What is going on with Colosseo Underground tours?

They're off - until they're back on!

But here announcements such as their restart are never just released willynilly... they're either saved up for an important occasion (such as the big tourism fair that's on in Milan at present), or hoarded until about 48 hours before the event!

Not impossibly also they've to see if there'll be any problems with the renovation work that's due soon - while it's expected not to affect ordinary visits, who knows... they may have to buy hard hats and issue them to those going up to the top level?

All I can advise is to not automatically assume that no news necessarily means bad news!

Peter

Thanks, Peter. Where do you advise as to the best way to check? A website?

elnap - We're hiring a guide for a tour of ancient Rome at the end of May, so I asked her to check if the underground will be open (we may include it in our tour).

She called the Colosseum and believes the hypogeum will reopen in April, but as Peter said, nothing has been announced yet. She offered to call every couple of weeks, and promised to update me. I will certainly post as soon as she tells me something definite.

Fingers crossed!

Abeneded we will also be in Rome the mid of May, I'd love the contact info for your guide if you wouldn't mind as we are planning a nice tour too.

I read the "Please note" here
http://www.060608.it/en/cultura-e-svago/beni-culturali/beni-archeologici/colosseo-anfiteatro-flavio.html
as saying that they're thinking about it, trying to find the budget and the staff for it.

It's probably also the first place the tours will be announced when they resume. The English announcement often lags behind the Italian one, so check both versions.

Thank you, Zerlina and abenedek.

When we went to Italy in November/December it closed hours before our flight landed....next time.

If you go to the website www.tickitaly.com and click on Rome tours on the left side, you will see "Colosseum dungeons". From there, they explain that it has not yet been decided the opening dates but if you leave your email address, they will notify you when it will be. We're trying to go there in May, so hopefully it will be open by then.

@elnap - I don't mean to hijack your post, but I want to reply to stormy's question. I've only been posting a couple months (stalking for many more), so I'm not sure of the "proper" way to do so since we don't have the option to send private messages

@stormygirl - The guide we're using is Alessandra Mazzoccoli. Her email is: alemazzoccoli@gmail.com and you can view her blog here: www.romeandabout.com

I had first emailed Francesca Caruso, because she was so highly recommended everywhere I looked. Unfortunately, she was unavailable, but she gave me a short list of others she recommended.

Also, see this post for a good source of guides in Italy:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/private-guides-in-italy-master-list.cfm

For me, some guides I emailed were really responsive and helpful, but a bit too expensive for only 2 of us (65 - 80 euros per hour). Alessandra was equally, if not more, quick to reply, and she responded to my many questions thoroughly. Also, the few reviews I found for her (on this site and others) were all positive. So I felt like she's a bargain at 50 euros per hour.

You're welcome to join our tour if you'll be in Rome May 28th

I was really excited when I read about this last year but was sad to see it was for a limited time. We're going in 3 wks and would love to be able to see all parts of the Colosseum. I guess we'll have to settle for the rick steve's podcast

Good Luck! Hope you get the tour.
Here are a couple of articles that might interest you.
www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Secrets-of-the-Colosseum.html www.archaeology.org/gladiators/arena.html
And a Commodus (of Gladiator movie fame site at the Colosseum you can see www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34607408
ARTICLE URL & THREAD RE; FLOODING THE COLOSSEUM
http://tinyurl.com/4qftd58
Regards, Walter

Walter,
In a very short time I am learning that you are quite a treasure full of incredible knowledge and useful information. Grazie mille!!!

abendeck thanks for the info! We'll actually be in Rome earlier than you- May 19-22!

http://prestotours.com/2010/blog/

not sure how reliable the information is but was glad to see that it could possibly be reopened in time for our arrival. i'm going to reserve it today but hopefully someone else has luck too.

Did you call the phone number? Let us know how it works out. We are really hoping the tours will be available for us in May but have not tried that international call yet.

In case you haven't heard, the underground tours have started again! Here's a link to another post with the website and more info:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/how-to-book-tickets-to-the-lower-and-third-levels-of-the-colosseum.cfm

This morning I received an email from tickitaly that they are taking requests for reservations through the month of June online. Go to www.tickitaly.com. Their price is 27.50E. We just made a request for our dates the end of April. They emphasis that it is only a "request" and they will get back to us in a few days to let us know if we were able to get the tickets.

Why pay Tickitaly 27.50 Euro for something that costs 9 Euro with Pierreci? Using Pierreci requires a phone call (which is not going to cost anything close to 18.50 Euro), and they are only taking bookings about 60 days ahead.

The Tikitaly price of 27.50 Euro also includes the combo admission ticket to the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill. Sorry, I forgot to mention that.

Are you sure it includes the combo ticket? It says it includes the "standard tour" of the Colosseum and the front (meaning outside) of the Forum and Palatine HIll.

Where does it say that the combo admission ticket is also included?

jrjcollins - I read the website again and you are correct. It appears that the Combo ticket is included.

Either way, booking directly gives more tour times and saves me 6.5 euros per ticket. So that would still be my preferred way to book.

I booked this morning, I think. I called the Pericci (sp) number and booked for 5 people for an English tour on a Saturday at 10:15. The Perici site, however, says that English tours are at 9:40, 12:40, . . . I also did not have to pay. Should I call again?

I called this morning and was told that I could not book for May until AFTER 3/31.

Has anyone been able to book for April/May and get a confirmation?

I'm also trying to book for May and I've been told to call back after 3/31. Someone else said they may not accept reservations for May until mid-April.

I know someone who is taking the tour tomorrow, and they offered to ask when we will be able to book for May. I will repost if they get a more definitive answer.

Pierreci is really screwing up on this one. Over at TripAdvisor, someone reported calling on March 17 for an April tour and being told "call back next week". S/he called back on Monday and was told "call back tomorrow".

I've tried to send someone at the Ministero per i beni culturali an email to point out how counter-productive this is, but I haven't received a reply.

Thanks Zerlina. Even if they don't reply it would be great if they get this sorted out.

I booked my tour for April 2 last Wednesday and got a confirmation number. Again, though I do hope that it is for an English tour.

I'm following this with interest, as I'll be there in May myself. I signed up for Tickitaly's email notifications about the tour. I got the first email about the tours opening again, requested a date (did not know about Pierreci at the time), and got an email saying we'd be in the queue. Then another the next day saying "just kidding, Rome told us they're not ready yet, but we still have your emails!" Got one more this morning:

'As long as the Colossus stands, so shall Rome' .... and as long as there's technology, there'll be 'technical problems'. Such problems are what the authorities in Rome are blaming for their ongoing inability to accept reservations for the Colosseum dungeon and upper level tours.

We appreciate that it may appear we jumped the gun, but that's not the case - we were, as we said before, given the green light to take bookings. Yesterday (Monday the 21st) was supposed to be the day things got sorted. Deadline missed. Today, we were then told. Except it very much looks like they're going to miss this deadline as well.

All we can do is let you know the situation and apologise. Your orders are still in the queue and we still hope to be fulfilling them very, very soon. We'll of course let you know as soon as there's any news, and please allow us to stress once more that no charges have been made to your credit card in relation to these tours - we shall only do so once we confirm your orders.

Thank you in advance for your ongoing patience, and once more, please accept our apologies for this tedious situation.

Yes something appears to be going on with their computer systems, as it seems like they can't take any reservations right now.

I called earlier today and they told me they couldn't take my reservation before I could even said what month it was for.

Hopefully they will clear this up asap.

Try to look on the bright side: *Maybe* it means that online bookings will be possible, if and when they get their systems set up.

Yes I just got another email saying the computer system is down so they can't actually book any of the underground tickes yet. They were supposed to have the computer fixed yesterday but it didn't happen, nor did it happen today. Seems we are in "wait" mode. I am also booking for May.

Yes, the first time I called they said to call later in the day. Called later and they said 3/31.

I have a pretty open schedule, but would really like to firm this part of the trip up, so I can book other things.

I just received my voucher by email from tickitaly for our first choice of April 29th. Like jent103, we had been on their waiting list.

Me too! And we also got our first choice date. Whew. The Rome part of our trip is finally nailed down.

Booking directly with Pierrece is possible by phone again. I just successful booked my tour for May 28th, but as expected, times were VERY limited already.

I mentioned that I may use a Roma Pass for entry, and only had to pay for the underground tour now.

If you want to book, call asap!

Good luck to all

I must be blind! I can't seem to find the number to call for tickets- anyone?

The number to call is 011 39 06 39967700.

Oops forgot to update here. I was able to call on 3/31 and get my tour date & time that I wanted. It was very easy! They don't send emails or anything, so I made sure to reverify the confirmation number twice!

When you call, listen to the "rapidfire" Italian and press 0 at the first pause. Then listen again to fast Italian and press 3. (Listen for zero, uno, due(doo-ay),tre(trrr-ay) Italian for 0, 1, 2, 3) When someone answers, ask "Parla inglese?" They will either say yes and proceed, or transfer you to someone who speaks English.

You can email them directly with your confirmation number and they will respond with an email confirmation. Look for it in your SPAM folder if you don't see it in your inbox. The email address is

pierreci@pierreci.it

Got my tour done and I will be using the Roma Pass for entry into the Colosseum. If you are doing the same, be sure you mention that when you first speak to the operator.

Leslie

thank you!! just got our tour booked for May 20th!

so our tickets were quite a bit more than what has been reported here. we have the VISITA SOTTERRANEI +INTERO+PRE and it was 86E for 4

Stormy,

86euros is the right amount for 4 people if you paid for your entry as well.

Unless you specified at the beginning of your call that you would be using a Roma Pass then you bought the Combo Ticket (Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Forum) along with your tickets for the underground tour.

I just booked mine today through pierreci and paid 21.50E per person as well.

We went through Tickitaly and our tour was excellent, small group, saw all three levels of the Colosseum and chose the tour that included the Roman Forum, really neat.

LATEST UPDATE: They just announced an extension of the Colosseum underground tours (hypogeum, dungeons, subterranean levels, whatever you want to call it) along with the third tier. It is officially confirmed to remain open til July 31st. You can continue booking with Pierreci through their phone system:

Pierreci Booking Info:
http://www.pierreci.it/en/museums-and-monuments/colosseo.aspx

The phone system still costs 21.50 per person and is a tour given by Colosseum guides of just the Colosseum, lasting 90 minutes. Here's a blog post on how to book with Walks of Italy. They get to use their own, fluent English speaking guides, and will visit the Roman Forum as well, with a maximum of 12 per group. This is brand new since before you always had to use Colosseum guides.

Walks of Italy's Blog Post:
http://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/rome/colosseum-underground-opening-dates-tours-rome-hypogeum

Hope you find that helpful!