Acropolis Museum

The Acropolis Museum is a single-site museum: everything in it was found on the Athenian Acropolis or on the slopes below it, and nothing in it comes from anywhere else. It opened to the public on 20 June 2009, replacing the small nineteenth-century museum that had stood in a hollow on the Rock itself since 1863 and had long since run out of room. The building also sits on stilts. 1 April–31 October: Monday 09:00–17:00; Tuesday–Thursday 09:00–20:00; Friday 09:00–22:00; Saturday–Sunday 09:00–20:00. 1 November–31 March: Monday–Thursday 09:00–17:00; Friday 09:00–22:00; Saturday–Sunday 09:00–20:00.

The route runs upward through four levels. The ground floor is the Gallery of the Acropolis Slopes, a ramp that climbs the way the ancient approach to the Rock climbed, holding finds from the sanctuaries, houses and theatres on the hillsides; glass panels in its floor look down onto the excavation. The western section holds sculpture from the Athena Nike temple and the Erechtheion. Original marbles stand beside plaster copies of the pieces held in London and elsewhere.

Allow two and a half hours. The Museum publishes no suggested visit length anywhere on its site, so that figure is this guide's judgement built from what the Museum does publish, not a number read off a page. It buys the three floors walked properly at about forty minutes each, plus the twenty to thirty minutes the excavation underneath deserves and most visitors forget to budget for, plus the queue and the X-ray check at the door. General admission is €20 and includes all exhibition areas and the archaeological excavation beneath the Museum. The Museum ticket is separate from admission to the Acropolis archaeological site.

The Museum runs two seasons. From 1 April to 31 October it opens 9 am to 8 pm from Tuesday to Sunday, with Monday short at 9 am to 5 pm and Friday long at 9 am to 10 pm. There is no weekly closing day. 1 April–31 October: Monday 09:00–17:00; Tuesday–Thursday 09:00–20:00; Friday 09:00–22:00; Saturday–Sunday 09:00–20:00. 1 November–31 March: Monday–Thursday 09:00–17:00; Friday 09:00–22:00; Saturday–Sunday 09:00–20:00. Wheelchair and stroller ramps are provided at every Museum entrance. Elevators and accessible toilets are available on every floor. Wheelchairs may be borrowed from the Visitor Services Desk.

General admission is 20 euros a head and reduced admission is 10 euros, with no seasonal difference in the current price table. One ticket covers all the exhibition areas and the archaeological excavation beneath the building. Tickets are single-use and valid only for the date printed on them, so a two-day return visit means paying twice. General admission is €20 and includes all exhibition areas and the archaeological excavation beneath the Museum. The Museum ticket is separate from admission to the Acropolis archaeological site. Wheelchair and stroller ramps are provided at every Museum entrance.

The address is Dionysiou Areopagitou 15, 11742 Athens, and the entrance sits at the start of the Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian street, the walkway that links the Museum to the Acropolis and the sites around it. The metro is the simple answer. The nearest tram stop is Leoforos Vouliagmenis. The nearest metro station is Akropoli on Line 2 (Anthoupoli–Elliniko). Makrigianni is the nearest city-bus and trolley stop; trolley lines 1, 5 and 15 serve it. The nearest tram station is Leoforos Vouliagmenis. Tourist coaches may drop groups on Hatzichristou Street, with the group entrance on Mitseon Street. Bicycle racks are beside the main entrance on Dionysiou Areopagitou and at Akropoli metro station.

Three things catch people out. First, the closing time is not the leaving time: last entry is thirty minutes earlier and staff start clearing galleries fifteen minutes before the door shuts, so arriving an hour before closing buys perhaps forty usable minutes. Groups of 16 to 40 must book in advance and may be turned away without a reservation. Wheelchair and stroller ramps are provided at every Museum entrance. Wheelchairs may be borrowed from the Visitor Services Desk. Guide dogs are permitted. A short Braille guide in Greek and English is available from the Information Desk.

Amateur photography and filming for personal use are permitted throughout the Museum with one firm exception: the Archaic Acropolis Gallery on the first floor, where cameras are not allowed at all, because many of those sculptures still carry traces of their ancient paint. That rules out the korai, the Peplos Kore and the Rampin Rider, which is the single fact most visitors wish they had known before arriving. What is left is still the best picture in the building. Guide dogs are permitted. A short Braille guide in Greek and English is available from the Information Desk.