Private Colosseum Gladiator’s gate tour
Step onto the arena floor
Destination
Rome, Italy
Duration
3 hours
Tour size
Max 6
Language
English
Overview
Step through the Gladiator's Gate onto the arena floor of the Colosseum. Two thousand years of stone rise around you, tiers upon tiers, the emperor's box straight ahead. On this private arena floor tour, your guide tells the story of one of the world’s most magnificent monuments to you alone.
- •Enter the Colosseum through a gate once reserved for gladiators, with arena floor access that sells out months in advance
- •Stand at the center of the arena with a dedicated guide for your private group of up to six
- •Trace how seating, sight lines, and entrances encoded Roman society across the Colosseum's levels
- •Pick up the thread of Roman history in the Forum, where temples and triumphal arches span a thousand years
- •Climb Palatine Hill, where emperors built their palaces and the rooftops of modern Rome spread below
What's included
- Skip-the-line Colosseum entrance ticket (Full Experience Ticket)
- Special access ticket to the Colosseum Arena Floor via Gladiator's Gate
- Ticket for Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Private, licensed English-speaking guide for your group
- Headset for clear audio throughout
You will visit
- Colosseum Arena Floor
- Colosseum (first and second levels)
- Roman Forum
- Palatine Hill
Get a taste of Private Colosseum Gladiator’s gate tour
What to expect
The Gladiator's Gate: the arena floor takes center stage
Your tour starts at a side entrance most visitors walk straight past. The Gladiator's Gate leads directly onto the arena floor, reserved for holders of a ticket the Colosseum releases in limited numbers each year. Every tier, every archway, every level rises around you exactly as it did for the men who fought here. The emperor's box is directly ahead, and the cross that marks the arena's center is under your feet.
Inside the Colosseum: engineering built to control a city
From the arena floor, you move through the Colosseum's first and second levels. The seating was never random. Senators sat closest to the action, women and the poorest citizens sat highest, and the emperor watched from a box positioned to be seen by everyone. Eighty entrances could empty 50,000 people in minutes, and a retractable awning kept the crowd shaded while they watched.
"People think gladiators fought to the death every time they stepped into this arena, and I love explaining the reality of what it was like here on the floor."
Nicola,
WalksDevour guide
The Colosseum requires full names at booking and ID at entry for every guest, including children. No ID means no entry, without refund.
Meeting point
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour, your guide will be holding a yellow WalksDevour sign. This tour meets at Via delle Terme di Tito, 72 (Oppio Caffè). Meet directly across the street from Oppio Caffè at the gated entrance to Colle Oppio Park. Meet your guide at the entrance of Colle Oppio Park on the corner of Via di Terme di Tito and Via Nicola Salvi.
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Frequently asked questions
Our guides love answering your questions. Here are some things they’d like you to know before you arrive.
