Official first

Official ticket site: ticketing.colosseo.it

On sale
30 days before the visit, with a compulsory time slot for the Colosseum.
Price
€18 for Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine. €2 for EU citizens aged 18 to 24. Full Experience (arena, underground or attic) €24.
Named ticket
Yes. Keep an ID document visible at the entrances. One name change, by the 7th day before, in set cases only.
Timed entry
One Colosseum entry at the booked time, 75 minutes inside on the standard ticket.
Free entry
First Sunday of the month, 25 April, 2 June, 4 November. Under 18s free but must book.

Start with the official ticket office

The Colosseum sits on Italy's list, and the Parco archeologico del Colosseo sells its tickets at ticketing.colosseo.it, the address its own site names as the official online booking. Every ticket carries a time slot for the Colosseum and the holder's name.

This is a planning guide, not a report of a recent visit. A note on sources: the prices and the name rule were checked on the official ticket shop on 25 October 2026. colosseo.it itself would not load for us that day, so the sales window, free days and opening hours come from its official pages as published in late September 2026. Check them against the live site before you buy.

Why it sells out

Sales open 30 days before the date of the visit, and you have to reserve a time slot for the Colosseum when you buy. The standard ticket gives you 75 minutes inside, so the park can only fit so many people into each day. The levels people most want to see are scarcer still: the underground, the attic and the arena floor are sold as Full Experience tickets (€24 each on the official shop) with an admission quota, and those must always be booked online.

Official options first

  1. Watch the 30-day line. If your date is more than 30 days away, note the day it opens and book then. The standard ticket, Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine at €18, covers the first and second levels of the Colosseum plus the Forum and the Palatine within 24 hours of your Colosseum slot.
  2. Try the official ticket office. The park's own FAQ confirms you can buy at the ticket office, but nothing guarantees what is left on the day.
  3. Ask about guided tours through the park. The same FAQ says guided tours can be booked online or directly inside the Colosseum.
  4. Use a free day if your dates fit. Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month and on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November. Free Sunday tickets cannot be booked: they are handed out in order of arrival at the ticket offices in Piazza del Colosseo, near the Temple of Venus and Rome, and in Largo della Salara Vecchia. Expect a queue, in must30's view.
  5. Book children too. Under-18s go free, but the park says they still have to book their entrance online.

Tours and resold tickets with entry included

When the official slots are gone, look at tours that include entry, which is what platforms such as GetYourGuide sell. Expect to pay more than the €18 ticket. The name rule follows the ticket wherever you buy it: tickets are issued in the holder's name, and for visits from 9 May 2026 the name can be changed only once, by midnight on the seventh day before the visit, and only for an obvious typing error, a wrong ticket type in the same purchase, or a serious documented reason. A seller has to book in your name, early enough to get it right.

If you book through these links, must30 earns a commission at no extra cost to you.

Colosseum tours with entry includedGuided visits from tour operators, often with the Roman Forum and Palatine. The ticket must be in your name.
See it on GetYourGuide
Guided Colosseum tour with the arena floor and the ForumEntry to the arena floor, the Forum and the Palatine with a guide; tickets carry each visitor's name, so give it exactly as on ID.
Check dates and prices
Colosseum underground toursThe underground is sold with an admission quota. Check tours here when the official slots are gone.
See it on GetYourGuide
Colosseum arena floor tickets and toursEntry that includes the arena floor, sold by operators. Read which levels the listing covers.
See it on GetYourGuide

Timing that helps

From 25 October 2026 to 28 February 2027 the last admission is at 15:30 and the park closes at 16:30. The Colosseum opens at 8:30. It is closed on 25 December 2026 and 1 January 2027. The park asks visitors to reach the Colosseum entrance 15 minutes before their booked time.

If only the Colosseum is sold out, the Forum Pass covers the Roman Forum, the Imperial Fora and the Palatine without it, which keeps the rest of the day intact.

What not to do

  • Do not use a ticket in someone else's name. The park asks for an ID document at the entrances, kept visible with the ticket.
  • Do not count on fixing a name later. The one change allowed closes seven days before the visit and covers only the cases listed above.
  • Do not buy from people selling tickets around the monument or from sites made to look like the park. The official booking address is ticketing.colosseo.it.
  • Do not arrive late for your slot. The Colosseum entry is tied to the time you booked.

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