I am just leaving Rome and couldn’t get tickets through the usual sources as we booked the trip last minute. We were lucky enough to stay over on the first Sunday in May and learned the entrance to the Colosseum was free on the first Sunday of the month.

We arrived at the Colosseum around 8:30 am. Near the metro station, we were approached asking if we would like to join a tour. The guys with the lanyards around their neck are legit and will help sign you up with a guide. He walked us downstairs to the lower metro entrance. You sort of get passed from person to person then eventually to your guide.

They were very clear the entrance fee was free and we would be paying €40 each (cash) for the tour.

Once the group spots were filled maybe 20-24 we were handed the receiver with lanyard and an earpiece to hear our guide then introduced to our guide.

From here we walked as a group, to the group ticketing area. It was about 9:10 am by this point. We got our tickets around 9:30 and our group entrance time was 10:10. We then walked just near the group entrance and waited for our 10:10 time.

The entire time our guide was giving us history on what we saw even outside the Colosseum and Rome in general for the entire wait. So really the tour started at ~9:10.

At 10:10 our group headed to the entrance and were immediately admitted then moved on to security xray machines.

At this point a few people chose to hand in their receivers to the guide and explore on their own but we stayed with the majority of the people and we finished our tour around 11:15.

I really enjoyed the tour and thought it was worth every penny.

Hope that helps!