Visiting the Acropolis Museum

Do you need a separate ticket for the Acropolis Museum?

Yes. The Acropolis Museum is independent of the archaeological site, and the Acropolis ticket does not cover it. You buy the museum ticket on the museum's own website, at the museum, or in a combination on GetYourGuide.

The museum ticket costs less than the Acropolis site ticket, and the reduced ticket is half the full price. EU citizens under 25 and visitors from outside the EU under 5 don't pay to enter; bring ID. The museum does not use the hh.gr shop that sells the site ticket. The current rules and hours are on the Acropolis Museum's plan-your-visit page.

On 6 March, 25 March, 18 May and 28 October nobody pays to get into the museum. Note that 25 March is a closed day on the hill itself, so that day you can see the museum but not the site.

What are the Acropolis Museum opening hours in 2026?

The museum opens at 09:00 every day it is open. In summer it closes at 17:00 on Mondays, 22:00 on Fridays and 20:00 on other days; in winter it closes at 17:00 Monday to Thursday. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing.

It is closed on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 and 26 December. The Friday late opening is the quietest time to visit, and the lit Acropolis through the glass is worth the evening.

Should you visit the Acropolis Museum before or after the Acropolis?

Either works. The most practical order is the hill first, at 08:00 or late afternoon, and the air-conditioned museum in the midday heat or on a Friday evening.

Going to the museum first gives you the context: you see the sculptures up close and then recognise where they stood. Going afterwards lets you put faces to the ruins you just walked through. In summer the heat decides it for most people: the hill is at its best early and late, the museum is cool at noon. The south-slope entrance is a short walk from the museum door, so the two fit easily into one day. When to be on the hill is covered in the best time to visit guide.

What are the highlights of the Acropolis Museum?

The glass floor over an excavated ancient neighbourhood, the Gallery of the Slopes, the Archaic Gallery, the five original Caryatids and the Parthenon Gallery on the top floor.

• The glass floor: at the entrance and in the courtyard you walk over the excavated streets and houses of an ancient Athenian neighbourhood.
• Gallery of the Slopes: finds from the sanctuaries and houses on the slopes, set on a ramp that rises like the path up the hill.
• The Archaic Gallery: painted korai and early sculpture in natural light. Photography is not allowed in this gallery.
• The Caryatids: five of the six original maidens from the Erechtheion porch, seen from all sides.
• The Parthenon Gallery: the top floor, glass-walled, with the frieze, the metopes and the pediment sculptures laid out around a core the size of the temple, and the Parthenon itself in view outside.

Where are the original Caryatids?

Five of the six originals are in the Acropolis Museum. The sixth is in the British Museum in London. The figures on the Erechtheion porch today are copies.

The Caryatids were moved indoors to protect them from air pollution, and restorers cleaned them with lasers in the museum, where you can walk around them and see the braided hair from behind. The empty place in the line marks the one taken to London in the early 19th century. The museum's top floor tells the same story for the Parthenon sculptures: pale casts stand in for the pieces held abroad, so you see at a glance what is missing.

How long do you need at the Acropolis Museum?

Allow at least 1.5 hours, which is how long the guided museum tour takes, and 2 to 3 hours if you want to read and linger on every floor.

The museum is large but easy to follow: ground floor with the slopes, first floor with the Archaic Gallery and the Caryatids, top floor with the Parthenon Gallery. If you are short of time, go straight to the top floor, then walk down. There is a café with a terrace facing the Acropolis. Large bags go to the cloakroom, and photos are allowed everywhere except the Archaic Gallery.

Is a guided tour of the Acropolis Museum worth it?

If you want the sculptures explained, yes. The Acropolis Museum Guided Tour takes 1.5 hours with a licensed guide and is rated 4.6 from 243 reviews; the museum ticket itself is bought separately.

The guide handles the ticket line with you and picks the pieces that matter, which saves you reading every label. If you prefer your own pace, the museum ticket with 2 audio guides (4.1 from 1,011 reviews) gives you an e-ticket and phone audio, with an option to add a timed Acropolis ticket. Both give a full refund if you cancel up to 24 hours ahead.

1.5 hours in the museum with a licensed guide who explains the Caryatids and the Parthenon Gallery. The museum ticket is bought separately. Full refund up to 24 hours ahead.

★ 4.6 (243) · 1.5 hours · Full refund up to 24 h ahead

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Can you combine the Acropolis and the museum on one booking?

Yes, on GetYourGuide, not on the official sites. The options are a combo of both tickets, a guided tour with a museum option, or a small-group tour of 3.5 hours with pre-reserved tickets to both.

• Combo of both tickets: a timed Acropolis ticket plus a museum ticket, with optional audio or a live guide. Rated 4.2 from 2,881 reviews. Non-refundable.
• Guided tour with the museum: the Acropolis, Parthenon and Acropolis Museum guided tour has options that add the museum to the 2-hour hill tour.
• Small group, max 12: the 3.5-hour option covers the hill and the museum with tickets to both reserved.

A combo costs more than buying both official tickets yourself; you pay for one booking and the audio or guide. More on the ticket types is in the ticket types guide, and the tours are compared in the tours guide.

Both tickets in one booking, the hill at a set time and the museum when it suits you, with optional audio. Non-refundable once booked.

★ 4.2 (2,881) · 1 day · Non-refundable

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