Which Museum?

[patrickmoran]

We will be in Athens in early November. We will do the Acropolis and other ruins. Then I was planning to do either the new Acropolis Museum or the National Museum at Patission street. Any suggestion which one? Thanks

[CorgiGuy]

When we were in Athens this past October, the New Acropolis Museum was not opened yet. We did visit The National Archeological Museum, which I would put very high on the "Places to See" list for Athens. You can easily spend several hours there. Its' about a 10 minute taxi ride from Syntagma Square.

 

Anthony

[CintiPam]

That's a tough question in some ways because of the lure of the newly opened New Acropolis Museum, a subject of much architectural attention and argument in Athens for many years. However, it does seem to be known so far more for its architecture and the objects it does not contain (Elgin marbles) than for the objects it does contain, but I only saw the small bits open to the public last fall.

 

The National Archaelogical Museum is the premier museum in the world for Greek artifacts of all eras. The Mycenae gold, Akrotiri wall paintings, Cycladic figures, bronze sculptures, an incredible collection unrivalled anywhere. We spend five hours there last September, and I was in awe.

 

So, if doing just one, definitely the NAM.

 

I just remembered that the New Acropolis Museum will cost only one Euro through year-end 2009, so you may want to just pop in and take a quick look around. (Also, great bathrooms!)

[patrickmoran]

Actually we will be there on a Sunday in November so both are free. I may want to save our feet for NAM because of its better collection even though we will walk right by the Acropolis Museum. We would have time to see both unless they become to crowded because they will be free.

[Fafos]

Actually we will be there on a Sunday in November so both are free. I may want to save our feet for NAM because of its better collection even though we will walk right by the Acropolis Museum. We would have time to see both unless they become to crowded because they will be free.

 

 

National museum never be crowded.. the same for Acropolis museum (one day visiting 14.000 people without any problem or waiting lines at tickets kiosks..)... you need 10-15 minutes go from Acropolis to National museum by metro and 5-7 minutes walking..

[chipmaster]

We will be in Athens in early November. We will do the Acropolis and other ruins. Then I was planning to do either the new Acropolis Museum or the National Museum at Patission street. Any suggestion which one? Thanks

 

Like the other poster the Acropolis wasn't open when we toured. We thought we'd only spend a quick 45' at the National Museum. Turned out we really really enjoyed the large amount they had there and the 45' wasn't nearly enough time. There was something there for all 3 generations; 7 to 82. If I ever make it back to Athens I'd spend a full afternoon there.

 

YMMV

[tamarackcabin]

Actually we will be there on a Sunday in November so both are free. I may want to save our feet for NAM because of its better collection even though we will walk right by the Acropolis Museum. We would have time to see both unless they become to crowded because they will be free.

 

We saw both when we visited on Aug. 1, spending about an hour at each. The Acropolis Museum is so close to the other sites and is definitely worth a look. One hour at the Archaeological Museum (which is about all we had left at the end of the day) was definitely not enough. We ended up taking a tour so we could use our time most efficiently, but we still barely scratched the surface. We used an all-day taxi to see as many sites as possible and perhaps we were a little too ambitious. I didn't feel rushed at any of the other sites but if I had to do it over again, I would try to streamline the agenda to leave more time for the NAM.

[jlijny]

We just got back from Athens, and did BOTH museums. Don't miss either one. The newer museum had just opened a few weeks before we got there, and has a lot of the original pieces from the Acropolis (i.e what I like to call "The Ladies")

[cruiser620]

We went to the New Acropolis Museum and loved it. The architecture as well as the antiquities were amazing. One thing I didn't realize is that much of what you see (statues, etc.) on the Acropolis are reproductions. The originals are in this museum. The museum is also a great location for taking pictures of the Acropolis, and it has a glass floor over excavated ruins. It's only 1 euro and right at the foot of the Acropolis.

[CintiPam]

We went to the New Acropolis Museum and loved it. The architecture as well as the antiquities were amazing. One thing I didn't realize is that much of what you see (statues, etc.) on the Acropolis are reproductions. The originals are in this museum. The museum is also a great location for taking pictures of the Acropolis, and it has a glass floor over excavated ruins. It's only 1 euro and right at the foot of the Acropolis.

 

The one Euro rate runs through year-end 2009.

[sjc35]

We did both during our day at Athens, and both are recommended and should not be missed. We were among the first to get off the ship (8 am), and took a taxi (20 E) to Acropolis around 8:30 am. Booked the New Museum online for a slot 10-12 pm, and arrived there around 9:45 pm (the line is very long at the time we left around 11 am). We walked the whole circle all the way to Ancient Agora, including the 1 pm view of Change of Guard. Took a taxi to National Museum around 3 pm, and left the museum around 4:30 pm. Back to the ship about 5:30 pm. It was a little bit rush, but we were glad we had seen so much.