Unofficial visitor guide · Athens
Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο · Google Maps
Official audio guide · English Yes · 6 languages
The National Archaeological Museum in Athens is the largest archaeological museum in Greece, founded at the end of the 19th century to house antiquities from all over the country. The museum's own tour guide for your phone has narration in six languages (Greek, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) plus a Greek Sign Language version. If your language isn't one of them, or you'd rather have the labels read to you, here is what helps. Below: the highlights in room order, this winter's free Sundays and how to pair the visit with the Acropolis Museum.
Independent guide by the makers of Tales of Museums. Not affiliated with the National Archaeological Museum.
Checked on 26 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official National Archaeological Museum website before you go.
Checked on 26 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official National Archaeological Museum website before you go.
Swipe for the works and stories worth knowing before you go.
Heinrich Schliemann found this hammered gold mask at Mycenae in 1876, in Grave V of Grave Circle A, and named it after Homer's king. It dates to around the 16th century BC, some 300 to 400 years before the Trojan War of legend. Of the eight men buried in Grave Circle A, only five wore masks. Room 4.
Wikipedia: Mask of Agamemnon · namuseum.gr: Collection of Mycenaean Antiquities (Room 4, gold death masks)
These two gold cups come from a beehive tomb at Vaphio, south of Sparta, excavated in 1889. Both show bulls being caught: on one they are driven into nets, and on the other a cow lures a bull before it is roped. Scholars now see two makers: the finer 'quiet' cup is Cretan and the other is from mainland Greece. Room 4.
Wikipedia: Vaphio (the gold cups) · namuseum.gr: Collection of Mycenaean Antiquities (Room 4, Vapheio cups)
Two marble musicians from the island of Keros, one playing a harp and one an aulos, greet you at the entrance of Room 6, beside the largest Cycladic female statue found so far. The museum sees three-dimensional figures like these as a sign of progress and innovation in Cycladic art. Room 6, at its entrance.
namuseum.gr: Collection of Cycladic Antiquities (Room 6) · namuseum.gr: Collection of Cycladic Antiquities (Room 6) · namuseum.gr: The Cycladic civilisation · Foundation of the Hellenic World: the Keros harp player (NAM 3908)
Her base was known first: a traveller recorded the inscribed block in a church at Merenda in 1729–30. In 1972 the statue turned up carefully buried nearby, and a lead ring at her feet fitted that block, which names her sculptor. Its verse says the gods gave her the name maiden instead of marriage. Room 11.
Wikipedia: Phrasikleia Kore · namuseum.gr: Sculpture Collection (no 4889, Room 11)
This 2.09-metre god, a rare original Greek bronze, was raised from a shipwreck off Cape Artemision in northern Euboea in 1926 and 1928. His raised right hand has lost what it held: a thunderbolt would make him Zeus, a trident Poseidon. The museum names both; most scholars favour Zeus. Room 15.
namuseum.gr: Sculpture Collection (Room 15) · Wikipedia: Artemision Bronze
Sponge divers found this 1.96-metre bronze youth in 1900. He was the first of the great Greek bronzes the sea gave up in the 20th century. His right hand held something round, so he may be Paris with the apple, Heracles with an apple of the Hesperides, or Perseus with the Gorgon's head. Room 28.
Wikipedia: Antikythera Ephebe · namuseum.gr: Sculpture Collection (X13396, Room 28)
This marble group was found on Delos in 1904, in the hall of a guild of merchants, shipowners and warehousemen from Beirut. It shows Pan trying his luck: he grabs Aphrodite's wrist, she raises a sandal to fend him off, and little winged Eros pushes Pan away by his horn. Room 30.
Wikipedia: Group of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros · namuseum.gr: Sculpture Collection (no 3335, Room 30)
Pieces of this galloping racehorse came up from the same wreck off Cape Artemision between 1928 and the late 1930s. Reassembled, it went on show here in 1972. The bareback rider is a boy only 84 cm tall, looking back over his shoulder. A figure of Nike, a racehorse brand, is engraved on the horse's right thigh. Room 34.
namuseum.gr: Sculpture Collection (Artemision Jockey, Room 34) · Wikipedia: Jockey of Artemision
Sponge divers raised this lump of corroded bronze from a Roman cargo wreck off Antikythera in 1901. A year later, a Greek politician visiting this museum spotted a gearwheel in it. Scans show at least 30 gears. It predicted eclipses and tracked the four-year cycle of the Panhellenic games, Olympia's among them. Room 38.
namuseum.gr: Collection of Metalwork (Room 38, the Mechanism X15087) · Wikipedia: Antikythera mechanism
When Thera's volcano erupted in the 16th century BC, ash buried the town of Akrotiri and preserved its painted rooms. Room 48 shows the Spring Fresco with its lilies and birds, the Boxing Children and the Antelopes. There is also a plaster cast of a wooden bed that still shows traces of the ropes that held its mattress. Room 48, on the upper floor.
namuseum.gr: Collection of Antiquities of Thera (Room 48) · namuseum.gr: Akrotiri on Thera
Tales of Museums reads the label in front of you aloud in your language, for any label you can photograph. The museum asks visitors to keep phones on silent in the exhibition areas, so bring headphones.
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The museum's multilingual tour guide for your own Android or iOS phone has narration in Greek, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, plus a Greek Sign Language version. The museum asks visitors to keep phones on silent in the exhibition areas, so listen with headphones. namuseum.gr: tour guide credits · namuseum.gr: visit regulation
Yes. Article 11 of the visit regulation allows you to photograph antiquities with a handheld camera, without flash and free of charge. Objects marked with a plate may not be photographed, and tripods, filming and video need permission from the Museum's Directorate. namuseum.gr: visit regulation
Admission is €20, the same all year. You can buy at the museum's ticket desk or online from Hellenic Heritage, the official ticket store, which sells timed entries; online ticket holders get priority access. Entry is free for visitors from EU countries aged up to 25 and from non-EU countries aged up to 18, with ID or passport, and visitors over 65 from Greece or other EU countries pay half price from 1 October to 31 May. Everyone gets in free on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September, 28 October and the first and third Sunday of each month from 1 November to 31 March. namuseum.gr: opening hours and tickets · tickets.hh.gr: official ticket store
The National Archaeological Museum is free on the first and third Sunday of each month from 1 November to 31 March: 1 and 15 November, 6 and 20 December 2026, 3 and 17 January, 7 and 21 February, and 7 and 21 March 2027. None of them falls on a day the museum is closed. On other days admission is €20. The Acropolis Museum is not free on these Sundays. namuseum.gr: opening hours and tickets · theacropolismuseum.gr: plan your visit
In the summer season, from 4 May to 15 November 2026, the National Archaeological Museum opens Wednesday to Monday 08:00–20:00 and Tuesday 13:00–20:00. Last admission is at 19:30. The museum is closed on 25 and 26 December, 1 January, 25 March, 1 May and Orthodox Easter Sunday. namuseum.gr: opening hours and tickets · namuseum.gr: opening hours
The museum is at 44, 28th of October (Patission) Street. The nearest metro and electric railway stations are Omonia and Victoria. Trolleybuses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 14 serve the museum, as do buses B5, A6, B6, E6, A7, B7, E7, A8, B8, A12, B12, Γ12, E12, 022, 035, 046, 060, 200, 224, 605, 608 and 622. There is no parking at the museum; private car parks are on Mpoumpoulinas Street, Zaimi Street and Alexandras Avenue. namuseum.gr: how to get here
At the National Archaeological Museum, follow the room numbers. On the ground floor: Room 4 holds the Mycenaean gold, with the Mask of Agamemnon and the Vaphio cups; the harp player and aulos player from Keros stand at the entrance of Room 6; Phrasikleia is in Room 11, the Artemision Bronze in Room 15, the Antikythera Youth in Room 28, Aphrodite, Pan and Eros in Room 30, the Jockey of Artemision in Room 34 and the Antikythera Mechanism in Room 38. Then go up to the upper floor for the wall paintings from Akrotiri on Thera in Room 48. namuseum.gr: permanent exhibitions by floor and room · namuseum.gr: Mycenaean Antiquities (Rooms 3-4) · namuseum.gr: Sculpture Collection (room numbers) · namuseum.gr: Collection of Metalwork (Room 38) · namuseum.gr: Antiquities of Thera (Room 48)
Yes. Until 15 November 2026 the National Archaeological Museum opens Wednesday to Monday 08:00–20:00 and Tuesday 13:00–20:00 (last admission 19:30); from 1 November the Acropolis Museum opens Monday to Thursday 09:00–17:00, Friday 09:00–22:00 and Saturday and Sunday 09:00–20:00. On a Tuesday, start at the Acropolis Museum. Omonia, one of the National Archaeological Museum's two metro stations, is on Line 2, which runs to Akropoli, the Acropolis Museum's station. Each museum charges €20. Their free days differ: both are free on 6 March, 18 May and 28 October; only the National Archaeological Museum is free on 18 April, the last weekend of September and the first and third Sunday from November to March; on 25 March only the Acropolis Museum is free, as the National Archaeological Museum is closed. namuseum.gr: opening hours and tickets · theacropolismuseum.gr: plan your visit · Wikipedia: Omonia metro station (Lines 1 and 2)
Yes. There is a separate entrance for people with disabilities on Vas. Herakleiou Street, reached by a ramp from the main front or directly from the pavement. Lifts go to the basement and the first floor, there is an accessible toilet in the basement, and a wheelchair is available on request at the information desk. Visitors with total or partial loss of sight can ask the information desk for a list of 20 sculptures they can access. namuseum.gr: visitors with disabilities
Luggage, rucksacks and large bags must go in the cloakroom in the reception lobby, but it does not take coats, cash, cards, ID documents or valuables such as cameras, computers and phones, so keep those with you. Food and drink are allowed only in the areas set aside for them. The museum café can be entered free, without a ticket. namuseum.gr: visit regulation and café
No. On Tuesdays the National Archaeological Museum opens at 13:00 and closes at 20:00 in the 2026 summer season (last admission 19:30), so plan a Tuesday visit for the afternoon. namuseum.gr: opening hours
Yes, in the summer season, until 15 November 2026, the National Archaeological Museum stays open until 20:00 every day, with last admission at 19:30. namuseum.gr: opening hours and tickets · namuseum.gr: opening hours
Children and young people get into the National Archaeological Museum free: up to age 18 from non-EU countries and up to 25 from EU countries, on showing a passport or ID card. In the Christmas, Easter and summer school holidays the museum runs children's programmes with an art workshop for set age groups, such as 5–8 and 9–12; they are announced on its Greek-language pages, are free for children and need online booking, and accompanying adults do not take part. namuseum.gr: visit (free admission) · namuseum.gr: Children & Families programmes (Greek) · namuseum.gr: Summer for children at the National Archaeological Museum (Greek)
Tales of Museums is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the National Archaeological Museum. Translations, narration and the extra facts use AI and can contain mistakes, so for anything important, check the museum's official information and the linked sources. Please follow the museum's photography rules.