Skip the Line: Ancient Rome and Colosseum Half-Day Walking Tour

My wife and I could not of asked for a better tour. We were taken to so many places where other people couldn’t go. We didn’t wait in a super long line nor wait in one to be searched by security. Our tour guide Amil Bello was awesome and very knowledgeable. You could tell how much she loved the history of Rome. Had an amazing time!

Emmanuela was amazing and kept the whole tour exciting. She got the group involved and gave us some very useful information and taught us some very interesting points about Italy

Had visited the Colosseum before with a guide but this tour was incredible because of the tour guide. He was one of the most knowledgeable tour guides I have ever had ! There wasn't one question he didn't answer and shared many things about the colosseum, the forum and the history of the whole area. Unfortunately I can't find his name to share with you but the tour was worth every penny and then some !!

This is an awesome tour. Our tour guide was excellent. Her background as an archeologist added an extra bit of interest to the overall tour. She was patient and spoke clearly. There is a lot of walking and there are a few flights of steps to climb in the Colosseum. Our guide gave us plenty of time to reach the next point of interest and we never felt rushed. She also took the time to find shade for us to stand in as it was pretty hot out in September.

This was an excellent tour! Our guide was very knowledgeable and helpful! The underground tour was very interesting and worth the extra money. We would recommend this tour to anyone who wants to hear the great history of the colosseum and Palatine Hill.

Our tour guide: Elizabetta (I hope I'm spelling it right) did a tremendous job during the tour. It was a rainy day but the rain almost made the experience better. She answered every question and provided interesting information during our tour. Thanks!

Awesome tour! I would recommend! .. get ready to climb a few steps but it was all worth it to see the colosseum.. we had marco who was an awesome guide who was very passionate about the history which always makes it so much more interesting

This was a fantastic tour, and not too long as it was quite hot. If you are going in June - September, I would consider bringing a hat or umbrella (some of the guys sell little parasol's out the front). We went in September and the heat was a lot. The Ancient ruins are a must do in Rome, the colosseum is one of the ancient wonders. Our guides were very knowledgeable, and this tour was super easy and great. You got access to places that the general public didn't.

Very good guide, spoke English well, pointed out very interesting facts and sights. Would do all their tours

It's quite amazing to see these magnificent structures of another era existing quite literally in a lively buzzing Rome. It shows the machoism of those ancient Roman's. Italy is beautiful. People upright, common men.

Very happy with are tour guide, she was very helpful and a really nice person. This is an experience I would definitely recommend!

Tour was super informative , pleasant walking experience , and amazing tour guide Fabrizio Danieli !!

Plenty of walking but with our competent guide we learned so much about the history of the Colosseum, the Forum and Palatine Park with added interesting asides thrown in. The headsets supplied whilst not top quality, they did the job well enough. A word of warning, make sure you have something to drink during the walking the autumn heat

We really enjoyed this tour! Very informative and fun! It's a great way to see Colosseum. Thank you, Gio!

Excellent tour and tour guide. She knew her topic well and her command of the English language was perfect. I would recommend to anyone.

The directions were not clear enough and we missed our tour. Ww looked for a whole ten minutes for the guide. I ended up using a locals phone to call as my time came up and the company did not help me get to the tour as it was 12. Much cheaper to get a tour there that included Ancient Rome, Palatine hill and the entire Colosium directly there from a guide. 80 vs the 325 this company charged me. Will be disputing this.

This was a great tour, and it was worth going at 8:30am as it wasn’t as busy as it normally is throughout the day. Our tour guide Rosalba was incredibly knowledgeable in the Colosseum and ancient Roman ruins nearby. It is obviously she enjoys what she does as she was enthusiastic throughout the entire tour despite the heat and humidity! She is also very personable and friendly. My mother and I enjoyed the tour thanks to her.

This was a last minute scheduling of this tour. City Wide Tours and the guides were very helpful as English is our native language. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and took her time with showing the Colosseum and providing information to the group. When you schedule, just take or bring plenty of water, an umbrella or sun hat.

Great tour, tour guide was great and very knowledgeable and a scholar in the field of Roman history. If it’s gonna be hot be sure to bring an umbrella.

It was a hot day but our tour Emiliano tried to make it very interesting and informative, but other than it was hot the colosseum or the remaining artifacts of Ancient Rome is stunning and beautiful.

This was really an excellent tour. Maritza was very informative and carried out the tour with such excitement and energy, despite it being very hot out. I would recommend this tour and this tour guide.

Excellent tour. Tour guide was really informative, pace of tour was good, not too rushed. Would definitely recommend!

When in Rome.... DO not hesitate this was a great tour, very good guide and you get to see all of ancient Rome that you need to in a 4 hour window. Was simply breathtaking

Would recommend the half day tour of the Colosseum and forum. Our guide, Elanor, was very knowledgeable and spoke very good English. Make sure you have comfortable shoes and plenty of water...there are even water fountains where you can get a refill! Also, no queuing!

We easily found our tour group with the directions given by the company. The audio provided was great and helped us hear and stay with our guide the whole time. We loved our guide, Benjamin! He was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and patient with all our questions. We would highly recommend this tour to others visiting the Colosseum for the first time!

My husband and I did this 3 hour tour and loved it. Very informative and enjoyed our tour guide. She took us through the Colosseum firdt then up Palatine Hill and ended in the Roman Forum. So this is just not a colosseum tour. Lots of walking involved but it wasn't fast paced. Everything was great A+

July 17, 2pm Too fast, no bathroom brakes. at the end of the Colosseum I saw someone from our group coming from the bathroom with her young daughter and she missed the first part of the tour to go to bathroom. I missed the Ancient Rome because I had to take my mother to the bathroom. The female tour guide did not care the people needing to go to the bathroom. She finished tour early about 4:20pm, wasn’t this a 3 hr tour?

Easy to locate Staff at meeting spot among all the chaos in the area. Our guide"Mateo" was fantastic! He was a proud Roman with a passion to explain in colorful detail the time period activities, rulers and the "feel" of being a Gladiator or an "unfortunate" participant in the Colosseum Games. Mateo kept us all interested with his humor and dedication to his job for the entire trip. Highly recommended.

We had a great tour with a great tour guide!!! It was hot but she kept us engaged and provided great information. She also knew where all the shaded spots were to stand!

our tourguide was very patient and kind and fully explained the significance of the colosseum in regards to ancient Rome. We would definately recomend this tour to those who appreciate history and the breathtaking views of Rome!

Our tour guide was a former archeologist at the Colosseum and easily shared his knowledge with all of us in a timely and witty manner. After moving to the Roman Forum, the awesome amount of information continued. Tour took us around for 3 hours, but it did not feel like it - even despite the 98 degree weather with a unrelenting sun.

Great tour all together. The Colosseum is stunning from within. Our guide was great. lots of explanation and good at answering questions. The walking tour after Colosseum was difficult with a baby in a stroller so not greatly recommended for some one with a stroller. But certainly worth visiting.

Excellent experience. Guide was informative and entertaining. Kept my grandson's interested. Enjoyed by all.

The Colosseum in July is a zoo. Combine that with the heat and keeping your tour moving is difficult. While the tour was great and the guide was knowledgeable, the tour had a stuttered feel to it because the guide was not great at adapting to the flow problems in the crowded environment. it resulted in some significant repetition. We were told that the walls were once lined with marble at least 5 times. We were told why gladiators were so named several times. You could tell she was knowledgeable, but converting that depth into something engaging was not her forte. I would still recommend this tour and even this guide as it's a tough task and environment.

Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the Colosseum. He made it very enjoyable and we could picture what life was like during the times it was used for the gladiators. He did a fabulous job!

This was the fifth Italy tour we booked with Viator and the only one that was totally terrible. We expected a skip the line and stood with the group and watched seven different groups proceed before our group. Start time was 10am and at 10:35am we still hadn't proceeded past security. We left the tour before it started because disabled wife could not stand in queue any longer.

Very good and informative guide who took the time to explain and answer any questions. Would book again.

This was an incredible tour! Our guide provided us with very detailed and amazing information. He basically brought to life the Coliseum and Roman Forum. He was a wealth of knowledge!

It's a beautiful and very educating walk! Our guide was very knowledgeable. If you have a bad back or knee problems this is not the walk for you.

One of the best tour we had in Italy. Our guide Joseph had good knowledge and helped transport everyone back in history with his imaginative story telling.

It was 110 degrees Fahrenheit the day we went. Josie our guide was fantastic. She loves Rome and history! She continued to find shadows (shade) for us to stand in. She kept you focused on the history we were seeing and her excitement helped distract from the intense heat. No matter which place we were at she had some fantastic story or photo of what it looked like before it was unburied or when it was first built. Out of all the tours we went on in Rome, Florence and Venice she was the best guide by far. Thanks for the history lesson and a fantastic first day in Rome.

Our guide Helena was brilliant, she looked after us all in the heat with frequent shady water stops. Her love and passion for ancient Rome and her ability to create a picture of times past was outstanding. I would definitely recommend doing this guided tour, I'm sure you would not get the same understanding of ancient Rome nor the history of the Colosseum by wandering around yourself. We were all blown away.. thank you Helena :)

Highly recommend! Learned so much and skipped the long lines. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable and covered so many details we would have missed without the tour.

We had an outstanding female tour guide (So sorry, I can't remember her name) who was extremely knowledgeable about the Colosseum, The Forum, and Palantine Hill. During the summer months I would recommend doing the earliest tour you can because it does get extremely warm. Our guide really took the time to explain all the wonderful details about each place. She was really wonderful about waiting for each member of the group to join up before speaking about the next portion of the tour. At the end she gave us suggestions for great places to eat lunch (Jewish Ghetto was fantastic) and other things to see as we walked to our lunch spot. Loved the tour! Very informative and money well spent!

Awesome guide! Great tour! The guide provided great information that made the tour so much better than just visiting these sites on our own!

Antonio was a great guide! We learned soooo much! I highly recommend this tour. June was super hot to go, but there wasn’t a large crowd, so that was nice. Thank you!!!

Mickey was an excellent guide! He was very patient, knowledgeable, passionate and flexible. During the entire 3 hour tour, he was speaking and sharing information constantly, even though it was a very hot morning. He entertained my kids and made sure that they stay interested in the tour by constantly providing interesting tit-bits to them. He stopped for a couple of water and bathroom breaks when people needed them. He helped take pictures of the participants at key panoramic points. In the end, he even treated us with some tuscan sweets. A great tour and guide!

We had an Italian female tour guide (couldn't remember her name) who was very knowledgeable about the Colosseum and surrounding areas. The tour was put on by City of Wonders tour group. The meetup point was near the metro. Beware of conartists willing to give you bracelets, but expecting payment of some sort. There was a wait to get in due to security screening and the Colosseum, itself, halding visitors as only 3,000 people allowed in at once. Once in the Colossem, it was amazing, It was very crowded and hot, but we were able to see everything well. This tour only did the first and second levels. Not the underground or floor. This is stated in the description.We then went on to Palantine hill and the Roman Forum. This is a long tour, so beware in the hot summer months.

Our tour guide was Maria Rosario. She was an excellent guide and very knowledgeable. She was able to answer all of our questions and kept a good pace. At the meeting point there are many people (some pushy) trying to get you to buy things or give “gifts” that they then want money for and she even threw in some pointers on who to watch out for for those less knowledgeable on the subject. The colloseum was stunning as imagined as well as the other ruins on the tour. Highly recommend the tour and our guide!

Fantastic tour which contained so much more than I expected. We had an amazing guide (Lorana I think) She was great fun and so enthusiastic and passionate about the history of Rome, she really brought it to life. Highly recommend this tour.

Sorry..I forgot the name of our guide but she was awesome. My son says her name was Rosie but he is 7 so I don't know. Still thank you! Colosseum was extremely crowded but totally worth it. Its a long walk but the highlight of Rome.

Meeting point arrangements well organized, skipping line wonderful. Guide Loraina was excellent especially when she insisted our group be let in to forum even though it was unexpectedly closing on Good Friday due to Pope visit.

This was my first guided tour. I always went on my own. Since this was my wife's first time in Rome I decided to go. We were more than happy. Very informative and Laurel was a great guide. Would definitely do this again somewhere else.

Super well organised and very fast entry. Well worth the price to skip the line alone. Guide was Tyziana and had excellent English Full of information and quirky little details. Great fun and great rapport with the group. Group size around 20 which was ideal as it is so very busy.

My husband and I were part of a 24-person small group tour of the Colosseum and Palentine Hill. Laura was extremely knowledgeable and personable, but more important wanted to make sure we were comfortable and all had an enjoyable time. Laura’s depth of knowledge and ability to put each complex, historical occurrence into relatable terms continually hit the mark during the tour. Laura is a talented tour guide who makes history come alive

Stefanie and Manuela made this a day to remember, the prosecco flowed 10 strangers became friends and we laughed cooked and sat in the Italian sunshine to eat our meal, thank you for showing us all the real Roma x

The guide brought the Colosseum alive for me. I felt like a gladiator by the end of the tour! The history was fascinating. I’ll definitely book again with Viator.

Amil with her ready smile and laugh and engaging personality had us enthralled for almost four hours of looking and walking and experiencing the ancient world of the variety of people’s who walked the streets of Rome. She made sure everyone was happy, interested, and eager to learn all we could from her, and we left, knowing what an amazing experience she had gifted us with.

These attractions are a must see in Rome. Our guide was very knowledgeable, helpful and personable. He provided anecdotes that helped bring the sites alive.

Doriana was our guide she is an archiologist and was very informative. It was nice to have the history of all the sites to really appreciate it. It is a tough walk so wear comfortable shoes.

It was so worth it to skip the line and be with a tour guide to walk around and learn the history of Rome.

Our guide was Fabrizio and he was excellent. Very knowledgeable, patient, and took care of his guests. Excellent English also. We would definitely recommend!

Elisabetta was a great guide. We learned so much during this tour! I Recommend everyone to book thru Citywonders... you won't be sorry! They are well organised and professionel. Loved every minute!

Jaber was a very knowledgeable and gracious guide. My only complaint was that the headset didn’t work. Jaber tried several times to fix his, even tried a new one, but nothing worked. Very well organized company

It was great to have the VIP access and avoid the long lines. The tour guide was great! She went into great detail and imagination to see what the colosseum was in the past, highly recommend!!! Do not cheap out and waste your time in long lines!!

Our tour guide was fantastic and knowledgeable about the area. She was clearly passionate and we enjoyed the whole experience. A must do when visiting!

Saved incredible a amount of time and Nick was very knowledgeable with an in infectious personality.

The tour guide Guiseppe was very informative, spoke great English and made it very enjoyable! Thank you!