Museums in Athens

Athens, the bedrock of one of the earliest civilizations on this planet, is a breathing tapestry of history. The best way to get a glimpse of this is by visiting its museums. Famous Athenian museums such as Acropolis Museum, National Archeological Museum, and Goulandris Natural History Museum are home to the oldest findings of the city’s excavations and provide deep insight into the daily life, culture, philosophy, and artwork of ancient residents.

The most popular museums in Athens are: 

Some of the best Athens museums you can visit with kids are: 

The top art & history museums in Athens

Yes, skip-the-line tickets are available for almost all the museums in Athens. These tickets enable you to save time by bypassing the long waiting lines at popular museums in the city. If you are looking to save time, these tickets are perfect for visitors. You can enjoy priority entry with Acropolis Museum Tickets, National Archaeological Museum skip-the-line e-ticket, and Delphi Museum tickets.

Guided or audio tours are available at most museums in Athens. On a guided tour an expert guide will show you around the museum, touching on the most important details of the artifacts. On a self-guided tour, you will be given a multilingual audio guide that will accompany you along the way as you learn and understand key information about the history and significance of each exhibit. An added benefit of opting for guided tours is that you enjoy the skip-the-line entry as well. You can enjoy guided tours with Delphi Museum tickets, Acropolis Museum tickets, and Kotsanas Museum Tickets: Ancient Greece – The Origin of Technologies.

The Acropolis Museum offers an official night tour in Athens. Your experience would include an expert guide by your side, meals, access to special exhibits, and more.

The museums you can visit with the Athens city pass are: 

Here are the top museums that are free to visit throughout the year: 

The cancellation policy varies depending on the type of ticket you purchase. While some museum tickets in Athens allow you to cancel up to 24/48/72 hours before your scheduled visit, some of them cannot be canceled or rescheduled.

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens is the largest museum not only in Athens but in all of Greece. It comprises more than 11,000 exhbits and collections, include Prehistoric (Neolithic, Cycladic, Mycenaean) artifacts, sculptures such as the bronze statue of Zeus, the Statue of Asklepius, and of Aphrodite. It also has an expansive vase collection and ancient frescoes from Santorini. All major archaeological findings from the country can be found here.

Yes, the following museums offer free entry on specific days:
1. Museum of Natural History in Athens: Every Sunday
2. National Historical Museum: Every Sunday
3. Benaki Museum: Every Thursday
4. National Archaeological Museum: 18 April, 18 May, and the first Sunday of each month from 1 November to 31 March

Most of museums in Athens do not allow photography. Some of the Museums that partially allow photography are:

Early afternoons are the best time to visit museums in Athens since most crowds gather during the early hours of the day. Avoid visiting museums in Athens on national holidays since they will be closed. Weekends and holidays also tend to get quite busy, so try to avoid visiting during these days.

Many museums such as Archeological Museum, Acropolis Museum, and Benaki Museum are closed during Christmas and New Year's.