Colosseum Tickets/Tours

[BlackhawksCup2013]

Forgive me...

 

The more I search the Colosseum threads here, the more confused I become!

 

A couple of quick questions:

 

1.) Is this the best place to pre-purchase tickets for Colosseum/Forum?

http://www.ticketclic.it/HTML/musei/colosseo.cfm

 

2.) I don't want to rush my time at the Colosseum/Forum, however, we are only in Rome for the day. How much time should I set-aside for these areas, and which tour ticket makes the most sense? Entrance only, Entrance/Guided tour or Entrance/Guided/Underground?

 

Thanks for your help.

[luvtheships]

I happen to love the colesieum and would probably opt for a group tour that included the underground and third tier. That is what we did last year and all 6 of us had been there several times before but still love it.

With one day my next move would be to metro it over to St. Peter's skip the Vatican and then do a meandering walk or take the metro again over to Spanish steps Trevi and pantheon area. Nice meal You will be very tired btw but don't miss out.

 

 

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[luvtheships]

However if you are just on a port stop then just do the basic guided colesieum tour to save time. But do get a guided group tour. I despise the DIY headset deals. The guided tour will provide you with amplificafication earbuds so as to hear the guide

 

 

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[euro cruiser]

The official web site for ticket purchases is here: http://www.coopculture.it/ticket.cfm?office=Colosseo&id=2

 

The underground tour takes more time and the choice of times is more limited; unless this is a particular passion of yours, I'd leave this for a return trip or a longer land based visit.

 

The guided options are a matter of choice, the audioguides are perfectly fine if you enjoy that type of visit.

 

With either option, group tour or audioguide, I'd figure an hour.

Edited July 17, 2013 by euro cruiser

[luvtheships]

Are the kids free now ?

 

 

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[euro cruiser]

Yes, in a policy change announced on May 29, 2013, the Minister of Culture made a "decree" that all state museums and archeological sites that fall under his purview will now admit all under-18-year-olds free, regardless of nationality. The announcement says that he has ordered the sites to implement this immediately, not waiting for the official process that will require it.

 

http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Minist...io.asp?d=71308

[luvtheships]

Yes, in a policy change announced on May 29, 2013, the Minister of Culture made a "decree" that all state museums and archeological sites that fall under his purview will now admit all under-18-year-olds free, regardless of nationality. The announcement says that he has ordered the sites to implement this immediately, not waiting for the official process that will require it.

 

http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Minist...io.asp?d=71308

how interesting. hmmm....:D

[rjp50]

We will be in Rome on September 9 and 10. When I go to the above-referenced web sites for tickets/tours of the Colloseum, it says no tickets available. It appears that any ticket requests after August are not being honored at this time. Does anyone have any idea when/if they will open up requests for online purchases for September?

[surreymum]

Has anyone been able to buy the reduced price student tickets as when I click on the English translation page on the "print at home" option the only box that comes up is for adult tickets?

[Anderson89]

I would suggest the ticket Italy website, that shows availability for September

[frazzledmom]

Hi there,

 

We are a family of 4 and will dock in Civitavecchia on 2nd Aug 2013 (our youngest child's 11th birthday). As it's such a whistle stop tour, we really want to just see the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Unfortunately, we've missed the boat (excuse the pun) for booking the fast train from the port to Rome as it's full.

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how we can make the best use of our time in terms of travelling and viewing the Colosseum please?

 

Thanks so much.

 

xx

[luvtheships]

Hi there,

 

We are a family of 4 and will dock in Civitavecchia on 2nd Aug 2013 (our youngest child's 11th birthday). As it's such a whistle stop tour, we really want to just see the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Unfortunately, we've missed the boat (excuse the pun) for booking the fast train from the port to Rome as it's full.

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how we can make the best use of our time in terms of travelling and viewing the Colosseum please?

 

Thanks so much.

 

xx

a private driver will cost about 450E for a family of 4. You were going to pay quite a bit for that fast train thru the cruiseline I believe, so why not just crunch the numbers..add in the incredible convenience factor and get a private driver guide?

 

we use RomeCabs and Stefano Costantini and last year did his Etruscan tour on our port day as we had already done 5 days on our own pre cruise.

 

in 2008 we did his Rome historical tour and it was perfect.

 

btw..you will now see posts totally questioning and criticizing this suggestion and telling you to just take the regular train and if that is what you want to do I say go for it.

 

I make MY suggestion based on the fact that the fast train thru the ship is not so cheap but offers speed and convenience on a cramped port day. As does a private tour with driver.

 

ymmv

[surreymum]

a private driver will cost about 450E for a family of 4. You were going to pay quite a bit for that fast train thru the cruiseline I believe, so why not just crunch the numbers..add in the incredible convenience factor and get a private driver guide?

 

we use RomeCabs and Stefano Costantini and last year did his Etruscan tour on our port day as we had already done 5 days on our own pre cruise.

 

in 2008 we did his Rome historical tour and it was perfect.

 

btw..you will now see posts totally questioning and criticizing this suggestion and telling you to just take the regular train and if that is what you want to do I say go for it.

 

I make MY suggestion based on the fact that the fast train thru the ship is not so cheap but offers speed and convenience on a cramped port day. As does a private tour with driver.

 

ymmv

 

I agree with the previous poster about using a private tour company if you are prepared to spend the money. We last went to Rome when our 3 children were aged 7 to 13. We used Romeinlimo who could not be faulted. The easy access to sites, as they have a special taxi license, meant we were dropped virtually outside each attraction and spent the day hopping in and out of an air conditioned van. The children never got too hot, frazzled or bored and still talk about it as one of the best excursions we have taken.

There are many ways to do this excursion and a private driver is one of the more expensive but we saw so much more than those on the cruise line buses that we felt it was money very well spent. I wished we had done the same in Florence as the fact we all got so hot and tired traipsing about after the guide took the gloss off the place.

[Dr. Pam]

Hi there,

 

We are a family of 4 and will dock in Civitavecchia on 2nd Aug 2013 (our youngest child's 11th birthday). As it's such a whistle stop tour, we really want to just see the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Unfortunately, we've missed the boat (excuse the pun) for booking the fast train from the port to Rome as it's full.

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how we can make the best use of our time in terms of travelling and viewing the Colosseum please?

 

Thanks so much.

 

xx

 

I agree with the above posters. A private driver will cost more but will make the most efficient use of you time. (BTW...great bday date...happens to be mine and I will be in Turkey for that date!) We have used DRIVERINROME and have had Daniele, Remo and I forget the last name...but they were all fantastic!! During our trip in 2007, my niece turned 13 the day of our private tour in Rome. At the end of the day, we met Daniel who was waiting for us in the A/C Mercedes van just outside the gates of the Vatican with a huge bouquet of fresh flowers for my niece. Well, let me tell you, that was one very excited young teengage girl and a lot of impressed family. Do a private tour, the money is totally well spent! Safe and Happy Travels....and Happy Bday to your 11 yr old! :)

[euro cruiser]

We are a family of 4 and will dock in Civitavecchia on 2nd Aug 2013 (our youngest child's 11th birthday). As it's such a whistle stop tour, we really want to just see the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Unfortunately, we've missed the boat (excuse the pun) for booking the fast train from the port to Rome as it's full.

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions as to how we can make the best use of our time in terms of travelling and viewing the Colosseum please?

If you decide you want to take the train on your own, it's a short (4/10ths of a mile) walk from the point where the port shuttle bus drops you to the train station at Civitavecchia.

 

At the station you can purchase the BIRG ticket (from the newsstand) for 12 Euro each; this ticket is good all day and covers round trip train travel (on regional trains only) as well as all buses, metro and trams in Rome.

 

The train from Civitavecchia to Roma Ostiense takes about an hour and there are trains departing every half hour to forty five minutes in the morning.

 

At Roma Ostiense you follow an underground pedestrian pathway to the Piramide metro station, where you'd take the metro for two stops (direction Rebibbia) to the Colosseo station. The Colosseum is directly across the street as you exit the station. You can see the regional rail and metro map here: http://atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=4

Edited July 21, 2013 by euro cruiser

[frazzledmom]

Thanks for helpful replies. However, we've since managed to get seats on the fast train (1st class) - wasn't that much more expensive really!

 

We are now trying to book tours of the Colosseum and wondered if anyone had any suggestions. Ideally we want to do the Underground Tour (time permitting).

 

We've spent about 3hrs tonight looking at various different websites etc and are losing the will to live!

 

They're either booked or not at the right times for us to fit in with our train times.

 

Any help gratefully appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[silvyste]

1. The official site to book the skip the line tickets for the Colosseum is http://www.ticketclic.it/HTML/musei/colosseo.cfm (they are the official partner of CoopCulture as euro cruiser noted!)

 

2. The tickets cost 13,50 euro per person and only 1,5 euro per children under 18 years old. The tickets include the entrance to the Colosseum and Roman Forum

 

3. The underground tour of the Colosseum have to been booked early, as there are few places available each day. I think that the official CoopCulture tour are worth if you book also an Underground tour. The other tours of CoopCulture include only the visit of the Colosseum and you'll explore the Roman Forum alone. Anyway there are a lot of company that organize the tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum, so you have a wide range of choices! The only thing I suggest you is to avoid to take part in a tour sold outside the Colosseum...sometime can happen that the tour guide is not licensed.

 

4 Train or car? The train is really cheap but if you don't have enough time can be really stressful: you have to take the free shuttle to go outside the port, then you have to walk until the train station (so you'll spend about 30 minutes!). Then, the train doesn't stop near the Colosseum, so you have to take also the underground. Of course a private car can be really expensive, but in 1 hour you'll be just in front of the Colosseum and the driver can pick up you inside the port. Be careful to book a licensed driver, with an official permission to enter inside the port, otherwise you have to take the free shuttle to reach the driver, and it could be really disappointing!

[frazzledmom]

Thanks for your replies. We have managed to secure seats on the fast train and have booked a tour of the Colosseum (inc Underground section) through http://www.coopculture.it/. Train cost is 88 Euros for family of 4 (1st class) and tour is 57 Euros for 90 mins. Thought that was pretty good really and these tours have had some excellent reviews.

 

I couldn't book it online so had to phone Italy and do it over the phone! They were great though - just asked "perles ingles?" and there English was fantastic!

 

This also means we skip the queues as we have a "reservation".

 

xx

[cafri]

We are non-EU family of 4 (kids are 7 and 4 years old).

 

I am a bit confused about who may enter for free to the Colosseum.

 

According to this link, only EU kids under 17 are eligible:

 

Eligible for free tickets, upon presentation of suitable documents, are:

European Union citizens 17 and under and 65 and over

 

However, according to this link (click the "Ticket Office" square), anyone under 18 is eligible:

 

Free: European and non-European citizens under 18

 

(this also appears if you click the "Others Free Condition")

 

So - which one is correct?

 

In addition, if also non-EU kids are free, is it true that if I buy the adults tickets on-line, I can grab the free tickets for the kids at the Group Ticket Booth (as explained here)?

Anyone has experience with this?

[euro cruiser]

We are non-EU family of 4 (kids are 7 and 4 years old).

 

I am a bit confused about who may enter for free to the Colosseum

See post #6 in this thread, there was a change of policy at the end of May 2013 but not all web sites have changed to reflect the new policy.

Edited July 29, 2013 by euro cruiser

[cafri]

See post #6 in this thread, there was a change of policy at the end of May 2013 but not all web sites have changed to reflect the new policy.

 

I have read that post before writing my question, but I thought that before the change all kids had to pay, no matter if they are EU citizens or not.

 

Are you saying that before the change only EU kids were free and now all kids are free?

[luvtheships]

I am so glad to see this policy change and also that the company I used in 2012 was a forward thinking company and allowed child in for free

 

Lol. Funny all this debate about my ripping off the Italian government when all along they were planning on allowing non eu kids in for free anyway

 

Knowing how long it takes to get stuff like this facilitated I am fairly confident that it was in the works for many years heck maybe that is why my kids even received freebies back in 2008.

 

And here you had me pegged as an international freeloader. When all I did was simply ask if they had a free or reduced price for kids! Just sayin lol

 

 

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[euro cruiser]

I have read that post before writing my question, but I thought that before the change all kids had to pay, no matter if they are EU citizens or not.

 

Are you saying that before the change only EU kids were free and now all kids are free?

Yes. Before the change only EU kids were free; the new minister of culture decided in May of this year to extend the kids-free policy to all children, regardless of nationality. New government, new policy.

[cafri]

Great - thanks for all the information.

 

Has any one had experience in receiving the free tickets from the Group Tickets Booth?

 

Does anyone know whether it is queue-less, or I should expect to wait there as well? :)

[luvtheships]

Great - thanks for all the information.

 

Has any one had experience in receiving the free tickets from the Group Tickets Booth?

 

Does anyone know whether it is queue-less, or I should expect to wait there as well? :)

I got a free kids tix in Venice at the Bell Tower (or was it a clock tower? LOL) We were very tired that day!

 

all I did was ask if kids were free and I asked in a very New York accent so they could not have taken me for European even though I do speak Italian ans Spanish and have been asked if I were a local in Italy.

 

come to think of it I should have asked if all of my under 18yo and/or student kids were free.

 

I found them to be very accommodating when asking for reduced prices all over Italy and received quite a few discounts in 2012..all for the polite asking.

 

well actually it was all a grand scheme on my part..LOL LOL LOL