A guy in the Rome hostel said skipping the Colosseum tour and just walking the outer wall is the real move
He was 19, from Leeds, and had been in the city four days. I had already dropped 18 euros on a guided tour and sat through an hour of a guy waving a flag. He said he walked the whole outside loop in about 90 minutes, read the free plaques, and sat on a wall for a bit. I did the same loop the next morning and got way more out of it. The line to get in was a two hour wait anyway. So what else am I overpaying for? I keep thinking about the Vatican too.