Colosseum and Roman Forum Self-Guided Audio Walk: Arch of Constantine and Capitoline
1 hour and 15 minutes
About this experience
Rome has always built itself out of itself, and this walk shows you how. Constantine's arch is made partly of older monuments, the Colosseum became a quarry, and in the early 1930s a hill and a whole neighborhood were cleared for a parade avenue. Start at the Arch of Constantine and circle the Colosseum on free ground, past the side where an earthquake brought arches down. Follow the Avenue of the Imperial Forums past the vaults of the Basilica of Maxentius, the Forum's edge and the Forum of Caesar to Trajan's Column. Climb to Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio, then look down over the Roman Forum to the Palatine Hill, and finish below the Tarpeian Rock. Twelve stops, about 1.9 km and 75 minutes, at your own pace, in English, entirely on free public ground. Tickets for the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine and for the Capitoline Museums are not included; one climb of about 20 m, with a step-free option.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Guide
- English
- Audio guide
- English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English: 12 stops, 1.9 km, 75 minutes Stops at Colosseum from three sides, Basilica of Maxentius, Trajan's Column and Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it
What's not included
A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: A weekday morning, starting by about 9am, or the late afternoon. The avenue between the Colosseum and Trajan's Column has almost no shade, so avoid the middle of a summer day. The Colosseum piazza is at its most crowded late morning and on the park's free first Sundays (1 November and 6 December 2026). Finish the Capitoline lanes in daylight. Getting to the start: take Metro line B to Colosseo; the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum are in front of you as you come out. Metro line C's Colosseo-Fori Imperiali station, opened 16 December 2025, is on the avenue at the Colosseum and connects underground with line B; line A does not reach the Colosseum. Several city buses stop at the Colosseum. Tram 3 has been replaced by buses on part of its route in autumn 2026, so check ATAC before relying on it. Checked 8 October 2026. Colosseum, Forum and Palatine tickets: buy only on the official site, ticketing.colosseo.it, up to 30 days ahead, with a time slot for the Colosseum. Tickets carry your name and you must show an identity document. The park's free app, MyColosseum, has audio guides in Italian and English. Checked 8 October 2026. Colle Oppio (from stop 3): the park on the hill above the Colosseum's east end has the classic view down on the Colosseum. Turismo Roma gives its hours as 7am to sunset; city ordinances sometimes close the parks in bad weather. Checked 8 October 2026. San Clemente, the subject of our former underground walk, is a basilica about 400 metres east of the Colosseum: from stop 3 walk east along Via Labicana. Below the present church you can go down through older levels, a fourth-century church and first-century buildings, by online booking only (basilicasanclemente.com): Monday to Saturday 9am to 12.30pm and 2pm to 6pm, Sundays and holidays noon to 6pm; adults 10 EUR, students under 26 5 EUR. Checked 8 October 2026. Domus Aurea, Nero's Golden House under the Colle Oppio: visits on Friday, Saturday and Sunday entries every 15 minutes from 9am, last admission 3.30pm, entrance from Via della Domus Aurea, closed on the first Sunday of the month; tickets from the Colosseum park. Checked 8 October 2026. Step-free: stops 1 to 9 can be reached without steps (the short flight on the lane before stop 9 has a ramp beside it). From stop 9, instead of the long flight of steps, go back down the cobbled lane, Via di San Pietro in Carcere, and follow it round and up into Piazza del Campidoglio: about 250 metres, steep, on cobbles and shared with the odd permitted car. The Capitoline lanes and square are cobbled throughout, and the last leg, from stop 11 to stop 12, ends down a few steps. Water: Rome's public drinking fountains, the nasoni, are mapped near stops 1, 2, 9 and 11, but there is none along the avenue between stops 5 and 8. Fill a bottle at the start. Shade at the top: the iron-arched wisteria pergola beside the Cordonata, below Piazza del Campidoglio, reopened in April 2026 after about fifteen years. The Mamertine prison (under a church on the Forum side of the Capitoline, below stop 9; it is not visible from the walk) is visited with a ticket; reported hours and prices vary, so check before you go. Checked 8 October 2026. Monte Caprino gardens: Turismo Roma's undated notice says they have been closed for safety since March 2018, and only the small Giardini Sisto IV beside Piazza del Campidoglio are open. Checked 8 October 2026. The Colosseum piazza, the Arch of Constantine and the Metro exits (stops 1 to 4) are the walk's pickpocket and tout zone: keep bags closed and in front of you, and buy tickets only from the official site, never from people in the street. Via dei Fori Imperiali (stops 4 to 8) is a worksite: the city announced in October 2026 that its sidewalks would be removed from November 2026 to March 2027 and the avenue turned into a shared surface with two bus and taxi lanes. Follow the barriers and diversions, and keep out of the marked bus lanes. Crossings without lights: one bus lane between stops 3 and 4; two zebra crossings with a central island at the Colosseum end of the avenue between stops 4 and 5 (a signal crossing is by the Metro stairs); two side-street mouths between stops 5 and 6, the second the Forum's coach and taxi entrance; and a zebra at the foot of the lane after stop 8, followed by a short stretch on a lane used by permitted cars (lights a short way along the avenue). Between stops 8 and 10 the walk climbs about 20 metres: a steep cobbled lane, then a long flight of steps with a handrail. The step-free way round is in the tips. Between stops 10 and 12 the lanes are cobbled, with no separate pavement, and pass through a short covered passage and a short tunnel where GPS may jump. Permitted cars use them; walk in single file. The walk ends down a few steps into Piazza della Consolazione, which is mapped as a pay car park, so watch for cars. We could not confirm the lighting: finish this part in daylight. Stops 2 to 7 have little shade. In summer carry water and a hat. The railing viewpoint at stop 11 is on a public lane, but we could not confirm it is open at all hours; if the lane is closed, the Forum can be seen from the edge of Piazza del Campidoglio's lanes on the Forum side. At stop 8 the Metro C works at Piazza Venezia may fence or divert the crossing at the foot of the lane; follow the diversion signs. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Arch of Constantine and Via Sacra: Built From Older Monuments
Piazza del Colosseo, by the Arch of Constantine, 00184 Rome, Rome
A triumphal arch built from older monuments, at the foot of the Via Sacra that climbs to the Arch of Titus.
- 2Day 0
Colosseum South Side: Where the Arches Fell
Piazza del Colosseo, south side of the Colosseum by Via Celio Vibenna, 00184 Rome, Rome
The south side lost arches in 1703, and its stone to centuries of builders.
- 3Day 0
Colosseum East End: The Gladiators' Corner
Piazza del Colosseo, east end of the Colosseum, 00184 Rome, Rome
The east end over the gladiators' training ground, below the park on the hill of Nero's Golden House.
- 4Day 0
Colosseum North Face: The End of the Road
Via Nicola Salvi, at the head of Via del Colosseo, facing the Colosseum's north face, 00184 Rome, Rome
The north face ends the 1932 avenue, cut through a hill so that it would end here.
- 5Day 0
Basilica of Maxentius: Three Vaults on a Lost Hill
Via dei Fori Imperiali, opposite the Basilica of Maxentius, 00186 Rome, Rome
Three giant vaults from an emperors' hall, on what is left of a hill cut away in 1932.
- 6Day 0
Roman Forum Edge: The Senate's Hall Below
Via dei Fori Imperiali, above the Roman Forum entrance, 00186 Rome, Rome
The Forum opens below the street, around the Senate house, which spent thirteen centuries as a church.
- 7Day 0
Forum of Caesar: A Parade Road Over the Fora
Via dei Fori Imperiali, at the walkway down to the Forum of Caesar, 00186 Rome, Rome
A 1932 parade avenue over the fora, and the city is now remaking it.
- 8Day 0
Trajan's Column: A Carved Ribbon
Via dei Fori Imperiali, at the foot of Via di San Pietro in Carcere, near Trajan's Column, 00186 Rome, Rome
A carved ribbon of Trajan's wars, and the forum the Dacians on the arch came from.
- 9Day 0
Capitoline Back Stair: Up From the Forum
Scala dell'Arce Capitolina, landing below Santa Maria in Aracoeli, 00186 Rome, Rome
A back stair up the Capitoline, toward the city's government on the hilltop.
- 10Day 0
Piazza del Campidoglio: A Square Turned Around
Piazza del Campidoglio, east side of the oval facing the Senators' Palace, 00186 Rome, Rome
Michelangelo's square turned away from the Forum, toward the modern city, around an ancient bronze horseman.
- 11Day 0
Forum Overlook: The Palatine Beyond
Via del Campidoglio, at the Forum Romanum viewpoint behind the Senators' Palace, 00186 Rome, Rome
A railing over the Roman Forum, to the Palatine Hill beyond.
- 12Day 0
Tarpeian Rock: The Cliff and the Church
Piazza della Consolazione, facing Santa Maria della Consolazione, 00186 Rome, Rome
Where tradition says traitors fell, a church named for consoling the condemned.
Meeting point
Arch of Constantine and Via Sacra, Rome Piazza del Colosseo, by the Arch of Constantine, 00184 Rome, Rome, Lazio, IT
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Colosseum and Roman Forum Self-Guided Audio Walk: Arch of Constantine and Capitoline
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.