Summer hours bring ticket hikes, more security at Greece’s sites

Visitors to the Acropolis in Athens will be allowed to carry only a small backpack or handbag once summer hours come into effect on Friday as part of new security measures, the Central Archaeological Council (KAS) has announced, adding that strollers will have to be left for safekeeping with staff and will not be allowed into the archaeological site.

The ministry also announced a series of changes to ticketing policy, which will result in admission hikes at most of the country’s key archaeological sites and museums, including at the Acropolis (20 euros from 12), the Roman Agora (8 euros from 2), the Temple of Poseidon at Sounio (8 euros from 4), Knossos in Crete (15 euros from 6) and the Sanctuary of Delos near Myconos (12 euros from 5), as well as a reduction in the number of people who will be permitted free entry.

KAS said that the changes are intended to increase revenues from Greece’s premiere tourist attractions and also to clamp down on free admission passes. It said that the Acropolis received over 1.6 million visitors in 2014, of which almost a third did not pay admission.

Officials at the Ministry of Culture, meanwhile, said they are examining the possibility of reducing ticket rates by as much as 50 percent in the low season from November to March so as not to discourage cash-strapped Greeks from visiting the country’s sites and museums.
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