First Day in Rome - Colosseum

[charity709]

Hi everyone,

 

We are arriving in Rome for 3 nights before our cruise. Our flight gets in at 9:00 a.m. so we were planning on dropping our bags at our accommodation, getting a quick lunch and then visiting the Colosseum / Forum in the afternoon.  Is it easy to self-tour? Or are we much better off booking a guided tour?    I'm concerned if we've booked a tour for 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. that if there are any delays on the morning of our arrival that we will miss the tour.

 

Has anyone done the night-time tour with the Roman Guy?  That could be an option but I didn't know how it would compare to seeing it all in the light of day. 

 

We plan to book a tour for the Vatican the next day.  The third day is a civic holiday (May 1st) so want to make the most of our time on the first and second days and then have some more leisurely exploring on the holiday when the major sites are closed. 

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 🙂

 

[MeHeartCruising]

I find the Colosseum/Forum to be perfect for self touring.  I tend to read up on things before I arrive at sightseeing locations so I don't drag a guide book around with me generally.  But sometimes, I will use one or an annotated map to help me know what I'm looking at.  But even without these things, both the Colosseum and Forum are amazing sites to explore and just absorb.  But personally, I would study the Forum objects a little so you'd know what things where as you walk by/into them.  

[cruisemom42]

I fully agree that you can self-tour the Colosseum and Forum. But as the previous post hints, there is not a lot of signage in either place. With the popularity of movies like Gladiator and shows like Spartacus, most people have a fair idea of what the Colosseum is all about. (Although without some advance reading, a guidebook or maybe mp3 tour you will miss cool details such as the Roman numerals carved about each entrance, just like a modern sports venue with numbered section, or the stone loops where the velabrum -- the cloth "sunshade" that covered part of the stands -- was attached.)

 

The Forum is a bit more difficult to know what you're seeing -- I do recommend a guidebook with some descriptions for this site.

 

If you do decide to do on your own, I'd also recommend buying your tickets in advance, unless you want to spend a lot of time waiting in line.

[dogs4fun]

Yes, definitely agree - purchase your tickets in advance to avoid the long queues.

I have the Rick Steves Audio Europe app on my iphone - you may be interested in downloading this handy, free app. The Italy section contains maps and audio tours of Rome - one is specifically dedicated to  the Colosseum and one is dedicated to the Roman Forum. You can preview them here (click on listen):

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy

 

Edited April 13, 2019 by dogs4fun

[michelle-nh]

23 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

Yes, definitely agree - purchase your tickets in advance to avoid the long queues.

I have the Rick Steves Audio Europe app on my iphone - you may be interested in downloading this handy, free app. The Italy section contains maps and audio tours of Rome - one is specifically dedicated to  the Colosseum and one is dedicated to the Roman Forum. You can preview them here (click on listen):

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy

 

 

Thank you for this tip! I just downloaded the app. It is excellent and will be so helpful for the Mediterranean cruise we are taking this summer!

[PelicanLvr]

Have been in Rome several times, most recently for a week last month.

 

At the Colosseum the areas the public can see without "an official tour company" like Roman Guy or Walks of Italy is limited.  If your budget permits take a tour that gets you on the floor, thru Gladiator Gate, and/or into the underground.  All are off-limits to non-tours and what is open to the public will be crowded.  You can't just go everywhere on your own.  

 

Vatican:  Get in before it opens.  Halls are empty.  Really special experience.  They call these early access tours.  It will not be like in the pictures of being alone in the Sistine Chapel, but we were in there with only 30 people.  Really great!

 

Yes, you can try to do it all on your own.  You will see it better with a tour. 

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, PelicanLvr said:

Have been in Rome several times, most recently for a week last month.

 

At the Colosseum the areas the public can see without "an official tour company" like Roman Guy or Walks of Italy is limited.  If your budget permits take a tour that gets you on the floor, thru Gladiator Gate, and/or into the underground.  All are off-limits to non-tours and what is open to the public will be crowded.  You can't just go everywhere on your own.  

 

Vatican:  Get in before it opens.  Halls are empty.  Really special experience.  They call these early access tours.  It will not be like in the pictures of being alone in the Sistine Chapel, but we were in there with only 30 people.  Really great!

 

Yes, you can try to do it all on your own.  You will see it better with a tour. 

 

I'll have to quibble with your last statement. It greatly depends on the type of sightseer you are.

 

I've been traveling to Rome for probably 40 years, give or take and have spent several stretches of a week or more there. 

 

All of these "extra" and "hidden" venues have only opened in the last few years, and they greatly appeal to those who are sight "chasers" in my opinion. I've done just about every tour you can think of in Rome by myself, by private tour and official tour. I think that one is perfectly able to get a sense of the Colosseum and all that it entailed without seeing the area underneath (which is interesting but also confusing and far from the best preserved sub-area among Roman amphitheaters). Same applies to the Secret Itinerary tour at the Doges Palace. It's interesting but...

 

Roma has really merched out the Colosseum these days, with more than a dozen different "opportunities" available via various types of tickets and tours. But nothing, to me, matches the feeling of entering the main seating bank for the first time, looking down into the arena, and imagining what it would have been like to be at exactly the same spot nearly 2,000 years ago, watching one of the great spectacles.