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Colosseum tickets sold out? What to do in 2026-27

Official Colosseum tickets in Rome are timed, carry your name and go on sale 30 days ahead. Here is how the official ticket site works, what the ticket offices and free Sundays offer, the 2026 prices and winter hours, and what tickets and tours from resellers cost.

By Nomad's Travel Guides. Published .

Researched from official and operator sources and fact-checked before publishing. Prices and rules change, so each one is dated where it appears.

This post contains affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

A visit to the Colosseum takes a ticket in your own name with a fixed entry time, and the same ticket covers the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Official tickets go on sale 30 days ahead and often run out on busy dates. This guide explains how the official ticket works, the official alternatives, and what to do when the calendar shows nothing left.

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The short answer

  1. Check the official ticket site first. The standard 24-hour Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine ticket costs EUR 18, and the park says you can buy online "exclusively" on ticketing.colosseo.it. Tickets with the arena, underground or attic cost EUR 24. Under-18s go free, and EU citizens aged 18 to 24 pay EUR 2.
  2. If your date is gone, check again closer to the day, then try the ticket offices. Most tickets go on sale 30 days ahead, and some Full Experience tickets only 7 days ahead. The park also sells tickets at its ticket offices on the day.
  3. If that fails, a reseller ticket or tour is the realistic way in. On 10 November 2026, Tiqets' Colosseum page (opens Tiqets in a new tab) listed options from USD 35.93, about EUR 32. Every option we read bundles the ticket with something extra, such as an audio guide, video, tour or another sight.

How official tickets work

The Parco archeologico del Colosseo runs the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine and Domus Aurea. Its ticket site says: "You may purchase your ticket to the Archaeological Area of the Colosseum online exclusively on this web page", and it has a form for reporting "the sale of tickets on unauthorized channels at increased prices" (official ticket site). If a search result shows Colosseum branding on another address, it is not the park.

Timed entry. Only the Colosseum is timed; you visit the Forum and Palatine before or after. Timing is strict (visitor regulations, updated 8 October 2026). With 24-hour and Full Experience Arena tickets, arrive from 15 minutes before your time and no later than 15 minutes after. Underground tickets need you there 30 minutes early, and Only Arena and Attic tickets 15 minutes early, with no allowance for lateness. Miss your slot and the ticket covers only the Forum and Palatine, with no refund. Inside, you get 75 minutes on the 24-hour ticket and 90 on Full Experience tickets.

Names and ID. Every ticket carries the visitor's name. The park's notice says "Tickets are issued in the holder's name" and that ID must be "kept visible" at the entrances (opening times and tickets). The regulations say staff check identity at the entrance and you must show an original ID. If the name on the ticket does not match the visitor, you are turned away with no refund. Enter each person's name exactly as on their passport or ID card.

Changing a name. For visits from 9 May 2026, a name can be changed once, until midnight seven days before the visit, and only for a typing error, a ticket type given to the wrong person in the same order, or serious documented reasons. Use the park's name change form.

No changes, no refunds. There is no refund or change of date or time, unless the site is forced to close. Lost tickets are not replaced.

Limits and resale. Online, you can buy at most 8 named tickets per order. Resale by anyone not authorised by the park is forbidden.

Help. Booking questions go to helpdesk@ticketcolosseo.com (replies within 48–72 hours); for same-day entry problems the park lists +39 06 21115843. Showing the ticket on your phone is fine.

Official prices and what the ticket covers

Prices as of 10 November 2026, from the park's ticket pages and the official ticket site:

TicketFullEU, age 18–24What the Colosseum part includesValid
24h Colosseum, Roman Forum, PalatineEUR 18EUR 21st and 2nd levels, no arena; 75 minutes24 hours
24h Only ArenaEUR 18EUR 2Arena floor only, 20 minutes24 hours
Full Experience ArenaEUR 24EUR 2Levels 1 and 2 plus the arena; 90 minutes2 days
Full Experience Underground and ArenaEUR 24EUR 2Underground and arena2 days
Full Experience AtticEUR 24EUR 2Upper levels and attic2 days
Forum Pass SUPEREUR 18EUR 2No Colosseum1 day, untimed

Booking fee. On 10 November the official site listed the 24-hour ticket at EUR 18, and none of the park's pages we read mention a booking fee. We did not go to checkout, so we cannot confirm that nothing is added at payment.

SUPER sites. Full Experience and Only Arena tickets also cover the "SUPER" sites, smaller areas with limited capacity such as the House of Augustus and Santa Maria Antiqua. 24-hour ticket holders can add them for EUR 4.

Official tours. The official site also sells educational tours that include entry: the Colosseum for EUR 26, and the underground and arena for EUR 32. Since 9 November 2026 the attic is visited in groups of up to 25 every 30 minutes, 08:30–14:30, and its lift is reserved for visitors with documented difficulty on stairs.

Reduced and free. Under-18s go free, as do disabled visitors and a companion, with proof. The EUR 2 rate is for EU citizens from 18 until their 25th birthday, with ID. The park's pages disagree on whether free tickets are booked online or collected at the ticket office; the regulations say online, so book children's free tickets in the same order as yours. Roma Pass holders pay EUR 11.50 and must still book a Colosseum time.

Winter opening hours. From 25 October 2026 to 28 February 2027, 08:30–16:30, last admission 15:30; the Forum and Palatine open at 09:00. Closed 25 December 2026 and 1 January 2027. The regulations give 08:30–17:30 from 1 March and 08:30–19:15 from 28 March 2027. Ticket offices close 75 minutes before the park.

Sold out: the options, in order

  1. Check again as your date approaches. The park says sales "open 30 days before the date of the visit". The Full Experience Arena ticket and the Passage of Commodus visit say online sales start only 7 days before, so a date that looks empty a month out may not stay empty. Neither page gives a release time, and we did not open the booking calendar.
  2. Try another ticket type. Each ticket has its own allocation. If the 24-hour ticket is gone, check Only Arena (also EUR 18) and the Full Experience tickets (EUR 24). Or try the official educational tour, which includes entry.
  3. The ticket offices on the day. The park's FAQ answers "Yes" to buying at the ticket office, and the Full Experience Arena page says it is "Purchasable at ticket offices on the day of the visit". When it introduced named tickets in 2023, the park doubled the share of tickets sold on site, until they run out; it does not publish current numbers. Offices are on Piazza del Colosseo near the Temple of Venus and Rome, at Largo della Salara Vecchia and at Foro Romano 1. Go early.
  4. The free first Sunday. Entry is free on the first Sunday of each month and on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November. On free Sundays, tickets are handed out in order of arrival at the Piazza del Colosseo ticket office, so expect a queue. The next first Sundays are 6 December 2026, then 3 January, 7 February and 7 March 2027. The park's free-Sunday page (from 2022, still linked from its ticket page) says the arena, underground, upper levels and SUPER sites are closed on those days, and the Forum Pass SUPER cannot be used.
  5. A reseller or tour. See below.

Tickets and tours from resellers: what they cost and include

The park runs an official scheme for tour operators. Its list of accredited operators for 2026 (September 2026) includes Tiqets International B.V., along with GetYourGuide, Headout and Musement. Accreditation does not make anyone an official ticket seller. Under the park's 2026 operator rules, accredited operators get a quota of tickets and may resell them only bundled with a service, such as a guide, audio guide or video, at the official face price plus that service. They may not sell the ticket on its own or advertise "skip the line" or "fast track" (operator rules 2026). Many Tiqets products are run by other companies, named on each page.

On 10 November 2026, Tiqets' Colosseum page (opens Tiqets in a new tab) listed 12 options from USD 35.93. It showed 1 option for that day and 9 to 11 a day from 14 to 18 November. Prices below are as shown that day in USD; your currency may differ.

Product (as named on Tiqets)FromColosseum areasExtraLength / groupCancellation
Colosseum, Roman Forum & Mamertine Prison + Audio GuideUSD 35.93Standard (levels 1–2)Mamertine Prison entry2 hNon-refundable
Colosseum & Roman Forum + Audio GuideUSD 39.30StandardAudio guide or 25-minute videoSelf-guidedNon-refundable
Colosseum & Roman Forum: Guided TourUSD 43.79StandardLive guide1–3 h, 10–24 peopleNon-refundable
Colosseum, Arena & Roman Forum + Audio GuideUSD 58.39Standard plus arena floorAudio guide or video3 hNon-refundable
Colosseum, Arena & Roman Forum: Guided TourUSD 108.69Standard plus arena floorLive guide1–3 h, 6–24 peopleNon-refundable

Things to know before you pay:

  • The standard ticket costs about twice the official price. USD 39.30 was about EUR 35 at the ECB rate on 10 November 2026 (EUR 1 = USD 1.1214), against EUR 18 official. The extra buys a date the official calendar may not have, plus an audio guide; the park's own MyColosseum app has free audio guides in Italian and English.
  • The arena ticket costs about 2.2 times official. USD 58.39 was about EUR 52, against EUR 24 for the official Full Experience Arena ticket.
  • A guided tour costs about 1.5 times the official one. USD 43.79 was about EUR 39, against EUR 26 for the park's own Colosseum educational tour, which includes entry. The arena guided tour, at about EUR 97, is four times the official arena ticket.
  • We saw no underground product among the 12 options. For the underground, watch the official EUR 24 and EUR 32 tickets.
  • Every option shown was non-refundable and could not be rescheduled.
  • Names and ID still apply. Give the seller each visitor's name exactly as on their ID, and bring that ID.

On the day

Security and bags. Expect a metal detector and scanner. Hand luggage may not exceed 30 x 40 x 15 cm, and there is no cloakroom, so leave large bags at your hotel. Glass bottles, trekking poles, selfie sticks and drones are banned, and there is nowhere to eat inside the Colosseum. Wear closed shoes: steps are steep and uneven. Under-12s must be with an adult.

Which entrance. The 24-hour ticket's Colosseum entrance is near the Arch of Constantine; Only Arena uses the Sperone Stern side. Check the park's news page before you go: on 30 and 31 October 2026 several gates and the three main ticket offices closed at short notice.

Getting there. Take metro line B to Colosseo or line C to Colosseo-Fori Imperiali, or tram 3 (how to get here). For mobile data on arrival, see the Rome section of our Italy eSIM guide. Seeing the Vatican too? See our Vatican Museums tickets guide. Heading north? See our Last Supper tickets guide and the Florence city guide.

Quick answers

Does the ticket include the Roman Forum and Palatine? Yes. Every Colosseum ticket includes one entry to the Forum and Palatine, within 24 hours of your Colosseum time, or across two days for Full Experience tickets.

Can someone else use my ticket? No. Tickets carry the visitor's name and are checked against ID. A name can be changed only once, up to seven days before, and only in limited cases.

Can I change the date? No. Official tickets cannot be changed or refunded unless the park closes the site.

Is the arena included? Not in the EUR 18 24-hour ticket. You need Only Arena (EUR 18, arena floor only) or a Full Experience ticket (EUR 24).

Sources

Checked on 10 November 2026.

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