How to plan a visit to the Colosseum without a tour: how to get tickets, how to skip the line, where to find free and budget friendly resources to learn about what you are seeing without a live guide.
The Colosseum receives million of visitors each year (12 Millions last year!); so, as you can imagine, tour operators offering tours of the Colosseum abound, to such an extent that you may think it is not possible to visit or enjoy the Colosseum without a guide.
However, this is not the case!
You do not need to book a tour of the Colosseum to gain entry. You also do not need a tour of the Colosseum to skip the line and you do not even need a tour to learn about it!
If tours are not your thing, you can have a fabulous time at the Colosseum going fully self guided.
In this post, I explain exactly how to go about it and share useful resource to help you get background information about it and make your visit as informative as possible.
While no written or audio guide can give quite as much as a good quality live guide, simple entrance tickets and free resources are perfect for all visitors who are on a budget or are interested in experiences the visual impact of the (stunning) Colosseum more than getting into the ins and outs of its history.
I hope you find this useful!
Please note: this post contains affiliate links. Should you make a purchase, we might make a small commission.
How to get Colosseum Skip the Line Tickets without a tour
You can buy Colosseum entry ticket from 30 days ahead of your desired date and the cheapest way to get entrance only tickets is by buying direct from the Colosseum website.
Good to know: all tickets are timed and therefore ‘skip the line’. Skip the line only means you buy tickets ahead and therefore do not need to line up for the ticket office. You don’t need a tour for this! With online, timed tickets, the concept of ‘skip the line’ has become a thing of the past. If you buy tickets online, you go direct to the ticket holders’ gate and go straight in: the only line is security and this cannot be skipped.
The Colosseum website is https://ticketing.colosseo.it This is the cheapest of all options, it is excellent as you buy direct from the source but comes with one disadvantage: having to learn how to use the website, which is not always the most straightforward thing, as they offer a variety of ticket options.
If you want standard entry tickets only, you can simply go to https://ticketing.colosseo.it and pick ‘individual tickets’. This is a great option for all visitors.
Other tickets include:
Full experience general entry + arena: this is a standard entry ticket with the added bonus of allowing you onto the arena floor, which is where the gladiators’ fought. A great ticket to have, slightly more tricky to secure as demand is high
Full experience with underground access: this is a ticket that allows access to the underfund area of the Colosseum, what used to be its backstage. This is an excellent ticket IF you can get it but availability is so limited, it is exceptionally hard to secure
Full experience with attico access: a standard entry ticket with also access to the top tier of the Colosseum, by panoramic elevator. An excellent choice provided you are not afraid of heights!
If you want to understand what each ticket includes, time of release etc, I recommend you read here >> how to get tickets for the Colosseum official site.
Good to know! There is no ‘best time’ to visit the Colosseum as such. All times have merit and they all receive the same number of visitors so don’t stress if you read somewhere that some slots are better than others, they are genuinely all good!
The second cheapest option is to buy via a third party such as Tiqets. They don’t always offer ticket only but they do have self guided options such as ticket + audioguide that can be a great alternative to a tour. Good to know! By booking via the Tiqets calendar below, you can get a 5% discount: use the code MAMALOVESITALY5 to get it!
A good alternative is also GetYourGuide
How to learn about the Colosseum without a tour: My Colosseum App – free
If you don’t want a tour but want to know what it is that you are looking at while in the Colosseum and get some info about what it is and how it works, you can easily do so with the many free and cheap info and resources available.
The closest thing to a guide you can get for free is the app My Colosseum, which is by the Parco Colosseo itself.
The app works as a sort of essential guide: you want to to downloads it on your phone before you get to the colosseum and then you can use it to read about each of the ‘viewpoints’ it covers or use it as a sort of audioguide, clicking on ‘play for a readout of the information. You can also get the info by pointing your phone to the viewpoint as instructed by the app.
Good to know: the Colosseum also has an app called Y&Co which some information materials. there is very little on it about the Colosseum, only an introduction really, but since it also has a kids’ itinerary for the Roman Forum and is free, it can be worth downloading.
Colosseum Printables for kids
If you are visiting the Colosseum with kids (in this case, I recommend you also read our guide: tips for visiting the Colosseum with children) you can get them to leant about the Colosseum with free and cheap online resources such as the ones I have made for may kids and have now made available on this website and on Etsy.
They include:
A Colosseum booklet with scavenger hunt and fa cards and, that can help children identify items in the Colosseum that give info about the structure and its history. You can get it here >>> Printable Colosseum Scavenger Hunt on Etsy
I am a Roman history graduate so I have used my background to create these materials so that they are fun but also historically accurare.
A free page on this very website with fun facts about the Colosseum for kids
if you have a tiny child who wants a scavenger hunt but is not yet ready to learn facts, I have a small Colosseum scavenger hunt for toddlers here
On the day of your visit: need to know
now that you have secured tickets and basic information about the Colosseum, all it takes is to make sure you are ready for the day.
Make sure you have ID on you as they will check that the name on it matched the one on the ticket: passport is the only valid form of ID (all others may have you incur into problems at the door)
Have your tickets ready either on your phone or printed out
Only carry small bags, not bigger that a day backpack. There is no wardrobe/ cloakroom and large luggage is not allowed in
Arrive 15 minutes early and go straight to the entrance gate. People tend to arrive too early and hand out in this area until their turn: make sure you don’t accidentally stay behind someone who is not actually in the queue yet, go straight to the top and see where the line actually start. This is just the bottleneck for ticket checks and it moves fast.
If you have kids and need to collect their tickets on the day, go about 20 minutes early and make yourself known to the staff at the gate so they can direct you at best.
I hope you found this quick guide to visiting the Colosseum without a tour handy. Safe travels!
How to visit the Colosseum without a tour: pin this!
