European Heritage Days: free museums on the last weekend of September

🏺 Until the European Heritage Days

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Saturday and Sunday: the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora and the state museums are free.

Every year, on the last weekend of September, Greece celebrates the European Heritage Days. On both days you get into the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora, the Roman Agora and all state museums for free. In 2027 they fall on Saturday 25 September and Sunday 26 September. The weather is still summery but the worst of the heat is over: a good time for archaeological sites.

✅ Free on this day

The Acropolis rock with the Parthenon
The Ancient Agora with the Temple of Hephaestus, the Roman Agora, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Kerameikos
The National Archaeological Museum and the other state museums
The Acropolis Museum: only for part of its opening hours, announced each year

❌ Not free

The Acropolis Museum for the rest of its opening hours
Private museums (e.g. Benaki Museum, Museum of Cycladic Art)

What the Heritage Days are

The European Heritage Days are a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union: every September, countries all over Europe open monuments and museums to the public. In Greece the Ministry of Culture picks a theme each year, and many sites hold guided tours and events. The programme is announced a few days before.

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The Temple of Hephaestus on a hill with pine trees, and pieces of ancient columns on the grass of the Ancient Agora — The Temple of Hephaestus
The best-preserved ancient temple in Athens, in the Ancient Agora.

Visitors in the Roman Agora with the Tower of the Winds, the octagonal tower, in the background — Roman Agora and Tower of the Winds
The octagonal Tower of the Winds, in Plaka.

The Roman Agora with rows of columns and the Tower of the Winds in the background — The colonnades
Quiet even on free days.

The tall Corinthian columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus with mountains behind — Temple of Olympian Zeus
The Olympieion, next to Hadrian's Arch.

Photos: Jebulon (CC0), Zde (CC BY-SA 4.0), George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0), A.Savin (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.

How to get to the Ancient Agora

Ioulianou 50 → Victoria station: 3 minutes on foot.
Line 1 (green): towards Piraeus, two stops to Monastiraki.
Monastiraki → Ancient Agora: from the square, head west along Adrianou, beside the railway tracks; the Agora entrance is on your left after about 5 minutes.

About 15 minutes in total. The Roman Agora is 5 minutes from Monastiraki Square in the other direction, in Plaka, and from the Ancient Agora you can walk up to the Acropolis.

🏺 From Ioulianou 50 to the Ancient Agora

Line 1 to Monastiraki and a 5-minute walk. Tap the Agora for the route in Google Maps.

Ioulianou 50 Line 1 Ancient Agora

Kathy's tip: the same weekend usually brings the Athens Coffee Festival at Technopolis, one metro stop from Monastiraki. Ancient Agora in the morning, coffee in Gazi in the afternoon.