Greece Travel Tips: Museum and Sights Tips

Museums are open longer in the summer than in the winter; usually until 8 PM or dusk. In the winter they tend to close around three as do out door sites.

Museums are often free on Sundays and closed on Mondays. But others like the Benaki Museum in Athens are open on Mondays and closed on Tuesdays so calling them in advance to make sure is a good idea!

Greek officials love their rules (left from Delos Museum) and as you'll see below if they can make them complicated then so much the better!

So I have chosen a few of the most popular spots to give you an idea of the hours and fees!

Using your flash is frowned upon in Greek Museums for some reason. I think that after laying around in the mud, snow, rain, ice, hale and wind for over a thousand years the marble will survive your flash, but apparently I am mistaken. Never argue with a Greek bureaucrat! They let dogs run around outdoor sites freely peeing on stuff and worse but paying customers in museums are not allowed take flash pictures and forget about restrooms. The reason they wont let you take flash pictures is that if they let everybody take flash pictures then they couldn't charge professional photographers and authors money. I have seen 'allowed shoots' in my museum visits complete with klieg lights and more and no one was worried about the effect of the bright light then!

National Archeology Museum in Athens

Here is an example of the Days of Admission and days of Free Admission for all visitors of the National Archeology Museum in Athens which is the most important museum in Greece: Telephone: 210-8217717, 210-8217724

• Free Days: Sundays in the period between 1 November and 31 March
• The first Sunday of every month, except for July, August and September (when the
• First Sunday is holiday, then the second is the free admission day, etc.)
• National holidays
• 6 March (in memory of Melina Mercouri)
• 18 April (International Monuments Day)
• 5 June (International Environment Day)
• The last weekend of September every year (European Heritage Days)
• Admission Fees and Free Entrance
• Full admission € 7
• Reduced admission (students from countries outside the E.U., citizens of the E.U. aged over 65) € 3
• Free admission persons under 18
• University students from Greece and the E.U.
• Students of Classical Studies or Fine Arts from countries outside the E.U.
• Members of the ICOM-ICOMOS
• Tour guides
• Journalists
• Persons possessing a free admission card

Next is the Acropolis Museum

• Hours
• Monday 11.00 -15.00
• Tuesday-Friday 08.30 -15.00
• Saturday-Sunday 08.30 -15.00
• Holidays
• October 28th
• January 6th
• Shrove Monday
• Holy Saturday
• Easter Monday,
• Holy Spirit Day
• August 15th: 08.30-15.00
• December 25th to 26th
• January 1st
• March 25th
• Good Friday (until 12.00)
• Easter Sunday: May 1st : closed

Unification Walk Archaeological Sites of Athens

Pictured left is the 12 eu ticket which entitles entrance to all the above sites.

Special ticketing package for the Archaeological Sites of Athens (Acropolis site and museum, Ancient Agora, Theatre of Dionysos, Kerameikos, Olympieion, Roman Agora): € 12 (reduced: € 6). The museum is open daily 08.00 - 19.30 Telephone +30-210-32.14.172, 32.36.665, 92.38.724 Fax: +30-210-92.39.023

Delphi is a major site so we'll do that one next!

Monday-Sunday: 08.00-19.30
Holidays
January 6th, Shrove Monday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday, Holy Spirit Day, August 15th, October 28th: 08.00-19.30

January 1st, March 25th, Good Friday (until 12.00), Easter Sunday, May 1st, December 25th to 26th: closed

Delphi Tickets: Full admission € 6, Reduced admission
(students from countries outside the E.U., citizens of the E.U. aged over 65) € 3. Ticket for both museum and site € 9

And lastly I'll give you Mycenae

Hours: Monday 12.00-15.00
Tuesday - Sunday 08.30-15.00

These Holidays are free days?
October 28th, January 6th, Shrove Monday, Holy Saturday,
Easter Monday, Holy Spirit Day, August 15th:08.30-15.00

These Holidays are closed days
December 25th to 26th,
January 1st,
March 25th,
Good Friday (until 12.00),
Easter Sunday, May 1st : closed

See the Athens Guide for a complete guide to Athens Museums and the Crete Guide too for the Heraklion Musem