Visiting the Colosseum in Rome, Italy: Everything you need to know

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy is perhaps one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world, and visiting is a life-changing experience. But to do so, you will want to make sure you plan in advance to have the best experience possible.

Click the links below to skip to any of the following sections:

Location
Transportation
Advanced Skip-the-Line Tickets & Tours
Buying Tickets at the Door
Tip: Find the Stairs
Your Trip to the Colosseum

Location of the Rome Colosseum

The Colosseum is based close to many other things that Rome has to offer. The city of Rome, Italy is completely full of historical sites and artifacts, so it’s hard to say it’s near everything — but it is within feet of the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.

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It is also easy to walk from areas like The Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and The Pantheon.

Thinking of visiting the Colosseum? Here is a recommended article on 7 Things you must know before visiting the Colosseum.

Transportation to the Colosseum

If you are on foot or bike, the Rome Colosseum is surrounded by many of the other sites you will likely be seeing while in Rome, and it is not difficult to get to.

However, if you are wanting to take a bus or subway, here is some more information:

Here is the map for the full bus schedule.

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The bus will drop you off right in front of the Colosseum.

You can take the Rome Metro to the Colosseo stop, which will drop you off right at the Colosseum.

Here is the Rome Metro Map.

Advanced Skip-the-Line Tickets & Tours

Since the Colosseum is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, it means there are also plenty of options for tours and tickets.

I would suggest the Colosseum and Roman Forum Skip-the-Line Entrance Ticket through GetYourGuide.

This is not a tour, but simply a way to get in the door without waiting in line.

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If you want to take a tour of the Colosseum underground, you can do so with a tour.

Purchase your tickets here.

Buying Tickets at the Door

When we visited the Colosseum, I had purchased tickets in advance from GetYourGuide, but we ended up not going the day I purchased tickets for. So we decided to go our last day in Rome, and I was quite worried about not having skip-the-line tickets.

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As we walked around outside, we had numerous people coming up to us (to the point of harassment) asking us to talk their tour. We had some time, so we opted to just wait in line — even though those tour guides all told us the line would take hours. The line actually looked like it could take hours.

However, after getting in line, it was a short 16 minutes until we got all the way through the line to the inside. Not only that, but the line itself was within the outer walkways of the Colosseum and therefore full of history.

Tip: Find the Stairs

If you are not with a tour group, you may not have any idea where to go once you enter the Rome Colosseum. You can walk around nearly the entire bowl, but make sure that you find the stairs before leaving — something that is not incredibly obvious.

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But make sure you do find the staircase to go to the second floor before you leave, because that is where the better views are.

Your Visit to the Colosseum

Plan to spend at least an hour, if not more at the Colosseum. It is an amazing piece of history and worth every moment you are there. Along the way, there are placards with information on the history of the Colosseum — make sure you spend some time to read those, because there is some important information about different ways the building was used for hundreds of years.