Acropolis of Athens

Greece is home to several acropolises, or "high cities," but none carries the weight of history that the Acropolis of Athens does. Rising above the modern city on a rocky outcrop, it remains Greece's most recognizable archaeological site and the physical symbol of Classical Athens.

Tickets and admission

Single Acropolis ticket

• Full: €30
• Reduced: €15

The ministry publishes one pair of rates rather than a summer and a winter price. Tickets are sold at the ticket offices on site and online through the Hellenic Ministry of Culture's official e-ticketing service.

Free admission dates

• 6 March, in memory of Melina Mercouri
• 18 May, International Museums Day
• The last weekend of September, for European Heritage Days
• 28 October

Days the site does not open normally

Every state-owned archaeological site, monument and museum in Greece is closed on Easter Sunday and on May Day. On Good Friday the Acropolis opens 12.00–17.00 and on Holy Saturday 08.30–15.30.

The Acropolis is reachable only from the west, since cliffs border it on the other three sides. Visitors can walk up, take the metro to the Acropolis or Monastiraki stations, or arrive by car or taxi to the base of the Propylaea.

Visiting hours

In winter the site opens 08.00–17.00, with the last entrance at 16.30. In summer it opens 08.00–20.00, with the last entrance at 19.30. These hours have applied since 1 September 2025.

September and October step down in fortnights rather than switching over on one day: 08.00–19.30 for the first half of September, 08.00–19.00 for the second, 08.00–18.30 for the first half of October and 08.00–18.00 for the second, with the last entrance half an hour before closing throughout. The North Slope keeps its own shorter day, 08.30–15.30, from 1 November.

Accessibility

An elevator provides access to the main upper level of the archaeological site for visitors with reduced mobility, though not every part of the grounds or individual monuments is easily reachable by wheelchair.

The Acropolis draws its heaviest crowds in the late morning through early afternoon during peak season (roughly May-September) -- visiting at opening time or in the last couple of hours before closing generally means smaller crowds and, in summer, meaningfully cooler conditions on a hill with almost no shade.

The marble surfaces and steps underfoot are the same ones that have carried visitors for centuries and are more fragile than they look -- sturdy, closed-toe shoes with real grip matter both for safety on worn, slippery stone and for reducing wear on the site itself, and roped-off areas exist for real conservation reasons, not just crowd control.

The Parthenon Marbles removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century remain a live, unresolved question between Greece and the British Museum -- visitors interested in the debate can see where the missing pieces belong at the Acropolis Museum, which displays plaster casts in their place pending any return.

Entrance fees fund the site's ongoing restoration directly, and the various free-admission dates exist specifically to widen access beyond visitors who can afford a ticket -- both worth knowing before assuming a "free day" visit is somehow a loophole rather than the intended policy.