A ticket worth 5,000 euros will be available to visitors who wish to enjoy the sunrise or sunset from atop the quintessence of Classical Antiquity, the Acropolis archaeological site’s incomparable monuments, with the centerpiece being the Parthenon Temple .
The implementation of the pilot program for the Acropolis will begin on April 1, available to groups of up to five individuals accompanied, by two site guards and a guide (whose fee will be included in the ticket), and will include souvenir gifts.
While the proposal raised concerns among the members of the Central Archaeological Council, who discussed the new pricing policy that the culture ministry will apply for archaeological sites and museums, it ultimately received unanimous approval.
The special (and pricey) visitation will be available three times a week (Tuesday, Friday and Saturday) from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (except on nights with a full moon) until Oct. 31. In each time zone the entry of up to four groups of five individuals will be allowed, while the cost will remain the same, whether for a single person or a group of five. Meanwhile, starting from April 1, the unified three-day tickets for the greater Athens-Piraeus area (Attica prefecture), Irakleio (Heraklion) on Crete, and the northern city of Thessaloniki will be abolished due to the establishment of the five major museums as public law legal entities (the National Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Archaeological of Thessaloniki, Byzantine Culture and Heraklion), which will determine their own pricing policy.
The second wave of changes is scheduled to be implemented from April 2025, at the 164 archaeological sites and 188 public museums across the country. The current ticket prices, ranging from three to 50 euros, will be limited to six categories based on museum and site visitation. The entrance fee for the Acropolis will be set at 30 euros, museums hosting more than 200,000 visitors on an annual basis will charge 20 euros, between 75,000 to 200,000 visitors 15 euros, below 75,000 visitors the ticket will cost 10 euros, and for sites with very low visitation, it will be five euros, while the ticket for the maritime area of Peristera remains at 50 euros.
Also, seasonal tickets for winter and summer periods will be abolished – the same price will be applicable throughout the year. As compensation, museums and archaeological sites will offer free entry except for the 1st Sunday of each month (currently applicable) and the third Sunday from November to March. Additionally, from June to the end of September, individuals over 65 years old will not be eligible for reduced tickets. Simultaneously, the right to free entry is extended to citizens from countries outside the European Union up to the age of 18 – until now, they paid for reduced tickets – while the digital Culture Card will be introduced, issued through gov.gr, containing all the necessary documents for those entitled to free entry.
Finally, it is estimated that by the end of 2025, the electronic ticketing system will expand from 28 locations across Greece to 120, alongside a new, more flexible platform allowing users to purchase combination tickets with discounts.
