Hey Everyone,

First time traveler, wanted to know if it was worth it to go inside the colosseum?
considering price and time, would you recommend going inside?
My college roomates and I are staying 3 nights in Rome.
thank you in advance

I've been in Rome when the line to the Colosseum was so short you could essentially walk in; I've also been there when the line was an hour or two long. If you visit the area and the line is short, it's definitely worth the visit. If the line runs several hundred meters around the Colosseum, I'd skip it.

Absolutely. More interesting than merely staring at it from the outside.

The line was "medium length" when we were last there. It was definitely worth it to us (with young teens). You just get more of a feel for what it was like "back then" when you're inside than you do just viewing it from the outside. I guess I agree, though, that I wouldn't want to wait in line more than an hour (that applies to pretty much anything though!).

A priest from the Vatican gave me my first interior tour and a famous docent from Context Rome gave me my second. Both remain two of my best all-time travel moments.

Thank you guys for your responses! I'll let my roomates know

The lines are mainly for ticket purchases. You can buy your ticket at either entrance to the Palatine and walk right past the line. An hour wait can become no wait. Colosseum/Palatine/Forum are all on the same ticket.

If you do the Roma Pass, you get admission to 2 sites, discounts on others and 3 days of unlimited metro/bus travel.

daveesl, I don't recall - was there no security line (checking of bags/backpacks, etc.)?

The two times we've gone, we bought our tickets at Palatine as daveesl recommends, and walked right past the long line. There is a security line, but it was not long at all.

Sorry dumb question ahead ... but what is a Roma pass and where would you buy one?

I noticed that most of the replies are based on interpreting worth to mean cost vs. time consideration of a historic site.

If your are looking for whether the Colosseum would hold a personal value in visiting, you probably want to pose the question differently. It not that others can answer such a personal question, but they can share what the Colosseum meant to them.

A site with a great personal value would have different cost/time considerations than yet another historical site that happens to be in the city you are visiting.

If you are looking to bypass the lines you could always take up someone's offer to give you an English language tours. We did one that wasn't much more than the ticket itself and were able to bypass the lines. And as a bonus the tours are interesting.

Hi polye,

here's the link to the lsit of places where you can buy the Roma pass:

http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=8

it gives you two free entrances to the attractions included on it, plus all your transport and reductinos to other places. so you could buy and use it at the colosseum and get in free!

i would definitely go inside the colosseum - it gives you a much better idea of what it was like when it was being used, than just looking at the outside can.

regards, ann

thanks ann and everyone else for their replies

polye

greg, I think that is the best answer I've ever read to questions like this. I wouldn't have missed the Colosseum, if I had to stand in line overnight.

So, what does a tour of the Colosseum include? You go inside and see where they did the chariot races? How long does it take? Is there anything else there?

I'd skip it. The place is in ruins.

Har har.

hi Amy,

I think that you can do a guided tour, but we just read the guide book. we took an hour to wander round the ground floor and the higher areas [thoguh it took us a while to work put how to get up there!].

you can't get an idea of the size of it unless you go inside.

but of course it IS all ruins. if you want to get a feelnig for what it must have been like, get yourself to "le Puy de fou" at Cholet in the western Loire [France] where they have a theme park based on the history of that area, starting with the romans - chariot racing, christians, lions, animal parades, it's got it all.

regards, ann

We had a guided tour through Context Tours and it was one of my favorite days in Rome. Yes, go in!