Revel in exquisite antiquity as your guide dazzles you with tales from the Roman Empire on this afternoon tour of the Colosseum. This carefully crafted itinerary also covers the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill – without waiting in any lines - to give you a complete perspective on one of the most important civilizations in history. If you truly want to immerse yourself into the Eternal City’s 2500+ years of intriguing history, there is no better place to start than the Colosseum. The most spectacular edifice of Ancient Rome still in existence, this immortal amphitheater has a past filled with equal parts gore and glory – just like the Roman Empire itself. Over time, the boundary of history and legend may have been blurred out, but your guide will help you debunk the myths and shock you with stories even more jaw-dropping the ones you’ve seen played out on the silver screen. From wicked emperors to gruesome gladiator fights, we’ll delve right into the excitement from the get go!
Every inch of this massive triumphal arch is covered by carvings and sculptures, making it a veritable billboard, made to advertise the achievements of Constantine in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Curiously, much of its decoration was cobbled together from monuments built by earlier emperors, more specifically those of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. These were all men that Constantine considered to have been the great rulers of the 2nd century AD and with whom he most wanted to be associated. This triumphal landmark also acts as an everlasting testimony of the victory of Constantine and the end of persecutions against Christians.
This was once the central hub of the sprawling empire, where the early Romans would mix and mingle throughout its glory days. As you gaze upon towering triumphal arches and the imposing remnants of senate houses and hallowed temples, you’ll be mesmerized by the stories that have transpired on this very ground. Get the inside scoop on Marc Antony and Cleopatra’s epic love story and hear the thrilling tale of the conspiracy that cost Julius Caesar his life – but also learn how the great Roman Empire slowly began to crumble towards its dramatic demise in 500 AD.
According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the birthplace of Romulus and Remus, the twin-brothers who were suckled by a she-wolf and later became the founders of Rome. Literary sources imply that the city Romulus founded was confined primarily to this hill, where Romulus dwelt in a hut in the south-west corner, which was continually restored in his honor. This was also where very famous and rich Romans lived and where ultimately also where the Emporers chose to move their gigantic residences. Embrace the mesmerizing panoramic views and architectural remnants of this once mystical site now overtaken with lush vegetation, and take a journey through the vestiges of history to imagine the splendor and vivacity of this ancient settlement
John was our guide on the Gladiator Gate Colosseum Arena Floor tour (with Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum) and he was fantastic! The tour was incredibly informative. John was able to answer any questions and he provided a lot of historical background around what we were seeing. He also kept the tour moving to ensure we could see as much as possible while also maintaining a manageable pace.
John Tinto conjured vivid images of ancient Roman life and was very knowledgeable. I even enjoyed his fascinating word etymology facts. He tailored the guide to our interests perfectly. He even gave us extra time and showed us the Circus Maximus. It was an instant highlight of our trip.
Guide with John. Very knowledgeable and friendly.
Bosco was our guide and he was great! This was a private tour with just our party. Bosco was very knowledgeable and friendly. We enjoyed our tour! If it is super hot, be prepared with water, sunscreen, hats etc. Our tour was 3 hours in the hot sun with little shade. The Colosseum is amazing and fascinating. It’s a must see despite the crowds. We probably didn’t need to see palatine hill or the forum. It was interesting but our family would have preferred spending more time in the colosseum dungeons and platform of the arena. Thank you Bosco for a wonderful time!
We enjoyed our private tour through the Coliseum. Imaginations run wild as our tour guide walked us around and explained all that happened during the Gladiator days. What an experience and eye opening insight to how the Coliseum was built and pillaged. The pass allowed us to skip the looooooong lines and our guide exceeded our expectations with her knowledge. Highly recommended.
I don't know how much I was expecting as this was only the third time l've used a tour guide with varying outcomes but can I say, Carlotta was outstanding! So knowledgable, so passionate and so personal to make sure every question was answered, every detail was covered and when certain things peaked the groups interest, she instinctively carried us in that direction. Could not recommend a more friendly but local and knowledgable tour guide for Rome! Thank you so much for making our trip so special.
Carlotta with What life tours was the best guideI have experienced in Rome. Very engaging and an ex-archeologist !
This was our second tour with What a Life Tours during our visit to Rome and it was exceptional. We had the absolute pleasure of having a private walk around the Colosseum and Roman Forum/Palatine Hill with Carlotta. She was incredibly knowledgeable with professional training in archeology and customized our experience to our preferences. We spent more time around Palatine Hill with it's spectacular views. The tour company did an excellent job rescheduling due to unforeseen circumstances that required us to delay our arrival in Rome. One minor suggestion, the meet up point wasn't very clear and we wasted some time finding Carlotta at the beginning of our tour. These sites are immense and you can't possible cover is one visit, so we came back on our own later in our visit to explore the Forum even further!
My family was very impressed with this company and the guides they provided for the tours we went on while we were in Rome this November/December. Carlotta was full of knowledge and was able to answer the many questions we had along the way. She was also very patient and great with our kids- they really enjoyed it :). Thanks!
John gave us an amazing tour! He is so knowledgeable and helpful! Would highly recommend this tour! Thank you, John, for all the time and information you shared with us.
John Tinto was a fountain of knowledge and created a truly engaging tour of the Colosseum and Forum archeological sites. I’ll be unpacking the interesting topics we discussed for a while…
To start with the tour was amazing with so much info from our guide Carlotta , the tour was in English and she was brilliant explaining everything about the colusseum and the gladiators , even though we were unfortunate as my wife had a sun stroke in the middle of tour but Carlotta went out of her way to help us she went above and beyond to make sure we all alright and she didn’t leave us tell she made sure that we were OK , if it wasn’t for her kindness we would have been in a very tough situation, can’t recommend her and her company enough , also I have to mention a gentleman doctor and his kind daughter from California who by luck were in the same group they refuse to carry on with the tour and made sure my wife is Ok too , can’t thank Carlotta enough there is no words to show her how much we appreciate everything she did to help us , much love and regards from us both Hassan & Sam
Amazing tour with John - very knowledgeable and kept our 17 and 12 year olds very engaged for four plus hours in 90 degree heat!
Excellent tour! Vasco is THE guide to get...ask for him by name if you are able. We were 1 of 3 families on the tour. We think What A Life is the best tour company to select when in Rome - we did 3 different tours through them, and all 3 were top notch.
A wonderful experience from a very professional tour company. I wouldn’t go anywhere else as their guides are top notch. Carlotta was no exception. Her thorough knowledge of Roman history and engaging manner made the tour a thoroughly enjoyable learning experience. An early tour with a group of 10 or so is definitely recommended. Don’t go it alone later in the day, you’ll regret it. Bravo!
This was well worth the money. Not only skip the line, but able to bypass crowded points in the Colosseum. Our guide, Ennio, was absolutely amazing. His knowledge was phenomenal. He also teaches history course…
We loved the tour delivered by Michael. He is truly knowledgeable in Roman History. Also he was kind, funny and very well prepared. We took this tour the first day that we arrived in Rome and it was the best kick off we could think.
Paulo was an incredibly knowledgeable guide - so much information at his fingertips. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the Colosseum, Forum & Palatine Hill and learned an amazing amount. Can’t recommend enough! Wear comfortable shoes, as there is a lot of standing, even with a guide the crowds are heavy.
Our tour guide was outstanding! He was so knowledgeable about the history of the Colosseum the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. He was personable, spoke fluent English, and clearly enjoys leading groups to these amazing places!
Did the Coliseum tour on July 13. Marcello was our guide and we were impress, he is not just your tour guide, he is a HISTORY TEACHER. Marcello had dates, facts, names and if you know something about Roman history, you know that there are A LOT of dates and events. Highly recommend this company. I used also used them for the Vatican tour with John( review is separate from this) . DONT USE Get Your Guide !!!!!
We had a great tour with our guide Stephana (I hope I'm spelling that right). She was very knowledgeable and did a really good job in getting us all engaged on the tour!
Marcelo was a great tour guide! We learned more in 3 hours than we did in school or college. And never fell asleep once!
Had a great time and enjoyed our tour. Our guide was fabulous! Lots of interesting facts and we would recommend this tour group.
Sara gave us an interesting and detailed tour of the colosseum. Sara was very thoughtful of our children and she and taught them the rich history of a magaical place. We are very happy we booked this private tour.
Our tour guide Debra was incredible! She was a rock star. Knew everything, everyone, and the perfect places to go. Never want to go to the Vatican without her.
We recently did this tour with Carlotta, and she was awesome! Very knowledgeable, and courteous, making the whole tour fun and a delight. We will miss you Carlotta! Darcy (cornacello :) ) & Eric (Note: You will be doing alot of walking, stair climbing etc so I would not recommend this tour for anyone who has a walking disability)
Alessia was the best tour guide out of all our numerous tours in Italy. So knowledgeable and passionate about the history and archeological sites we walked through.
Valentina was a gem and guided the tour at our pace. We really loved the history she shared during the day. Her passion and knowledge made the experience even better! Thank you Valentina for taking such great care of us!
The Colosseum was a location I always wanted to go to growing up as a kid in the USA. To be able to achieve that with my wife on our honeymoon was absolutely incredible! Our amazing guide Carlotta gave us a tour that we will never forget. She provided us with so much incredible history and we learned a great deal not only of the Colosseum but of The Forum and Palatine Hill! This easily delivered as one of the best experiences of our trip!!
Our guide Chara was wonderful! She was so knowledgeable and so kind. She made the experience very special.
Robert was a fantastic guide today! We booked a private tour due to concerns about steps and Robert tailored the tour to our needs. I was so worried about being able to see it all but we did! He was so knowledgeable and interesting and answered a zillion questions. We so enjoyed the tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum and took tons of photos!! Thanks, Robert!
Amazing tour with Fernandino, he was super knowledgeable (phd), perfect English and gave us a personal tour at a pace we enjoyed. It was the highlight of our trip.
The views were amazing, the sights is a must see! Our guide, John, was awesome! The knowledge and effort put in for our tour to the coloseum, arena, circus maximus, roman forum and palentine hill was heartfelt and enormous! Best company for the job!
Robert was very knowledgeable and was willing to go at our pace. He gave us so much information about the colosseum and the Roman Forum and and answered our questions.
Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and was able to move us past the crowd quickly. She provided excellent information and we were so happy to have her help us.
We enjoyed our tour. Our guide was very informative and very knowledgeable. Would definitely recommend a guide to get the most out of visit to Coloseum.
This was an excellent private tour and Tiana could not be more pleasant, informative and kind. She really loves what she does and it shows in her knowledge and attention to detail. She was excellent and highlighted many aspects of the coliseum and forum.
The sites are amazing! To see and walk on buildings and roads over 2,000 years old. The only reason for not giving 5 stars is because our guide, enough knowledgeable, spent way too much time on giving us a history lesson. And the meeting point was very hard to find.
Paulo provided an excellent tour with an in-depth history of the colosseum and palatine hill! We highly recommend‼️
Watching my wife walk into a place that she has dreamed about since she was a child. To stand where the gladiators stood and learn everything there was to learn about how the colosseum came about and how it worked.
We booked a private tour with What a Life to visit the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palantine Hill with Paolo - he is a school teacher and has lived in Rome his whole life, so he was a wealth of knowledge. We were able to skip the line (still a LOT of other tour groups in the skip the line, but much better than the "general" line. Paolo navigated our group very well, as we had different generations (from 11 years old to 55). He shared a great deal of history that was familiar, and also was able to let us know what was a myth. He was eager to answer all of our questions, and moved at a pace that worked for our entire group. Our headsets allowed all of us to hear very well, and to be able to focus on taking in the sights interesting to us. Multiple times he also stopped to take group pictures for us. Communicating with What a Life prior to our trip was seamless and prompt. We used What a Life for three tours while in Italy and I would highly recommend.
Very knowledgeable guide Frank. Highly recommend the skip the line tours as it saves so much time. Palatine Hill was amazing as of course was the colosseum
Text: Franco was an excellent guide. Witty and very knowledgeable with lots of interesting anecdotes. The tour was well paced and included all the high points that you can fit into a three hour tour of the Colosseum, Palace and Forum. Wear comfy shoes and bring water.
Very informative. Great pace. Tailors the tour to your needs. On several occasions, he would pause for us to really soak in the surroundings and take pictures/videos.
Frank was amazing. Will not forget this unbelievable ext. Frank is the best guide of our trip and they all have great.
Frank, our tour guide was great. His knowledge of the subject is extensive. He always made sure we could hear and took us to shady areas when possible. It was the best of many great tours that we did.
Patrick was a great guide. He was very knowledgeable and friendly. We really enjoyed the tour and all of the commentary he shared with us.
The tour we took was the underground tour of the coliseum…these tickets are hard to come by, and what a life tours did not disappoint..the absolute best way to see it….our guide, Patrick, was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a lot of great background on what was true and what was myth about the coliseum and those who fought in it….we moved through the crowds easily and had a fantastic time….highly recommend this as the way to visit this incredible piece of history….
Great visit, Paolo provided thorough and interesting information about Roman history, lifestyle and traditions. The tour was a very good choice and Paolo conveyed an amazing experience!
Outstanding information, great views, very personal experience. Really felt like it was catered to what we wanted to see.
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