Countries

Big stories

All stories →
0

No products in the cart.

0

No products in the cart.

0

No products in the cart.

0

No products in the cart.

Καλώς ήρθατε στην Ελλάδα

Country

Greece

173 places · 367 museums

📷 Konstantinos Stampoulis (el:User:Geraki) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Regions of Greece

80 museums Attica Region Athens Municipality · Athens · Piraeus Discover → 53 museums South Aegean Region Naxos and Lesser Cyclades Municipality · Rhodes · Milos Municipality Discover → 39 museums Central Macedonia Region Thessaloniki Municipality · Edessa · Dion-Olympos Municipality Discover → 36 museums Western Macedonia Region Kastoria Municipality · Kozani Municipality · Voio Municipality Discover → 31 museums Crete Region The island of the Minoans, gorges and long tables. Discover → 31 museums Peloponnese Region Mycenae, Epidaurus and the first capital of modern Greece. Discover → 25 museums Ionian Islands Region Corfu Municipality · Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands · Zakynthos Municipality Discover → 19 museums Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region Kavala Municipality · Thasos Municipality · Xanthi Municipality Discover → 13 museums Central Greece Region Delfi Municipality · Chalkideon Municipality · Euboea regional unit Discover → 11 museums Epirus Region Ioannina Municipality · Metsovo Municipality · Arta Discover → 11 museums North Aegean Region Limnos Municipality · Mytilene Municipality · West Lesvos Municipality Discover → 9 museums West Greece Region Ancient Olympia Municipality · Missolonghi Municipality · Pyrgos Municipality Discover → 5 museums Thessaly Region Larissa Municipality · Skiathos Municipality · Thessaly Region Discover → 4 museums Thessaly Monasteries in the sky at Meteora, and the green villages of Pelion. Discover →

Top museum cities

Places in Greece

South Aegean Region

52 museums

Attica Region

80 museums

Central Macedonia Region

36 museums

Crete Region

31 museums

Peloponnese Region

30 museums

Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region

17 museums

Central Greece Region

13 museums

Epirus Region

11 museums

North Aegean Region

11 museums

Ionian Islands Region

24 museums

West Greece Region

9 museums

Western Macedonia Region

35 museums

Thessaly

4 museums

Thessaly Region

5 museums

★ Has its own city story

museumtickets.com guide · Greece

Welcome to Greece

The country of temples, myths, democracy and the Olympic Games, with islands scattered over two seas.

Greece gave Europe its first theatres, its philosophy, its word for democracy and its Olympic Games. Its museums hold the Parthenon sculptures, the gold of Mycenae, the frescoes of Minoan Crete and the bronze Charioteer of Delphi. Plan your museum days on museumtickets.com, then eat a village salad with olive oil, honey and feta, and watch the sun go down over the sea.

  • 776 BCthe first recorded Olympic Games at Olympia
  • 508 BCAthens takes its first steps towards democracy
  • 1821the Greek War of Independence begins
  • 1981Greece joins the European Communities

Greece through the ages

Palaces, city-states, empires and a modern nation.

  1. c. 1700 BC

    Minoan Crete

    The palace of Knossos is the heart of the first great civilisation of Europe.

    See it at: Heraklion Archaeological Museum →
  2. c. 1600 BC

    Mycenae

    Warrior kings are buried with gold masks at Mycenae.

    See it at: National Archaeological Museum →
  3. 447 BC

    The Parthenon

    Athens begins the Parthenon on the Acropolis, with sculptures by Phidias' workshop.

    See it at: Acropolis Museum →
  4. c. 330 BC

    Alexander

    Alexander the Great of Macedon takes Greek culture as far as India.

    See it at: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
  5. 330

    Byzantium

    Constantinople becomes the capital of an empire that speaks Greek for a thousand years.

    See it at: Museum of Byzantine Culture →
  6. 1821

    Independence

    Greeks rise against Ottoman rule; the new state is recognised in 1830.

    See it at: National Historical Museum →

Women who shaped Greece

A poet, a sea captain of the revolution and a minister of culture.

Sappho

The poet of Lesbos, around 600 BC, whom the ancients called the tenth Muse.

Laskarina Bouboulina

A ship-owner from Spetses who commanded her own ships in the War of Independence.

See it at: Bouboulina Museum
Melina Mercouri

Actress and Minister of Culture who started the European Capital of Culture in 1985 and fought for the Parthenon marbles to come home.

See it at: Acropolis Museum →

Artists to look for in Greece

From the sculptor of the Parthenon to a Cretan painter in Toledo.

Phidias

The sculptor who led the work on the Parthenon and made the giant statues of Athena and Zeus.

Praxiteles

Sculptor of the 4th century BC, famous for soft, graceful marble gods.

El Greco

Domenikos Theotokopoulos, born in Crete, who became one of the great painters of Spain.

Nikolaos Gyzis

19th-century painter of everyday Greek life and dreamy allegories.

Yannis Tsarouchis

20th-century painter of sailors, cafés and Greek light.

Taste Greece

Olive oil, honey, feta and bread baked twice.

Horiatiki

The village salad: tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of feta with olive oil.

Spanakopita

A pie of spinach and cheese in thin filo pastry.

Dakos

A Cretan rusk of barley bread topped with grated tomato, cheese and olive oil.

Souvlaki

Small skewers of grilled meat, often in pita with tzatziki.

Loukoumades

Small fried dough balls soaked in honey and cinnamon.

Traditions and festivals through the year

Carnival, kites, Easter candles and summer feasts.

Apokries – late winter

Carnival weeks with masks and parades; Patras has the biggest.

Clean Monday – start of Lent

Families fly kites on hills and eat lagana bread and seafood.

Easter – spring

The biggest feast: candles lit at midnight, red eggs cracked together and lamb roasted on a spit.

Panigyria – summer

Villages celebrate their saints with music, dancing and long tables under the trees.

Anastenaria – spring

In a few northern villages, people dance barefoot over hot coals; UNESCO lists the custom.

Hidden story

Fire from the sun

The Olympic flame is still lit with a mirror at Olympia.

Read the storyClose

Before every Olympic Games, women dressed as priestesses gather at the Temple of Hera in Olympia. The flame is lit by the sun's rays focused in a curved mirror, as the ancient Greeks lit sacred fires. Then the flame is carried by runners to the host city. The ceremony began in 1936 and links today's Games to Olympia.

Tips for art lovers

Heat

In summer go to open-air sites early in the morning; museums are cool at midday.

Ferries

Book island ferries in summer, and check the weather: strong winds can stop them.

Combine

At many sites, the site and its museum share one entrance.

Respect

In churches and monasteries, cover shoulders and knees.

Greece: plan your visit with museumtickets.com

On museumtickets.com: 367 museums with photos, the way there and the museums nearby. Save your favourites in the free Culture Passport and, where the museum offers it, pay your admission in advance.

Getting there

Getting to Greece

From the airport to the city centre by public transport, then the trains and local lines to the museums.

Arriving by plane

ATH
Athens Eleftherios VenizelosAthens · Athina · Piraeus

Getting around Greece

Lines and timetables change. Check the operator’s website before you travel.

On the map