Our Guide To Buying Tickets To The Acropolis
Jun 21, 2023
So, you have arrived in to Athens and you are eager to see the sites of this fascinating city. While doing a search to find the top 5 things to do in Athens, you get bombarded with different websites selling you their tickets, and in the end, it all gets a little bit confusing. You start to ask yourself, Is the website legitimate? Are they selling me a real ticket? Are these prices correct!
Do not fear, we are here to help! We have put together some hints and tips for you, so you can buy the correct ticket, at the correct price.
Ticket Buzz Words
Skip the line
Skip-the-line ticket means you will not have to line up to buy your tickets. You may be thinking to yourself, great we will skip the line! Well this is a half truth. You will skip the line for buying your ticket. But, you will still need to line up to get your ticket scanned, which allows you entry in to the site / museum.
This can be beneficial when there are a large number of cruise ships that have come in to Athens.
Athens’ highlights
Wherever you see the word highlights in a tour description, this means you will will drive past the site (if you are in a van tour) or you will walk past the site (for walking tours). You will not enter the site or museum. Its a quick, 'look to your write and you will see changing of the guard, now as we go down this street...'.
Group Tour v Private Tour
So this might be straight forward to some, but it is worth mentioning the difference between these 2 types of tours.
We like to highlight the differences between these tours as when searching on the internet you will notice price differences from one tour to another. Usually the more expensive priced tour is a private tour.
Group tour
When booking this type of tour, you are booking to be part of a group with other random tourists who have booked the same tour as you. These tours can have 20 - 40 people in the group (this is dependant on the tour operator), and due to the size of the groups you are usually on a tight schedule, allowing you to see everything.
The price of group tours are a lot cheaper and private tours simply due to the fact of the quantity of people on each tour.
Private tour
A private tour offers you a more personal tour experience. When booking a private tour you and your friends, family, or partner are the only people on the tour. To keep the tour personal the groups sizes range from 2 - 12 people - keeping the group size small allows for more time to be spent at certain sites and allows for more communication between you and your guide.
Walking tour VS Mini van tour
Something so simple can be so confusing! A walking tour is a walking tour and a van tour is, well, 'I get driven everywhere, right'? Well, yes and no.
Walking tour
When booking you walking tour you will be seeing the sites Athens has to offer with a licensed guide. As you will be walking through Athens you will see certain parts of the city that a mini van tour wont allow you to see due to restricted access for vans.
During summer, although the city warms up, you will see more of Athens on a walking tour.
Mini van tour
A mini van tour offers you the comfort of being driven around in a air-conditioned mini van. This is great during the summer months. There are a few things to note when selecting a mini van tour:
- You driver will be your guide. They are knowledgable in regards to the sites of Athens, but they do not compare to a licensed guide.
- When visiting the archaeological sites and museums, your driver will not be able to leave the van. This means you will be visiting these sites on your own.
- The price of the a mini van tour does not include a licensed guide. When viewing these tours, make sure you read whats included and excluded. More often than not the guide will be an extra cost
As Athens is becoming of the most popular destinations in Europe, the city is seeing more and more traffic on the roads. As the city has small streets, the traffic can eat in to your tour time. This occurs while driving between each site or museum due to traffic jams. A journey that should take 15 minutes can sometimes take up to 45 - 50 minutes.
The roads get even heavier with traffic when cruse ships arrive in to the ports of Athens.
To save time, most of the mini van tours include the term Athens Highlights (mentioned above) to combat the traffic issues.
Where To Buy Acropolis of Athens Tickets?
As of September 2023, the new Acropolis website was launched. This saw the introduction of E-tickets and time slots for visiting the Acropolis.
The time slots have been introduced to curb over crowding of the site and the e-tickets, well, it was about time everything moved to digital.
When booking your tickets online you will be prompted to choose your visiting time to the site. Keep in mind you will be turned away if you miss your time slot. In saying this, you are given a grace period so you are not rushing to be right on time.
If your time slot is for a 10am visit, the grace period for entry is; 9:45-11:15am. Anytime before or after this period, you will be refused entry.
There are 3 options to buy tickets to enter the Acropolis in Athens.
- Official Acropolis Website
You are able to buy your tickets online via the following Official Acropolis Website - Onsite at the Acropolis ticket booth
As of writring of this post, you are still able to line up and get tickets right at the entrance of the Acropolis. There are 2 entrances, the south slopes and the western entrance. - Via a guided tour
You are able to get tickets either while you are on your tour, or your tickets are included in the price of your tour.
Acropolis Opening hours - 2023
April - October: 8am - 8pm. Last entry is at 7:30pm
November - March: 8am - 5pm. Last entry is at 4:30pm
Entrance ticket price
April - October: €20 for adults, €10 for children (25 years and under)
November - March: €10 for adults, €5 for children (25 years and under)
A small tip when purchasing your tickets. Do not pay more than €20 for your ticket entry to the Acropolis. If you visiting a website thats not the official website, and the ticket does not cost €20, question the price or simply use the Official website to purchase tickets.
Also, do not get confused with the Acropolis and the Parthenon. They are sort of the same thing (to put it simply).
The Acropolis is the name for the actual site while the Parthenon is the name given to one of the buildings that sits on top of the site.
Archaeological Combination Ticket
Also known as the Acropolis combo ticket, this ticket gives you access to all 7 of the archaeological sites in Athens. The ticket is valid for 5 days of first entry to a site.
The ticket gives you access to the following sites:
- The Acropolis & the slopes of the Acropolis
- Aristotle's School
- The Roman Agora
- The Ancient Agora
- Hadrian's Library
- Olympieion also known as Temple of Olympian Zeus
- Kerameikos
The combo tickets are available to purchase at one of the above 7 archaeological sites or via the Official Acropolis Website
ENTRANCE TICKET PRICE: €30
The Acropolis Museum Tickets
To visit the Acropolis museum you will need to purchase a separate entry ticket. This ticket allows entry only for the Acropolis Museum.
Unfortunately all museum tickets sit outside of the archaeological tickets. Do not worry, it is an easy process to buy your Acropolis Museum ticket.
There are 3 options to purchase tickets:
- Official Acropolis Museum Website
You are able to buy your tickets online via the following Official Acropolis Museum Website - Onsite at the Acropolis Museum ticket booth
You are able to line up and get tickets right at the entrance of the Acropolis Museum. - Via a guided tour
You are able to get tickets either while you are on your tour, or your tickets are included in the price of your tour.
Acropolis Museum Opening hours - 2023
April - October:
Monday - Thursday
9 am - 5 pm / Last entry: 4:30 pm
Friday
9 am - 10 pm / Last entry: 9:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday
9 am - 8 pm / Last entry: 7:30 pm
November - March:
Monday
9 am - 5 pm / Last entry: 4:30 pm
Tuesday - Sunday
9 am - 8 pm / Last entry: 7:30 pm
Friday
9 am - 10 pm / Last entry: 9:30 pm
Entrance ticket price
April - October: €15 for adults, €10 for children (25 years and under)
November - March: €10 for adults, €5 for children (25 years and under)
With purchasing any type of ticket, you are able to purchase tickets in advanced. You do not need to wait for the day you decide to visit the site.
Ticket Tips for 2023
Here are some dates which will allow you to skip the ticket office and grant you access to the Acropolis for free!
- Between the months of November and March, the Acropolis of Athens is free to enter on the first Sunday of every month.
- 6 March – Anniversary of death of Melina Mercouri, former Minister of Culture in Greece
- 18 April – International Monuments Day
- 18 May – International Museums Day
- The last weekend of September – European Heritage Days
- 28 October – OXI day, one of the Greek national holidays
Is a tour guide worth it?
When visiting any city on the world the age old question arises, is a tour guide worth it? As Volta Tours provides tours, of course we would say YES!
Ultimately it comes down to what you are a looking for when you are visiting tourist sites throughout the world.
When it comes to Athens and her ancient sites, a tour guide can be beneficial, not only for a tour of the Acropolis but also a tour of the city of Athens. Every corner of this city has a story to tell, and if ancient history is something you are interested in, then a guided tour from one of our licensed guides could be perfect for you.
When organising a guided tour with Volta Tours, your ticket to the Acropolis, Acropolis Museum or any of Athens' other archaeological sites, will be included in the price of the tour.
If you are happy to buy your own tickets and visit the sites on your own, PERFECT! You will have a great time discovering the city!
And, of course, if you have any questions about an archaeological site or a museum, or you need some information on where to eat or drink in Athens, feel free to get in contact at hello@voltatours.com. We will be happy to help!
In the meantime if you are looking to plan a trip to Athens, why no take a look at our website for our current list of tours.