Private Half Day Athens Best Museums Tour

Continue on to the spectacular Acropolis museum, the most modern museum of Athens. Made of concrete, steel and glass, it houses a wide collection of original sculptures from the Acropolis and its slopes. The ground glass-made floor reveals to visitors the ruins of ancient buildings underneath, while it displays a pottery collection of high artistic value. The marble masterpieces that have been transferred here from the Acropolis for protection and preservation are waiting to be discovered in the first floor and the top Parthenon Gallery floor with its impressive view of the Acropolis hill, the Lycabettus hill and the rest of the city.

This is the largest and most significant archaeological museum in Greece. It was founded at the end of the 19th century to house and protect Greek antiquities, designed by the German architect Ludwig Lange and remodeled by Ernst Ziller. Its collections represent the whole range of Greek history and art, from Prehistory to Late Antiquity and from the Greek to the Roman times. Its exceptional pottery and sculpture, along with many other artifacts such as golden masks, bronze swords, prehistoric wall-paintings, pottery and jewelry have been highly regarded for their cultural value and contribute to the museum’s reputation as one of the leading ones around the world.

Housed in a 19th-century historical building that served as the first Parliament House of Greece, this museum presents the modern history of Greece from the Ottoman and Latin rule to the Greek War of Independence and the following political and social struggle for the establishment of what is now known as the Modern Greek State. With its rich collection of drawings, maps, paintings, war weapons and flags, this is surely the most interesting museum to visit when interested in acquiring a broader knowledge of Modern Greek history.

Located in a small green ‘oasis’ full of fragrant plants and trees, this museum was originally built to become the villa of Duchess Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, when she settled in Athens in the 1830s. With over 25.000 artifacts, it is considered one of the most important museums of Byzantine art in the country. Its unique collections introduce visitors to the early Christian, Byzantine, Medieval and post-Byzantine eras, following the origins of the Byzantine Empire until its decline in the 15th century and the centuries that followed. Marble sculpture and symbolic religious items, an impressive mosaic floor of an early Christian church, golden imperial coins, an Emperor’s decree, as well as a rare collection of hand-painted Byzantine icons all form part of a large, national Byzantine heritage.

Formerly the residence of Antonis Benakis, this outstanding neoclassical building opened its doors to the public as a museum in 1931. Considered a boutique museum and definitely one of the most popular ones in Athens, the Benaki museum is highly recommended for a fascinating journey into all eras of Greek history. Prehistoric artifacts, Greek and Roman sculpture, Egyptian fayum portraits and medieval paintings are some of the exhibits of the ground floor collection. Greek folk furniture and costumes, modern paintings, personal items of former Greek Prime Ministers as well as poets’ manuscripts and Nobel Prize certificates are exhibited in the collections of the top floors. Discover the cozy roof café, a popular meeting point for many Athenians.

Also called the ‘Stathatos Megaron’, the building that houses this museum is considered one of the finest samples of neoclassical architecture in Greece. Designed in the 1890s by the Bavarian architect Ernst Ziller to become the private residence of the notable Greek entrepreneur Otto Stathatos, it underwent several refurbishments before its final usage as a museum. The rich collection of prehistoric marble figurines from the Greek Cycladic islands is the most important legacy of the Cycladic civilization. The museum also includes one of the best-presented exhibitions on the daily life and customs of the citizens living in the ancient Greek society.