Ticket prices and who pays what
The museum's visit page gives a full admission of €20 and says the entrance fee "remains stable throughout the year", so there is no cheaper winter ticket. The Hellenic Heritage venue page, which runs the state e-ticket shop, lists €20 full and €10 reduced (both checked 12 October 2026).
| Visitor | Price | Proof to carry |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | €20 | None |
| Greek or EU citizen over 65, 1 October to 31 May | €10 | ID card or passport |
| EU citizen under 25 | Free | ID card or passport |
| Non-EU visitor under 18 | Free | Passport |
| Person with a disability of 67% or more, plus one escort | Free | Disability document |
The reduced and free rules follow the Ministry of Culture's state-wide list, which the museum repeats. Note what is missing: non-EU seniors and non-EU students over 18 have no reduced rate on these pages, so they pay €20.
What a visit costs your group
- Two non-EU adults with children aged 16 and 12: €40, because both children enter free.
- Two EU parents with a 22-year-old: €40; the 22-year-old is free with ID.
- An EU couple aged 66 visiting in November: €20 in total at the reduced €10 each. The same couple pays €40 in July, because the senior reduction applies only from 1 October to 31 May.
Combined with an adult Acropolis ticket (€30 on the Hellenic Heritage Acropolis page; see Acropolis tickets and time slots), one adult spends €50 on the two headline visits.
Opening hours by season
The museum's own pages list two timetables. Read them together with the date of your visit (checked 12 October 2026):
| Period | Wednesday to Monday | Tuesday | Last admission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer, 4 May to 15 November 2026 | 08:00–20:00 | 13:00–20:00 | 19:30 |
| Winter, as last published (16 November 2025 to 3 May 2026) | 08:30–15:30 | 13:00–20:00 | 15:00 Wed–Mon, 19:30 Tue |
The museum closes on 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, and 25 and 26 December.
Tuesday is the day to watch. It opens only at 13:00 all year, so a morning plan on a Tuesday will not work; it does keep the museum open until 20:00 even in winter, when other days end at 15:30.
Free days
On these days entry is free for every visitor, under the ministry's rules that the museum and Hellenic Heritage both list:
- 6 March, 18 April, 18 May and 28 October
- the last weekend of September
- the first and third Sunday of each month from 1 November to 31 March
The next ones are Wednesday 28 October 2026, then Sundays 1 and 15 November 2026. Both November dates fall in the 1–15 November gap where the two official pages disagree on hours, so plan to finish by 15:30; later winter free Sundays are short days too (08:30–15:30 under the last published winter hours).
Is there a combined ticket?
No. The ministry's pricing decision of 19 December 2023 abolished joint and combined tickets in two phases (1 April 2024 and 1 April 2025), with exceptions only for Ancient Olympia, Delphi, Mycenae and Aigai and for site-and-museum pairs. The museum's visit page mentions no combined ticket.
The ministry's older Odysseus page for the museum still shows a €12 ticket, a "special ticket package" at €15 and different hours. Those figures predate the current prices; ignore them. For how the other central sites are priced now, see Athens combined ticket: what to buy instead.
Buying the ticket and getting in
You can buy a ticket at the museum's reception desk or online through the Hellenic Heritage e-ticket shop linked from the museum's home page; the museum's visit rules accept either as a valid entry ticket and list no time slot. Free-entry visitors should carry the passport or ID that proves their age or citizenship.
Bags larger than 30 × 30 × 15 cm, including luggage, must go into the cloakroom. The cloakroom does not take coats, cash and cards, passports or ID, or valuables such as cameras, laptops and phones, and the museum is not liable for items left there. If you are coming straight from a hotel checkout with a suitcase, that rule matters. The museum café can be visited without a ticket, according to Hellenic Heritage.
The museum is at 44 28is Oktovriou (Patission) Street. The museum says to use Omonia or Victoria metro stations; Athens transport tickets explains tapping a bank card on the metro.