This is a roadblock for booking our tours, as this ticket is hard to get...I am just wondering, on a half day "ancient rome" tour, is THIS ONE aspect really essential?

We have one date 12/29, that I would really like to do this. And, having been there before, I am inclined to think it is not. But this is my teen sons first visit, and of course, the coliseum is an important thing for them to see.

I recall thinking just being IN it, was enough, and actually enjoyed the Palantine area the most...IDK.

Your thoughts? And, is it even reliably open then?? Thanks!

You might be interested in reading this thread about the upper and lower Colosseum.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-the-money.cfm

I asked my kids what they liked most about the Colosseum tour to see what they'd say. They were about 12 and 14 at the time of the tour - they both said they liked the underground tour best. I'd have to agree with them. While being in the Colosseum was amazing to me on it's own, the underground was certainly unique. Going up to the top, that was ok. It provided some fantastic views and a different perspective of the Colosseum, but wasn't as unique as going down below, in my opinion.

If you can find a private tour, or a small group tour that gives you this, try not to miss it. Can you go with Walks of Italy? They do the VIP tour that includes the Underground tour along with the Forum and Palatine Hill. If you can't do their regular tour at the scheduled time, you can book a private tour at a time convenient for you. Although it will cost more for their private tour.

Every tour we did with them was outstanding.

ok, YOU convinced me!! (thanks!!) bit the bullet (again!!) I guess I wanted someone to talk me out of it. I booked a semi private tour with Through Eternity. Hopefully this is great?? The thing I liked is that they do the above, plus some parts of Nero's house that I haven't done. Seemed like a decent deal. Had to rearrange some other things but I think it will be worth it.

I think I will cut back a bit on the Vatican, and do a group (12 max) with Walks of Italy, early access and all, but just under 4 hours as opposed to the TE 5 hour in depth bit.

I am sure my kids will be more interested in coliseum than art at the Vatican anyway.

Shell, glad to hear you likes Walks of Italy. And adrienne, yes, that linked did all the talking necessary!!

Thank you all!!!!

Actually, I'm going to go against the current. You say you have only a half day to see "ancient Rome". You could really spend a week seeing ancient Rome, but you don't have the time. The Colosseum tour takes two hours, leaving you little time to see anything else. I'm sure the tour is pleasing to kids, but the Colosseum, after all, was a sports stadium, and has little to do with the history of Rome. To me, it would be a bit like going to Washington, D.C. and taking your kids only to the Redskins Stadium.

If you think your kids would get bored silly walking around the Roman Forum or the Palatine Hill, you could look for a tour that includes both of these and the Colosseum. You would spend less time in the Colosseum, but your kids would get a better idea of Roman history. Context Travel has some tours specifically for families that are supposed to be very good. They were recommended to me once by a tour guide with whom I once took a wonderful tour of the Roman Forum, and who wasn't available when I wanted to take another that included also the Palatine Hill. The guide I used was Daniela Hunt, of rome-tours.org . She's a classics scholar and assists on archaeological digs, but she's very busy and not always available. She also is more expensive than a group tour, but she will tailor the tour to the interests and background of the people.

Another place that has plenty of interest for kids, and has its own sound-and-light tour, is the Domus Romane, under Palazzo Valentini, very near the Roman Forum. They have at least one English language tour each day, where you get to see the remains of an ancient Roman house and street, where the sound and light shows it to you as it might have been in its splendor.

Just a couple of things to add. In May this year we took the Colosseum underground tour with walks of Italy. It included both the underground and high levels and we very worthwhile. The tour also included the Palatine and Forum. Our guide was excellent. Up in the Palatine we found a shady spot under a tree and she got us to role play various Roman characters and gods to explain the history of Rome. I think the kids would love that.
We also used them for the Pristine Sistine tour. Again they take a max of 12 people so the interaction with the guide is really good. Our tour started an hour before the general public gets in so we had the Sistine to ourselves and a couple other tour groups with the same privilege maybe 100 people in total. We were finished in the Sistine before the hoards came in and were able to do our tour of the Vatican museums in relative peace. Our advantage was gone by the time we got to St Peters but If you can get a tour that gets in early it is well worth it.
Here are images of our trip to Rome. The 58 through 78 images are Colosseum/Palatine and the 114 through 137 are the Vatican tours.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7634677664021/

We went with Walks of Italy to do the upper and lower levels. We thought it was worth it. So many people tried to sneak in behind us, especially on the top level. Walking out of the floor of the Colisseum was one of my husband's favorite trip memories. The description of how the fighters, animals, etc....were housed in the lower levels and taken up to the floor by "elevator" and released through trap doors helped bring it all to life.

I took the DarkRome tour that included the forum and the colosseum. Since I was there in August, I was so grateful to have only our small group out on the "stage" taking pictures, etc. while we could see the insane crowds across the way. This may be different at other times of the year though.

As for the underground, it was pretty interesting but I woudn't say necessary, and the for the top I actually thought it offered a really neat perspective of both the colosseum and the surrounding areas!

No not essential. I enjoyed walking around the Palantine hill area even more than Colosseum. I did use the free Rick Steeves audio guide with my Ipod before and during the walk through the Colosseum.