Buying Colosseum Rome tickets in advance online is the best way to visit, saving you hours of lining up. When you buy a ticket before your visit, you will be able to breeze past the very long line for the Colosseum ticket office, and will only have a short wait at the door while you go through security.
Unfortunately, Colosseum tickets are in very high demand and visitors can experience significant problems getting hold of these skip-the-line tickets. So here’s our advice on how to get yourself Colosseum Rome tickets. Because the one thing you don’t want to do on your visit to Rome is miss the city’s most enduring and awe-inspiring monument.
Buy Colosseum Tickets Online Today
Finding a place where you can buy Colosseum tickets can be a tricky task, because of the insanely high demand, and the hoops you need to jump through to buy official Colosseum tickets. If you’re looking for an easy option that guarantees that you can buy Colosseum tickets, then click below to explore the variety of skip the line options we offer.
The Problems with Buying Official Colosseum Tickets
Unfortunately, buying official Colosseum Rome tickets is fraught with problems. The main issue is overwhelming demand, but there are other issues at play, including ticketing policy and website quality.
1. A Change in The Official Colosseum Ticket Provider
For nearly three decades, the official ticketing supplier has been a company called ‘Coopculture’. They have never been particularly impressive in this role, and in 2023 they finally got fired so that the Italian Ministry of Culture can take the job back in house. Regrettably the decisions taken around this seem to have compounded the issue, making buying official Colosseum tickets even harder!
This page will help you try to get official Colosseum tickets, but if you are unable to overcome the hurdles put in your way, don’t miss out – have a look at the range of Colosseum tickets available from our approved reseller. These all include official tickets, but they have been secured through a different sales channel.
2. The Official website is overwhelmed
The new official ticketing website is at ticketing.colosseo.it. For various reasons, it is not capable of hosting the traffic it receives, so its managers have instigated a queueing system run by “CloudFlare” that limit the total number of visitors to the site at any one time. Sometimes the wait time to buy Colosseum tickets will be an hour long or more.
3. Colosseum Tickets Sell Out Immediately
Once you’ve been dumped out of the queueing system, you may find that there are no tickets available to buy anyway. In the days of Coopculture there was a batch of tickets released every 15 minutes. The new site releases all its Colosseum tickets for that day at midnight, Rome time.
If you are on the official site at the right time and date, you may be able to buy Colosseum tickets for the date and time you want.
4. You Can’t Buy Colosseum Tickets More Than a Month in Advance
You can only buy Colosseum tickets up to one month in advance. A test on 12th May, 2024 showed that tickets were available up to 11th June.
Therefore if you want to visit the Colosseum on a specific day, you will be most successful if you lurk on the website 30 days before your visit date.
Remember, your Colosseum ticket also gives you access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. You will need to choose a time and date for your entrance into the Colosseum, but you can enter the Forum and Palatine Hill complex at any time within 24 hours of your Colosseum visit, or any time up to 24 hours before your scheduled Colosseum tour.
Alternative Options to Buy Colosseum Rome Tickets
Because it can be so hard to buy Colosseum tickets from the official website, it often leaves people wondering where to buy Colosseum tickets from. To help you avoid disappointment, we have an exclusive source for a ticket reseller, as well as other methods to try if you’re having problems with availability, to ensure you enjoy Rome’s spectacular amphitheater. Here’s what to do to find tickets if other options are failing you:
If you can’t get anything from the official website, here are various other options we can suggest:
Buy a Standard Skip The Line Ticket
Try to buy a standard skip-the-line ticket here:
Last-Minute Colosseum Tickets
If that is sold out, then try this exclusive last-minute ticket type:
Go On a Guided Colosseum Tour
If you’re still having problems, then try a guided tour, which will include your ticket. This has the advantage of also bringing you to the immensely interesting forum too.
Colosseum Tours with Arena and Forum Visits
If that is sold out, then try an exclusive guided tour with Arena visit and Forum, ticket included:
Guided Underground Colosseum Tour
Or try a guided tour of the Colosseum including Underground, Arena, and Forum:
Browse all options
Have a look at every single option that’s available for the Colosseum:
What To Do If You Can’t Find Colosseum Tickets Online
Even with all the extra ways to buy Colosseum tickets that we’ve mentioned above, due to the sheer demand, it can still sometimes be difficult to find tickets – especially during the peak tourism season.
If you’ve tried all of the options above but still can’t find tickets, don’t worry, there are still a few options available to you.
Visit The Forum But Not The Colosseum
Visit the Forum but not the Colosseum.
You can walk all round the Colosseum and even see in at some points, without a ticket. A visit there takes less than an hour: it is dwarfed by the next-door Roman Forum, which is about half a mile long and a quarter mile wide and absolutely full of ancient marvels including temples, palaces, and the Palatine Hill. If you draw a blank on the Colosseum you can still buy a special ticket just for the Forum, a visit that will take at least two hours.
Try to Buy a Ticket on The Door
If you have exhausted all options to try and buy Colosseum tickets, then another option you can try is to just turn up at the Colosseum ticket office and see if they have any tickets available. This will likely require waiting in line for a long time, and you may end up disappointed, but if all other options are exhausted, this may be your only option.
If you have had to resort to trying to buy a ticket at the door, then we recommend trying to get to the Colosseum ticket office as early as you can. This might save you a good amount of time waiting in line, and will maximise your chances to buy your Colosseum Rome tickets.
Street Ticket Sellers
The last resort to buying Colosseum tickets is to actually engage with those annoying people who hang around outside the Metro station trying to sell you tours, and ask them what they’ve got. Some may have skip-the-lines tickets or tours that they can sell you to get you into the Colosseum. Be warned though, these tickets will usually come at a premium price point.
Beat The Crowds and Buy Colosseum Tickets Online Today
If you’re looking to buy Colosseum tickets, then getting them as far ahead of time as possible is the best tactic to guarantee you can get tickets for your preferred date and time.
Click below to buy your Colosseum tickets early, and avoid the whole song and dance of scrambling to buy tickets last minute.
And with options available for standard tickets, guided tours, or even tickets to experience the Colosseum underground, you’re sure to find the best way to experience the Colosseum for you.
Buying Colosseum Ticket FAQs
Can you buy Colosseum tickets on the day?
You can buy Colosseum tickets on the day by; however, it typically comes with a very long weight in line for the Colosseum ticket office, which will eat into your time on vacation. If you have to resort to trying to buy Colosseum tickets on the day, it is recommended that you arrive at the Colosseum ticket office as early as you can, to try and beat the queues.
How far in advance can I book Colosseum tickets?
It is only possible to buy Colosseum tickets a maximum of 30-days ahead of time, due to how the official Colosseum ticketing channel works. The best way to get tickets for the time and date that you want is to either be on the official website 30-days before you want to go, at midnight Rome time, to try to beat the rush for tickets. Alternatively, you can try your luck with a ticket reseller, who may have more tickets available due to different selling channels existing.
