National Archaeological Museum

What it is and what you see

The National Archaeological Museum is the great museum of ancient Greece: it gathers pieces from all over the country, from prehistory to Roman times. It was founded in 1829 on Aegina, as the country's first national museum, and since the end of the 19th century has occupied a neoclassical building on Patision Street, begun in 1866 and finished in 1889.

What you shouldn't miss:

• The Mask of Agamemnon, the gold funeral mask of 1550–1500 BC found in grave circle A at Mycenae, in the Mycenaean room, next to the Warrior Vase.
• The Cycladic idols, marble figures from Delos and Keros, including the harpist, in the prehistoric collection.
• The Akrotiri frescoes, from Santorini, of the Bronze Age: the boy boxers and the antelopes, in room 48.
• The Artemision bronze, a bronze Zeus or Poseidon recovered from the sea, in room 15, and the Artemision Jockey, the boy on a horse found in the same wreck.
• The Antikythera Mechanism, the bronze gearing that calculated astronomical positions, in room 38, with the Antikythera Youth, another bronze recovered from the sea.
• The Egyptian collection, in rooms 40 and 41, with more than 6,000 objects, about 1,100 on display.

Opening hours

The museum publishes two timetables a year. In the 2026 summer season, from 4 May to 15 November, it opens Wednesday to Monday from 8:00 to 20:00 and on Tuesdays from 13:00 to 20:00, with the last entry at 19:30. In the previous winter season, from mid-November to early May, it opened Wednesday to Monday from 8:30 to 15:30 and on Tuesdays from 13:00 to 20:00. Check the museum's website for the winter 2026–2027 timetable before you go.

It closes on 25 and 26 December, 1 January, 25 March, 1 May and Orthodox Easter Sunday.

Tickets and price

General admission costs €20. It is bought at the ticket office or through the state's official ticketing system, linked from the museum's website. EU citizens under 25, people with disabilities (with a companion if the disability is 67% or more) and other categories get in free, with ID. EU citizens over 65 pay half from October to May.

There is free admission for everyone on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September, 28 October and the first and third Sunday of each month from November to March. On those days there are more people.

How to get there

It is at 44 28 Oktovriou (Patision) Street, in the Exarchia district. The nearest metro stations are Omonia, on lines 1 and 2, and Viktoria, on line 1, about ten minutes' walk from each. There is no visitor parking.

How long

Allow two to three hours for the main things. If you are in a hurry, concentrate on the ground floor: the Mycenaean room, the Cycladic pieces, the Artemision bronzes and the Antikythera room. The museum café can be used without a ticket, and is a good place for a break halfway through the visit.

Accessibility, with children and rules

There is an accessible entrance on Vas. Irakleiou Street, with a ramp, lifts to the ground floor and first floor and an accessible toilet in the basement. At the information desk they lend wheelchairs.

Rucksacks, suitcases and large bags are left in the cloakroom. You can take photos without flash and without a tripod.

With children, the museum tires them sooner than the ruins: pick five or six pieces, such as the mask, the jockey and the Antikythera Mechanism, and leave the rest. From ten years old they get much more out of it. It is the plan for the hot afternoon, when the Acropolis and the Agora are scorching.