There is not a single release time. Tickets are released gradually throughout the day and the release times will correspond to the tour or entry times. For example, tickets with a 11AM entry time will be released at 11AM Rome time.

Tickets are released gradually throughout the day. The ticket release time corresponds to the entry or tour start time. For example, tickets with a 10:30AM entry time would be released at 10:30AM Rome time. And you can always check the different ticket categories - not all categories sell at the same blistering pace. For the last few months, the general admission entry tickets and the full experience tickets with the Arena Floor with late afternoon / early evening entry times also sell at a slower pace.

It is usually left up to the discretion of the employee at the security check. Typically small umbrellas are allowed inside while larger umbrellas are sometimes not. If you are worried about the sun, you might also want to consider one of the night tours of the Colosseum that are currently offered five nights a week.

No, there is no audio guide included. Of course, there is an option to include a tour guide delivering commentary in either English, Italian or Spanish.

No idea why the other answer gave info about the Underground - the Underground is closed on free admission days!! On free admission days, the queue can be extremely long. I would prepare yourself for a one or two hour wait in line to enter although it could be less. They will monitor the occupancy of the Colosseum. If it is at full capacity, the line can slow to a crawl because they will pause entries to allow for some visitors to exit.

How far ahead do the tickets go on sale? I am going in August and i dont see any availability

You don't indicate where you are planning to purchase the tour - for simplicity sake, I will assume that you plan to purchase the tour through the official ticketing website CoopCulture where they offer tours in Italian, English, Spanish and French. At the present time, the only tours offered through CoopCulture are of the Colosseum only and do not include the Roman Forum + Palatine Hill. In that case, yes, you can purchase one of their Colosseum tours and then stay afterwards and visit the general admission areas of the Colosseum until it closes for the day around sunset.

It is preferable to book your tickets + tour in advance. The issue with waiting and trying to use one of the "guides" on the spot - how do you know that the guide is genuine? Because there are some scammers outside as well and they will be happy to sell you fraudulent tickets which are worthless - you queue up in the security line and when you reach the gate, you find out the tickets don't work and that you gave your money to a scammer. Much easier to prebook through the official ticketing website CoopCulture. At the present time, there are three different tours offered in several different languages.

We got tickets which allowed re-entry within 24 hours. The Colosseum took us the whole afternoon and there were a lot of people. It was amazing though we opted out of the more expensive tickets which would’ve allowed us into the inner lower depths of this magnificent structure. The following afternoon, we spent a lot of time at the marvellous Forum not realizing that the Palatine closed at 4:00 PM. So we missed the Palatine and only saw it from a distance. We typically don’t rush through history and it’s monuments. And also, we make sure not to miss major meals so we keep our energy level up. Soak in all the sights and sounds and enjoy the grandeur of the old empire. I’m unlike some friends who’ve been lucky to visit 4 times.

The issue with Tiqets or other such websites such as Viator or GetYourGuide is that there is usually another company that lists the tickets on these websites. So unless you reveal the name of this other company, the recommendation is pretty useless because there could be multiple companies listing the same tickets on Tiqets - some of them good, some of them bad. In fact, there was a very sketchy company that listed Vatican Museums tickets on Tiqets, Viator and GYG. They basically demand that you pay extra money on the day of visit. So I would be very, very, very careful about buying Vatican Museums tickets on these websites. In fact, I would probably just buy a breakfast or lunch ticket option on the official website vs buying from Tiqets, Viator, GYG, etc. But if you want to press your luck, be sure to do your homework. Determine the hidden company name that is listing the tickets and make sure you aren't buying from the sketchy one that extorts money from you on the day of visit.