(Athens) The price of entry tickets to the Acropolis, Greece’s most popular ancient monument, will increase significantly in 2025, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni announced on Wednesday.
The price will thus increase to 30 euros ($44), compared to 20 euros ($29) currently, and to 10 euros ($14.50) during the winter months.
This change will apply from 1er April 2025, the minister said on Skai radio.
The national archaeological council on Tuesday unanimously approved the general increase in ticket prices at the country’s approximately 350 archaeological sites and museums, arguing that the last increases date back to five years ago and that the current prices were “too low compared to the European average.
However, EU visitors aged 25 or under will still be able to enter for free, as will non-EU visitors aged 18 or under.
The Acropolis is Greece’s most popular archaeological site, with more than three million visitors last year.
On Tuesday, it remained closed, its guards having decided on a 24-hour strike to protest against the plan to hand over control of tickets to private subcontractors.
According to their union, the Ministry of Culture finalized a call for tenders last month to entrust this work to private sector personnel from 2024.
Greece’s conservative government is facing criticism for seeking to increase private management of the country’s museums and ancient sites, which brought in more than 121 million euros for the state last year.
In February, the Greek parliament passed a law making it easier to display rare antiquities in museums abroad, a reform that archaeologists worry could pave the way for long-term “export” of rare objects, and which they want to block.
This decision also came while Greece is still in talks with the British Museum in London over a possible return of the Parthenon friezes to Athens.