brand new ticket system has been launched for tickets to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Domus Aurea - check it out here.
A few things to note with this new system:
1. It only applies for tickets from May 1 2024 onwards. If you want to purchase tickets for April 2024, you will need to use the old CoopCulture website.
2. Tickets are currently being released a month out, day by day. On April 8 tickets for May 8 became available, on April 9 tickets for May 9 get released and so on.
3. The new website has a system which puts visitors in a digital queue before letting them on to the site itself, to stop the site crashing due to demand, so don't worry if you don't get onto the site immediately.
4. Not all ticket/tour options are available to purchase yet so keep checking back if what you want isn't available.
No.
The Roma Pass allows you free (or discounted) entry to the Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palatine Hill, but only during regular daytime hours.
The Colosseum night tour is considered a special event, and is not offered at any discount or with the Roma Pass or any other Combo pass.
The full-fare ticket to visit the Colosseum by night, which includes a tour in English (or Spanish or Italian), is 25€.
There is no additional booking fee so that is the final price per person.
For anyone under 25, the reduced fee is 20€.
For ages 3-6, it's free, but you still need a ticket (it's a free ticket but you have to reserve as it's consider a "spot" on the tour.)
Reminder: All Colosseum tickets will be nominative. This means that your ticket will have your name on it, and you’ll have to show ID to prove you are the person whose name is on the ticket.
No, it's not the same.
A normal day-time visit to the Colosseum costs 16€ if purchased on site, or a bit more if you pre-purchase.
And it includes a visit to the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill area over a 24-hour period.
Any other kind of visit to the Colosseum, such as underground, to upper tiers, and, the subject of this page, visiting the Colosseum by night, is considered a special event.
(It's also why they are not always available.)
Colosseum night tickets must be purchased in advance, and always include a tour with someone from the staff of Parco Colosseo.
You cannot wander in on your own, and you cannot just walk up and purchase a ticket.
For all these special events, there is a limited number of spaces available, and as they are popular, they tend to sell out fast so you really have to book in advance, sometimes long in advance.
These are two really different visits, and different ways to see the Colosseum.
Here are the pros of visiting the Colosseum by day:
Here are the cons of visiting the Colosseum by day:
Here are the pros of visiting the Colosseum by night:
Here are the cons of visiting the Colosseum by night:
All about the Rome Colosseum
So which one should you do?
If you have never been to Rome before, you may want to do the daytime visit so you can also see the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill.
And take a tour of that so you get all the history and info.
And, if you've been to the Colosseum before, or if you have time on your trip to Rome, add a night visit.
You will never look at the Colosseum the same way again.
When they started offering Colosseum night visits, it was only available during spring/summer/fall.
As of this writing in late 2023, visits seem to begin in early spring and go through the New Year Holidays.
As the season slows down and it gets colder, there are fewer of them.
In winter months, you can often only go on the weekends, but this seems to differ from one year to the next, and I think they adjust it according to whatever the current supply/demand is.
Also note it is NOT available on the Free Sunday or other free dates (on the first Sunday of each month, and some other dates during the year, like November 4 and April 21, many sites and museums are free for everyone, and there are no special visits that day.)
As for what time they go, they start having visits about an hour after the regular closing time, and stagger the entry times.
So for example, in July, when the Colosseum closes at 7pm, they start visits sometime after 8pm, but you might get an entry time of say, 9:40pm.
This way it's always in the dark, and as they stagger the entry times, you will not spend much time together with any other tour groups.
The perfect 3-day itinerary in Rome
Trying to figure out how to organize your visit to Rome? I've got the perfect 3-day itinerary for first-time visitors (or those who have not been here in a while.) It works for a 2.5 day visit as well.
In my 3-day itinerary, you'll see all the major must-see Rome attractions like the Vatican, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Castel Sant'Angelo, and much more.
And if you have more time, or want suggestions for extra/other things to do, you'll find that there too.
Visit my page with the best 3-day itinerary in Rome for first-timers.
Yes, to visit the Colosseum by night, you must take a tour.
And the tour has to be with someone from Parco Colosseo, the organization that manages the Colosseum and its ticket sales.
When you book a tour with an outside company, you will still get the guide you booked, who works for that company.
But when you enter for the Colosseum night tour, someone from Parco Colosseo just comes along, in part to make sure you keep to your time-table.
But rest assured, you will have the tour guide you booked.
A Colosseum night tour booked through Parco Colosseo lasts just over an hour.
A tour with an outside company will likely last longer, as they usually try to cover some more ground and information, to make it a more complete tour.
For example, your guide might set a meeting point at Piazza Venezia, and then give you a tour of that piazza and the via dei Fori Imperiali on your way to the Colosseum.
The length will depend on the tour company but usually it will be around 2 - 2.5 hours.
There are two ways to book a tour of the Colosseum by night, through Parco Colosseo, or through a private tour company.
If you book through Parco Colosseo, it will cost less, but if you want a more complete tour, or, if you find Parco Colosseo tickets sold out, you may want to try booking a tour with an outside company.
Parco Colosseo is the entity that runs the ticketing for the Colosseum (also the Roman Forum/Palatine and the Domus Aurea too.)
You can book your Colosseum night tour directly through Parco Colosseo, online.
If you want a more complete tour, that includes other parts of Ancient Rome by night, you may want to consider booking a Colosseum night tour through a tour agency.
On a recent tour, we began at the Vittoriano monument (the "wedding cake"), and walked from there to Campidoglio for some night Roman Forum views.
Take Walks is another trusted partner - book your tour here.
While we walked along the via dei Fori Imperiali, all lit up, we were treated to a fun and entertaining history lesson about Ancient Rome and some colorful emperors.
Once we arrived at the Colosseum, our guide handled everything and in we went (you do have to pass through security so I remind you, no selfie sticks or tripods allowed.)
We had the place nearly to ourselves.
A guide from the Colosseum joined our group, but mostly served to keep us on track time-wise.
Our guide was the one who guided us the whole time, and it was fantastic.
You may also wish to book a Colosseum night tour on GetYourGuide because it's hard to book and because space is so limited.
When you go on a tour booking site like these, you can enter your date(s) and see WHO has a tour available then.
Yes, booking a tour with an agency is more expensive than with Parco Colosseo.
But you will have a more complete tour this way.
And, if the tickets through Parco Colosseo are sold out, you may find that by booking a tour, you can find space available.
Disclosure: If you make a purchase through a link on this page, I may receive a small commission - at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my site!
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