Jul 193 min read

Visiting the Colosseum and Palatine Hill

The best ways to explore these pillars of Ancient Rome.

Rome is fascinatingly, bone-achingly ancient. It’s an experience unlike anything else to be so fully immersed in something that’s thousands of years old.

Nowhere is this more true than in the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. These icons of ancient Rome are some of the most-visited attractions in the city, and for good reason! They were, hands down, my favorite of the typical Rome attractions. Here’s what I learned on my visit to help you make yours a success!

Pre-Purchase your Ticket

You must - and I mean absolutely must - purchase your ticket to these sites in advance. If you don’t, the line to purchase tickets and enter will be impossibly, interminably long. Book in advance!

Most tickets you’ll find online will offer admission to both the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. You’ll see loads of options, some self-guided, and some with guided tours. Which version you choose for your trip is entirely up to you.

Personally, I went with a self-guided, skip-the-line ticket with an online audio guide from GetYourGuide. It worked perfectly for me! I was able to meet the company representative near the Colosseum, and he gave me my printed ticket, a QR code for the audio guide, some helpful tips for my visit, and directions to the line I needed to join for my Colosseum entry. It was everything I needed, and gave me the freedom to explore at my own pace and on my own time.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum is the superstar of this lineup. There’s something innately magical about this place. It’s steeped in history and just mind-bendingly old.

It’s also pretty huge! I’d plan at least an hour to walk through this amazing place. You’re going to want to stop and take more pictures every time the angle changes. And yes, like most tourist sites in Rome, it’ll be pretty crowded, so be prepared to wait your turn to snap that photo in front of the best viewpoints.

But take your time, soak it in, take way too many pictures, all that stuff. You’re standing in the middle of ancient Roman history. You’re surrounded by something that -if you’re from the States- is older than most of the “historic” places you’re used to by several orders of magnitude. It’s a BONKERS experience and one that I cant quite verbalize appropriately. You need to experience it for yourself. Have fun babe!

Palatine Hill

After your trip through the Colosseum, you’ll hop right over to Palatine Hill. This area is half historic area, half park, and all awesome. There are ruins and gardens, and some amazingly intact structures, and some absolutely stunning vistas over Ancient Rome.

There are several entrances to Palatine Hill, and most tourists make a beeline for the one right across from the Colosseum. Instead of joining that long line, take a left along the wall and keep walking until you reach another entrance! There’ll likely still be a line, but it’ll almost certainly be shorter than the first one!

When you enter through that gate, I recommend following one of the paths that track to the right. They all end up in the same place eventually, but going to the right first will take you into the thick of the ruins the quickest!

This is the kind of place where you just have to wander for a while. Every structure is unique and has a one-of-a-kind history, so admire everything, read all the informational signs, and make sure you climb the hill to get these top notch views of the colosseum in all its glory!

Palatine Hill covers a lot of space, so come prepared to get your steps in for the day. And you should plan a minimum of another hour to properly explore the place. You could probably spend all day here if you wanted!

The Orange Grove

If you’re done at Palatine Hill and still have the stamina, you should absolutely keep tracking southward and go visit the ancient orange garden on top of the neighboring hill. This beautiful walled garden houses, you guessed it, beautiful groves of orange trees. But the true star of this place is the views out over Rome from its gorgeous overlooks.

It’s the perfect place to get panoramic views of this truly ancient city. It’s the vista that proves that Rome doesn’t even have a shiny modern metal area! Standing on this overlook feels like falling back in time. It’s a must-have experience in Rome.