ATHENS – Greece in 2025 will raise ticket prices to the Acropolis, its most popular ancient monument, the Culture Minister said Dec 20.
Ms Lina Mendoni told Skai radio that general entry tickets to the Acropolis will be increased to €30 (S$44). They currently cost 20 euros, and 10 euros during the off-season winter months.
The change will apply from April 1, 2025, she said.
Late on Dec 19, the state archaeological council unanimously approved across-the-board ticket prices increases in the country’s some 350 archaeological sites and museums.
The council in a statement noted that the last increases had been made five years earlier and current fees are “too low compared to the European average”.
European Union visitors aged 25 and below can still enter for free, as can non-EU visitors aged 18 and under, it said.
The council also said that private tours of the Acropolis would also be offered for groups of up to five people, before and after general visiting hours.
According to reports, this service will cost €5,000.
The Acropolis is Greece’s most popular archaeological site, with more than three million visitors in 2023.
Greece’s conservative government has been criticised for seeking to increase private management in the country’s mainly state-run museums and ancient sites, which in 2023 earned more than €121 million.
On Dec 19, patrol guards at the Acropolis staged a one-day strike against plans to assign ticket control duties to private contractors.
In February, the government passed a new law enabling the exhibition of rare antiquities outside the country, with archaeologists warning it could lead to the long-term “export” of rare items.
The move enables five of the country’s top museums – which hold some of its most coveted ancient artefacts – to create satellite branches outside Greece.
It came as the Greek government is engaged in talks with the British Museum on the possible return of the Parthenon Marbles after decades of wrangling between Athens and London. AFP
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