When in Rome – act like a tourist and see everything you can is my advice. This time around, after spending time with Federico’s family, it was time to do more of the ancient Rome tours. Our Roman history tour was a combination walking tour covering the Colosseum Underground, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum and it was complimentary, courtesy of The Roman Guy. Here’s why we think you should definitely do this tour as part of your Rome itinerary when you visit the eternal city.
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What to know about the Colosseum Underground Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Tour:
- This tour is a skip the line tour. This means that there is no waiting in dreaded long lines waiting to purchase your ticket at the window. It also means not being accosted by Gladiator attire clad men hassling you to take a picture with them in exchange for an exorbitant amount of money..sometimes aggressively (think €50! demand). Thankfully, the cops are cracking down and we have noticed the difference each time we’ve gone back to visit.
- This is a group tour with a maximum number of participants capped at 24. Our group on the day numbered 12 which we found perfect. The tour was conducted in English with a very knowledgeable guide named Loretta ( consider yourself lucky if you have her as your guide).
- There is a lot of walking on the tour which takes over three hours, so make sure you have comfortable shoes. We also climbed up a lot of steep stairs to get the most amazing views of the colosseum arena. There is no elevator to the top, so keep that in mind. There is an elevator that takes you down to the underground colosseum section though, so if you need it, make sure to ask (it was offered as an option) but we all chose to take the stairs.
Skip The Line Colosseum Roman Forum and Palatine Hill Tour:
Our morning started off well enough. We got up well ahead of time enough to get to our rendezvous point which was right at the Colosseum metro stop. What we didn’t count on was the bus not showing up on the frigid morning for over forty-five minutes! This is quite common in Rome, at least it wasn’t a strike! We ended up being about fifteen minutes late. Luckily we were able to join our group just before we had to go underground ( I emailed their office and they had someone waiting for us at the tube stop who then walked us over to join the others. I loved how they went the extra mile 🙂 ).
Colosseum Underground Tour:
Our skip the line Colosseum tickets having being arranged by The Roman Guy meant that we were able to go straight through to the gate. You have to go through a metal detector and bag search prior to entry, but it was fast. The Colosseum underground tour was very mind blowing to me. Some of the tidbits gleamed from the tour included the fact that there were approximately a thousand people working below the surface. This included slaves, gladiators, servers etc.
We saw the contraptions used to transport the animals from below to the surface. The lift was operated by 2 people if l remember correctly. I can’t even imagine how many people lost their lives working these things or getting mauled by the dangerous animals.
We learned that the gladiators of old looked nothing like the ones in the movies :-), certainly not like Russell Crowe! In fact, most had fatty bellies and had good standard of living (massages, personal cooks etc). Being a gladiator was something people aspired to be, including at least one member of royalty (can’t remember the name though). Trust me when l say these are facts that you would be hard pressed to find somewhere else and it gives you a deeper understanding of life back then, and seeing the way they stood presented on paper made it all the more real. We highly recommend this group tour under the Colosseum. I had no idea that there had been Jewish slaves or that there was a menorah at the Colosseum.
Supposedly, you go to heaven if you kiss this cross. Federico did trying to score brownie points (won’t do any good! 🙂 ). I didn’t bother.Climbing up the stairs to get to the top of the Colosseum was tiring, but definitely worth it for the views. The lower floors of the Colosseum which could seat approximately fifty thousand people were reserved for royalty and other important members of the senate. The middle to upper floors contained the working class while the slaves and commoners were up top. Once you’ve climbed the stairs, you understood what our guide said about people not wanting to go back down, they made sure to buy all their needed drinks etc before the steep stairs. The views of Rome are stupendous from above. Visiting the Colosseum is always a good idea when in the city. Compared to the smaller arena in Italica which we loved too, it’s ginormous.
Palatine Hill Tour:
Palatine Forum tickets are also included in this tour. Our tour continued with a walk from the Colosseum to Palatine Hill. You might know that Rome is built on seven hills, with Palatine Hill being one of them. The Roman Emperors had their homes here. Make that estates as they had huge footprints. You can just imagine the views you get from up there too. Federico, despite living in Rome for most of his life had never visited and was just as enamored as the rest of the group. There was an Emperor who had his own private chariot racing track (Stadium of Domitian) and we saw the ruins that remained. It’s like l always say, “It’s good to be King”!
We also saw some pretty impressive remains of tile work and dining room of some Emperor whose name eludes me. Among other things, gardens, private dock and the Senate House. These people knew how to live. Loretta kept us entertained throughout the tour and l loved the fact that no question stumped her, even Federico’s, who has the most inquisitive mind when it comes to things he is passionate about and studied as a student (Latin and History). Touring with a guide to see these parts of Rome really elevates your experience and is better than doing it on your own, which you can do of course. Even with a guide book, you might still miss a lot.
Roman Forum Tour:
Our Rome walking tour ended at the Roman Forum – the main artery of ancient Rome. This was where everything happened, be it politics or religion. She showed us the most picturesque spots, little things we wouldn’t have discovered on our own, like the giant door with no stairs. Information about the vestal virgins and their huge sacrifice. This in turn tied in to a prior visit to the Mouth of Truth for me. Seeing the temple of Julius Caesar was pretty cool and l choose to believe that this was indeed where his body was burnt to a crisp. Flowers are still laid there till today. If you’re hungry after your tour and are craving the best pizza in Rome, be sure to check out our favorite pizza joint that is just steps away from the Colosseum.
One great thing about Rome and Italy as a whole is that water is freely available everywhere and you are not gouged into spending $3 for a small bottle of water. Loretta, our guide even showed us how to drink water from the fountains like a true Roman, using the Nasone (also Federico’s nickname for our beagle because of his big nose 🙂 ).
Other great Rome tours to consider on your Rome itinerary include:
The Roman Guy Promo Code:
We love touring with The Roman Guy and can highly recommend them. Small group tours are awesome and their staff members are wonderful and definitely knowledgeable. Save some $ by using our promo code below: (Please note that the discount doesn’t include the Colosseum Underground Palatine Hill and Roman Forum Tour. It does include their other Roman tours as well as The Paris Guy Tours).
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Have you been to Rome? If yes, did you make it to the Colosseum or Palatine Hill and Roman Forum and was it an enjoyable experience that you would recommend to others?
Such an amazing place! Just looking at that huge structure makes my jaw drop and seeing that it still stands after all these years… that’s absolutely amazing. Had no idea that the gladiators were the lucky ones, with their bellies filled with food and wine and enjoying the good life. Probably it wasn’t for long, though… :))
The tour itself sounds like the best one to choose: whenever you can skip lines, you’re winning! And having that discount definitely comes in handy, as you win a free Pizza from your recommended place 🙂
The Colosseum really is amazing. Like you, I always think how lucky we are to have something so old survive the times and how we certainly can’t build them like they used to. Yeah, you’re right, the gladiators lived well. One other thing we picked up was that those fights really happened on special occasions, so think like 5 times a year maybe that the gladiator fights occurred, not weekly as we’ve been led to believe.
The tour was amazing and we enjoyed it a lot. It always feels great blowing by the people in line, the Palatine Hill line was very, very long so it was nice to waltz in. The Pizza Forum is still tops in my book for Napoli style pizza in Rome :-).
Looks so awesome Kemkem. I am a grateful traveler but after circling the globe for 8 years, few sites make me stand on line. Happens, when you have seen so much spectacular scenery. If the line ain’t short, I ain’t visiting LOL. Skip the line tours rock.
I am now too spoiled to wait in line a long time. Federico has always hated it with a passion and rarely finds things that are worth waiting in line for..even food, which says a lot :-). I can see how 8 years of travel really makes you very selective. I love Skip the line tours too. Life, and especially vacation time is often too short.
Thanks for the comments and the photos. I got to see a city I’ve not visited before.
Thanks for reading. Rome is a city l never get tired of and l’m glad you were able to experience some of it with us :-).
Thanks for sharing your post. It certainly brought back memories. I would have to return to see the underground and the Paletine Hill.
Aaww.. so glad it brought back good memories. I hope on your next visit you get to visit the Colosseum Underground and Palatine Hill..definitely a good tour. Thanks for reading :-).
You are welcome
Rome is incredible, I have visited twice and hope to go again in the future. On both visits we did a lot of independent exploring, but I think when I go again I would like to do a tour. Having a guide explaining all and showing you the best bits is the best way to see a place like the Colosseum and Roman Forum etc. It can be a little overwhelming doing it independently 😄
Rome is certainly incredible. I can’t see myself every getting tired of it truthfully, which is a good thing. A tour really does give you insights that one can’t get on their own, it does get overwhelming trying to always do it yourself. It was nice to be shown all the things and put it in perspective :-). You would love this tour.
I love Rome. I have a friend who wants to travel with me for a her “once in a lifetime trip”, so I told her Rome is a must. I’ll be sure to use The Rome Guy link and discount 😉
That would be awesome Paula. You and your friend will not be disappointed, and every little bit helps doesn’t it?. Andiamo!!! 🙂 :-).
Kemkem, Thanks for another intriguing post about your discoveries in Rome. Will add it to my file of what to see and do in Rome, a city Steven’s been to but I haven’t yet. It and Sicily are on a future trip list so will keep your posts and tips handy. Annie
Thanks so much for reading. I really appreciate it :-). You would definitely enjoy visiting Rome and all it has to offer. He has never been to Sicily either and we both think we would like it too. We might be visiting Sicily this summer too, even though he is angling for a return to Egypt 🙂 :-).
Those are great photos and that tour sounds exactly like something I’d want to do.
My uncle was in the British Embassy in Rome when I was a kid and we visited. Two things I remember about the Colosseum. Lots of cats. The other was an Italian man who was perusing the gift shop while we were looking around in there. He didn’t speak English but I believe my aunt was translating. He’d picked up a statue of an angel and was taken by how much I looked like the angel and wanted to buy it for me. 50 years later I still have it. For all I know he didn’t pay for it and just picked it off the shelf and handed it to me. Apparently Italians really like kids.
Thanks for the compliment Cheryl. I do think you would enjoy the tour. It was amazing. Thank God we did not run into cats, thank goodness because l am terrified of them, even though it’s getting a bit better. Haha! Can you imagine if the man had indeed stolen the little cherub? :-). You must have been such a cute kid and it’s great that you still have it. I agree, Italians do like kids :-).
I remember you writing about “the Roman Guy” from another post and he definitely sounds like the go-to guy to contact whenever I land in Rome. (Someday!) Fabulous pics and I love the photo of you imagining yourself as a gladiator!
The Roman Guy is an excellent company and they are very much worth doing tours with when you visit. Thanks for the compliment :-). I really enjoyed that tour and was so glad we were able to catch up with them thanks to the thoughtfulness of the staff.
I wish I knew about this tour option when I visited a few years ago. Sounds perfect!
Haha! It sounds like you need to go for another visit then :-).
I have somehow never made it to Rome and articles like this show me how much I am missing out! The tour you went on sounds very insightful, lots of things I definitely didn’t know.
It was a really great tour and l enjoyed it very much. Federico hadn’t been for a long time and he enjoyed it as well. It gets harder to find things to do in Rome that he hasn’t done :-).
I wish I had read this before I went to Rome last year 🙁 Will keep in mind for next time, such awesome information, thank you so much for sharing!!
Thanks for reading. I never get tired no matter how many times. Now l just try to look for something new to do. I hope you get back soon so you can have some more awesome experiences.
This tour sounds fantastic Kemkem! I have visited the colosseum (yeeeears ago) but I didn’t get to go underground, and we had to wait in line for aaages. You way sounds far better!
I actually like the sound of walking around all the ancient sites, and I looove that gladiator pose photo of you!!
Nothing worse than having to wait in line forever when you visit places and have limited time.. Haha! I love how you said yyeeeaaaarrs. I think it indicates that it’s time to go back. We were so happy to be part of the small group tour. It really enhanced the visit. Thanks for the compliment and for the comment :-).
I had loved the tour of the Colosseum Underground when I went there a few years ago. It is fascinating to imagine how so many people worked and slogged here so that the show above was not disrupted. The Colosseum is one of my favorite historical monuments in the world. And I would be willing to do this tour multiple times again.
I know l was really surprised to see and learn about all the work that goes on down under the Colosseum and how many people worked there. It was almost like a little village on its own. Like you, the Colosseum is also one of my favourite remains of the past. When we lived in Seville, we visited the small arena just outside the city (Italica) a few times. They just wow me! I would gladly do this tour again too.