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This guide covers Colosseum night and evening tours – what’s actually available right now, what each option includes, and how to choose between them.
If you’ve arrived here hoping to book an official Colosseum underground night tour, I need to save you some time: as of June 2026, the official night tour programme – “Una Notte al Colosseo” – is listed as temporarily suspended on the Colosseum’s own ticketing site, with no announcement of when or whether it will return.
It ran successfully in 2024 and 2025 but did not reopen for the 2026 summer season. To see if that’s changed by the time you’re reading this, check at ticketing.colosseo.it.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have a brilliant evening or after-dark experience at the Colosseum. It means the options look different from what most posts on this topic are currently describing – and I’d rather tell you that upfront than waste your time.
I have taken the underground night tour, back when third-party operators still had access to run it.
That was a different setup from the official programme – it involved a TakeWalks guide for the walking section and an official Colosseum archaeologist for the underground itself.
My honest account of what that was like – including the parts other reviews don’t tend to mention – is in my Colosseum night tour review.
QUICK ANSWER: The official underground night tour is suspended in 2026. For an evening visit right now, the GetYourGuide evening tour is the best option – upper levels and optional arena floor, two hours, strong guides. For underground access specifically, the Viator small-group daytime tour caps at 10 people. For guide quality above everything else, go with Walks of Italy.
The Official Night Tour: Temporarily Suspended
The official Colosseum night tour – known in Italian as Una Notte al Colosseo – was, when running, the only way to access the hypogeum after dark.
Run directly by Parco Colosseo, it covered (covers?!) the underground passageways, the arena floor and the first tier over one hour, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 8pm to midnight. It cost €50 per person, maximum 25 people, with tickets released exactly seven days before each date.
As of June 2026, it’s listed as temporarily suspended, with no explanation given and no reopening date announced. It was expected to reopen around May 2026 as it had in previous years but didn’t. Whether it returns later in 2026 or in future seasons I can’t say – but I’ll flag here if it does.
If you want to know what the experience was like when it ran, my full review covers it in detail – including a frank assessment of guide quality that I think is genuinely useful for anyone considering it if it comes back.
Check for updates: ticketing.colosseo.it
What’s Actually Available Right Now
Colosseum Evening Guided Tour – GetYourGuide
This is the best third-party evening option currently available – and it’s worth being upfront about what it is and what it isn’t.
This is an evening tour covering the upper levels of the Colosseum (tiers 3 to 5) with an optional arena floor upgrade. It does not include the underground hypogeum and it does not offer exclusive, after-hours access.
What it does offer is the Colosseum as daylight fades, significantly fewer crowds than the midday visit, and genuinely strong guide reviews – named guides appearing repeatedly in recent feedback, which is always the signal I look for when assessing whether a tour operation is well-run.
Two hours, starting at Trajan’s Column with a scenic walk past the Roman Forum before entering the Colosseum. Group size options of 10, 15 or 25 – book the 10-person option if it’s available on your date, it makes a real difference. From around €67.
I’d recommend this for anyone who wants an atmospheric evening at the Colosseum with the confidence of a well-run guided experience, and for whom the underground specifically isn’t the priority.
| Duration | 2 hours |
| Group size | 10, 15 or 25 – choose at booking |
| Includes | Colosseum upper levels, optional arena floor upgrade, Roman Forum walk, audio headsets, English-speaking guide |
| Starts | Trajan’s Column, Via dei Fori Imperiali |
| Price from | €67 |
Colosseum Underground Small-Group Daytime Tour – Viator
If the underground is your specific priority and the official night tour isn’t running, this is the daytime option I’d point you to. Maximum 10 people – one of the smallest group caps you’ll find for a Colosseum underground tour on any platform – combined with the Roman Forum.
It’s a daytime visit so you won’t have the after-dark atmosphere, but the intimacy of 10 people makes a real difference to the experience in the hypogeum.
| Group size | Maximum 10 |
| Includes | Colosseum underground, Roman Forum |
| Format | Daytime, small group |
Walks of Italy Daytime Colosseum Tours
If guide quality is your priority above everything else – the difference between someone who brings ancient Rome to life and someone who recites facts at the wall – then Walks of Italy are where I’d send you without hesitation.
I’ve taken many tours with them across Rome and beyond, and when they have a tour covering what I want to see, they’re always my first choice.
Their guides are career specialists: expert historians, archaeologists and art historians who are chosen as much for how they communicate as for what they know.
Three options depending on what you’re after:
Premium Colosseum Guided Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill
The right starting point for most first-time Colosseum visitors. Three hours, maximum 16 people, covering the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with an expert historian.
Over 8,000 reviews – one of the most trusted independently-guided Colosseum tours currently available.
Best for: anyone visiting the Colosseum for the first time who wants the full picture – monument, Forum and Palatine Hill – with a guide they can actually learn from.
Colosseum Arena Floor Tour: Special Access via the Gladiator’s Gate
Enter through the original Gladiator’s Gate – the entrance used by combatants before they faced the arena – for special-access arena floor access, then the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with an expert historian.
The area stays closed to other visitors while you’re there. Three hours, maximum 16 people.
Best for: those for whom standing on the arena floor itself is the specific experience they’re after, approached the way gladiators actually did.
Colosseum with VIP Caesar’s Palace & Roman Forum Super Sites
For those returning to Rome who’ve done the standard Colosseum visit and want to go somewhere most visitors never reach, or who are particularly interested in Ancient Rome.
Three and a half hours, afternoon departure, maximum 16. Opens restricted Super Sites – Caesar’s Palace, private palaces and frescoed villas that are entirely off-limits to general visitors. The tour I’d choose myself if I was going back to the Colosseum (for a fourth time!).
Best for: repeat visitors and serious Ancient Rome enthusiasts who want a genuinely different experience beyond the standard visit.
How to Choose
The underground after dark is the specific experience you want: The official night tour is suspended in 2026. Check ticketing.colosseo.it – if it returns, book exactly seven days before your chosen date at the time of the tour slot you want. Read my full review for what to expect when it’s running.
You want an evening atmosphere with a reliable guide: The GetYourGuide evening tour. Upper levels and arena floor, two hours, named guides with consistently strong reviews. Not underground, but a genuinely good evening experience and the most straightforward booking right now.
The underground is the priority in 2026: The Viator small-group daytime tour, maximum 10 people.
Guide quality matters above everything else: Walks of Italy, daytime. The Premium tour or Gladiator’s Gate depending on your preference; the Caesar’s Palace Super Sites tour if you’ve been before and want something genuinely different.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Colosseum night tour still running?
Not as of June 2026. The official underground night tour “Una Notte al Colosseo” is listed as temporarily suspended on the Colosseum’s ticketing site, with no reason given and no return date announced. It ran every Tuesday and Thursday evening in 2024 and 2025 but did not reopen for the 2026 season. Check ticketing.colosseo.it for any updates.
Can you visit the Colosseum in the evening at all?
Yes. The GetYourGuide evening tour above runs in the evening as daylight fades, covering the upper levels and optional arena floor over two hours. It doesn’t include the underground but it’s a genuinely atmospheric visit with strong guide reviews.
What did the official Colosseum night tour include when it was running?
One hour, €50, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 8pm, maximum 25 people. Covered the underground hypogeum, the arena floor and the first tier. Tickets dropped exactly seven days before each date at the time of the tour slot – so the 8:30pm slot on a Tuesday released at 8:30am the Tuesday before. They sold out fast, often within minutes. Your ticket also included access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill for the day before, day of, and day after the visit.
Does the Colosseum light up at night?
Yes – the exterior is illuminated after dark and the approach along Via dei Fori Imperiali is one of the more dramatic arrivals in Rome. The evening GYG tour takes advantage of this as part of the experience.
Is a Colosseum night tour worth it?
When it was running, yes – with caveats about guide quality that I cover in detail in my full review. The hypogeum in near-silence with almost no one else there is genuinely extraordinary. Whether the programme returns and in what form remains to be seen.
Planning Your Rome Colosseum Visit
For the full account of what the Colosseum night tour was actually like – the underground, the silence, the honest guide quality assessment – read my Colosseum night tour review.
For the full range of daytime Colosseum tour options, my best Colosseum tours guide covers everything available across formats and price points. And if you’re building this into a Rome trip, my 4-day Rome itinerary covers Day 3 in full.
You’ll find all my Rome travel guides via my Rome planning hub. For Italy more broadly, head to my Italy planning page.
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