Benaki Museum, Athens: Photos, Reviews & Location

Former family mansion of an art collector, with displays on Greek culture from prehistory onwards.

At a glance

#22 of 52 Tourist attractions in Athens #5 of 12 Museums in Athens

LocalGuideWorld score: 4.70

1.2 km from the center of Athens

Rating breakdown

5 ★76%
4 ★19%
3 ★4%
2 ★1%
1 ★1%

Koumpari 1, Athina 106 74, Greece

benaki.org

+30 21 0367 1000

Quick facts

What is the rating of Benaki Museum?: Benaki Museum is rated 4.7 out of 5 based on 11,021 reviews.
How does Benaki Museum rank in Athens?: Benaki Museum is #22 of 52 Tourist attractions in Athens by LocalGuideWorld score (rating weighted by number of reviews).
Where is Benaki Museum located?: Koumpari 1, Athina 106 74, Greece — 1.2 km from the center of Athens.
How can I contact Benaki Museum?: Phone: +30 21 0367 1000 · Website: benaki.org

Reviews (13)

Angela Moran 2023 Nov 15

Fantastic museum with artifacts and greek cultural items. Rooftop cafe has a nice view and a limited menu.

J. Arevalo-Adam 2023 Nov 10

The Benaki Museum collection is housed in the Benakis family mansion in Athens. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the modern times. It is on par with all other museums in athens and is second to none.

The clay ladle photo is 5300-4500 BC.
The decorated round clay object is a "frying pan" 2800-2700 BC

An astute history buff will notice the river water/ marshlands that is drawn in the watercolor painting. Hint Kerameikos.

I can recommend a visit.

Stefano W. Pasquini 2023 Nov 03

A beautiful museum with some very interesting greek art, and some great temporary exhibitions.
The upstairs restaurant is great too, surrounded by masterpieces by contemporary artists.

Phuong Nguyen 2023 Nov 03

The building is nice and well located. The museum can be better, needs more explication and lights

Joan Cartales 2023 Oct 16

If you have any interest whatsoever in anything Greek, this museum probably has something for you. It's a converted family mansion that is a beautiful piece of architecture in and of itself. The collection is huge. It has objects ranging from neolithic to the 20th century. Ceramics, textiles, jewelry, traditional costumes, farm tools, paintings, carved wood, several reconstructed entire rooms from other parts of the country, icons, it goes on and on. I spent four hours here and skimmed two of the floors to get to the neolithic cutting tool special exhibit before I pooped out. Cafè, very clean restrooms. Elevator as well as staircases. This is one of several Benaki museums in Athens. Highly recommend.

Ars Longa 2023 Oct 08

Easily the best museum in Athens. Two seperate visits might be needed, so use the free entrance on Thursdays (after 6 pm) and then visit some other day as well. There’s just too much beauty to behold.
A little criticism: the info cards next to the exhibits should be renewed, they are difficult to read and all over the place. Also the audio guide English translation is incorrect on some pieces. Oh, and the cards they chose to print for the shop are really bad choices. Anyway, just go there, well worths it.

Irene R 2023 Oct 05

Great period costumes and byzantine icons including vestments, bishops staffs, and even altar screens that were hand carved. Must see

Erin Cadwalader 2023 Sep 23

We popped in here during the recent torrential rains, because it started to pour while we were in the National Gardens and it hadn't been on my radar, but it's a fantastic collection with a lot of information. And after two weeks of looking at Greek antiquities, there was still a lot to see and love that was different from what we'd seen other places. Give yourself a few hours though, we couldn't see it all in the 2 hours we had before they closed.

Jane N 2023 Jul 16

Large museum in an old mansion with plenty of interesting pieces. Focus is on Greek history and culture. There’s a cafe on the top floor but the service is poor. Took me about 2 hours to visit the permanent exhibition.

There seems to be a QR code for an audioguide for certain pieces.

Taniyyus Syed 2023 Jul 14

Look at the rare finds and artifacts of ancient Greece. Timeless pieces of history preserved go your pleasure.
Come and absorb as much of it as possible. Items on display dates as far back as 3200BC.

Kristina Giora 2023 Jun 19

A must see museum with multiple collections dating from the ~2500BC - to recent years.. you can also see couple collections from the Byzantine era. Also the bundling where the collection is housed is beauty of its own neoclassical marvel

kamalesh kamal 2023 May 18

One of the best museums I visited! The best of Athens, more than the Acropolis or anyother museum. It got a lot of art works. So many artistic collections. Definitely would take 2-3 hrs. Fortunate to have a free visit for the international museum day. Walkable from Syntagma Metro.

Chris Ratcliffe 2022 Apr 24

A vast museum cataloguing almost every facet of Greek life. Probably worth visiting in two sessions (or more), as it's such a large museum. The café on the top floor has a stunning view.