Rome: Colosseum Underground & Arena Floor Tour, Small Group

4.88

(167 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I still remember the first thing I noticed — a faint, earthy chill coming up from below as we followed our guide, Marco, through a narrow stone corridor under the Colosseum. It smelled almost like wet clay mixed with something metallic. He paused to point out scratch marks on the wall, saying they might’ve been made by animals waiting their turn in the games. I tried to picture that: lions pacing in the dark, muffled roars echoing under thousands of stomping feet above. Honestly, it gave me goosebumps.

The underground part felt strangely intimate — just seven of us and Marco’s low voice bouncing off ancient bricks. At one point he handed me a tiny flashlight so I could peek into a side tunnel (I dropped it, of course). There was this old wooden lift mechanism he showed us; you could almost hear how it would’ve rattled when they hoisted up cages. Someone asked if gladiators got nervous down here. Marco just smiled and shrugged: “Probably more than we can imagine.”

When we climbed up to the arena floor itself — wow, it’s nothing like seeing it from above. The sun hit my face hard after all that darkness, and suddenly you’re standing right where those fights happened. People were quiet for a second. You get this weird mix of awe and discomfort thinking about what went on here. Kids in another group tried to reenact sword fights (badly), which made us laugh and kind of broke the tension.

The upper levels were less intense but honestly had some of my favorite views over Rome — roofs stretching out forever, bits of green poking through ruins. Our tour included access to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum too; we wandered around afterward until my legs started complaining. If you’re thinking about a Colosseum underground tour from Rome or want to walk that arena floor yourself, I’d say do it — just bring good shoes and maybe don’t drop anything important in those tunnels.