The VIP Colosseum Underground & Ancient Rome Small Group Tour

The tour was great, although we paid for a small group tour and was put in a large group. The guy at the 3rd party tour counter (they’re like subcontractors) was very insensitive non compassionate about that fact, and when we mentioned we wanted the difference in price refunded, he immediately said we were cancelled and needed to return our placement stickers for the tour. That’s not at all what we asked for and we had to beg another lady in the office to let us stay. We had limited time and had booked this months ago. There were no other options for us. The tour was good, but the group was large, and there were very many other large groups around, so there wasn’t as much personal interaction that a smaller group would’ve had. The tour covered the most important features very nicely, and the guide, Carmelo, was good.

Our tour guide Lucia was terrific. An archeologist that works as a guide off season. Why I gave it a 4 out of 5? Small group tour was 25 persons. Not sure I would have chosen it for the price had I’d known. Nothing on the company’s site stated the number in the group. They also wanted us to show up a 1/2 hr early to just stand around and wait. Worth the extra bucks to visit the underground.

Fun, knowledgeable guide. Bring water, it was hot. In our experience, Viator does a great job with tours.

We enjoyed our underground tour immensely. Gigi was so informative. We felt privileged to have him as our guide. We were also lucky to have seen the senator’s meeting location. I would highly recommend this tour to others.

The underground of the colosseum was vert interesting. The views were spectacular. The timing of the tour was great for us

We arrived for our tour to be told that the tour time had been changed to 12 noon so we had to wait another two hours for the tour to start. The guy in the office was quite rude saying he had tried several time to ring to advise of the change but I had no missed calls. When we arrived at the office for 12 noon tour we were told to wait outside so we stood in the shade to wait for the guide and was told we had to move to the other side of the road in the full mid day sun to wait as the building was military and we could not wait outside the building . It was 34 degrees. We waited 15-20 minutes people kept moving into the shade but the guy in the office kept moving us into the sun. Whilst I appreciate there maybe restrictions around the building there should be a meeting point out of the sun. Upon speaking to other members of the tour they were all booked on the earlier tour and none of them had received a call. We spoke to another rep trying to sell tours he said that they always overbook tours and re arrange. Not a good practice when you book to avoid the midday sun! and have a timescale to keep! have given 3 stars for the guide Carmelo as he was very knowledgeable and he made it enjoyable.

Ver good tour. Guide was very knowledgeable. It even rained per of the time, but didn’t spoil the tour

Excellent tour with a very knowledgeable tour guide. Walked all over the Colloseum and then the Roman Forum. Great pictures and views. Interesting and detailed history. Be prepared to walk!

Having visited the Colosseum years ago, I found this tour offered a unique opportunity to see the underground area and learn more of the history. With the extensive knowledge of our guide, it did not disappoint. Along with the walk thru the ancient ruins, the day was definitely memorable.

We paid for the VIP Colosseum Underground & Ancient Rome Small Group Tour which should have included the Colosseum including underground and arena floor, Roman forum and palatine hill over three hours in a small group of 12. Our group size was 24 but this didn't bother me and my partner really. Our guide, Carmello was great, his English was very good considering it was his second language. At times our headsets were interfered with by other tours on the same channel so this was unpleasant on the ears at times and made periods of time difficult to hear our guide but that is technology for you, especially when there are so many active head sets around. I would say our tour lasted the time expected. Our tour started at the forum (we were expecting it to start at the Colosseum), we walked straight in to this part of the tour however only saw a small proportion of the forum and we did not go to the palatine hill at all. This would not have bothered BUT once we left that area we could not go back in so we were unable to see the palatine hill at all on our trip and only saw small amount of the forum which we were not too impressed with either. We then were taken into the Colosseum, we didn't have any long waits and started with the underground tour and arena floor, this was great however felt very rushed, not by our guide but the Colosseum staff, this was a shame as we would have liked a little more time in those sections, especially the arena floor and even more so as the Colosseum was not especially busy. Once those sections were done we were guided to the main Colosseum areas and left to spend as much time as we wanted as this is when the tour ended, this was a blessing as it gave us a chance to really soak in the Colosseum. In this respect it could have been nice to have finished in the forum to explore more there however we would then have likely not seen as much of the Colosseum so swings and roundabouts really. We did enjoy the tour and overall were happy with the experience, word of caution is just to manage your expectations as you may not get exactly what you think you are getting from the booking description.