What to see near the Colosseum

Short answer: most people see the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine and leave. Within ten to fifteen minutes on foot there are a dozen more places worth an hour — several free, most far quieter. Here are nine, from right outside the exit to the top of the Capitoline Hill.

Right outside

• The Arch of Constantine (free, from the outside): built in 315 AD to celebrate Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge. Much of its sculpture was taken from earlier monuments of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, with the heads re-carved — look for the difference in style between the old reliefs and the stubby 4th-century frieze.
• The Ludus Magnus (free, seen from the street): the main training school for the Colosseum’s gladiators, with part of its small practice arena excavated. You look down into it from the pavement on Via Labicana, two minutes east of the Colosseum.
• The Meta Sudans: the outline of a monumental Roman fountain on the ground between the Colosseum and the Arch, marked in the paving.

Ten minutes on foot

• The Basilica of San Clemente (church free, excavations paid): a 12th-century church built on top of a 4th-century church, built on top of 1st-century Roman buildings with a temple of Mithras. You walk down through all three. Probably the best single place in Rome to understand how the city grew in layers.
• San Pietro in Vincoli (free): a church on the Oppian side with Michelangelo’s Moses, made for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Also the chains said to have bound Saint Peter, which give the church its name.
• Santi Quattro Coronati (free; small donation for some parts): a fortified medieval monastery with a quiet cloister and the Chapel of Saint Sylvester, painted with 13th-century frescoes. Opening hours are short and irregular — check before going.
• The Domus Aurea: what is left of Nero’s Golden House, the palace the Colosseum was built to erase. It is visited only on guided tours booked in advance, usually on a few days a week, and the rooms are underground and cool.

A little further

• The Circus Maximus (free, open park): Rome’s chariot-racing track, now a long grassy hollow below the Palatine. Little survives above ground, but its size alone is worth seeing, and the Palatine palace ruins line one side.
• The Imperial Forums and Trajan’s Markets: the forums of Caesar, Augustus, Nerva and Trajan line Via dei Fori Imperiali and are visible free from the street. Trajan’s Markets, a multi-storey Roman commercial complex, is a separate paid museum.
• The Capitoline Hill: up Michelangelo’s ramp to the Piazza del Campidoglio. From the terraces behind the town hall you get one of the best free views over the whole Roman Forum; the Capitoline Museums, the oldest public museums in the world, are on the square.

How to fit them in

If your Colosseum slot is in the morning, a good afternoon is: Arch of Constantine and Ludus Magnus on the way out, lunch away from the Colosseum square, San Clemente or San Pietro in Vincoli, then the Capitoline at golden hour for the view over the Forum. Churches close for a few hours in the middle of the day and require covered shoulders and knees; check opening times for the day you go.

Updated 2026-10-27