Express Arena Floor Colosseum Tour | Private

Tour Description

Experience ancient Rome from the perspective of those who lived it through our Express Arena Floor Colosseum tour. Entering through the Colosseum’s Gladiator’s Gate, you’ll stand on the arena floor of the Colosseum, gazing down at its labyrinthine underground, and learning all about the savage scenes and spectacles from almost 2,000 years ago.

After exploring the world’s most iconic ancient monument, your expert guide will walk you over to the Roman Forum or Palatine Hill and scan you in, granting you access to its attractions. While our guide won’t be joining you for the rest of the tour, you can follow in the footsteps of the emperors, senators, and ordinary citizens of the former caput mundi (head of the world) as you explore the Roman Forum. Discover the temples, basilicas, and other fascinating monuments that tell the story of Rome’s ascendancy to an imperial power and climb the Palatine Hill to see where it all began.

Meet outside the Colosseum before entering through the Gladiator’s Gate

With timed, skip-the-line tickets, you and your guide will step straight inside the Colosseum. Instead of arriving where all other visitors do, however, you’ll walk through the Gladiator’s Gate to emerge on the ancient level of the arena floor. Standing on a wooden reconstruction of the original arena floor, you’ll be treated to a 360° panorama of the entire ancient amphitheater.

As you gaze down into the Colosseum Underground and up into its ancient stands, your expert guide will bring this monumental amphitheater’s history to life. Discover the scenes that took place when the Colosseum was inaugurated and find out how the Colosseum was designed to accommodate such spectacles.

Discover the wonders of the Colosseum with your expert licensed guide

As well as bringing you exclusive access to the Colosseum Arena Floor, this express Colosseum tour also grants you access to the Colosseum’s upper levels. Get an expert’s insight into the secrets of this iconic monument. Learn about the lives of those who fought and died here as you gaze down on the amphitheater’s floor. And discover the different kinds of gladiators – what separated the best from the rest and how they inscribed their names in immortality.

Please note that you won’t be able to re-enter after leaving the Colosseum (though after this express Colosseum tour, you won’t feel you need to!)

Passing the Arch of Constantine, step into the Roman Forum

Crossing the short distance from the Colosseum to the entrance of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, your guide will accompany you along the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) – the route victorious generals took for their triumphal military parades. Scanning you into this incredible archaeological site, you’ll then be left to explore for yourself, armed with a newfound knowledge of imperial Rome.

Passing the symbolically loaded Arch of Titus, you’ll tread the same cobblestones as some of the most famous names in history, visiting the site of Julius Caesar’s cremation and the platform from which the likes of Cicero delivered their speeches.

Exploring the Roman Forum’s many temples, you can enter the House of the Vestals, the living quarters of Rome’s virginal priestesses who kept the city’s symbolic hearth fire burning in the temple next door. Visit temples dedicated to gods and temples built in honor of the emperors. And retrace ancient daily life in the ruins of the Forum’s basilicas, monuments, and Curia (Senate House).

Explore the city’s cradle as you ascend the Palatine Hill

Romulus founded Rome on the Palatine Hill, constructing the ramparts here in the mid-8th century BC which his twin-brother fatefully transgressed. Eminent citizens of the Roman Republic had their homes here, most famously Cicero who paid millions in today’s money. When Rome was ruled by emperors, the imperial family’s palaces stretched across the Palatine Hill, providing such a vision of splendor that it’s given us our word ‘palace’.

Feed your curiosity as you explore the most fascinating of Rome’s Seven Hills, roaming it on your own or with the fellow travelers on your tour. Enjoying sweeping views over the Roman Forum and Colosseum in the distance, this is the perfect way to finish your adventure through ancient Rome.