Hi guys, welcome to another episode of Ultimate Bucket List, and today we're
showing you around the Roman Colosseum. The Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill.
I'll be showing you how to get tickets, how to get there, what to see, what to do, where to get
some pizza, and how to have the most amazing time at one of the seven modern wonders of the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Roman Colosseum.
It's over 2,000 years old and in its heyday, held up to 85,000 spectators. Now we all know
the sort of events that used to go on here: gladiatorial fights, plays, and sending
humans to their deaths by making them fight animals, all as a form of grizzly entertainment.
It fell into a state of disrepair at the fall of the Roman Empire, when gladiatorial fights weren't
popular anymore, and because of various Popes plundering the stone to build their churches.
Nowadays, the Colosseum is a modern tourist attraction that you can pay to see, but as it’s
the most visited tourist attraction Rome, you’re going to need a ticket. I strongly urge you to
go to the website and book tickets in advance, because joining the queue for a walk-in ticket
is damn near impossible. Particularly in the summer months when Rome is incredibly busy. You
can take your chances at the ticket office if you want to but the success rate is incredibly low.
Once you leave the metro station it's literally right in front of you. It's incredibly easy to
find. Before you go in though, I recommend that you have a walk around the entire Colosseum.
Not just for some nice photos and videos, but to get an idea of the share scale of the place.
The best time to go is first thing in the morning because the queues are relatively short.
After a quick security check, you're let into the actual Colosseum itself.
Rather interestingly the Colosseum isn't this building's official name.
It's actually called the Flavian Amphitheatre and is known as the Colosseum because of a
former colossal statue of Emperor Nero that used to stand right here at the entrance.
When you go inside and as soon as you see the crucifix, AKA where people used to be executed,
you get your first glimpse at the actual Colosseum itself, and wow this place is mega!
I've seen photos and videos of this on the internet but nothing prepares you for the
sheer scale and size of this Colosseum. It gets a little crowded here so don't be too concerned
if you don't get the correct photos and videos here, there's plenty of other photo opportunities.
There's a bit of a section where you can learn all about the construction of the Colosseum itself,
but if you pay for an all-access ticket you'll actually go into the arena. Furthermore through
the gates of death. This is where people fighting for their lives and every dead human and animal
enters and leaves the Colosseum. And when you walk through onto the Arena floor AKA where
people used to figh,t it's pretty awe-inspiring not just at the height and the width of the
building but also the fact that this used to hold thousands of people baying for your death.
If you have the ticket that allows you access to the underground labyrinth it
definitely comes highly recommended. There is a maze of corridors, trap doors and rooms where
people and animals underneath the actual floor waiting to come up to the surface.
Spend some time whilst you're on the arena floor to sit down and just soak it all in. This place
is pretty amazing and you probably won't come across anything else like this in your life.
It's also one of the three best spots that you'll get photos and videos, so if you want that picture
perfect snap wait till the middle goes quiet and you've got the perfect spot right here.
Round and round and round we go. Once you're done with the arena floor, climb up the stairs and
you'll go to the second tier. There's a small exhibit on how the Colosseum was constructed.
If you are interested in historical stuff, this is definitely worth exploring.
You get to find out how they constructed it what it looked like in his heyday and the
fact that this place is the modern precursor to most modern stadiums in the world. It even
used to have its own retractable roof, hard to believe but yeah this place was pretty advanced.
And it's here in the second tier that you'll probably get the most crowded area.
As soon as you walk in, you'll get this amazing view on one of the corners of the Colosseum.
But it’s also the most crowded, as you can see from this footage I took this right here, where
people are elbowing each other out of the way for the best shots. My advice is to avoid all
that and walk along the side of it until there are a lot fewer people. You'll get the same view,
if not better, and nobody will be elbowing you in the face trying to take a selfie.
The best section to take photos and videos is right here. Aligning yourself in the middle,
you'll see the whole Colosseum from up here, including arena floor, which is where
we've just visited the underground, and the entrance right over there on the other side.
The Colosseum looks its best when the sun is shining on it, i.e., when the sun is at
your back just like this, and this is the sort of view that you'll get if you stand in this corner.
You'll get to do almost a 360-degree walkaround of the Colosseum,
and the most iconic shots of the Colosseum are taken right here on the complete opposite
side of the second tier. Because you get this magical view overlooking absolutely everything.
I should probably point out that up here in the second tier is where all the commoners and women
used to sit to watch the events, the lower tier is now reserved for the more important people.
As you walk around the interior of the Colosseum, it literally oozes history,
and you definitely won't regret buying a ticket to see this place.
You'll go down a flight of steps before getting to explore more of the Colosseum and visit the
gift shop, before you let out at the side of the Colosseum. It's definitely worth the price of
admission. but one thing you definitely don't have to pay for is this the Constantine Arch.
Built-in 315 A.D to commemorate Emperor Constantine it's a very impressive entrance arch,
and even though you can't go right next to it and touch the walls you
definitely can take some amazing photos and videos with this in the background.
But before visiting the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill,
there's various eateries around the Colosseum and there's a supermarket
right across the street where you can get a decent slice of pizza for not too much money.
Fortunately for you, the entrance to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill is literally across
the way from the Colosseum. A lot of people don't actually know what this is; this is the
epicentre of the Ancient Roman Empire. The Ancient Romans were an incredibly sophisticated culture,
and many things in the world that we consider modern inventions existed here in the Roman
Forum over 2000 years ago, like schools, hospitals, roads, gyms, temples, shops,
government, banks, and libraries. The Ancient Romans figured it out first.
And when you walk into the entrance, hopefully you've bought your tickets in advance,
you'll quickly see that this place is absolutely massive. It's so big that it's very disorienting,
and it can be hard to figure out what to see and do first. Fortunately, I'm here to show
you all the best bits. The first thing you'll come across is the Arch of Titus. This arch,
located at the top of a hill, is one of only three arches that remain after the original 36.
It's historically important for reasons that are too long to explain in this video,
but in short, it commemorates Titus's victory in Jerusalem.
After the Arch of Titus, you can either go into the Roman Forum itself or up to Palatine Hill.
I decided to go left to Palatine Hill which is the main hill that overlooks the ancient Roman forum.
And it's up here that you get some amazing views of everything below you. It's quite
a climb so be prepared for that, but the climb is definitely more than worth it.
There's also a nice museum that you can look at various artefacts with,
and you can see ruins of various palaces, churches, this courtyard which surprisingly
is still operational even with modern fountains. And Palatine Hill also has its own stadium. So
it's here that minor sporting events would happen in front of the Elite Class of the Roman Empire.
This is definitely worth taking some time to explore but once you've climbed back down
Palatine Hill, you'll come across the entrance to the Roman Forum AKA where the civilians of the
ancient Roman Empire used to live and work. This place is vast; it's like the size of a
national park and at this point you'll probably be confused as to what there is to actually see.
There's plenty of things that you should look out for, such as the Temple of Vesta and the site of
the Eternal Flame of Rome. You'll also come across the Temple of Venus. It's an ancient temple,
yes, but the most redeeming quality is the view of the Colosseum from up high.
And you can definitely take some amazing photos and videos from up here.
Right next door, you'll find the Basilica of Constantine.
The size of this place is incredible, but they fenced it off because it's structurally unsafe.
If you venture next to it, you'll be amazed that all of this was built without machinery.
You'll come across the temples of Romulus and Remus, the Temple of Antonius and Faustina,
which currently houses this rather cool museum full of interesting artefacts and Roman stuff.
This long walkway is technically the longest road in the Roman Empire and it's here that
you can see remnants of churches, temples, gyms and even restaurants.
At the far end of the Roman Forum, you'll come across the Temple of Saturn. It looks
like a bunch of ruined columns but at one point held an impressive Temple.
Right next to it you'll find the Arch of Septimius Severus. It's another impressive
entrance arch one of the three remaining here in the Roman forum and Palatine Hill. You'll come
across the Temple of Julie Caesar, no prizes for guessing who this temple was dedicated to. And
you'll also come across the Curia aka the Senate house. The first ever precursor to government.
You can spend an entire afternoon walking around exploring these things and if you're a historian
you definitely won't be bored of the place. If you're not a historian, well it can get a little
bit overwhelming. So see what you can but be very mindful that this is actually quite tiring.
Especially walking along these ancient Roman roads that definitely aren't even,
and you'll need some serious leg muscles in order to climb all these hills.
Overall guys, I can see why the Colosseum,
Roman Forum and Palatine Hill are the most visited attractions in all of Rome.
And if you haven't already check out my Rome City guide here to make the most out of your trip.
Okay Ninh I'm sold, what do I need to do? Well you need to come here to the Colosseum.
It's very easy to find, it's slap-bang in the middle of Rome, so you can't really miss the
damn thing - it's big and it's massive! And the easiest way to get here is to use the Metros, the
nearest Metro station of course is Coliseo which will drop you right outside here the Colosseum.
To buy tickets you need to go on the official website, which I'll leave on the screen here.
Please, please, please do not buy your tickets from a third party website. Because more often
than not they'll try and sell you a guided tour that you probably didn't even ask for.
The cost? Well the prices vary depending on what you want to do,
but in my opinion if you want the full experience,
buy The Full Experience ticket. Which allows you access to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill
and Roman Forum. Because it's such an intensive day you can actually split that ticket into two
days. So if you are a history buff I recommend that you do the Colosseum on one day, and then
the Roman forum and Palatine Hill on another, because otherwise it's very very overwhelming.
The cost of the tickets really isn't bad, I honestly paid about €22,
which isn't expensive at all, but I'll leave the full prices right there on the screen.
Is there anything else I need to know? Yes, as you can imagine, these places are massive, so
be prepared to walk a lot. Don't be fashionable, guys. Wear your comfiest shoes and your comfiest
clothing because, trust me, you'll thank me when your feet don't hurt at the end of the day.
As you can imagine from ancient buildings, the stairs and walkways are incredibly uneven,
so please watch your step if you are going around the Colosseum or Roman Forum.
There’s step-free disability access in the Colosseum, which allows you to take a lift
up to the higher levels and is pretty flat for wheelchair users. However, the same cannot be
said of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, so bear that in mind if you have disability access issues.
As you can imagine, being Italy's most famous attraction, it can get incredibly busy. So
expect there to be a lot of tourists, plenty of queus, and lines for security checks. Honestly
it will take you a while, but so long as you're patient I think you'll have an amazing time here.
And finally; pickpocketing is a massive problem here in the city of Rome. But particularly
around here around the Colosseum, mainly because there's crowds of people all bunched together.
So keep an eye on your belongings at all times, have a lockable bag and anything
that you do have on your person make sure that it's secure before you leave anywhere.
But overall guys, this is an amazing place and I recommend that you come here once
in your life. This is definitely one of those attractions that you have to do before you die.
If you have enjoyed this episode please be sure to like share and subscribe. Comment on
that comment section below, and if you've got any other bucket list ideas you want me to do,
tweet them at me. If I get enough suggestions I'll probably make a video about it.
So guys thanks very much for watching and we'll see you in the next episode.
Ninh Ly – www.ninh.co.uk - @NinhLyUK