🇮🇹Roman Forum and Palatine Hill: What They Are and How to Walk Them
The other two sites on your Colosseum ticket, and the order to visit them in. What survives, what you're actually looking at, and why the hill is the right place to finish.
2026-08-13
The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill form a single continuous archaeological site next to the Colosseum, ticketed together with it. Most people walk through them without quite knowing what they're looking at, which is a shame — the layout makes a lot more sense with ten minutes of context.
What each one is
The Roman Forum was the centre of the ancient city, lying in the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills. Everything that mattered publicly happened here: the temples, the Senate house, the law courts, the markets. What survives is fragmentary — columns, foundations, a few standing arches — but the axis of the space is still legible.
Palatine Hill is the oldest inhabited part of Rome. Tradition holds that Romulus founded the city here in 753 BC. Later it became the address for emperors, who built their residences across the hilltop — and the English word "palace" comes directly from Palatine.
Visitor information
Time needed: two hours minimum. Wear comfortable shoes and take sun protection seriously — there is almost no shade.
Ticket: the combined Colosseum + Roman Forum + Palatine Hill ticket. €18 for adults, €2 for EU residents aged 18–25, free under 18. The official site adds a €2 booking fee.
Opening hours: from 8:30 until early evening, with the closing time varying by season. Check the official site before you go.
Getting there: Metro line B to Colosseo.
Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill combined ticket
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One ticket covers all three — plan them as a single continuous visit
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The order to visit in
The three entrances are close together but lead into different zones. Do them in the order Colosseum → Roman Forum → Palatine Hill.
The reason is the finish: Palatine Hill is the high ground, so climbing it last gives you a view back down over the whole Forum — which is when the layout finally clicks into place. Doing it the other way round means ending in the valley with no perspective on what you just walked through.
Take water. In July and August the site is genuinely punishing between 11am and 4pm, and there's nowhere to hide from the sun.
Afterwards
Walk fifteen minutes south-west to the Bocca della Verità, the marble mask in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin where Gregory Peck pulled his trick on Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. It's free, it takes five minutes, and there's usually a short queue.
Back to the Colosseum guide or the Rome travel guide for the rest of the itinerary.