Open every day 10:00–20:00 · Via Cavour 280, 5 min walk from the Colosseum
IMPERIVM ART Rome · Via Cavour 280
Italiano
Guides from the Boutique

What to See in 2 Hours Around the Colosseum: A Walking Itinerary (with a Stop at the Shop)

Two hours is what most visitors really have around the Colosseum, and it is enough if you walk in one direction, skip the queues you do not need and know where to stop. This route starts at the arena, follows Via dei Fori Imperiali to the edge of the Forum, climbs to Michelangelo's Moses and ends in the rione Monti, at our shop of Roman art reproductions at Via Cavour 280, five minutes from the Colosseum. Times are prudent estimates for someone who stops to look.

Stop 1 — The Colosseum from outside and the Arch of Constantine (30 minutes)

You do not need to go inside to understand the Colosseum. Walk around the Flavian Amphitheatre — begun under Vespasian around AD 70–72 and inaugurated by his son Titus in AD 80 — and read the travertine facade: three tiers of arches, each framed by a different classical order, with an attic storey above. It was the largest amphitheatre the Romans ever built; the name "Colosseum" most likely comes from the colossal statue of Nero that once stood nearby.

A few steps to the south-west, between the arena and the Palatine, stands the Arch of Constantine, dedicated by the Senate in AD 315 for the victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge three years earlier. Much of its sculpture was reused from monuments of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

Stop 2 — Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Forum from above (30 minutes)

From the Colosseum, take Via dei Fori Imperiali towards Piazza Venezia. The avenue is modern — opened in 1932 as Via dell'Impero and renamed after the war — and runs above the ancient level, so from the railings you look straight down into the excavations.

On your left is the Roman Forum, the political and religious heart of the ancient city, with the huge brick vaults of the Basilica of Maxentius nearest the road and, behind it, the Palatine, the hill where tradition places Romulus's foundation of the city. On your right are the fora of Augustus, Nerva and Trajan and, beyond them, Trajan's Column, completed in AD 113, its spiral frieze narrating the Dacian wars. After roughly half a kilometre you reach Largo Corrado Ricci, where Via Cavour begins.

Stop 3 — Via Cavour and Michelangelo's Moses (25 minutes)

Via Cavour was laid out in the late nineteenth century, after Rome became the capital of Italy, to link the railway station to the Forum. A flight of steps climbs from the street to the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, founded in the fifth century to house the chains said to have bound St Peter, still kept beneath the high altar.

The draw is Michelangelo's Moses, carved around 1513–1515 for the tomb of Pope Julius II and installed here with the rest of the monument in 1545. Look at the beard, the tensed leg and the famous "horns", which come from a Latin rendering of Exodus that described the prophet's face as horned rather than radiant.

Stop 4 — Our shop at Via Cavour 280 and the rione Monti (30 minutes)

Back on Via Cavour you are in Monti, Rome's first rione. In antiquity this was the Suburra, the crowded popular quarter where, according to Suetonius, the young Julius Caesar lived before becoming pontifex maximus. Today it is a neighbourhood of bars, trattorias and artisan workshops: Via dei Serpenti, Via del Boschetto, Via Panisperna and the small fountain of Piazza della Madonna dei Monti.

Our shop, Imperium Art, is at Via Cavour 280, open every day from 10:00 to 20:00 and two minutes on foot from the Colosseo metro stop on line B. Everything on the shelves is a declared reproduction — busts and statues of emperors and gods, steel helmets, decorative blades — each with its material stated. Come in, ask questions, and leave empty-handed if you prefer.

With half an hour to spare, continue up Via Cavour to Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four papal basilicas, with fifth-century mosaics and, since 2025, the tomb of Pope Francis. Otherwise the Cavour metro stop (line B) is right on the street.

What to take home after the walk

Each piece below is from our catalogue, at the catalogue price (ordering from the site takes 5% off), and connects to something you have just seen.

Blades cannot travel in cabin baggage, so most visitors let us ship: free within Italy, €20 to the EU, €50 worldwide, dispatch in 1–2 working days, free pickup in store, and 14 days to return a catalogue piece.

Common questions

Can you really do it in two hours?

Yes, as long as you stay outside the Colosseum and the Forum: the route is about two kilometres, almost all flat, with four stops. Going inside the Colosseum or the Forum is a separate visit that takes hours — plan it on the official site of the archaeological park.

Is the walk suitable for children?

Yes. It is nearly all flat, the only stairs are the steps up to San Pietro in Vincoli (the one obstacle for a pushchair), and the Colosseum from outside and the Forum from the railings hold their attention without queues. In Monti a gelato or a break is never far, and in the shop they can see steel helmets and decorative blades up close.

Does it work in the evening?

Yes. Via dei Fori Imperiali and the outside of the Colosseum are public streets, and the floodlit monuments are worth the walk in themselves. San Pietro in Vincoli is a working church: check before you go that it is open. The shop is open until 20:00, every day.

Where can we eat along the way?

In Monti: Via dei Serpenti, Via del Boschetto, Via Panisperna and Piazza della Madonna dei Monti have trattorias, pizza by the slice and wine bars a few steps from the shop. A general rule: move one street away from Via dei Fori Imperiali, and be wary of menus with photographs.

Every piece in this guide lives in the boutique at Via Cavour 280, 5 min walk from the Colosseum — visit us, or order online.

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