Rome Italy Colosseum
Top Tips - Skip the Line, Best Way to Visit, and More!

Planning to visit the Rome Italy Colosseum? 

Here's everything you need to know, from how to skip the line, when to go, which ticket to buy, what's included, and more.

Rome Italy Colosseum - Everything You Need to Know

Want to visit the Colosseum underground, where gladiators, animals, and convicted criminals awaited their fate?

Want to know the best way to skip the line?

On this page, I'll tell you everything you need to know to get the most out of your visit to this amazing monument.

• Colosseum opening hours
• Best time to visit the Colosseum to avoid crowds
• Ticket price to visit Colosseum
• Can you visit the Colosseum for free?
• How to skip the line at the Colosseum
• How long does it take to visit the Colosseum?
• Can you bring a backpack into the Colosseum? What about a bottle of water?
• Best Colosseum tours
• How to visit the Colosseum at night
• How to visit the Colosseum arena floor
• How to visit the Colosseum underground
• Can you visit the upper tiers of the Colosseum?
• Is the Colosseum wheelchair accessible?

When is the colosseum open?

The Rome Italy Colosseum is open every day except Christmas Day and New Years Day. (It used to also be closed on May 1, a big holiday in Europe, but this is no longer the case. The Colosseum IS open on May 1.)

The Colosseum opens at 9:30 am, and closes “at sundown." (The Colosseum used to open at 8:30 am but post-Covid reopening, they are keeping a later schedule at the moment.)

This means in winter months, the Colosseum closes around 4:30 pm (with last entry at 3:30pm).

In the late spring and summer months it closes around 7 pm. The ticket office closes one hour prior to closing time.

For more specific closing times, visit the CoopCulture website, the official ticketing website of the Colosseum and other archeological sites around Italy.

When is the best time to visit the colosseum in Rome?

If you're wondering when is the best time to visit the Colosseum to avoid huge crowds, there are three parts to this answer - time of year, day of the week, and time of day.

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Best time of year to visit the Colosseum?

The Rome Italy Colosseum is one of the city's top attractions, and one of the most visited monuments in the world (over 7 million in 2019!). So it always has visitors. However, unlike the Vatican, it isn't crowded when tourists are not here.

If you are here from March – October, a mix of high and mid seasons, the colosseum will pretty much always be crowded.

If you come in low season (November, December, January, February), when there are fewer tourists, you will find it much somewhat less crowded. Especially on non-holiday weekdays.

NB - In recent years, I am finding crowds and queues at the Rome Italy Colosseum in low season on weekends, especially when there is nice weather. 

Best day of the week to visit the Colosseum?

The Colosseum is open 7 days a week. It closes only December 25 and January 1.

So is there a day of the week that is best for visiting the Colosseum?

In high season, the Rome Italy Colosseum is crowded every day of the week. You can barely discern a difference between the crowds during the week vs. the weekend.

But in low season, you will find the Colosseum less crowded during the week than on the weekend. 

On the weekends, you have Romans going around their city with friends and family. You also have people who live near Rome and want to enjoy a day in the city. Then there are Italians and other European residents who find it easy to drive or fly into Rome on the weekend. So if you are one of these people, count on crowds at the Colosseum on weekends, even in low season.

Some things to keep in mind:

• If you are here for Easter Weekend, the Colosseum closes early Friday, due to the Via Crucis. On that weekend, it's open and will be packed.
• If you are here over New Years', the Colosseum will close early on New Years' Eve, and may have later opening hours on New Years' Day (check on their website to be sure of opening times these dates.)

Best time of day to visit the Colosseum?

Just about any time of year, high season or not, I always suggest visiting the Colosseum either when they first open at 9:30am, or, 1-2 hours before last entry.

In high season, you will still see plenty of people at these hours but not nearly as many as during late morning and through the middle of the day. Think of the crowd amount as a bell curve.

In hot months, you should avoid coming in the middle of the day, as there is virtually no shade and no place to sit down. 

To sum up, the best times to visit the colosseum to avoid crowds, and also for your own comfort, are:

• In low season months, from November through February (except for the Christmas and New Year holidays).
• Mid-week if you can.
• At 9:30am when it first opens. In high season, you will still find crowds at this hour, but much smaller crowds than later in the day.
• One hour before last entry. Last entry is one hour before it actually closes, so if you go about an hour before that, you will have plenty of time to enjoy it and not feel rushed, but by then, the crowds have greatly thinned out. The "last entry" and closing times vary throughout the year, and are based on sundown. (The caveat here is that you need to make sure you give yourself plenty of time to visit the Colosseum, and also the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill if you want to visit those also. And as of 2019, you only have one day to do so with a standard ticket.)

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How much does it cost to visit the Colosseum?

There are two main ticket types for the Rome Italy Colosseum:

• Standard entry ticket
• Full Experience ticket

Standard ticket prices for visiting the Rome Italy COlosseum

The standard ticket price for the Colosseum is

• 16€ for an adult
• 2€ for Europeans between the ages of 18-25. At the moment, this discounted rate is available only to European citizens.
• Free for everyone under 18

There is a 2€ booking fee which is obligatory, as advanced booking is now required to visit the Colosseum.

This is true even for free tickets.

So for example, if you are eligible for a free ticket, i.e. if you are under 18, or have the Roma Pass or other City Pass, and you want to reserve a time so you can skip the line, you still need to pay the 2€ to reserve. 

You might be wondering why you still have to reserve a skip-the-line space if you have the Roma Pass (or other city pass) that allows you "free" entry to the Colosseum.

Well, to manage the huge crowds that have been getting bigger every year, CoopCulture have implemented new rules. 

As of March 1, 2019, visitors to the Colosseum, including Roma Pass holders, MUST reserve a time slot. And this means paying that 2€.

What's included in your ticket to the Colosseum

For the price of entry to the Colosseum, you ALSO get to visit the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill.

These three places make up a huge area we call "Ancient Rome."

Here's how the standard Rome Italy Colosseum ticket works:

• You have 1 day to visit the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. (Until 2019, it used to be 2 days.)
• You can only visit each site once (no re-entry.)
• The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill are actually ONE park, so you have to visit them together.
• You CAN visit everything in one day if you want. You can also take a lunch/coffee break between visits to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill.
• There is only one main entrance to the Colosseum (although there is a second entrance for special visits. You will be informed if your visit begins at this other entrance, called the Stern gate.)
• The main entrance to the Roman Forum is on via dei Fori Imperiali, right where via Cavour meets it. Currently the only entrance to the Roman Forum ias on the via Sacra where the Arch of Titus is.
• The main entrance to the Palatine Hill is past the huge arch of Constantine on Via di San Gregorio 30.

Colosseum Full Experience Ticket

The Full Experience ticket costs 22€ (plus 2€ to book in advance which is required). The same conditions apply (discounts and free entry) as for the standard Rome Italy Colosseum ticket, i.e. the cost is still 2€ for European citizens aged 18-25, and free for everyone under 18).

• The Full Experience ticket allows you to visit the Colosseum Underground or the Colosseum Arena Floor, special areas that are now easily accessible with this ticket.
• Like regular Colosseum tickets, your Full Experience ticket also includes a one-time entrance to the Palatine Hill/Roman Forum.
• It ALSO includes access to all the S.U.P.E.R. sites (some of which may or may not be open at any given time.)

Click here to visit my page all about the Colosseum Full Experience.

Discount tickets for the Colosseum

Europeans between 18-25 are entitled to a discounted Colosseum ticket. The ticket costs 2€, plus 2€ to reserve a time slot.

If you are using a Roma Pass or other Rome city pass, and do not use the Colosseum as one of your free entrances, you can use the card for discounted entry.

How to Get Free Entry to the Colosseum

The Colosseum is free:

• For everyone under 18 years of age
• For holders of a Roma Pass or other Rome city pass that allows entry to the Colosseum, and you choose this as one of your free sites
• For anyone with a disability and their care-giver/companion (with valid medical documentation of the disability)

How to avoid the line at the coliseum? How to get tickets in advance?

Here are the ways to get Colosseum tickets in advance and avoid the lines/queues:

• Get the Roma Pass, or another type of Rome City Pass (they all offer skip-the-line entry to the Colosseum). I don’t actually recommend this as the best money-saving deal. But it does allow you entry to the Colosseum without waiting in the line to buy tickets. If you have a Roma Pass, you can skip the longer line, and go to the much shorter line for Roma Pass holders.
• You can book a tour of the Colosseum. When you book a tour, the tour guide/company takes care of getting the tickets for you, and of course you skip the line.
• You can pre-purchase tickets on the CoopCulture website, the official concessioners for the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome (Beniculturali di Roma).
• If you find the above website a not totally user-friendly, you can buy your ticket online through a ticket agency, like this one:

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It's no longer the case that you can count on coming to the Palatine Hill to buy your tickets with no line.

They are not selling tickets on site at this time.

How long will it take to visit the Colosseum? 

I find that a typical visit to the inside of the colosseum, including walking around the two tiers you can visit with a standard ticket, takes around an hour.

Of course you could spend less time if you want. But an hour is about right if you visit it as most people do, walking all the way around one tier, and then all the way around the other tier, and especially stopping to take pictures.

There is often a special exhibit on the second-level tier, so if you spend time there, add anywhere from 10-30 minutes.

Finally, there is a gift shop, so you might spend time there, as well.

How long will it take to visit the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill?

Typically, you will spend about an hour at each site, so a visit to "Ancient Rome", i.e. the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill will take about 3 hours.

You can break this up, and visit over a full day, with a lunch break in between. 

Most tours given by tour agencies of the Colosseum include the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, and last around 3-4 hours.

What can you bring inside the Colosseum? What can't you bring?

I am often asked if you can bring a "small backpack" inside the Colosseum.

Yes you can.

This, of course, depends on what you mean by "small." Basically, you can bring a typical schoolbook-type backpack inside the colosseum.

You may also take in a clear plastic bottle of water.

Here are the things you may not bring with you inside the Rome Italy Colosseum:

• Alcoholic beverages
• Aerosoles
• Large backpacks (such as for camping) or bulky bags
• Trolleys
• Tripods (for now, selfie sticks are allowed so be careful as you walk around. A lot of people are using them and you risk running into one!)
• Dark bottles and glasses containers

Is it worth taking a tour of the Colosseum?

I am a big fan of tours, especially to a place like Ancient Rome that is so full of history. Without a tour, you would need a really good guidebook, or audio tour, otherwise, you will just be looking at a bunch of ruins without any context ur understanding of where they came from and why they are there.

If you are not a tour person, you could take the audio guide at each location. Each site has its own audio guide. The Colosseum has one, the Roman Forum has another one, and the Palatine Hill has yet another one.

Tours of the Rome Italy COlosseum with CoopCulture

When you book a ticket to the Colosseum on CoopCulture, one of the options is to book a tour. This is a tour given by the guides employed by the Colosseum. The cost is minimal (usually about 5-10 € more than a standard ticket). So it can be worthwhile to take this tour. You will certainly get some history and a good start towards your unaccompanied visit to the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill.

TOURS OF THE ROME ITALY COLOSSEUM through a Tour Agency

Many tour companies offer a variety of tours to the Rome Italy Colosseum. They typically cost quite a bit more than the tours given directly by CoopCulture. Here's why:

• Tour companies are businesses and they need to make a profit (CoopCulture is a government-funded agency so it's less focused on profits.)
• Tour companies employ licensed guides, who need to make a living from their work (the licensed guides who work for the Rome Italy Colosseum may have other duties. Also, they are on salary, not paid per tour.)
• Tour companies offer a more complete package. When you take a tour of the Colosseum with CoopCulture, you will get a basic tour of the Colosseum. Most tour companies include the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill at the very least, if not other special things to see along the way.

Special visits to the Rome Italy Colosseum

How to visit the Colosseum at night

Yes! Part of the year, you can visit the Colosseum at night.

A night visit to the Colosseum is a very special thing to do and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

How to visit the Colosseum arena floor

How To visit the underground of the Rome Italy Colosseum

The first time I visited the Rome Italy Colosseum, I thought, where is the floor? 

It turns out that since it was made of wood, it’s long gone, and now, the underneath is exposed. What went on under there?

By visiting the Colosseum underground, you will find out. I highly recommend this visit, which has become much easier to book than it used to be.

Can you visit the Upper Tiers of the Rome Italy Colosseum?

Is the Colosseum wheelchair accessible?

Yes, the Rome Italy Colosseum is wheelchair accessible, mostly. 

The ground floor of the colosseum is accessible to wheelchair users. From there, you can take a lift/elevator to the second tier. You can also get around both the ground floor and second floor tiers in a wheelchair. Visits to the underground and upper tiers are not wheelchair accessible.

You may bring your own wheelchair, or request one upon arrival. They only have one wheelchair available on each floor, so don't count on one being available. If you need your own, you should bring it, or rent one in Rome.

Visitors who are disabled (with written medical proof, if not in a wheelchair), and their companion/caregiver, may enter the Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palatine Hill for free.

There are accessible toilets.

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