Greece’s highest advisory body on matters concerning the protection of ancient monuments, archaeological sites, and sites of exceptional historical or legendary significance, the Central Archaeological Council, unanimously approved a new pricing policy for archaeological sites and museums on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Culture has announced a new pricing policy for entrance tickets to its archaeological sites, monuments, and museums. The decision to impose this policy is based on data showing an increase in visitor traffic over the past 2 years, the successful use of electronic tickets in 28 venues (with the highest number of visitors to date), and the observation that the current prices, which were last revised 5 years ago, are significantly lower than the European average.
The new pricing policy will take effect next year in two phases.
Phase 1, starting from January 1st, 2024:
- Elimination of single entry tickets for multiple archaeological sites or museums, where an electronic ticket is fully or partially applied, and they are linked to museums-NPDD.
- Introduction of a new Personalized Visit service to the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens, outside the regular opening hours of the site, with a higher ticket price. The visit will be available for groups of 5 people and up to 4 groups in two hours (07:00-09:00 and 20:00-22:00), including a special tour and souvenir gifts (this service will be expanded to other areas during the second Phase).
Phase 2, starting from April 1st, 2025:
- The entrance ticket prices are adjusted based on the classification of archaeological sites, monuments, and museums into 5 categories, determined by the number of visitors, their significance in the respective area, and the valid entrance ticket. The 5 categories correspond to 5 tiers of entrance ticket prices as follows:
- Acropolis of Athens, category A – 30 euros
- Archaeological sites and Museums (category B – visits over 200,000) – 20 euros
- Archaeological sites and Museums (category C – visits 75,000 to 200,000)) – 15 euros
- Archaeological sites and Museums (category D – visits 15,000 to 75,000) – 10 euros
- Archaeological sites and Museums (category E – visits under 15,000) – 5 euros
The new pricing policy brings about several changes:
- The summer and winter seasons will no longer have different entrance prices; instead, there will be a consistent entrance price per category throughout the year.
- An additional free entry Sunday will be available each month during the winter season (November 1-March 31), specifically the third Sunday of the month in addition to the first.
- Single and joint tickets will be abolished, except for Ancient Olympia, Delphi, Mycenae, and Aigai, or in cases where the joint site and museum ticket is required for spatial planning reasons.
- The reduced entry ticket for individuals aged 65 and above from EU countries will be maintained for the period from October 1 to May 31.
- Free entry for individuals up to 25 years of age from EU countries will continue, and the right of free entry for non-EU citizens will be extended to 18 instead of the current age of up to 5 years.
- Free entry will be retained for individuals with disabilities and for other established categories based on social or status reasons.
- A Culture Card (Culture Gard) will be issued for the established categories and will be available through the gov.gr application or KEP for domestic taxpayers.
The new pricing policy for entrance tickets to the archaeological sites, monuments, and museums of the country achieves several objectives:
- Categorizing the places and museums based on their attendance, regional importance, and applicable ticket prices.
- Streamlining and simplifying ticket categories.
- The corresponding value of Greek monuments is attributed to their significance for the world cultural heritage.
- Increasing free entry days by one (1) Sunday per month during the winter season for all visitors, regardless of age.
- Eliminating discrimination and expanding the right of free entry to children and young people aged 5-18 from non-EU countries.
- Substantially increasing public revenue from tickets and reinvesting it in Culture projects to highlight and promote our cultural heritage at the national and international levels.