Panathenaic Stadium Athens: €12 ticket, the marble track, and the view from Section 21

💡 The Short Version: The Panathenaic Stadium is €12, €6 for students with ID, free to age 6, and the ticket is valid only on the day it is issued. It opens 08:00 to 19:00 from March to October and 08:00 to 17:00 from November to February. You can run onto the track, walk the vaulted passage, stand on the podium and visit a small museum of Olympic posters and torches; a 30-minute audio guide in 11 languages is included. The view from the upper bleachers of Section 21 takes in the Acropolis, the Zappeion, the National Garden and Lycabettus. The stadium hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Or see it on a tour: the small-group e-bike tourad stops at the Stadium and is from €45 (GetYourGuide).

Tickets and prices

The Stadium sells tickets at its ticket desk, by cash or card, and online at tickets.panathenaicstadium.gr; its main site is panathenaicstadium.gr. Prices are per person.

• One day, one entry. The ticket is valid only on the date it is issued, cannot be cancelled or refunded, and is cancelled when you leave the Stadium.
• What it includes. The audio guide and the stadium museum.
• Toilets cost €1.50, in exact coins.

Tours worth paying for

The Stadium needs no guide: the audio guide is included, and the Stadium lists the Association of Licensed Tourist Guides for those who want a person. This bike tour passes it. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

We Bike Athens small-group e-bike tour

From €45 · 2.5 hours · 1,437 reviews

Athens: Small-Group E-Bike Tour of Ancient & Modern Sightsad is run by We Bike Athens in English, Spanish, Dutch or French. It starts near Thiseio Metro station and rides up to the Pnyx and Philopappos Hill, past the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian’s Arch, Parliament with the Evzones, and the National Garden, and stops at the Panathenaic Stadium for ten minutes. The listing says the stops are for photos, with no entry to sites that need a licensed guide, so buy the €12 ticket separately if you want to go in. The price includes the e-bike, a helmet, a guide and water. Cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund.

What to see

The Stadium is open air, so allow time to walk its horseshoe shape. The Stadium says the best hours in summer are the morning and the late afternoon, when it is cool. The route the ticket gives you:

The Panathenaic Stadium from the upper tiers. Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

1. The entrance. Take the audio guide, which runs 30 minutes.
2. The track. Run onto the field. From 08:00 to 09:00 you can jog on it, with a ticket and a signed declaration.
3. The vaulted passage. Walk through it.
4. The podium. The photograph the Stadium recommends, with the Stadium behind you.
5. Section 21. Climb to the upper bleachers for the view of the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Zappeion, the National Garden and Lycabettus.
6. The museum. Memories from Olympic Games: Posters and Torches from 1896 till today. It is reached by stairs only, with no lift.

The track and the curve of the stadium. Photo: Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

The history in dates: the Athenian politician Lycurgus built the first stadium in 330 to 329 BC; Herod Atticus rebuilt it in 140 to 143 AD, for the Great Panathenaea; the architect Ernst Ziller carried out its first organised excavation in 1869 to 1870; the marble renovation by Georgios Averoff came in time for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896; and in 2004 it hosted Olympic archery and the finish of the marathons. The Athens marathon finishes here, and the Stadium changes its visiting schedule that weekend.

Practical information

• Where: Vasileos Konstantinou Avenue, across from the statue of the Discobolus, 116 35.
• Getting there: about 1,000 metres from Akropoli, Syntagma and Evangelismos Metro stations (lines 2 and 3). Tram line T6 stops at Zappeio, and trolleybus lines 2, 4, 10 and 11 stop at Stadium.
• Hours: March to October 08:00 to 19:00; November to February 08:00 to 17:00. The last entry is at closing time.
• Rules: only water is allowed in. No food, no smoking, no Olympic symbols, no pets except service animals, no bicycles or scooters. Strollers are allowed. The steps can be slippery in winter.
• Canteen: daily 08:00 to 19:00 from March to October and 09:00 to 17:00 from November to February.
• Photos: amateur photography and filming are allowed everywhere in the Stadium. Publishing photos for commercial use is not.
• The one thing that ruins a visit: an event. The Stadium has closed its track and changed its hours for events, and posts the notice on its own site.

The Stadium is a walk from the Acropolis and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and best views in Athens compares Section 21 with the hills. What to book before you go to Athens has the closed days for every sight. The Athens Marathon finishes in the Stadium on 8 November 2026: see the best time to visit Athens. Athens in one or two days puts the Stadium on day two.