Plan your visit

Colosseum: Must-See & Must-Do

The seven best things to do near the Colosseum that turn a fleeting photo stop into the highlight of a Rome trip — with straight-talking advice on what is worth booking and what already comes free with your ticket.

A little planning goes a long way here, and deciding what to do around the Colosseum before you arrive pays off fast. A basic ticket simply gets you inside, yet the moments people cross the world for — out on the arena floor, weaving the tunnels below, soaking up the view from the top tier, or seeing it floodlit after dark — each depends on a specific ticket or tour, and the good ones sell out days ahead. Below is our shortlist of the experiences truly worth your time: what each is genuinely like, who it suits, a tip we would give a friend, and a link to book. Unsure where to begin? Run through the quick chooser just underneath first.

Inside the arenaArena floor, top-tier views & underground tunnels
Special access onlyHypogeum & Belvedere reached on guided tours
Nearby in a short walkRoman Forum, Palatine Hill & the Domus Aurea
Book aheadCapped daily slots — the best ones sell out first

How to choose your experience

Pair your visit with your travel style, then skip to the matching card below for the full rundown and a booking link.

First-time visitor

Classic guided tour + Forum & Palatine The full story without a single logistic to wrestle with.

History & engineering buff

Underground + Arena Floor Tour the machinery below, then stand where it all unfolded above.

Photographer / view-seeker

Belvedere (top tier) or a night tour The broadest panorama by day; the moodiest light once it is dark.

Families with kids

Short guided tour + arena floor Keep it under two hours and finish before the heat tops out.

Been before / want something rare

Night tour or Domus Aurea Both sit off the usual track — quieter, and a genuinely fresh angle.

Book Arena Floor & Underground Access

Real-time prices and availability from GetYourGuide for the two experiences that disappear first. Most options come with free cancellation.

Browse all options on GetYourGuide →

The 7 must-see & must-do experiences

The reconstructed wooden arena floor of the Colosseum where gladiators once fought

Must-Do

Stand on the Arena Floor

Walk out onto the part-rebuilt timber platform laid over the original sand, exactly where combatants once stepped from the shadows into view of a roaring crowd. Pivot slowly and the whole structure wraps around you — layer after layer of time-worn stone climbing skyward, the dark opening of the underground yawning beneath your boots. It is the difference between peering down from the seats and actually being on the stage, and that shift is what turns a visit into a memory. Pick this if you want a single knockout photo and a true feel for just how vast the arena really is.

Tip: Nothing shields you out on the platform, so a summer noon is punishing — book a slot near opening or close instead. Numbers are limited each day and this add-on tends to be the first to disappear, so reserve a dated entry a week or two ahead rather than chancing it on the day.

Book Arena Floor access →

The exposed brick tunnels of the Colosseum hypogeum beneath the arena floor

Must-See

Explore the Underground (Hypogeum)

Think of the hypogeum as the engine room behind the spectacle — a double-tiered maze of brick tunnels, cramped cells, and vertical shafts that once lay concealed below the floor. This is where caged beasts waited their turn, where painted scenery rode up through trapdoors on rope-and-counterweight lifts, and where fighters wore a path in the gloom awaiting their moment. Your guide threads you through the tight corridors and shows you the grooves the lifting gear ran in, so the show staged overhead finally clicks into mechanical sense. For anyone fascinated by how the games actually functioned it is the highlight, and a guided tour is the only way down.

Tip: Shielded from the sun and noticeably cooler than the open arena, it is a welcome escape on a sweltering day. The ground is rough ancient brick and loose grit, so flat closed shoes serve you better than sandals; the corridors run narrow, which may feel tight if confined spaces unsettle you.

Book an Underground tour →

View from the upper Belvedere tier of the Colosseum looking across the arena

Must-See

Climb to the Attic & Belvedere

Up on the fourth tier — the attic, better known as the Belvedere — Rome's poorest spectators once squeezed into the cheap seats, and that same level still delivers the building's best outlook. The arena spreads out fully below you, while the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Palatine Hill fall into one long, sweeping panorama. It draws the fewest visitors of any level and admits only small guided parties, which makes it the natural choice for view-hunters and photographers after a vantage almost nobody else gets.

Tip: Access is on foot up stairs only — there is no lift — so be ready to climb and give it a miss if steps are tough for you. The warmest light washes over the Forum in the late afternoon, and that is when the wide view photographs best.

Book a Belvedere tour →

The Colosseum dramatically illuminated after dark during a night tour

Must-Do

Visit at Night

On certain nights, after the day crowds have drifted away, a few small groups slip back inside to find the arena lit by floodlights under a black sky. Gone are the jostling queues and the harsh noon light — what is left is the quiet of bare stone, the moment when the building's sheer scale truly registers. Many of these after-dark tours also include the underground, so you wander the tunnels with barely a soul nearby. Couples, photographers, and repeat visitors who have already done the daytime round tend to call this the part of the trip they keep retelling.

Tip: They run only on selected evenings and the small groups book out fast, so reserve the moment your dates are fixed. Bring a light layer — Rome chills quickly once the sun sets, and you will be standing still as the guide talks.

Book a night tour →

Ruins and columns of the Roman Forum with the Palatine Hill behind

Included

Walk the Roman Forum & Palatine Hill

This is the perk most visitors waste: almost every standard Colosseum ticket also opens the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill on the same 24-hour pass, yet plenty of people grab their arena shot and leave. The Forum was the beating heart of public life in the empire — its paving hosted law courts, temples, and victory parades. The Palatine rising above it held the sprawling homes of emperors, and gave us the very word "palace." Using the rest of your pass here turns a one-hour stop into a full half-day across ancient Rome, and it costs you nothing more.

Tip: The Forum gate on Via di San Gregorio, beside the Palatine entrance, is usually much quieter than the main one — begin there to skip the longest line. If your timed entry permits, do this stretch before the Colosseum: the Forum offers little shade and bakes by midday, so explore the ruins while the air is still cool.

See combined tickets →

Vaulted underground halls of the Domus Aurea, Emperor Nero's Golden House

Bonus

See the Domus Aurea (Nero's Golden House)

A brief uphill walk from the arena, buried beneath the park on the Oppian Hill, lie the surviving rooms of Nero's famously lavish pleasure palace — a complex so enormous and indulgent that later rulers deliberately built on top of it to wipe out his memory. The weekend guided visit leads you through cool, cavernous chambers that still carry their frescoed ceilings, then fits you with a VR headset that rebuilds the vanished gardens and gilded front exactly around where you stand. It needs a separate ticket and stays far quieter than the main monument, making it a rewarding follow-up for anyone who wants Roman history without the crush.

Tip: It opens on weekends only, by timed guided tour, and is booked completely apart from the Colosseum — reserve early, since places are few. The halls hold their cool all year, so a light layer is worth packing even in high summer.

Read the Domus Aurea guide →

A small group following a guide through the Colosseum on a classic guided tour

Best for first-timers

Take a Classic Guided Tour

If you pick just one option on this page, make it this one. There is almost no signage inside the Colosseum, and the neighbouring Forum is a field of gorgeous rubble that says little without someone to decode it. A skilled guide weaves everything into a narrative — the politics of who sat where, how the games were choreographed, why the structure still stands — while quietly sorting your skip-the-line entry and timed slot for you. On a first visit, no other upgrade gives you back more for the money.

Tip: A compact group of under 25 with a radio headset is far easier to follow than tagging along behind a big coach party straining to hear — check the listed group size before you commit. Confirm too whether the price covers the entry ticket itself, so nothing catches you out at the gate.

Book a guided tour →

Top-Rated Colosseum Experiences

Browse and book the top-rated Colosseum tickets and tours, ranked by traveller reviews, with free cancellation on most.

Browse all options on GetYourGuide →

One last planning tip

Whichever option you land on, reserve a dated, timed entry and target the very first slot at opening or the last hours before closing — each sidesteps the midday crush and the fiercest heat. One rhythm that works nicely: clear the Forum and Palatine in a single early-morning loop while the air is still cool, then anchor the day around one special-access highlight (arena, underground, Belvedere, or night) rather than cramming in several. And before you pay, check the fine print on exactly what your ticket includes, since the headline upgrades and the other attractions near the Colosseum are frequently sold on their own. That small bit of forethought is the entire gap between a hurried photo stop and a day you will still be recounting months on.

Aim for a slot at the edges of the day

The earliest entry at opening and the final hours before closing both sidestep the midday crush and the harshest heat — and they tend to be easier to grab when special-access spots run tight.

Check live Colosseum availability →

Colosseum things to do: common questions

What is the best thing to do at the Colosseum?

On a first visit, a small-group guided tour is hard to beat. With barely any signage on site, a guide is what converts a field of rubble into a story you can actually follow. For a real "wow" on top of that, add Arena Floor access so you stand where the gladiators fought, or the Underground to walk the tunnels beneath the sand. Both of these special-access areas open only on a guided tour, and both need to be booked in advance.

Can you go on the arena floor and into the underground?

Yes, but only with a special-access ticket or guided tour — a standard entry ticket gets you onto neither. The rebuilt Arena Floor and the underground hypogeum both operate under strict daily caps, which is exactly why they sell out among the first. Plan to reserve a dated time at least one to two weeks out, and treat that as the bare minimum during the busy April-to-October stretch.

Are the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill included with a Colosseum ticket?

In most cases, yes. A standard Colosseum ticket is a combined pass covering the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill too, valid for 24 hours from your Colosseum entry — so make the most of the full window rather than heading off straight after the arena. The exceptions are the arena floor, the underground, and the Belvedere top tier, each of which sits behind a separate upgrade. Read the inclusions on your particular ticket before booking so you know precisely what is covered.

Is a Colosseum night tour worth it?

For many travellers, it absolutely is. Night tours run on chosen evenings only, with the arena under floodlights and the daytime crowds and heat long gone — a calmer, far more photogenic experience. A lot of them throw in underground access as well, so you get the tunnels with almost nobody around. Places are limited and sell out quickly, so when your dates fit, book early rather than banking on a last-minute opening.

How far in advance should I book Colosseum experiences?

The special-access experiences — Arena Floor, Underground, Belvedere, and night tours — are the ones to secure one to three weeks out, because their daily slots are capped and disappear fast. Standard tickets and classic guided tours are far more flexible and often surface just a few days before. Even so, across the busy April-to-October months and on weekends all year, booking sooner always buys you more choice of time and a lot less stress.