Now that the Forum and the Palentine Hill is not free anyone, do you think it is still worth to pay a visit?

The Palatine was never free; it was a combined ticket for the Colosseum and the Palatine.

Now it is a combined ticket for the Colosseum, the Palatine and the Roman Forum, and the price of the combined ticket has not changed.

There was no charge for the Forum when we were there in December. We bought the combo Palatine/Colosseum ticket at the entrance to the Palatine and then we were able to skip the long ticket line at the Colosseum.

Hello Grcxx3, sometime this last week it was announced that one now needs a ticket to enter the Forum.
As Zerlina said the Palatine and Colosseum ticket is now good for the Forum also, at least that is the way I understand it.

And am I feeling old, lol, remembering when one just walked into the Colosseum, sigh.

Oh - things do change fast!!!

Worth the visit now that the Forum is not free? In my opinion, it is as worth it as any place I have ever visited in my life.

I agree with Nikki. In this moment does not come in my mind any place where I paid for visit and then I said that I paid too much.

I think that first of all, you have to ask yourself if you are interested to see them (without speaking about price). If you will wish to visit them, then +/- 10 Euro do not make you rich, and now, when you are in rome and have the ocasion to see them..

If you have any interest in Roman history/ruins I would say you should definitely visit at least the Forum and Colosseum.
I had not visited the Palatine hill until our last (third) trip to Rome and really found that interesting, too. It has more of the history of the emperors' lifestyle (as opposed to the political history of the Forum). It also has excavations at the site of very early settlement of Rome (huts of Romulus and Remus)

there are great views out over the Circus Maximus and the Forum from the Palatine. Even if you do not want to visit all of the Palatine, you could go up to the area (Farnese gardens) overlooking the Forum near the entrance by the Arch of Titus.

Last year when we visited Rome the Forum was still free and the other two sites were on a combined ticket which allowed you to visit both in one day or one in the afternoon and the other the next morning. I am not sure how the timing for all three works now.

Let me figure this one out.....you travel all the way to Rome, site of some of the most spectacular ruins complex in the world and then ponder about spending a few Euros to experience them closer and personal .....hmmmm. What am I missing? #-o

Fork out the money.

Yeah, I can't imagine going to Rome & NOT going to the Forum.

Ian

Viajero - as I scrolled down this thread before I came to your response, I was thinking the exact same thing as you stated - just think how much GoPlan could really save if he (she?) stayed away from all of those other sites which charge entrance fees (like the Vatican Museums and the Borghese.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful concept to have a goal of visiting Rome with the intention, much like Las Vegas, of leaving with more money than you arrived with?

GoPlan - sorry for the sarcasm, but really how often can you visit one of the truly magnificent city blocks in the world, and choose, because of cost (and not a large cost, after all)and not because of time, to exclude an important component?

Again, if it is due to lack of time, that is one thing, but if it is due to a few euros cost (which, by the way, I believe is the case only with the Palatine as opposed to the Forum/Colosseum which, when I last visited were on the same ticket), I would strongly recommend that you do not pass up the opportunity of visiting (assuming, however, that you are in Rome with the intent of seeing as many of the "major" sites as reasonably possible).

I think the Forum is the most interesting, unbelievable thing I've ever seen. To hear about and read about all these things from so long ago and then to actually SEE them and know that they were real, not a legend, etc., is simply amazing to me.

I think an admission charge would be some of the the best money I ever spent and would never hesitate. Go and enjoy it!

In any case, before you go, read up on the Forum and the Palatine, in a good guide book or look at Paradise Lost's very long guide here on the Italy Forum (http://tinyurl.com/2b9bhz. Or take a tour, You want to know what you are looking at or nothing will be "worth" it. If you know what you are seeing, it is priceless.

The Palatine was the prestige address during Roman times, so all the most famous Romans lived there. It's got a zillion things to see -- and once again it helps to read about it ahead of time.

The Forum is probably one of the most beautiful and most moving places I have ever been in my life. I loved being there and would highly recommend it. I went on one of the "archaeology" tours of Palatine Hill and loved that as well. My answer is a resounding "Yes!"

The forum is an amazing place and if I have to, I will pay everytime I visit. The Palentine Hill was very interesting. EK and I with our mates took a tour of it with Francesca Caruso. I think the Palentine is one of those places where a guide is very helpful in understanding what you were seeing and the history there.

I have long wondered why they didn't charge an entry fee for the Forum, and now that they are requiring a ticket, I am surprised that they haven't increased the price. I would gladly pay a few Euro more if I knew that the money was going towards the preservation of these incredible monuments.

The Palatine - particularly the palace ruins - is as impressive as the Forum, and the views of the Forum from Palatine Hill are amazing. I am always surprised that more people don't go there; I have been there three times and it is always virtually deserted. I have never visited any of these sites on a tour - I prefer to see them at my own pace with a good guidebook - but I can certainly understand why a tour would be helpful and informative.

Seeing the Roman Forum and Palentine was probably my favorite of my entire trip to Rome. I would have paid double to see it. Totally worth it!

To go to Rome and not see the Forum is close to madness. It was the governmental, political and religious center of an empire that ruled a good part of the world for a thousand years. And just touring the remains can be shattering - no matter the cost.

May a spelling freak add that it is Palatine, NOT Palentine? Think of palaces, which were built on the Palatine.

The admission policies have changed over the years. The first time I went, in the seventies, it was open and one just walked in (same for the Colosseum).

On later trips they had fenced off the Colosseum and charged admission to the forum -- but you could still wander on the floors of the basilicas and in certain areas which are now closed.

Then a few years back the mayor of Rome decided the forum should be free again. They opened the gates, but erected fences which prevented you from walking in some of the more interesting zones.

And now apparently they've started charging again. No word on whether the internal fences came down . . .

Whatever the current policy, it is always worth paying the admission charge.