Speaker 1: Jail friends on these weeks travel update. I'm talking about
Speaker 1: the current ticketing drama at the Coliseum. There are reports
Speaker 1: of people being turned away at the gate of the
Speaker 1: Colisseum because their third party tickets are not being accepted.
Speaker 1: I want to tell you what's going on, who is affected,
Speaker 1: and what to do if you are not sure, and
Speaker 1: what to do if you are not sure that your
Speaker 1: tickets are valid. I'm Katie, founder of Untold Italy, and
Speaker 1: we are here to help you open the door to
Speaker 1: your Italy. So here's what has been happening. Some visitors
Speaker 1: have been turned away at the Colisseum because the tickets
Speaker 1: that they bought through third party sites like get your
Speaker 1: Guide and Viator were not accepted at the gate. And
Speaker 1: there needs to be some background here because there has
Speaker 1: been an ongoing problem with ticketing at major sites across
Speaker 1: Italy and all of Europe. Actually, some operators were buying
Speaker 1: tickets in bulk using bots and reselling them at much
Speaker 1: higher prices. So what the Colisseum did was it tightened
Speaker 1: its rules and it now works with a list of
Speaker 1: authorized resellers that are listed on its website. So Get
Speaker 1: your Guide and Viator are on that list. But you
Speaker 1: have to know that they are marketplaces that on sell
Speaker 1: other companies' products, and some of those underlying operators are
Speaker 1: not authorized. My understanding is that both platforms are moving
Speaker 1: to remove those operators from their listings, as you'd expect.
Speaker 1: The Colosseum has also mandated that the tickets are non
Speaker 1: transferable and must include the visitors full name. If the
Speaker 1: name does not match your ID when you go to
Speaker 1: enter the Colisseum, you won't get in. So there's no
Speaker 1: exceptions or no refunds. If your operator has not asked
Speaker 1: for your name, that's a red flag. If you have
Speaker 1: already purchased tickets and are worried, here's what I suggest.
Speaker 1: Check the cancelation policy first, because get your guide and
Speaker 1: via to listings can usually be canceled up to twenty
Speaker 1: four hours in advance with no penalty. Once you know this,
Speaker 1: you can go in search of other options, but don't
Speaker 1: cancel those tickets until you have of other tickets confirmed.
Speaker 1: This advice applies to anyone who hasn't yet bought their
Speaker 1: tickets also, so the official Colisseum website is the cheapest
Speaker 1: option to buy tickets and the direct tours, though the
Speaker 1: tours are quite largely around twenty five to thirty people
Speaker 1: in their actual tours. But that site is a little
Speaker 1: bit problematic and it's often unavailable, and as an example,
Speaker 1: it was down for three hours for me yesterday when
Speaker 1: I was trying to use it. Like I said, this
Speaker 1: is not unusual, so patience is required. If you want
Speaker 1: a tour that's for a smaller group than those larger
Speaker 1: official tours, or a private tour, we'd recommend to Live
Speaker 1: Tours who offer our listeners five percent off with code
Speaker 1: Untold Italy, and another great option is Walks of Italy.
Speaker 1: Both are on the approved list for admission only with
Speaker 1: an audio guide. Tickets is also approved and straightforward. I've
Speaker 1: put all these links in the app show notes, so
Speaker 1: you've got somewhere to go straight away if you want
Speaker 1: to get that sorted. Now, here's the thing I actually
Speaker 1: want to say. Going inside the Colosseum is great if
Speaker 1: you love ancient history and you've got a real affinity
Speaker 1: with the site, But it's not compulsory. And I know
Speaker 1: that sounds like heresy because everyone thinks that's what you've
Speaker 1: got to do when you go to Rome is go
Speaker 1: to the Colosseum. But the reality is that it is
Speaker 1: very hot, especially at this time of year. It's hot inside,
Speaker 1: it's crowded, and unless you have a guide that has
Speaker 1: arena flow access, you're mostly walking around the site and
Speaker 1: the crowded corridors trying to get a photo without three
Speaker 1: thousand people in it. So if you're genuinely passionate about
Speaker 1: ancient Rome and the Colosseum, and you are able to
Speaker 1: book a guided tours for someone like walks of visually
Speaker 1: or live tours, you should definitely do that. It's absolutely
Speaker 1: worth doing properly and you won't regret it. But if
Speaker 1: you are going to the Colisseum because everyone goes, and
Speaker 1: you think that's what you should do, then just be
Speaker 1: aware that it can be a costly and less than
Speaker 1: optimal weight to se been half a day in Rome.
Speaker 1: There are other places that will give you a deeper
Speaker 1: sense of the ancient city with far fewer people at
Speaker 1: a much lower cost. An example or a few examples
Speaker 1: are that the via Appia Antika with its massive cobblestones
Speaker 1: and ancient tombs, the Bars for Caracalla, which is one
Speaker 1: of my favorite working archaeological sites in the city, and
Speaker 1: the Palazzo Massimo Museum near Roma, Termany, which has some
Speaker 1: of the finest sculpture and frescoes in the world, and
Speaker 1: it is never busy, that is my honest take. If
Speaker 1: you feel like you might prefer to get some photos
Speaker 1: outside the coliseum and explore the eternal city in a
Speaker 1: different way that suits you better, you do you this
Speaker 1: is your trip and you really could spend years exploring
Speaker 1: everything to see in Rome. You're going to miss out
Speaker 1: on some things, so just make sure that what you
Speaker 1: do want to see and do is built into your
Speaker 1: time there and you won't regret it. I will continue
Speaker 1: to keep you posted here, but if you have any
Speaker 1: questions send me a message to Chao at untold Italy
Speaker 1: dot com. Choo for now,