In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The National Archaeological Museum is €20, €10 reduced, from tickets.hh.gr, for a timed entry. On Tuesdays it opens at 13:00 and closes at 20:00; on other days it opens at 08:00 from 1 May to 31 October and at 08:30 from 1 November, closing at 15:30 in winter. It is free on the first and third Sunday from 1 November to 31 March, and on six days a year. Allow two hours: Mycenae and the Cycladic figurines on the ground floor, the sculpture halls, the Antikythera Mechanism, and the Thera wall paintings on the first floor. Or book a tour: the small-group tourad is from €53.10 (GetYourGuide).
Tickets and prices
Hellenic Heritage sells the tickets for the Ministry of Culture at tickets.hh.gr, and describes the museum at hh.gr. The museum’s own site is namuseum.gr. Search results for the museum include resellers. Prices are per person.
| Ticket | Price | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Full | €20 | Everyone not in a group below |
| Reduced | €10 | EU citizens over 65, from 1 October to 31 May; chaperones on school trips |
| Free | €0 | EU citizens up to 25; children up to 18 from outside the EU; everyone on the free days below |
- Timed entry. Tickets are bought online for a time. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
- Separate from the Acropolis Museum. Each has its own ticket: see Acropolis Museum tickets.
The free days
Everyone enters free on the first and third Sunday of each month from 1 November to 31 March (1 and 15 November, 6 and 20 December 2026; 3 and 17 January, 7 and 21 February, 7 and 21 March 2027), and on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September and 28 October. The next is 28 October 2026. UK, US, Canadian and Australian visitors aged 18 to 25 pay in full. Free things to do in Athens has the full calendar.
Where to buy
GetYourGuide’s prices are its lowest “from” prices.
| What | The museum | GetYourGuide | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry ticket | €20 | €26 for an entry-only listing, with an audio guide | The Ministry’s shop, tickets.hh.gr |
| Guided tour | Entry only | From €53.10 for a small group | GetYourGuide, if you want the guide |
Tours worth paying for
Museum entry is €20 at the operator’s price. The listings name the Mask of Agamemnon, the Antikythera Mechanism and the bronze Zeus or Poseidon of Artemision among the objects they visit. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.
Small-group tour
From €53.10 · 2 hours · 51 reviews
National Archaeological Museum: Top-Rated Small-Group Tourad is led by a licensed guide, in English and nine other languages, among them French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese.
Expert-led private tour
From €139 · 2 hours · 72 reviews
National Archaeological Museum: Expert-Led Private Tourad is a private visit in English, German or Italian. The listing names the death mask of Agamemnon, the Mycenaean gold and the Antikythera Mechanism.
What to see
The museum is the largest in Greece, in a neoclassical building that opened in 1889 and holds about 11,000 exhibits, mainly from 7000 BC to AD 500, so choose before you go in. A two-hour route by hall number, ground floor first:
The front of the National Archaeological Museum. Photo: Thomas Wolf, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.
- Mycenaean Antiquities, halls 3 and 4. Treasures from the royal shaft graves of Mycenae, of the 16th century BC, and tablets in Linear B, the first Greek script.
- Neolithic and Cycladic Antiquities, halls 5 and 6. The Cycladic marble figurines.
- The Sculpture Collection, halls 7 to 35. The evolution of Greek sculpture from the 7th century BC to the 5th century AD, on the ground floor.
- Metalwork, halls 36 to 39. Bronze statues and the finds from the Antikythera shipwreck, including the Antikythera Mechanism, a scientific instrument of the 1st century BC used for astronomical and calendar forecasts.
- Thera, hall 48, first floor. The wall paintings from Akrotiri on Santorini, among them the Spring Fresco, the Boxing Children fresco and the Antelope fresco.
The main fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism. Photo: Zde, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
With more time, add the Egyptian Antiquities (halls 40 and 41, ground floor), the Jewellery Collection (hall 62) and the vases and minor arts (halls 49 to 57), both on the first floor.
The Artemision Jockey, a bronze horse and rider recovered from a shipwreck. Photo: Carole Raddato, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
What to skip: the Cypriot Antiquities (hall 64) and the glass vases (hall 63), unless you came for them.
Two temporary exhibitions are dated: Pylos of Nestor: A Mycenaean Kingdom Revealed from 26 May to 31 October 2026, and William Kentridge’s Imitate the sleep of stones from 30 October 2026 to 24 January 2027.
Practical information
- Where: 44 Patission (28th October) Street, 106 82. Metro Victoria (line 1), 8 minutes on foot, or Omonia (line 2), 12 minutes. Buses and trolleybuses stop at Polytechneio.
- Hours: 1 May to 31 October, Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 08:00 to 20:00. 1 November to 31 March, Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 08:30 to 15:30. Every Tuesday it opens at 13:00 and closes at 20:00. In April it follows the winter hours, 08:30 to 15:30, with Tuesday from 13:00 to 20:00. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
- Closed: 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday (2 May 2027), 25 and 26 December.
- The one thing that ruins a visit: a Tuesday morning. The doors open at 13:00.
The Acropolis Museum covers the Acropolis finds, and Athens museums compares the Cycladic and Byzantine museums. Athens archaeological sites has the prices of every ancient site, and What to book before you go to Athens has the closed days for every sight. Victoria station, on metro line 1, serves the museum, and Ouzeri tou Laki is on Victoria Square: see where to eat in Athens. Athens in one or two days puts the museum on the afternoon of day two.
Common questions
How much is the National Archaeological Museum in Athens?
€20 for adults and €10 reduced. Tickets are for a timed entry, bought online at tickets.hh.gr, and the last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
What are the National Archaeological Museum's opening hours?
From 1 May to 31 October, Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 08:00 to 20:00. From 1 November to 31 March, Monday and Wednesday to Sunday 08:30 to 15:30. On Tuesdays it opens at 13:00 and closes at 20:00 all year.
Can I visit the National Archaeological Museum on a Tuesday morning?
No. On Tuesdays it opens at 13:00 and closes at 20:00, with last admission at 19:30. Use the morning for the Acropolis or the Ancient Agora.
When is the National Archaeological Museum free?
For everyone on the first and third Sunday from 1 November to 31 March, and on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September and 28 October. EU citizens up to 25 and children up to 18 from outside the EU are free any day.
What is the Antikythera Mechanism and where is it?
A scientific instrument of the 1st century BC used for astronomical and calendar forecasts, recovered from the Antikythera shipwreck. It is in the Metalwork Collection on the ground floor, halls 36 to 39.
How do I get to the National Archaeological Museum?
The address is 44 Patission (28th October) Street. It is an 8-minute walk from Victoria Metro station (line 1) and 12 minutes from Omonia (line 2). Bus and trolleybus stops are at Polytechneio.
