This private shore excursion from Civitavecchia is built for travelers who want to spend their day in ancient Rome rather than dividing time between multiple historical periods. A licensed guide specializing in ancient Roman history leads the majority of your tour, with your driver guide continuing with you for the remainder of the afternoon.
Your driver guide meets you at the pier in Civitavecchia and drives you into Rome, approximately 90 minutes away. On arrival, your licensed ancient history guide meets you and leads the tour.
Your first and primary stop is the Colosseum, completed in 80 AD under Emperor Titus and the largest amphitheater ever constructed. Your guide accompanies you inside — included in the tour price — and explains the engineering, social history, and daily life of the arena in detail. At its operational peak the Colosseum had 76 numbered entrances, marble seating for up to 50,000 spectators, retractable canvas awnings, and an elaborate subterranean network of passages and animal enclosures beneath the arena floor. Gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, executions, and large-scale theatrical spectacles all took place here.
Leaving the Colosseum, you see the Arch of Constantine, erected in 315 AD to commemorate Constantine's defeat of Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Your guide then leads you through the Roman Forum, the civic heart of the Roman Empire for over a thousand years. The Forum contains the remains of temples, basilicas, triumphal arches, and public squares that once formed the political, religious, and commercial center of the ancient city. Your guide explains the function and history of each surviving structure in context.
Your walking tour concludes at Capitol Hill, the most sacred of Rome's seven hills and the site of the ancient Temple of Jupiter. You climb the long staircase designed by Michelangelo to the Piazza del Campidoglio, where a bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius stands at the center. The square offers a sweeping view back over the Roman Forum with the Colosseum rising in the distance.
After saying goodbye to your licensed guide, you continue with your driver guide. Lunch is recommended at this point at your own expense. Your final stop is the Pantheon, the best-preserved building of ancient Rome, built as a temple to all the gods and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian around 125 AD. Its unreinforced concrete dome, with a central oculus open to the sky, remains one of the engineering wonders of the ancient world. Raphael and two Italian kings are buried here.
Contact us if you would like to customize this ancient Rome shore excursion or arrange transportation for a larger group from Civitavecchia.
Review Location- Civitavecchia 
