At a glance
🎟️ 12€
Reduced €6 for students. The audio guide is included in the price.
🕗 8:00–19:00
March to October. November to February 8:00–17:00.
🚇 Syntagma
Line 2. From there, 15 minutes on foot through the National Garden.
⏱️ 45–60 minutes
With the audio guide, the tunnel and the climb to the top.
Four lives for one stadium
The stadium sits in a natural valley between two hills, which is why it has this long horseshoe shape. Its story fits into four milestones:
- 330/329 BC. The orator and statesman Lycurgus builds the first stadium for the games of the Panathenaea, the great festival of Athena.
- Around AD 140. Herodes Atticus, the same man who built the Odeon below the Acropolis, clads the stands in Pentelic marble. That’s where the name “Kallimarmaro”, “beautiful marble”, comes from.
- 1869–1870. After centuries of neglect, the marble has been burned for lime and the stadium lies buried. The architect Ernst Ziller excavates it.
- 1895–1896. The benefactor Georgios Averof pays for its rebuilding in marble, to designs by Anastasios Metaxas, for the first modern Olympic Games.
On 10 April 1896 Spyridon Louis was the first to enter the stadium at the end of the marathon, and the crowd rose to its feet. Since then the Kallimarmaro has stayed tied to the Games: the 2004 Olympic marathon finished here, and this is where the Olympic flame is handed over to the country hosting the next Games.
The stands packed for the first modern Olympics.
10 April 1896: the marathon winner finishes here.
Photos: public domain (1896) · Wikimedia Commons
What you’ll see inside
Your ticket includes the audio guide, half an hour long and in 11 languages. Take it. The stadium looks simple at first glance, but the guide explains what you’re looking at, and without it most people leave after a quarter of an hour.
Walk the track first. You’ll see straight away that the bends are much tighter than in a modern stadium: the shape follows the ancient one. Then sit for a while on the lower stands. They’re all Pentelic marble, warm from the sun even in winter.
From here you see the whole stadium and the city beyond the entrance.
Pentelic marble all round the horseshoe.
You climb the narrow steps between the sections.
You can walk freely. The bends are much tighter than in a modern stadium.
Photos: Jakub Hałun (CC BY 4.0), George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Climb to the top row
The best part of the visit is at the top. Climb the steps of the curve up to the very last row. From there you see the whole stadium below you and, ahead, above the trees of the National Garden, the Acropolis. It’s quite a few steps, so if you’re hot or tired, even halfway up the stands gives you a good view.
The Acropolis above the trees. Worth the climb.
From the upper rows the Parthenon stands out clearly.
At the highest point of the curve.
Photos: George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0), Jakub Hałun (CC BY 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
The tunnel and the Olympic torches
At the closed end of the horseshoe, under the stands, an ancient tunnel opens up. Inside it, and in the small room at its end, you’ll find an exhibition of Olympic torches and posters from many Games. It’s only a few minutes’ walk, but don’t miss it: it’s one of the things people remember afterwards.
An ancient passage under the stands, at the curve of the horseshoe.
Torches from the torch relays of the Games.
Each torch next to the poster of its Games.
Photos: Jakub Hałun (CC BY 4.0), Palickap (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
The herms
At the end of the track stand two double herms, each with two faces back to back: an old man with a beard and a young one. In the ancient games, pillars like these marked the spot where the runners turned. Look at them from both sides.
An old man with a beard and a young man, back to back.
The herms stand where the runners made the turn.
Photos: Everredwinter (CC BY-SA 4.0), LBM1948 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Tickets and opening hours 2026
| Season | Hours |
|---|---|
| March – October | 8:00–19:00 |
| November – February | 8:00–17:00 |
The ticket costs €12 and the student rate €6, with a student card. Children up to 6 and people with disabilities, with their companion, get in free. The audio guide is included. You pay at the ticket office, in cash or by card. The ticket is only valid for that day. The Kallimarmaro isn’t one of the state archaeological sites, so the free museum days don’t apply here.
💡 Before you go
On days with concerts, ceremonies or races the hours change, or the stadium closes. That includes the Athens Authentic Marathon every November, which finishes here. Have a look at panathenaicstadium.gr before you set off. In summer, come early in the morning: there’s no shade on the stands.
From outside
A large square spreads out in front of the entrance. From there you see the whole horseshoe without a ticket, and in the evening the stadium is lit up. Across the road, at the corner with Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, stands the bronze Discus Thrower. The most striking view of the stadium, though, is from above, from Lycabettus or the Acropolis: a white horseshoe in the middle of the city.
From here you see the whole horseshoe, no ticket needed.
After sunset the stadium is lit up.
The bronze athlete opposite the entrance.
The white horseshoe between the greenery and the houses of Pangrati.
Photos: George E. Koronaios (CC0, CC BY-SA 4.0), Rob Oo (CC BY 2.0), Jebulon (CC0) · Wikimedia Commons
🚇 How to get there from Ioulianou 50
One change, at Omonia, and a nice walk at the end. Allow about 30 minutes door to door.
- Ioulianou 50 → Victoria station: 3 minutes on foot.
- Line 1 (green), towards Piraeus: one stop, to Omonia.
- Line 2 (red), towards Elliniko: two stops, Panepistimio and Syntagma.
- Syntagma → Kallimarmaro: come out on the square, enter the National Garden from Amalias Avenue and walk south to the Zappeion. From there the stadium is just across the road, on Vasileos Konstantinou Avenue.
If you’re in a hurry, get off at Evangelismos on Line 3 and walk 12 minutes south. The walk through the Garden is the nicer one, though.
🚇 Ioulianou 50 → Kallimarmaro by metro
Line 1 to Omonia, Line 2 to Syntagma, and 15 minutes on foot through the National Garden.
🗺️ From Syntagma to the Kallimarmaro through the Garden
The orange line is the walk from Syntagma station, through the National Garden and past the Zappeion, to the stadium entrance: about 15 minutes. The purple one continues to the Olympieion, 10 minutes. Tap each number to see what it is.
Where it is in relation to the apartment
📍 From Angels Athens to the “Panathenaic Stadium · Kallimarmaro”
See at a glance how to get there from the apartment at Ioulianou 50. Drag the map and zoom in for details.
What to combine it with
The Kallimarmaro sits in the middle of a lovely loop. Start at Syntagma with the Changing of the Guard, go through the National Garden and past the Zappeion, visit the stadium and then carry on ten minutes west to the Olympieion and Hadrian’s Arch. If you’d rather eat, Pangrati starts right behind the stadium, with tavernas and cafés that are quieter than in Plaka.
Shade from Syntagma to the Zappeion.
From here the stadium is just across the road.
Ten minutes west, for afterwards.
Photos: Jakub Hałun (CC BY 4.0), Jebulon (CC0) · Wikimedia Commons
Frequently asked questions
Is it all marble?
Yes, the stands are Pentelic marble, the same marble used for the Parthenon. That’s why it’s called the Kallimarmaro.
Can I run on the track?
You can walk the whole track. Many people do a short run for the photo too. Follow the staff’s instructions.
Is it worth it if I’m not into sport?
Yes. The marble, the view from the top and the tunnel are enough. With the audio guide the visit takes about an hour.
Do the free museum days apply here?
No. The stadium has its own ticket and isn’t part of the free days of the state archaeological sites.
— Kathy
