Acropolis Athens or the Acropolis Museum First? How to Order the Two Visits

The Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum are about 300 meters apart, and most visitors want both in one day. The question is the order. Get it right and you see the rock in the cool of the morning and the sculpture when the sun is highest. Get it wrong and you climb at noon in July, or reach the museum door as it closes. If you are choosing an athens acropolis and museum tour, the order is usually decided for you, and this post shows why.

The hours that decide the order

The Acropolis opens at 08:00 every day it is open. In summer it closes at 20:00, with last entry at 19:30, and in winter at 17:00. From 1 September to 31 October the closing time steps down every fortnight. The museum opens an hour later, at 09:00, and its closing time depends on the day of the week. These are the museum's hours:

Last entry to the museum is 30 minutes before closing. The rock's hours by fortnight are on visiting the Acropolis, and the museum's closed dates are on the Acropolis Museum page.

The case for the Acropolis first

The rock is the half of the day that weather controls. The plateau is exposed marble with little shade, and HNMS normals put the average July and August high at 33 °C. The museum is indoors, with a café, a restaurant and lifts. So in the warm months the logic is simple: climb while it is cool, then go inside when it is not.

• You start at 08:00, an hour before the museum even opens.
• You walk down the south slope past the Theatre of Dionysus, and the museum is a few minutes on.
• You see the sculpture after you have stood where it came from, and the Parthenon Gallery makes sense of what you saw.

This is the order almost every guided walk uses. The Acropolis and museum walk from Mitseon 2 spends about 70 minutes on the rock, then up to two hours in the museum on its museum option, from $39. The small-group day with a Greek lunch puts lunch between the two, with both tickets in its $164 fare.

The case for the museum first

There are three days when the museum should come first, or at least not last.

• A Monday. The museum closes at 17:00 all year, so a late-afternoon climb leaves no time for it afterwards.
• A wet winter day. HNMS describes mid-October to March as the rainy season. Start indoors and climb when the rain stops.
• A late light slot on the rock. Some travelers book a 17:00 or 18:00 entry for the evening light. On any day but Monday that leaves the morning for the museum.

Seeing the museum first has one more benefit: context. The originals of the Caryatids stand inside, and their copies stand on the Erechtheion. If you have seen the originals up close, you know what the copies on the porch stand in for.

Friday: the day to flip it

On Fridays the museum stays open until 22:00 all year, with last entry at 21:30. That makes Friday the one day you can take the rock in the late afternoon and still have hours in the museum. You climb in the golden light, walk down as the site closes, and have dinner or a drink in the museum's restaurant overlooking the Acropolis.

If you want that light with a guide, the private Acropolis tour with a Golden-Light option runs a late-afternoon version and ends inside the site. Acropolis night tours explains what runs after dark and what does not.

Doing both in one day: a time plan

1. 08:00 to 10:00: the Acropolis, entering at opening.
2. 10:00 to 10:30: down the south slope and across to the museum, 300 meters away.
3. 10:30 to 12:30: the museum galleries, ending at the Parthenon Gallery on the top floor.
4. 12:30: lunch, at the museum or in Plaka below.

The two tickets cost €30 for the Acropolis and €20 for the museum, €50 for an adult in all. If time is short, cut the museum to an hour and see the Parthenon Gallery and the Caryatids. The private Acropolis and museum tour sells this whole morning with an archaeologist.

How long each half takes

Give the rock more time than you think and the museum less than you fear. Guided walks spend about one to two hours on the Acropolis and its slopes, and the ticket-only listing gives one to three hours as a typical visit. Add the queue at security in summer.

The museum can be as short or as long as your day allows. The guided walks that include it spend anything from about 45 minutes to two hours inside. An hour is enough for the Parthenon Gallery and the Caryatids; two hours lets you see the Archaic Gallery and the finds from the slopes as well. Remember that you cannot photograph the Archaic Gallery.

Getting between the two takes a few minutes on foot. The museum stands about 300 meters south-east of the Parthenon, and its nearest metro station is Akropoli on Line 2, so you can also arrive by metro and start at either end. The map of entrances and meeting points shows the walk.

Closed days to plan around

The two keep different holidays. On 25 March the Acropolis is closed, while the museum is open and free. Both close on 1 January, 1 May, Easter Sunday and 25 and 26 December. Check the date before you buy two tickets for the same day.

Which order suits you

• Summer, any day but Friday: the rock at 08:00, then the museum.
• A Friday: the museum late, after an afternoon on the rock.
• A Monday: both before 16:30, rock first.
• Winter rain: the museum first, the rock when it clears.
• With children: the rock first, then the museum as the rest stop, as in the Acropolis with kids.

Tours that do the rock and the museum in order

Athens: Acropolis, Parthenon and Acropolis Museum Guided Tour

A licensed guide on the rock, then the museum on the museum option, from an office at Mitseon 2.

From $39 per person

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Athens Small Group Tour with Acropolis,Parthenon,Museum and Greek lunch

Five hours with a licensed guide: the Acropolis, a Greek lunch and the museum, both tickets in the fare.

From $164 per person

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Acropolis Skip The Line PRIVATE Tour with Licensed Expert Guide

Ninety private minutes with an archaeologist, ending inside the site so you can stay on; a late-afternoon option exists.

From $175 per person

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