I am booking a tour to the colosseum but it appears that each tour only hits one of these, so in your opinion, which one is better:

a) Levels 1&2
b) Arena Floor
c) Underground

I do see one tour that has both a&b BUT I wanted to keep this to the 3.5 hour tour which also stops at Palatine Hill and the Forum & it looks like you have to choose one or the other with most tour companies (since time is limited).

Which tour companies are you investigating? Have you looked into Context Tours?

I've been to the Colosseum a couple of times & walked around the levels above the arena floor. I think the underground tour would be the most fascinating part of all. I imagine a tour ticket gets you in to the whole building so you'd be able to see the above ground parts on your own, maybe with a guidebook would be enough for that.

Hi City Wonders, Viator, Walks of Italy - It looks like Context is only doing private tours and much more expensive..

Thanks - i think you have to be guided for the underground tour - it does seem interesting.

In 2014 we did a guided tour of the upper and underground levels, conducted by the Colosseum, I booked directly on the website. We were about 15-16 and the tour was fascinating, especially the lower level and the guide extremely competent.

When are you coming?

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php...plate3&lang=en

Not currently sold due to you know what but I think that's what you want

This is exactly what we did, went to the Colosseum first thing in the morning, then came back to the Palatine hill, etc the next day. Maybe tickets/tours will open up by July/August, you want to keep checking.

When I planned our trip the Rome Destination Expert on TripAdvisor was excellent and gave tons of useful advice and tips, you may want to check there too.

**Hi City Wonders, Viator, Walks of Italy - It looks like Context is only doing private tours and much more expensive..**

FYI - Viator is a reseller/OTA. Similar to Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I don't believe they run any of their own tours and are just selling tours by other companies.

Yes, Viator is primarily a sales agent, although that may only matter if something goes wrong or changes are desired. The info it provides is free, of course. It is owned by TripAdvisor, making for a major force in travel commerce.

We had booked a tour with Livtours--they do small group tours no more than 6 people in a group so you can actually hear the guide. We did the underground tour and the wealth of information imparted to us by the tour guide was immense. We were one of the first groups led into the Colosseum in the morning and felt like we had the place practically to ourselves then we were led to the underground area. By the time we left the Colosseum the lines were forming all around and there were hundreds of people going in as we were leaving. I highly recommend their small group tours.

MmePerdu is right. If you take the Underground tour, you can hang around afterwards and visit the first and second levels on your own. There are excellent signs explaining the site, and you'll have already learned a lot on your tour.
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Coopculture, the official site for Colosseum visits, offers Full Experience+Underground tickets for a total of 33 euros. (€22 for the ticket, €9 for the Underground tour, and €2 booking fee.) This ticket is good for 2 consecutive days, and includes one entrance to the Colosseum, with a 60-minute Underground tour, one entrance to the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill site, and various other visits or experiences. The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill shouldn't be overlooked on a visit to Rome.

https://www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm

Thank you all, I appreciate everyone's input. It seems the consensus is the underground tour so I will plan to include that. I do see they've also opened up Levels 4 & 5! Might be some great views from up there too!! Maybe next time, we just can't do it all!!