I've read there are guided tours offered when you purchase tickets at the Colosseum. When I was there last year, we stood in a very long line. It was crowded, and I don't remember seeing anything about getting a guide.

Does anyone know exactly where these tours are offered? We will have a Roma Pass.

Thanks!

The guides are outside the Colosseum in that open area before you go inside to buy tickets. They stand around trying to drum up business. If you sign up with one of these guides then you don't wait in line to purchase an individual ticket as they have pre-purchased tickets and you go right into the site with the guide. Don't know how this works with the Roma Pass as you probably get a discount to the Colosseum with the pass but I don't know if the guides will honor the discounted price.

Another alternative is to purchase the combined Colosseum/Forum/Palatine Hill ticket. Purchase it at the Forum or Palatine Hill where the queues are quite short. Visit one or both of them first and then go to the Colesseum. Or just the Colesseum if that's what you want. When you get to the Colesseum stick to the left hand side of the really, really long queue and make your way to the front. You should be able to go straight in. I'm not sure how this works with the Roma Pass, but probably similar - just walk straight past the huge queue to the front.

Can't help with a guided tour - my HB teaches Ancient History & Modern History so I have my own guide where ever we go. Very lucky!!

Just my past (~5yrs ago) experience with an official Colosseum guide;

45mins, boring and unpassionate, sticking to a memorized script plus any questions recieved the official party-line answer.

Back then there was either a booth or in the bookstore where you booked the tours but I'm sure that has now changed.

My guess would be at the ticket booth where they also rent the audioguides.
I wasn't impressed with the audioguide either but that was a few years ago and might have changed since then.
Regards, Walter

We just returned from 10 days in Rome and we took a tour of the Colosseum and the Forum and used the company Rome Walks. The tour guide was fantastic, very knowledgable and made the entire experience unforgettable. They have a website - www.romewalks.com. They were reasonably priced and we went right to the head of the line.

I took a guide tour, I purchased my tour ticket once I was inside the Colosseum. The cost was 3 euros, the guide was excellent and I lucked out and had my own private 45 minute tour. I bought my tickets on the level you enter from a small kiosk, you need to ask what tour times are available and specify which language you want the tour in. I was originally booked on a later tour, a guide showed up and I asked her politely if there was space on the tour if I could join, after checking that the tour was in English. There was nothing but choas and confusion (be prepared for lots of both in Italy) and she couldn't find anybody from her group, so I was the only person there, which is why I had a private tour. An alternative is to use the audio guide.

Another vote for Rome Walks.
On my last trip to Rome (my first with the family and not solo) I decided to use them for tours of the Colosseum and the Imperial Forum, the Vatican, and Christian Rome and I found them all to be very interesting and educational.

--gatorbill

We used Context travels and had a WONDERFUL tour of the Colosseum - I highly recommend them - we used them in Florence as well. Excellent English, history and fun.

I would second Context tours. Hubby & I used them on our first trip for the COlosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Forum. On a subsequent trip we used one of those tours that hang around the Colosseum. The difference was like a good Barbera then carlo rossi.

Adding I got the recommendation of Context off of this board prior to our trip - I used a different company for the Vatican tour and was not pleased.

The best option is the Premium Colosseum Tour run by walksofitaly.com which ensures high quality service with great guides!

Below I have pasted full information from the official site of the colosseum services. The company that runs the Ticket booths, audioguides and guided tours of the Colosseum is called Pierreci.

Rome, Piazza del Colosseo
Information and booking +39.06.39967700; booking on line: buy; tick@click: buy

Prices:
COLOSSEO/FORO ROMANO and PALATINO valid 2 days:
ADULTS € 12,00
REDUCED FEE € 7,50 for European Union members between 18 and 24 years old, more details: info
FREE ENTRANCE for persons under 18 and over 65 years old from the European Union, more details: info

ARCHAEOLOGIA CARD valid 7 days for Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi, Terme di Diocleziano, Colosseo, Foro Romano and Palatino, Terme di Caracalla, Villa dei Quintili, Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella:
ADULTS € 23,00
REDUCED FEE € 13,00
Booking on line collecting at the Colosseo: buy

ENTRANCE RESERVATION individuals € 1,50 suggested if want to avoid the queue, groups from 14 to max 50 persons obliged reservation for the visit included radio guide, for groups without theirs own radio-guide, € 21,00 (€ 1,50 each person from 15 to 50), schools obliged reservation € 10,00 max 50 pupils; for more details: info

ROMA PASS the site is included in the Roma Pass circuit

Timetables:
Opening hours from 8:30 am to one hour before sunset (Good Friday 8:30 am - 2 pm, June 2 1:30 pm - 7:15 pm):
8:30 am - 4:30 pm from January 2 to February 15
8:30 am - 5 pm from February 16 to March 15
8:30 am - 5:30 pm from March 16 to last Saturday of March
8:30 am - 7:15 pm from last Sunday of March to August 31
8:30 am - 7 pm from September 1 to September 30
8:30 am - 6:30 pm from October 1 to last sunday of October
8:30 am - 4:30 pm from the last sunday of October to December 31

Closed January 1, December 25.

Ticket office closes one hour before closing time

In the Foro Romano-Palatino area, open to visit the following monuments:

* casa di Augusto: monday, wednesday, saturday and sunday, from 11 am
* Tempio di Romolo: saturday, from 08.30 am
* Arcate severiane: tuesday, thursday and friday from 08.30 am

Services:
INFORMATION AND BOOKING
individuals: +39.06.39967700 Mondays-Fridays 9am-6pm Saturdays 9am-2pm
groups: +39.06.39967450 Mondays-Fridays 9am-6pm Saturdays 9am-2pm
schools: +39.06.39967200 Mondays-Fridays 9am-6pm Saturdays 9am-2pm

VISITS FOR INDIVIDUALS
hours: info
languages: English, Italian, Spanish
persons: max 40
duration: 45 minutes
price: € 4,00

VISITS FOR GROUPS
hours: on request
languages: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish
persons: max 40
duration: 45 minutes
price: € 90,00
booking: required

AUDIO GUIDE
languages: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Arabic
duration: 1 hour and 10 minutes
price: € 4,50

VIDEO GUIDE
languages: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish
duration: 45 minutes
price: € 5,50

Emma has been removed I assume for advertising walksofitaly (although I'm not so sure she was).

I realize she topped an old post (2 years old), but the info about Pierreci is helpful as they are the official ticket outlet and have the information about guided tours offered by the Colosseum, not outside tour guides/operators. This is Pierreci's website although it's not the most user friendly.
http://www.pierreci.it/en.aspx

This is the timetable for tours offered by the Colosseum (does not include the Forum). The tours are only 4€ extra (.50€ cheaper than renting the audio guide), but only last 45 minutes.

http://www.pierreci.it/en/museums-an...-colosseo.aspx

There are also official guided tours of the Forum (also 4€), but I'm not sure it's available in English. The Forum tour is one hour.

>>>VISITS FOR INDIVIDUALS
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays in Italian at 10 am
persons: max 40
duration: 1 hour
price: € 4,00 <<<

With the Roma Pass, you are allowed to re-enter as much as you want over the 3 days of the pass. With a ticket purchased at the Colosseum or in advance from Pierreci, you can re-enter for two days. If you stand in line to purchase at the Colosseum the ticket is 12€. If you buy in advance online, it's 12€ plus 1.50€ booking fee. You print your own ticket and you get to skip the line to enter.