Opened in 2009 on the southern slope of the Acropolis hill, this is one of the best archaeological museums in Europe. The building itself is striking — a deliberately austere glass-and-concrete structure designed by Bernard Tschumi, built over an active excavation of an ancient Athenian neighbourhood visible through the glass floors at the entrance.
The ground floor holds the finds from the slopes of the Acropolis — reliefs, pottery, votive offerings. The middle floors display the sculptures from the various temples, including the original caryatids from the Erechtheion, each one remarkable up close in a way that casts from the British Museum cannot match. The top-floor Parthenon Gallery, set at the exact angle of the building, displays the surviving sections of the frieze in their original sequence, with plaster casts filling the gaps where the originals are in London.
Budget two to three hours. The museum cafe has good views of the Acropolis and is a pleasant spot for lunch. It is open on Mondays when many other Greek museums are closed.