Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
4.5
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The area
Neighbourhood: Piazza Venezia / Ancient City
If all roads lead to Rome, then they all end here. Piazza Venezia and the Ancient City are the very epicenter of the Eternal City. Within a 360-degree turn, Roman history unrolls in front of you, from its ancient beginnings to its 21st century transformations. Whether it’s those historical playgrounds known as the Roman and Imperial Forums, or the side-street shops, trattorie, and churches, this neighbourhood packs a cultural punch and then some. Screaming scooters, battling buses, crazy cars, and lots of foot traffic converge in the area all day long. By dusk, a different vibe emerges as the neighbourhood quiets down. Don't be surprised if you find yourself passing through the Piazza Venezia at least once a day, since it’s the most direct way to get from one side of town to another.
How to get there
  • Fori Imperiali-Colosseo • 6 min walk
  • Colosseo • 6 min walk
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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles812 reviews
Excellent
645
Very good
134
Average
22
Poor
4
Terrible
7

Coryy20
Port of Spain, Trinidad6,366 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Solo
History still standing strong and beautiful, this is how I view ancient Rome. The structures has stood the test of time. From the Colosseum, Palestine Hill the Roman Forum and other archaeological site. The remnants are still intact for the future generations to appreciate and enjoy. All structure are well lit up at nights, which add to the beauty of the remnants.
Written 13 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Wanderer16036773684
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2024 • Friends
I had an amazing time seeing the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill with Sonia Tavoletta. I wish I had known sooner and I would have booked her for every tour I went on! Not joking, the knowledge she has and her way of explaining the history is incredible. It felt like I was talking to a family member or someone I had known for years. I see so many awkward tour guides and I would feel trapped for three+ hours in one of those groups! Sonia is the absolute best and not to mention the incredible value you get for the price. Highlight of my trip for sure!!!
Written 3 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

backpacker31
Boynton Beach, FL5,880 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Solo
Ancient Rome makes Greece seem like a small village. I’ve been to Greece several times and the sights and history are amazing, but Rome is on a completely different (massive) scale. The sights of Ancient Rome are simply overwhelming and seemingly everywhere! Roman Forum, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus, Forum of Nerva... One cannot possibly digest all of the history and information here. Just take it in, see the sights, appreciate the history and wear comfortable walking shoes!
Written 29 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jasmine6910
Singapore2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2014 • Family
I just came back from a 14 days tour package to Europe for a family of 4 totaling 19 of us with CS Travel Pte Ltd. It was a total disappointment with many unhappy incidents during the trip especially with the tour leader, Linda Er (a freelance when I contacted her for planning our trip and now a staff with CS), who accompanied us for the whole trip. Although she is quite helpful in some ways but she is considered an inexperience tour leader to us.

Firstly, is the flight arrangement. Before deposit was paid, the itinerary stated that we will fly in to Rome. However, last minute we were told that instead of Rome , we will be flying into Milan which had wasted us an additional 4 hours travelling time from Milan to Rome and back to Rome before heading to Switzerland. Futhermore, throughout the bus ride for the 12 days on the road, there were no communication whereby we were only entertained by the 2 drama VCDs played by her. She even commented that she does not like taking Europe tour and prefer Asian tour as there will be a tour guide accompanied throughout which saved her from speaking. A tour guide who does not like to speak in public?? Is really an irony!

Places where there are local guides provided, we have no issue but only for those places where there isn’t any local guides, she will simply bring us to the place and leave us to find our own ways. When you asked her she will tell u “you never said you wanted to find this or that”. As a tour guide, isn’t it her duty to inform whatever information she has to all her customers? This only proven the limited knowledges she has with her. I still remember the lion Monument in Switzerland. Till now what does this sculpture in Lucerne, Switzerland symbolized I am still uncleared as only internet printout was passed to us for self-read instead of explaining the history to us. Unbelieveable!!

As for hotel, we have not much comment only for the hotel in Paris. Before we depart, we were told that the hotel we stayed will be at most 15 minutes away from the shopping area. In the end, it was an hour drive!! When asked, she brushed us off by saying she is not aware of this arrangement which was done by her company.

Last but not least, she even forgot to conduct head count before we headed for the airport from hotel, resulting in 2 of our tour mates still waiting patiently at the hotel lobby. This is the most basic duty of a tour leader which she can’t even execute. It is really unacceptable.

Lucky we still have our own fun loving group of friends travelling together whom sculpture in Lucerne, Switzerland always finding our own fun and enjoyment, otherwise my trip can say is a total disaster with such poor service tour leader.

There are many more less severe incidents during the trip which I will skip. But one thing I know is that this will be my 1st and last time engaging Linda and travelling with CS Travel Pte Ltd.
Written 13 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Eyal Asher
Hod Hasharon, Israel4,082 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
An amazing area that centers within it all that is left of ancient Rome.
Impressive and very exciting to walk in the area and imagine what was here in the years when the area was active.
The tour of the place is limited in time.
Recommend buying a ticket that includes the visit to the Colosseum.
Worth every euro.
Written 30 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

K4Y
Manchester, UK8 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
June 2013 • Family
It does what it says on the tin!!! Its a coach holiday so be prepared to be on a coach for most of the time but it is worth it. The coach is very comfy, drivers (Graham &Dennis) are great. Went to Florence, Rome & Pisa, if you want tours at each place you pay extra to the drivers or go it alone we did both. Hotels arent the best but you get what you pay for and you dont spend much time in them to worry. We had a great holiday we saw exactly what we wanted to see and would do it again. All ages on our trip from 5 years to 60 everyone got on with each other.
Written 9 June 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Matthew M
Manchester2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2012 • Family
WARNING**** WARNING****WARNING!!!!!
This holiday IS NOT suitable for children or old people. I repeat IS NOT suitable for children or old people. The first and last two, FULL DAYS, are spent on the coach. This is four days of a seven day holiday. Two of the days are 16+ hours the others are 14-15 hours. Be prepared to miss meals . The coach arrives too late to have an evening meal the first two days as well as the last two days and also on the day of the day trip to Rome.. The day trip to Rome involves nine hours travel time and you will spend only five hours in Rome.

WARNING!!!
You are very likely to get painful swollen ankles from this amount of coach travel. Even if you are fit and young. Many of the people that were on our coach missed day trips due to swollen ankles and other travel related illnesses. You must remember to move your feet and legs, to stretch your legs and to stand up whenever possible even when travelling on the coach. We should have researched this before we booked. Now you know.

WARNING***
There are additional charges for the tours/ day trips to Florence and Rome, (you are not told this until you are in Italy) WARNING!!! DO NOT eat at any restaurants suggested by the tour guides The PRICES ARE MUCH HIGHER than other places and the tour guides are on a commission. You will be told by an Italian tour guide to "Be English... Stay English...Be English" and you will then be marched to an over-priced cafe and offered a "free drink" (literally a sip of Cava) so that you are committed before you have seen the menu. Do not take ANY food or drinks without first asking the price. You might be shocked at the price of a salad in one of these places. Apparently “Be English” means “Be a mug …do what your told… and don’t complain”. Our fault though, we should have expected the tour guide to trick us and intentionally recommend a hugely overpriced place to eat for his own gain. You've been warned so don't make the same mistake.

We do not blame the tour company. We should have made ourselves aware of the huge amount of coach travel, the health risks of such travel, the additional cost and the risk of being conned. We did research the trip before booking and based on the distances we thought that the travel times would be shorter 8 -10 hour days. This is not the case. We did not think that we were risking our health so we did not research this. We didn't ask if there would be additional charges for the tours as the holiday is called" Taste of Rome" and not "Taste of Rome at a Price to be Named Later". We really should have fully expected to be treated that way by the tour guide "Same Old Ities..." as the saying goes.

Warning!!!
Finally; the hotels that you stay in will not be nice hotels. All things considered this is a minor point

The company is very helpful and the drivers are fantastic but we feel that it is fair and right to warn people about this holiday. We phoned the company before booking to specifically ask if the travel was suitable for children and we were told "many families book this holiday" on reflection, this was not the answer to our question. Our Mistake. Please don't make the same mistake there are plenty of great family holidays out there. This isn't one of them.

It is my sincere hope that the company" National Holidays" Will take this feed-back on-board and will have the desire to be completely honest, open and forthcoming with all of the details of the holidays that they offer including travel times; as this will improve business for them. I am sure that as a reputable company they will be grateful for any constructive feedback and view this post as an opportunity to improve a very good company.
Written 27 August 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

PhillDanze
Dunsborough, Australia393 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
There is a lot to see in and around the Colosseum area with most of it outside the Colosseum itself.

I recommend you buy a ticket that combines the ruins outside the Colosseum (i.e. the Forum and Palentine Hill area) and the Colosseum. Tour the Forum and Hill areas FIRST and then do the Colosseum. Your ticket will allow you to jump the queue to get inside the Colosseum (which ususally has a very long queue to get in and you may spend longer in queue than inside the Colosseum itself).

Allow yourself about 3 hours to visit the Forum and Palentine Hill. Take the guided audio tour as it helps to make sense of the ruins that remain; some might just be a pile of rubble and without the guide to explain what it once was, you won't appreciate what you are looking at (or casually ignoring as it looks like a pile of rubble).

The Colosseum does not take long to visit. Once inside and you wander around, you will be ready to leave in less than 1 hr (some people will be done in about 30 mins as some of my travelling companions were). I don't think a guided tour or audio tour of the Colossuem is necessary unless you are really into history; we all know what went on inside that stadium. What people may not know is what the Colosseum functioned as once the gladiator days ended...and for that, a quick google or wikipedia search will do.

The majority of Ancient Rome is outside in full sun, so take a water bottle (which can be refilled at several drinking water fountains found around the site), hat and sunscreen.
Written 14 September 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

AL-SKL
Singapore1 contribution
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2015 • Family
I just came back from a 8 days tour package to Harbin with Hong Thai Travel Pte Ltd. It was a total disappointment with some unhappy incidents with Hong Thai Travel.

Firstly, was the flight arrangement. Before deposit was paid, the itinerary stated that we will fly to Harbin via Shanghai (one stop}. However, last minute we were told that instead of one stop at Shanghai, we have to transfer at shanghai pudong airport and take a coach to Shanghai Hong Qiao Airport. We boarded a domestic flight from shanghai to Harbin with another stop-over at Tianjin. Our arrival at Harbin was supposed to be at 1155hrs instead we arrived at 1720hrs which had wasted us an additional 5 hours and 30min travelling time. After we met the tour guide at Harbin, we told that isnt any convenient store along the way to hotel for us to grab some food for dinner. As Harbin sunset at 4.30pm, practically there was no shop to buy snacks or food. All of us check-in hotel without dinner. As it was the first day, the tour group members were too shy to bring up the issue or made any request.

Secondly, a very absurd and ridiculous statement that I have ever heard from from a staff "Choon Mei" from Hong Thai. Prior to my departure, I called up Hong Thai to enquire about the flight details, when was informed there were 2-stop-over instead of one stop. The staff told me that due to weather at Harbin and it is during winter season, the plane has to make another stop at Tianjin as flying too long , the plane will be frozen. The excuse for the change of flight details were said by a reputable travel agency. Unbelieveable!!

An advice : before paying deposit ensure the travel agency confirm the flight details.
Written 17 January 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MaryJST
San Francisco, CA2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2011
Fantastico! If you are looking for a great tour guide for ancient Rome - Marta Marsili (martamarsili@hotmail.com) is it! My husband and I took our 15 year old son to Rome in late March, and knew we would be overwhelmed on our own. Like so many others, we checked out Rick Steves’ guide to Italy. We were disappointed when the first guide we contacted was unavailable, but asked for references and Marta’s name was at the top of the list. In retrospect, we can’t imagine anyone doing a better job than Marta. She not only knows about the history, architecture, culture and art of ancient Roman, but she knows how to convey the information in an interesting way. She also has a great sense of humor, which we all appreciated. Unlike so many others in her field, Marta takes the time to listen to what you have to say and doesn’t waste your time. She points out the small things that you might otherwise overlook, but does it so seamlessly that you don’t even realize how much information you are taking in until you reflect on it later.

Marta met us at the subway entrance across from the Colosseum, and impressed us right away by her punctuality and pleasant manner. We all liked her right away. As we walked over to the Colosseum, she explained some of the history leading up to its construction and pointed out architectural details. We had Roma Passes and, since we were with a licensed guide, were able to skip the lines and walked directly into the Colosseum. During our tour, Marta impressed us with the breadth of her knowledge and her ability to help us visualize what life was like in ancient Rome. She was also flexible enough to shift gears when she learned that we had already visited the Pantheon and wanted to spend more time a Palatine Hills, the Forum, and Capitol Hill Square. She was truly amazing!

While a local guide costs a little bit more than a group tour, it is well worth it. We have been on group tours before and, even small groups of ten people, we found it that a lot of time was wasted keeping the group moving and pausing at sites that only one or two of the group was really interested in. We had difficulty hearing the guide and found some of the other group members liked to hear themselves talk. In the end, we felt that we missed out. Not so with Marta! While we covered a lot of territory in four hours, we never felt either rushed or bored. She is charming, articulate, and extremely entertained. Not only did we see and learn a lot, we even went away with some great ideas for places to go on our own.

Marta is friendly, knowledgeable and attentive to her clients. We would highly recommend her, if you are looking for a great guide in Rome.
Written 6 June 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Ancient Rome - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2024)

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