Where did you have trouble finding the ticket booth?
The Roman Colosseum was a top priority while we were in Rome. It is one of the oldest ruins being built in 70AD, and it amazes us how much of it is still intact. Just thinking about how this place used to hold 50 to 80 thousand spectators, amazes us. That is about the capacity of an American football stadium.
The Colosseum is very crowded and has nearly 7 million visitors per year. We had a frustrating experience just trying to find the ticket booth. One line was for prepaid tickets and the other was for tours. There were no clear directions on where to buy our tickets. So we tried to purchase them online without success. The website was confusing, and the links didn’t work. We were also under pressure as they have limits on how many people can visit each day. As much as we try to get to places early, we were still later than we should have been.
We were there in somewhat of an off-season in November, so buying tickets the same day is possible. If you can figure out how to buy them online, we recommend doing that to save the hassle. The cheapest ticket is €16 ($17 USD) and also includes the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill, so be prepared to see a lot. After a lot of frustration and getting to a human to ask about it, we found the line for prepaid tickets was also for individuals who wanted to buy tickets. This map shows it clearly (LINK).
We waited in line for about an hour before we got our tickets and entered the Colosseum. There were many upgrade options and tours as well. Being on a strict budget, we stuck to the base ticket.
The worn down stairs in the Colosseum were incredible. Just thinking about how people were here nearly 2000 years ago is mind blowing.
The structure was much taller when it was built, but has eroded mostly from a couple of strong earthquakes. It had four centuries of active use and now only 2/3 of the structure remains. Much of it fell into neglect and became a source for building materials.
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