Colosseum day of arrival

[RTR 21-0]

First off, thanks for those who have and continue to take time to share your experiences and suggestions as I plan our upcoming cruise.  We are staying two days pre-cruise in Rome.  Since we need to stay up to adjust to time change we are considering doing a Colosseum tour the afternoon we arrive.  So far our arrival time has changed from 8:30 to 10:00 and I’m not assuming that will be the last time change.  How far in advance do skip the line tickets need to be purchased for the Colosseum? We’ll be arriving on a Friday in May if that makes any difference.  Considering getting a tour guide for this.  Do most have the tickets already and we would keep them updated on arrival time or do they have you purchase tickets separately?  

[cruisemom42]

Tickets for the colosseum short answer:  It's complicated!

 

Long answer:

It used to be that there was only one ticket available, and that was a combination ticket allowing entrance to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill, and it was good for 2 days. Fast forward a decade and you'll find many different tours listed just for the Colosseum alone. 

 

The first thing you need to do is to be specific about what you want. That is: are you looking just to have a ticket with a pre-reserved entrance time to the basic Colosseum site?  Do you want to also see the underground section?  (Different ticket.)  Do you want a guided tour thru the official site?  (Different ticket.)  Do you want to see the upper level with views over Rome?  (Different ticket.)

 

It can be very confusing!

 

Also note there are probably at least two dozen ticket "resellers" online. This is the official website for tickets and is the one you should use when booking:

 

Buy a ticket | CoopCulture

 

These tickets, especially the ones including the Underground section, can be very popular in high season. Sometimes almost unobtainable unless you are willing to get up at something like 2:00 am (which is 8:00 am in Rome) on the day the sales open and call them directly.  This is because the ticket resellers and private tours buy up the tickets.

 

So you have to decide -- you can try to purchase the tickets for the tour/guide package that you want (for some of the more expensive tickets don't neglect to notice that they are also good for other sites, such as a visit to the Forum or Palatine Hill).  Or you can find a guide that offers tours and book with them, usually this would be at a higher cost.

 

I would suggest you look carefully at all of the options on the site and think about what might work for you. If you have any additional questions or if something is unclear, feel free to ask more questions.

 

[RTR 21-0]

That was immensely helpful and my husband will appreciate reading it instead of listening to me explain lol.  Thanks so much! 

[zimmy123]

Thank you cruisemom42.  I have heard that the ticket resellers including those you can purchase through viator, Walks of Italy, or the Roman guy for example, may cancel on you around 24 hours prior to your tour as they tend to oversell the tours and then may not have enough actual tickets for everyone who purchased through them.  Online there are reports of people having a hard time then getting a refund as they are pushed to re-schedule.  My concern is that we will only have 2 days in Rome and so a re-schedule would be difficult.  Does anyone have any experience with this, as to how often it happens or have a recommendation as to which companies would be less likely to do this for a site such as the colosseum or Vatican.  Thank you 

[RTR 21-0]

Same boat zimmy.  Trying to avoid using one of those companies. I found someone who had an independent site, great reviews and is a licensed guide but she was booked for the days we are looking at.  She is supposed to be sending me some contacts and if I do get those I’ll be more than happy to pass on.  When is your cruise? 

[marazul]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:46 PM, RTR 21-0 said:

First off, thanks for those who have and continue to take time to share your experiences and suggestions as I plan our upcoming cruise.  We are staying two days pre-cruise in Rome.  Since we need to stay up to adjust to time change we are considering doing a Colosseum tour the afternoon we arrive.  So far our arrival time has changed from 8:30 to 10:00 and I’m not assuming that will be the last time change.  How far in advance do skip the line tickets need to be purchased for the Colosseum? We’ll be arriving on a Friday in May if that makes any difference.  Considering getting a tour guide for this.  Do most have the tickets already and we would keep them updated on arrival time or do they have you purchase tickets separately?  

Last year inRome, we also had an early arrival and we decided to tour the Colosseum the same afternoon. It kept us in the sunlight and active for the rest of the day. 

We did book directly through ccopculture. Search this board for a lot of info.

[zimmy123]

7 hours ago, RTR 21-0 said:

Same boat zimmy.  Trying to avoid using one of those companies. I found someone who had an independent site, great reviews and is a licensed guide but she was booked for the days we are looking at.  She is supposed to be sending me some contacts and if I do get those I’ll be more than happy to pass on.  When is your cruise? 

 

[zimmy123]

Our cruise is May 18th.  We will be in Rome prior and Florence after.

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, marazul said:

Last year inRome, we also had an early arrival and we decided to tour the Colosseum the same afternoon. It kept us in the sunlight and active for the rest of the day. 

We did book directly through ccopculture. Search this board for a lot of info.

 

I would agree that the most "fail-safe" way is to book thru the official seller, which is coopculture as posted above. It may require some effort, researching what day the tickets go on sale and being willing to call in the middle of the night (US) to get them before they sell out.

 

However, I would also be very surprised if any reputable agencies overbook customers -- seems like word would get around pretty quickly and damage their reputation. 

 

@RTR 21-0 and @zimmy123 where have you read these reports?  Are they recent?