Rick Steves - Rick Steves Tour: Roman Colosseum

Rick Steves Walks and Tours eBooks are straightforward, self-guided walking tours throughsome of Europes most popular destinations, designed for easy reference on your mobile deviceor eReader. Tours and Walks are available for must-see locations throughout London, Paris,Rome, Florence, Venice, Amsterdam, Budapest, Vienna, Athens, and Istanbul.

Rick Steves Tour: British Library, London

Rick Steves Tour: British Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Portrait Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: St. Pauls Cathedral, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Britain, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Modern, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tower of London

Rick Steves Tour: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: Westminster Abbey, London

Rick Steves Walk: Bankside, London

Rick Steves Walk: City of London

Rick Steves Walk: West End, London

Rick Steves Walk: Westminster & Whitehall, London

Rick Steves Tour: Carnavalet Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Eiffel Tower, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Louvre Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Orsay Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pompidou Center, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Versailles

Rick Steves Walk: Champs-Elyses, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Left Bank, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Marais District, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Montmartre, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Appian Way, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Borghese Gallery, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: National Museum of Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Palatine Hill, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pantheon, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pilgrims Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Colosseum

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Forum

Rick Steves Tour: St. Peters Basilica, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Vatican Museum, Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Heart of Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Trastavere, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Ca Rezzonico, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Correr Museum, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Doges Palace, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Frari Church, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Canal Cruise, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Basilica, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Square, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Venices Lagoon

Rick Steves Walk: Three Walks in Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Bargello Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Duomo Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Medici Chapels, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Museum of San Marco, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Pitti Palace, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Rick Steves Walk: Renaissance Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Amsterdam City Center

Rick Steves Walk: Jordaan District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Red Light District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Hofburg Imperial Apartments, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Ringstrasse Tram, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna

Rick Steves Walk: Vienna City Center

Rick Steves Tour: House of Terror, Budapest

Rick Steves Tour: Thermal Baths, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: Castle Hill, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: Leopold Town, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: The Castle Quarter, Prague

Rick Steves Tour: Athens Acropolis

Rick Steves Tour: Ancient Agora, Athens

Rick Steves Tour: Acropolis Museum & National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Rick Steves Walk: Athens City Center

Rick Steves Tour: Bosphorus Cruise, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Chora Church, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Rick Steves Tour: Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Core of Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul City Walls & Neighborhoods

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul New District

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul Old Town Backstreets

Colosseo

Rome has many layersmodern, Baroque, Renaissance, Christian. But lets face it: Rome is Caesars, gladiators, chariots, centurions, Et tu, Brute, trumpet fanfares, and thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Thats the Rome well look at. Our Caesar Shuffle begins with the downtown core of ancient Rome, the Colosseum. A logical next stop is the Roman Forum, just next door (and the next chapter).

(See map)

Cost: 12 combo-ticket (9 base price plus frequent, mandatory exhibition fees), also includes Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, valid two consecutive days, one entry per sight; also covered by the Roma Pass.

Hours: The Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill are all open daily 8:30 until one hour before sunset: April-Sept until 19:15, Oct until 18:30, Nov-mid-Feb until 16:30, mid-Feb-mid-March until 17:00, mid-March-late March until 17:30; last entry one hour before closing. Tel. 06-3996-7700, http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/en .

Avoiding Lines: You can save lots of time by buying your combo-ticket in advance, having the Roma Pass, or booking a guided tour. Here are some options:

1. Buy your combo-ticket (or Roma Pass) at the less-crowded Palatine Hill entrance, 150 yards away on Via di San Gregorio (facing the Forum, with Colosseum at your back, go left down the street). You can also buy a Roma Pass at the tobacco shop in the Colosseo Metro station. (Avoid buying your ticket or Roma Pass at the Forum, which also tends to have lines.)

2. Buy a combo-ticket online at www.ticketclic.it (1.50 booking fee, not changeable). Note that the free tickets youll see listed are valid only for EU citizens with ID.

3. Pay to join an official guided tour (5 plus Colosseum ticket). This lets you march right up to the Colosseums guided visits ( Visite Guidate) desk, thus bypassing the ticket lines. Alternatively, private walking-tour guides linger outside the Colosseum, offering tours that allow you to skip the line (22, includes admission, tours also cover Palatine Hill and Forum). Be aware that these private guides may mislead you into thinking the Colosseum lines are longer than they really areits hard for a novice to judge. For more on official or private guided tours, see Tours, later.