Visit Athens Guide
Free Entry Days in Athens: Two Calendars, Not One
Free entry days in Athens are run by two organisations that do not use the same calendar. The state archaeological sites, the Acropolis among them, are free on five fixed dates and on two Sundays a month in winter; the Acropolis Museum has its own shorter list, which includes a day the Acropolis is shut. Both are printed below as checked in Q3 2026, with a straight answer on which are worth planning around. What each site costs the rest of the year is on the tickets hub, and the wider plan on the Athens city guide homepage.
Quick answer The dates, and the one most guides get wrong
State archaeological sites and museums in Athens, the Acropolis included, are free on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September and 28 October, and on the first and third Sunday of every month from 1 November to 31 March.
Key takeaways
- First and third Sunday, not just the first — that is what the official pages say, and most of the web still prints the shorter version. The state calendar has it in full.
- The Acropolis Museum runs a different list: 6 March, 25 March, 18 May and 28 October, and no Sundays at all. The museum calendar sets the two side by side.
- A free day is not a walk-in at the Acropolis: entry is still by declared hour, so claim a slot the moment they open — how the ticket works explains the system.
- On 25 March the museum is free and the Acropolis is closed altogether. That trap has its own line in which days are worth it.
- If your dates miss all of them, the money question moves to whether a bundle pays — usually only from three sites up.
The state calendar: sites and museums run by the ministry
The same list appears on every Hellenic Heritage destination page — the Acropolis, both Agoras, the Olympieion, Kerameikos, Hadrian's Library, Aristotle's Lyceum, the National Archaeological Museum, and the sites out of town at Sounion, Eleusis and Brauron. Read on hh.gr on 1 September 2026.
| Date | What it is | Crowd | Verdict | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 March | Melina Mercouri day | Moderate; cool weather | Good — the museum is free the same day | Official site |
| 18 April | International Monuments Day | Building; spring weather | Good | Official site |
| 18 May | International Museum Day | The heaviest of the year | Only if you are at the gate at 08:00 | Official site |
| Last weekend of September | European Heritage Days | Heavy; peak-shoulder weather | Two days, so split the sites | Official site |
| 28 October | Ochi Day, national holiday | Heavy, and Greek families are out | Go early or go elsewhere | Official site |
| First and third Sunday, 1 Nov – 31 Mar | Ten free Sundays across the winter | Light to moderate | The best free days in the year | Official site |
Ten winter Sundays is the part worth planning a trip around, and the part least often printed correctly. Winter hours are shorter — most central sites close at 15:00 and the Acropolis at 17:00 — so a free Sunday buys you one site properly, not four in a row. The opening-hours table has each closing time.
The Acropolis Museum's own calendar
The museum is a separate organisation and publishes its own free days, read on theacropolismuseum.gr on 1 September 2026. Three of the four overlap with the state list; one does not, and it is the one that catches people.
| Date | Acropolis Museum | State sites | What to do | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 March | Free | Free | The one day both are free — do the rock first | Official site |
| 25 March | Free | Closed for the national holiday | Museum only; the Acropolis is shut | Official site |
| 18 May | Free | Free | Both, and both packed | Official site |
| 28 October | Free | Free | Both, on a national holiday | Official site |
| Winter Sundays | Charged, €20 | Free | Pay the museum, walk the free sites | Official site |
The mismatch is the useful fact here. On a free winter Sunday the ancient sites cost nothing and the museum still charges €20; on 25 March the museum costs nothing and the Acropolis is closed. Neither organisation publishes the other's calendar, which is why so many itineraries get one of the two wrong. Acropolis Museum tickets has the rest of that shop's rules.
Which free days are actually worth it
Free is not the same as good. Three of these dates are a gift and two of them cost you a morning.
The winter Sundays: yes
First and third Sunday from November to March, ten days a year, in the months when Athens is at its emptiest anyway. Mean daily temperatures sit between about 9°C and 12°C, the queues are short, and the light on the marble is better than in July. The catch is the timetable: most central sites close at 15:00 in winter and the Acropolis at 17:00, with last admission twenty minutes earlier.
Plan one big site and one small one, not a circuit.
18 May: only at opening
International Museum Day falls in warm weather at the start of the season, and it is the heaviest free day in the Athens calendar. If you are at the gate for 08:00 it is a good morning; arriving at 11:00 you will spend the free money you saved standing in a queue. The Acropolis still requires a declared entry hour on free days, and those hours go quickly.
28 October: a national holiday first
Ochi Day is a public holiday with a military parade, so the free entry lands on a day when Athenian families are out and much of the city is closed. Worth it if you want the parade as well; not the day to try to see three sites.
25 March: read it carefully
Greek Independence Day. The Acropolis Museum gives free entry; the state archaeological sites are closed for the holiday, the Acropolis among them. An itinerary that assumes "free day" means everything is open will lose the rock entirely.
The last weekend of September: the quiet winner
European Heritage Days give two consecutive free days at the best time of year to walk in Athens, with the September timetable still running to 19:00 or 19:30. Split the sites across the two days and it is the most productive free weekend on the calendar.
How to actually claim a free entry
Three practicalities that decide whether the day works.
You still need a ticket, and at the Acropolis still an hour
Free admission means a zero-price ticket, not an open gate. At the Acropolis the declared-hour system stays in force on free days, so the early hours are claimed first — treat a free day like any other and book the slot as soon as it is available. At the smaller sites you collect the ticket at the guardhouse.
Reduced and free categories are a separate thing
The half-price and free categories that apply all year — the ones that depend on who you are rather than what date it is — are checked with documents at the gate, and at the Acropolis Museum they are issued at the desk only, never online. Do not buy a full-price ticket online if you qualify for one of them.
What free days do not cover
Privately run sights keep their own prices on these dates. The Panathenaic Stadium, the Lycabettus funicular and the private museums are not part of either calendar, and neither is the hop-on hop-off bus that some passes are built around — the city pass page has that arithmetic.
Free entry questions
What days is the Acropolis free?
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. Both winter Sundays, not only the first — the state calendar is taken straight from the official pages.
Which collections are free on those days?
Every state museum and archaeological site, which includes the National Archaeological Museum, both Agoras, the Olympieion, Kerameikos, Hadrian's Library and the out-of-town sites at Sounion, Eleusis and Brauron. The Acropolis Museum runs its own list, and private museums run theirs. The museum calendar compares the two.
Is the Agora site free too?
Only on the free dates — the rest of the year it is €20 full and €10 reduced. It is one of the seven sites the abolished combined ticket used to cover; what replaced that package has the arithmetic.
Do I still need to book on a free day?
At the Acropolis, yes: entry is by declared hour on free days as on any other, and the early hours go first. At the smaller sites you take a zero-price ticket at the gate. How to claim one covers both.
Are free days worth planning a trip around?
A winter Sunday is; 18 May in warm weather is not, unless you are at the gate when it opens. Which days are worth it goes through each date, with the crowd and the timetable behind the verdict.
Is the winter discount still available instead?
No. Reporting on the ministry's April 2025 ticketing change says the 50% low-season reduction between November and March was abolished along with the combined ticket, and the prices published on each official page now run all year.
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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