Visit Athens Guide
Museums in Athens: Which Ones, and When They Shut
The museums in Athens are run by four different organisations and share no calendar at all: two of them close on Tuesdays, a third opens at one o'clock on Tuesdays, and one publishes no admission price on its own website. This page puts the six that matter side by side with what each charges and when each shuts, all read on their own pages in Q3 2026. Every price in one table is on the tickets hub; the wider plan is on the Athens city guide homepage.
Quick answer Which two to do, and the day that catches everyone
Two museums carry a first trip: the Acropolis Museum at €20 for what was found on the rock, and the National Archaeological Museum at €20 for everything else in Greece. Neither needs a booked slot.
Key takeaways
- Tuesday is the trap. The comparison shows two museums shut and one opening at 13:00, all on the same day.
- The Acropolis Museum runs to 22:00 on Fridays year-round, which is the single most useful opening hour in the city.
- The National Archaeological Museum is the better collection and the worse location — twenty minutes north of everything else.
- In winter, when the archaeological sites shut at 15:00, museums are what an Athens afternoon is for: the opening-hours table shows the gap.
- The state museums are free on the days the free-entry page lists; the private ones keep their own, shorter, calendars.
Six museums, priced and timed
Prices and hours from each museum's own official page, read on 1 September 2026. Note that no two of these organisations use the same calendar, and one of them publishes no price at all.
| Museum | Price | Closed | Late opening | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acropolis Museum | €20 (€10 at the desk) | Never weekly | Friday to 22:00 | 2 h |
| National Archaeological Museum | €20 (€10) | Never weekly | To 20:00 in summer | 2 h |
| Museum of Cycladic Art | €12 (€9) | Tuesday | Thursday to 20:00 | 1 h |
| Byzantine and Christian Museum | Not stated | Tuesday | None; shuts 15:30 | 1.5 h |
| Benaki Museum of Greek Culture | Not read | See the museum's site | See the museum's site | 1.5 h |
| Panathenaic Stadium museum | €12 (€6), desk only | Not published | None; shuts 19:00 | 45 min |
Two of those rows say "not stated" or "not read" and that is deliberate. The Byzantine and Christian Museum publishes hours on its own ticket page and no price; benaki.org sat behind a bot check when we tried. We are not carrying a figure across from a third-party page, and neither should anything you plan around. The National Archaeological Museum's own trap is not in this table at all: it opens at 13:00 on Tuesdays.
Museum tickets on sale
The cards for the two big museums, with the operator's own rating and review count.
from €26
Athens: Acropolis Museum Ticket with optional Audio Guide
Entry to the Acropolis Museum with optional audio guide. The official price is €20; reduced tickets are only issued at the museum desk, never online.
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from €63
Combo: Acropolis & Acropolis Museum with Optional Tours
Both tickets in one purchase — a timed slot for the rock and an any-day ticket for the museum. No official pass covers both, so this is the reseller's convenience.
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from €36
Athens: Acropolis Ticket & Heritage Sites + Acropolis Audio
The bundle the official shop does not sell: the Acropolis slot plus entry to up to five more archaeological sites, including both Agoras and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
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from €49
Athens: Parthenon, Acropolis and Museum Small Group Tour
Three hours in a small group with pre-reserved tickets, covering the Acropolis, the Parthenon and the museum below it in one run.
Check AvailabilityPrices, ratings and details are the platform's own, checked in Q3 2026; euro figures are the listed prices — the platform bills in your account's currency.
Every museum, by what it holds
The same six, sorted by subject. Prices are the official adult rate read on 1 September 2026; the dots are our booking tier.
The ancient world
-
Acropolis Museum
Site museum from €202 hbook-ahead tier 2 of 3
Everything found on and around the rock, with the Parthenon frieze on the top floor facing the real building.
Tip: Friday to 22:00 all year; the excavation under the floor is on the same ticket.
-
National Archaeological Museum
National collection from €202 hbook-ahead tier 2 of 3
Mycenaean gold, the Antikythera mechanism, the Thera frescoes and eleven thousand objects from all of Greece.
Tip: Opens at 13:00 on Tuesdays, every week of the year.
-
Museum of Cycladic Art
Private museum from €121 hbook-ahead tier 1 of 3
The folded-arm marble figurines of the Bronze Age Cyclades, plus Greek and Cypriot collections.
Tip: Closed Tuesdays; Thursday runs to 20:00; the café needs no ticket.
After antiquity
-
Byzantine and Christian Museum
State museum Not stated1.5 hbook-ahead tier 1 of 3
A thousand years of icons, carved marble screens and detached wall paintings, in a villa garden.
Tip: Closed Tuesdays, shuts at 15:30, and publishes no price on its own site.
-
Benaki Museum of Greek Culture
Private museum Not read1.5 hbook-ahead tier 1 of 3
The whole Greek story in one house, from the Neolithic to the twentieth century.
Tip: Four more Benaki buildings in Athens, each with its own ticket.
Sport and the modern city
-
Panathenaic Stadium
Monument and museum from €1245 minbook-ahead tier 1 of 3
The marble stadium of the 1896 Olympics, with a museum of torches and posters under the tiers.
Tip: Tickets at the desk only; the audio guide is included and the lavatory is €1.50.
Numbers match the list — tap a pin for the guide.
Which museum, by what you came for
They overlap less than their names suggest.
If you are doing the Acropolis: the Acropolis Museum
It exists to hold what came off the rock, and the top floor is built to the Parthenon's dimensions and alignment with the temple in the window. Go after the site, not before. €20, no timed entry, two hours.
If you want the famous objects: the National Archaeological Museum
The Mask of Agamemnon, the Antikythera mechanism, the Thera frescoes and the Artemision Bronze are all here and nowhere else. It is twenty minutes north of the ancient centre in a workaday neighbourhood, which is why it is quieter than it deserves.
If you have an afternoon in Kolonaki: Cycladic, Byzantine, Benaki
Three small museums within eight minutes of each other on Vasilissis Sofias. Two of them shut on Tuesdays. The Cycladic figurines are the standout; the Byzantine museum has the better building and garden; the Benaki has the widest sweep.
If it is winter
Museums are the afternoon, because the archaeological sites are shut by three. The Acropolis Museum on a Friday runs to 22:00 and the National Archaeological Museum on a Tuesday to 20:00 — those two evenings are the longest indoor hours in the city.
Athens museums: questions
Which museums in Athens are worth it?
The Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum on any trip; the Museum of Cycladic Art if you have an afternoon in Kolonaki. Which museum, by what you came for sets out the choice.
Which museums close on Tuesday?
The Museum of Cycladic Art and the Byzantine and Christian Museum, both weekly. The National Archaeological Museum does not close but opens at 13:00 that day. The comparison has all six.
Is there a museum pass for Athens?
No official one. The state museums share the ministry's free-entry calendar, but there is no card covering them and the private museums. The city pass page explains what the commercial passes actually bundle.
How much do Athens museums cost?
€20 at both big ones, €12 at the Cycladic and at the Panathenaic Stadium. Two of the six publish no price we could read on an official page, and we have left those blank rather than guess.
Are the museums free at any point?
The state ones are, on five fixed dates and two Sundays a month from November to March. The Acropolis Museum has its own four free days. The free-entry page prints both calendars.
Which museum is best with children?
The Panathenaic Stadium, because they can run on the track, and the National Archaeological Museum's Mycenaean gold room, which holds attention better than any gallery of pottery. The stadium takes forty-five minutes.
Where to go from here
The pages behind the table.
Tickets
All four sellers and every figure we read on an official page: the tickets hub.
Every price in one placeAncient sites
Eight fenced sites, priced against the time each takes: the ancient sites.
The outdoor halfOpening hours
The Tuesday that opens at one, and the winter afternoons that end at three: opening hours.
Before you plan an afternoonReviewed Q3 2026 (July–September 2026); next review Q4 2026. Prices, hours and terms are set by the venue or operator and confirmed at checkout.
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