Athens, Nat'l Archaeological Museum - Tour?

[MarkBearSF]

A few months ago, while scanning the tripadvisor site, I noticed a number of positive reviews of Athens Walking Tours' tour which included the National Archaeological Museum. Looking at their site now, it looks like their old "tour #3" which included it, is now not offered. (Not surprisingly, the 2010 tours all appear to focus on the new Acropolis museum)

 

What has been your experience with the National museum?

- Would you recommend a tour?

- If so, did you see tour options offered by the museum, itself?

 

Of course, it's difficult to know whether or not to recommend a tour without knowing the person's experience and tastes. FWIW - we're familiar with art history and typically enjoy visiting art museums around the world on our vacations. For post-renaissance, Western art, will seldom purchase a tour or audioguide. However, my knowledge and recollection of classical (and pre-classical) art is limited. (To be frank, at the Met in NY, I usually rush through the galleries of rows of Grecian urns, to get to the Temple of Dendur)

 

We've got an Acropolis tour included with our transfer from Piraeus, so I don't need that. But we're planning on kicking-off touring Athens the next day with a visit to the National Archaeological Museum and am looking for some guidance.

 

Thanks!

Mark

[cruisemom42]

Hi Mark, I'd say the National Archeological Museum is a do not miss, given your level of knowledge/enjoyment of history and art history. It contains the best art from all of Greece and of all periods, whereas the Acropolis museum focuses almost entirely on the Acropolis (mostly from the Classical period).

 

You can do it without a guide; I'd suggest having a look at the guided tour in Rick Steves' Athens guidebook. Depending on how much information you want, I often supplement RS's info with more detailed descriptions from more scholarly guides. But that may be more than most people want or need! :)

[TLCOhio]

A few months ago, while scanning the tripadvisor site, I noticed a number of positive reviews of Athens Walking Tours' tour which included the National Archaeological Museum. Looking at their site now, it looks like their old "tour #3" which included it, is now not offered. (Not surprisingly, the 2010 tours all appear to focus on the new Acropolis museum)

What has been your experience with the National museum?

- Would you recommend a tour?

- If so, did you see tour options offered by the museum, itself?

Of course, it's difficult to know whether or not to recommend a tour without knowing the person's experience and tastes. FWIW - we're familiar with art history and typically enjoy visiting art museums around the world on our vacations. For post-renaissance, Western art, will seldom purchase a tour or audioguide. However, my knowledge and recollection of classical (and pre-classical) art is limited. (To be frank, at the Met in NY, I usually rush through the galleries of rows of Grecian urns, to get to the Temple of Dendur) We've got an Acropolis tour included with our transfer from Piraeus, so I don't need that. But we're planning on kicking-off touring Athens the next day with a visit to the National Archaeological Museum and am looking for some guidance. Thanks! Mark

 

Given all of your arts interest and knowledge, I think you find this great museum easy to do and see on your own. Things are arranged in a nice historic order! You can flow well from early Greek stuff, through the great stuff of Greece at its peak, the transition to Greek-influenced Roman materials, etc. Plus the gold stuff, etc. Compared to the massive NYC Met, Louvre, Hermitage, etc., the size and focus of this museum works very easy and well. It was not that crowded when we were there. Given its location at a little distance from Plaka and Acropolis, it does not seem to get the big "mobs". Below are some visual samples for what you can see and enjoy there.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

One sample from the very historic National Archaeological Museum in Athens:

 

 

 

Some more examples from the very historic National Archaeological Museum in Athens:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CintiPam]

I agree with Cynthia.

 

Also, doing a museum on a tour often is difficult because of the small size of the objects being described. The Mycenae gold, for example, really needs to be appreciated up close and personal.

[Susan-M]

Agree with the recommendations for using Rick Steves' Athens guidebook. We visited the National Archaeology Museum before his book was out, but I did have some of the content of it that he had on-line (no longer available now that the book is out), and that info was very helpful for our sightseeing in Athens and visit to the museum. Loved his Rome and Istanbul books ... and wish his Athens book had been out for our 3 day visit there.