Roman Forum entrances

Where are the Roman Forum entrances?

Five gates: Largo della Salara Vecchia, the Arch of Titus on the Via Sacra, Via di San Gregorio 30, Via del Tulliano and Via del Foro Romano.

Every ticket opens every gate. The differences are where you start and what is next to the gate:

The old entrance by Trajan's Column is closed: the Park says it is “no longer in use”.

Which entrance should you use: Forum first or Palatine first?

Salara Vecchia for the Forum first, Via di San Gregorio for the Palatine first, and the Arch of Titus if you're coming straight from the Colosseum.

• Forum first, by Salara Vecchia: you walk straight onto the Forum floor and up the Via Sacra in the order the Romans built it. The Roman Forum Museum is at the far end, by the Arch of Titus.
• Middle start, by the Arch of Titus: two minutes from the Colosseum. Turn right for the museum, downhill for the Forum, left and up for the Palatine.
• Palatine first, by Via di San Gregorio: the climb is done while you are fresh and the pines still give shade, and you finish by walking downhill into the Forum. Our pick for summer.

For the SUPER sites, start high and walk down: the route is in the SUPER sites guide.

How long are the security lines at the Forum gates?

Anything from 5 minutes at opening to 40 minutes at midday. Every gate has an airport-style check, and no ticket or tour skips it.

Bags go through a scanner at every entrance. Guests report both ends of the range: one private-tour family started at 9 a.m. and found the line and security into the Forum took 5 minutes; a guest on a late-morning group tour counted a 35 to 40-minute wait to get in. Kenneth, in August 2025, on the Forum-and-Palatine tour: “We entered at a quiet entrance with no lines.”

The pattern is simple. Gates are quietest at 9 a.m. and after 2 p.m.; Salara Vecchia and the Arch of Titus get the tour groups. If a queue is long, walk to the next gate: your ticket works at all of them.

How do you get to the Roman Forum by metro, bus or tram?

Metro B to Colosseo, or Metro C to Colosseo-Fori Imperiali. Buses 51, 75, 81, 85, 87 and 118 and tram 3 stop nearby.

Metro B, Colosseo: you come out facing the Colosseum. The Arch of Titus gate is a short walk up the Via Sacra from Piazza del Colosseo; Via di San Gregorio runs south along the Palatine; Salara Vecchia is along Via dei Fori Imperiali, towards Piazza Venezia.

Metro C, Colosseo-Fori Imperiali: the line C station by the Colosseum, handy if you are coming from San Giovanni or the east of the city.

Buses and tram: the Park lists buses 51, 75, 81, 85, 87 and 118 and tram 3 for the area; for the Forum gates on Via dei Fori Imperiali, the stops are numbered 70518 and 70543.

Which gates have lifts and step-free access?

Salara Vecchia, the Arch of Titus and Via di San Gregorio are all wheelchair accessible. There are lifts at Salara Vecchia and at the Curia, and a lifting platform at the Arch of Titus.

An accessible path now avoids the rough Via Sacra and reaches the House of the Vestals, the Temple of Romulus, the Spring of Juturna, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Forum square and the Curia. The Park counts about 1.5 km of accessible paths, with 2 km planned.

• Lifts: Salara Vecchia entrance; Curia Iulia, at the Via dei Fori Imperiali level; Via dei Cerchi (under maintenance); a lifting platform at the Arch of Titus; a lift and two stairlifts in the Palatine Museum.
• Wheelchairs: 5 to borrow at the main entrances, plus one golf cart for visitors with mobility issues who bring their own wheelchair.
• The Palatine: the Park says reaching the top still means “several brief stretches of relatively steep paths and generally irregular paving”.

Small dogs of 5 to 10 kg may come into the open areas in a carrier; buildings are off limits to them.

Where are the toilets and water fountains near the gates?

There are 8 public toilets, all accessible, mostly by the entrances and exits, and 10 drinking fountains. Baby changing is at the Via di San Gregorio entrance and near the Via del Foro Romano exit.

Use the toilet at the gate before you set off: inside, they are far apart. The changing stations are at Via di San Gregorio and at the south-east corner of the Basilica Iulia, by the Via del Foro Romano exit.

Fountains sit by the Vicus Argentarii near the Tabularium, at the south-east corner of the Basilica Iulia, in the Farnese gardens, by the Domus Augustana on the Palatine and on the southern path, often next to benches. Vending machines are on the Via Nova, in the Farnese gardens and in the Palatine Stadium. There is no café.

Where do Roman Forum tours meet?

Outside, never at a gate: most meet a few minutes from Colosseo metro and ask you to arrive 15 to 20 minutes early.

Meeting points from each listing, October 2026:

Meeting points move, and messages about it are easy to miss. One guest in October 2026 wrote: “Viatar changed our meeting point it was EXTREMELY hard to find our representative”. Check the voucher on the morning of the tour, and save the operator's phone number.

Rome's most reviewed ancient Rome tour meets above Colosseo metro: the Colosseum, the Palatine and the Forum with a licensed guide.

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Explore the City Wonders Colosseum, Forum and Palatine tour → Tour details

Can you leave the Forum and come back in?

No. Every ticket gives one entry to the Forum-Palatine area. Walk out of any gate and that entry is used, even five minutes later.

Plan the visit as one loop. Fill your bottle at a fountain, use the toilet by the gate, and eat before you go in or after you come out. If you split the day, see the Forum on one side of your Colosseum slot and leave it for good: the Colosseum has its own separate entry at the booked time.

Exits are free to choose. Leaving by Via del Tulliano or Via del Foro Romano puts you at the Capitoline, the Piazza Venezia side; leaving by the Arch of Titus or Via di San Gregorio puts you back by the Colosseum. Day plans are in the one-day guide.

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