Colosseum, Rome

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The Colosseum is probably the Roman equivalent to Paris' Eiffel Tower or London's Tower Bridge. We all know the history and what it was built for, so there's no need for me to go on with that. The Colosseum, the Palatine Hills and Forum Romanum are covered by the same ticket, which as of Dec 2008 costs about 13€ and is good for 2 days. This combo is also included in the Roma Pass and the Archaeologica Card.

We visited the Colosseum after 10am and didn't find a lot of people, so probably you want to do that if you don't want to stand in line for a long time.

Upon arrival you'll probably be approached by tour guides offering you their services, but if you say "no" they'll leave you alone. Same goes for the gladiators and other sellers.

The tour guides can be hit or miss. We usually try to take one when we arrive at the different sites, but the quality really varies. There is also a good deal of competition for business and it can get nasty between the guides sometimes yelling at each other.

(note: these are the guides who hustle you at the entrance to the coliseum, not the cruise ship guides, or greyhound type tour guides, so you get what you pay for, which sometimes means that the quality and professionalism will vary dramatically)

Our guide at the coliseum started off OK, and even had a headset with megaphone which meant you could at least hear him which was a great start. But they can be quite mean. He started blaring with the megaphone at this poor tourist who had wandered up to hear what he was saying, deliberately singling the guy out and then telling him loudly to get lost. Hint: If you're going to stand on a sidewalk, in front of a major historical monument and and you're using a megaphone, this is called a public space and you might attract attention. He then spent the rest of the tour telling other passerby not to listen to him since it was for paying customers only...

He was wearing a Belfast jacket if you ever bump into him...

The guide at the Pompei site was nicer, but his English was really indecipherable, although he smiled a lot and seemed to think he was saying important stuff, which I'm sure he was, except no one in the group could figure out what he was really saying. Then he got into a fight with another guide who kept saying all the guides are in a union run by mafia and not to use them, etc, lots of unnecessary drama.

If you want some kind of standard, probably better to go with a pre-arranged tour, but you'll pay more, and sometimes you end up in large groups, which is the downside. We ended up taking the audio tour afterward and it was much better and much more comprehensive.

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Get the tickets at the entrance of the Palatine Hill located on Via di San Gregorio, very close to the Colosseum itself.

There is also another ticket office in the middle of Via dei Fori Imperiali, on your right hand side going from Piazza Venezia towards the Colosseum. This would actually be the entrance to the Roman Forum.

With the same ticket(9 euro + another 3 euro for exhibition cost if taking place) you visit Palatine Hill, Roman Forum and Colosseum. It opens always at 8.30am but the closing time varies during the year.

It will be closed on the following days:
December 25th
January 1st
May 1st

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If you like to visit Forum Romanum,Colosseum and at least one other place,you should take Rome pass.Bet thing with it,is that you will get in easier.At Colosseum the line with Rome pass looked longer,but when we got in,it went quicker,because other people went to buy tickets,and we could just walk in.And from our line they asked many people to step away,because they were at the wrong line-they didn´t have a Rome pass.
We bought the pass from the other side of the street from kiosk.
With that Pass you get in free for first two laces(if you go same time to Colosseum and Forum Romanum,it will be count as one).There is quite a lot to see in those places,so we used other free entrance next day,and discount-entraces at third day.You could also use busses and local trains with the pass.

We first saw the Colosseum at night and lit up it was absolutely breathtaking. Just the sheer size of it. We went back the next day and wandered around. We didn't feel the need to have a guide at 20 euros apiece, we listened to our audio guides!

You can't visit Rome without visiting the Colosseum! The day we visited, they were letting visitors in for free, which was a nice surprise. Apparently they only do this on 2 days through the year, so we were really lucky.

Because we got in for nothing, we decided to get an audioguide, which is available inside the colosseum, which gives some information about the history and structure of the building. One thing I will say is that make sure you have the correct change (€3.50) for the audioguide, as no change is given. You'll also need to leave some ID, like a passport or drivers license.

The audioguide gave some information, but beware, there are very little information boards inside the structure, so you either go with a guidebook, or the audioguide. It is worth seeing though, and makes a trip to Rome complete!

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I'll spare you the details and history of the Colosseum because if you wanted that, you could wiki it or read it from others who will say the same thing I would've said. A symbol of ancient Rome and even today's Rome, no visit to Rome would be complete without at least going by it or going inside it. To step in the Colosseum is to be a part of Roman history, to tread where the ancient Romans have tread, and where mankind today can get a glimpse of what once was.

The Colosseum is probably the most impressive building of the Roman empire. Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, it was the largest building of the era.
The monumental structure has fallen into ruins, but even today it is an imposing and beautiful sight.
The decay of the Colosseum has happened as a result of a couple of different forces. Nature has taken its toll, especially the earthquakes that have gradually shaken the building apart. But over the years, the structure was used as a quarry – the Romans gutted it for the marble that was then used on other structures in the city. Today, the floor is gone, revealing the maze of corridors and rooms that held the animals, gladiators and the slaves that worked to produce the spectacle