Visit Athens Guide
The Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens is the limestone rock above the city, 156 metres over the sea, and everything on top of it — the Parthenon, the Erechtheion with its Caryatid porch, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Propylaea gateway — belongs to one archaeological site with one fence and one ticket. This page covers the hours, the two entrances, what stands where and how long the visit takes as checked in Q3 2026; the money questions live on the Acropolis ticket page. The wider plan sits on the Athens city guide homepage.
Quick answer When to go up, which gate, and how long it takes
The Acropolis opens at 08:00 every day of the year and closes at 20:00 from 1 April to 31 August and at 17:00 from 1 November to 31 March. Ninety minutes covers the rock without hurrying; two hours with the south slope.
Key takeaways
- Go at opening. The rock has no shade, the marble is polished slick, and the season chart shows why an August afternoon is not a plan.
- Two ways in: the main south entrance on Dionysiou Areopagitou and the smaller west gate below the Propylaea — which gate to use explains when the second one saves time.
- One ticket covers everything inside the fence, including the theatres on the south slope; what €30 buys has the rules.
- The Caryatids on the rock are copies. The originals are ten minutes downhill in the Acropolis Museum, five of the six of them.
- Best photograph of the rock is not on the rock: it is from Philopappos Hill, free, an hour before sunset.
Key facts
Opening hours
| 1 April – 31 August, daily | 08:00–20:00 |
|---|---|
| 1–15 September, daily | 08:00–19:30 |
| 16–30 September, daily | 08:00–19:00 |
| 1–15 October, daily | 08:00–18:30 |
| 16–31 October, daily | 08:00–18:00 |
| 1 November – 31 March, daily | 08:00–17:00 |
Closed 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 25 and 26 December
Admission
- Adult
- €30
- Reduced
- €15
- Free
- 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September, 28 October, and the first and third Sunday from 1 November to 31 March
Planning it
- Time needed
- Not stated by the site; our routing: 90 minutes on the rock, 2 hours with the south slope
- Book ahead
- Essential — weeks ahead
- Address
- Acropolis of Athens, 105 58 Athens (south entrance on Dionysiou Areopagitou)
The ways in, priced from hh.gr and GetYourGuide on 1 September 2026. The full comparison, the refund rules and the free days are on the Acropolis ticket page.
| Option | Price | Includes | Cancel | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official timed ticket | €30 full / €15 reduced | Entry with a declared hour, Digital Guide app | Non-refundable; two changes to 2h before | Official site |
| Entry with audio options | Listed at €36 | Timed entry, audio or live-guide option | Per listing | Check Availability |
| First-access guided tour | From €27 | Early entry, licensed guide, south slope | Free up to 24 hours before | Check Availability |
| Acropolis and mythology walk | From €45 | The rock plus the Olympieion and the Ancient Agora | Per listing | Check Availability |
| Rock and museum with a guide | From €34 | Both, with an archaeologist | Per listing | Check Availability |
The official ticket is the cheapest way onto the rock and the only one with no cancellation at all. Guided cards that list below €30 do not include the entrance — check the inclusions before you read a lower number as a saving.
Acropolis entry options compared
The cards behind the table, with the operator's own rating and review count.
from €36
Athens: Acropolis Ticket with Optional Audio or Live Guide
Pre-booked Acropolis entry sent to your phone, with two audio-guide options and no fixed guide to keep up with. The official price is €30; this is the reseller version of the same timed slot.
Check Availability
from €27
Athens: First Access Acropolis and Parthenon Guided Tour
An early-morning guided walk that goes to the Parthenon before the coach groups, then the Theatre of Dionysus on the south slope. Two to four hours depending on the option.
Check Availability
from €32.03
Athens: Acropolis Small Group (max: 8) Guided Tour
Maximum eight people with a licensed local guide across the Acropolis and the Parthenon, about two hours on the rock.
Check Availability
from €45
Athens: Acropolis and Mythology Highlights Small Group Tour
The rock plus the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Ancient Agora, told through the myths attached to each: a comprehensive first day on foot.
Check Availability
from €34
Athens: Acropolis, Parthenon & Acropolis Museum Guided Tour
An archaeologist takes the monuments on the rock and then the Parthenon gallery in the Acropolis Museum, where the frieze sits at eye level.
Check AvailabilityPrices, ratings and details are the platform's own, checked in Q3 2026; euro figures are the listed prices — the platform bills in your account's currency.
What stands on the rock
Five things matter up there, and they were all built inside about forty years in the fifth century BC, on a hill that had been inhabited since the third millennium.
The Propylaea
The monumental gateway, and the only way in — the rock is steep and inaccessible on every side but the west. You climb through it, which is the point: the building was designed as a threshold, and the Parthenon does not reveal itself until you are through. The marble underfoot has been polished by a century of visitors and is genuinely slippery in the wet.
The Parthenon
Iktinos and Kallikrates designed it, Phidias made the sculpture, and Pericles paid for it out of a building programme that also existed to put Athenians to work at a drachma a day. Inside stood a colossal gold-and-ivory Athena that has been lost since antiquity. Half the surviving sculptural decoration was removed by Lord Elgin and is in the British Museum; what remains in Greece is downhill in the Acropolis Museum. The Parthenon page goes into the building itself.
The Erechtheion and the Caryatids
The irregular temple on the north side, built over the oldest cults on the hill — Athena Polias, and the spot where Poseidon's trident was said to have struck. Its south porch is carried by six draped female figures. The ones you photograph are casts: five originals are in the Acropolis Museum and the sixth is in London.
The Temple of Athena Nike
Small, Ionic, and standing on the bastion to the right of the Propylaea as you climb. It has been taken apart and rebuilt more than once, most recently in the 2000s. Its parapet relief, including the famous figure adjusting her sandal, is in the museum.
The south slope: two theatres
Inside the same fence and on the same ticket, and often skipped because people come down the west side. The Theatre of Dionysus is where Athenian tragedy was performed; the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the steep Roman semicircle you see from Dionysiou Areopagitou, is still used for concerts in summer, when it is closed to daytime visitors. The Odeon page covers the performance season.
Hours, closed days and the hour to pick
Six seasonal bands, read on the official page on 1 September 2026.
The seasonal timetable
Daily 08:00 to 20:00 from 1 April to 31 August; 08:00 to 19:30 from 1 to 15 September; 08:00 to 19:00 from 16 to 30 September; 08:00 to 18:30 from 1 to 15 October; 08:00 to 18:00 from 16 to 31 October; and 08:00 to 17:00 from 1 November to 31 March. Last admission is twenty minutes before closing in every band — a 16:40 arrival in December is an arrival at a closed gate. Every seasonal table in the city sits together on the opening-hours page.
Closed days
1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 25 and 26 December. Orthodox Easter moves each year and rarely coincides with the Western date.
Which hour to book
The first hour, in any month you can. In summer the sun is on the rock by nine and there is nowhere to stand out of it; by noon the marble reflects heat back at you. The other good window is the last ninety minutes before closing in April, May, September and October, when the light is low and the coaches have gone — but not in winter, when closing is 17:00 and the site empties fast.
Coach groups arrive between about 09:30 and 11:30.
How long it takes
Ninety minutes on the rock at a normal pace, including the climb and the time people actually spend photographing the Parthenon. Add half an hour for the south slope theatres, and another two hours if you go straight on to the museum. Anyone planning a single day should read the one-day plan before fixing the hour.
The two entrances, and which to use
Both scan the same ticket. They are ten minutes apart on foot and not equivalent.
South entrance, Dionysiou Areopagitou
The main gate, on the pedestrian avenue below the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, about twelve minutes on foot from Akropoli metro station on Line 2. It takes most of the traffic, it has the ticket office and the shop, and it puts you on the south-slope path so you can see the two theatres on the way up. This is the default.
West entrance, below the Propylaea
The smaller gate at the top of the ramp on the west side, reached from Thiseio or Monastiraki past the Areopagus rock. It is a shorter climb from the top of the ramp and it is usually quieter, but the walk to it is uphill and there is no ticket office worth queuing at. Use it if you are coming from the Ancient Agora side, or if the south gate is backed up.
Step-free access
A lift on the north face carries visitors with reduced mobility to the summit, reached from the west side. The official page lists accessibility among the site's amenities; the surface on top is uneven ancient rock and marble whatever route you take. Confirm the lift is in service on the day with the site guardhouse on +30 210 3214172 before relying on it.
What you cannot bring in
Large luggage, food, and professional photography or filming equipment. There is no cloakroom. Bring water: there is a fountain near the entrance and nothing on the summit, and flat shoes, because the polished marble is the most common cause of a fall up there.
Acropolis map: gates, monuments and what is next
The two entrances, the monuments on top, and the four places within ten minutes on foot.
Next stop from the Acropolis
Walk minutes are our estimates from the GPS distances; the south exit puts you closest to the museum.
Acropolis Museum
Downhill on the pedestrian avenue. €20 on a separate ticket, and the place the originals went. The Acropolis Museum stays open to 22:00 on Fridays.
10 min walkAncient Agora
Down the west side past the Areopagus. €20, and it closes half an hour before the rock all summer — the Ancient Agora has the seasonal table.
12 min walkPhilopappos Hill
Free, no ticket, and the photograph everyone recognises. Philopappos is worth an hour before sunset, not at midday.
15 min walkAcropolis questions people ask on the way up
Is the rock the same thing as the temple on it?
No. The Acropolis is the rock and the whole walled site on it; the Parthenon is the temple of Athena at the top, the largest building up there. One ticket covers the rock and everything on it, including the Parthenon — there is no separate Parthenon ticket. The Parthenon page is about the building.
How difficult is the walk up the Acropolis?
It is a steady climb of about twenty minutes from the south gate, on paths and then worn marble steps through the Propylaea. There are no handrails on the historic surfaces and the marble is slippery — flat soles matter more than fitness. A lift on the north side serves visitors with reduced mobility; the entrances section has the detail.
What time does the Acropolis open?
08:00 every day it is open, all year. Closing moves with the season: 20:00 from 1 April to 31 August, stepping down through the autumn to 17:00 from 1 November to 31 March, with last admission twenty minutes earlier. The hours section has all six bands.
Is it worth going up in the middle of a summer day?
It is the least good hour. There is no shade at all on top, and July and August average close to 28°C. If a midday slot is all you can get, take water, take a hat, and expect to spend less time than you planned. The best time to visit sets out the months.
Are the Caryatids on the Acropolis real?
No — the six figures on the Erechtheion porch are casts. Five originals are in the Acropolis Museum ten minutes downhill, and the sixth was taken by Lord Elgin and is in the British Museum.
Can I visit the Acropolis at night?
Only through the ministry's own Acropolis Experience: a private two-hour visit at 06:00 or 20:00, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays between April and October, at €5,000 for a group of up to five. It is sold on the official platform, and it is the only legal out-of-hours access — the ticket page has the terms.
Reviewed Q3 2026 (July–September 2026); next review Q4 2026. Prices, hours and terms are set by the venue or operator and confirmed at checkout.
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