Thessaloniki tickets open the museums and Byzantine monuments of the city, carry you on its buses and metro, and take you on by train, coach or plane. Our Greece Tours pages list more city trips across the country.
This page covers each ticket type, where to buy it and what each one includes.
What are Thessaloniki tickets?
Thessaloniki tickets are the passes a visitor buys to enter museums, monuments and attractions in the city, to ride city buses and the metro, to board the hop-on hop-off bus, and to travel in or out by train, coach or plane.
Thessaloniki ranks as the second city of Greece by population. Its Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Thessaloniki tickets fall into these main groups:
- Museum entry: admission to the city’s state and private museums.
- Monument entry: access to the Roman and Byzantine sites in the centre.
- Attraction tickets: themed venues such as the illusion and selfie museums.
- City bus and metro tickets: fares for public transport inside the city.
- Hop-on hop-off bus: a timed pass on an open-top sightseeing bus.
- Train tickets: rail journeys to other parts of Greece.
- Coach tickets: intercity bus trips by road.
- Flight tickets: air travel to and from the city’s airport.
Each group has its own seller. The sections below start with the Thessaloniki tickets you can reserve before you arrive.
Which Thessaloniki tickets can you book online?
Thessaloniki tickets you can book online on GetYourGuide cover the Museum of Illusions, the Museum of Byzantine Culture, the Ancient Greek Technology Museum, the Selfie Museum, a White Tower audio tour and the hop-on hop-off bus.
These seven online Thessaloniki tickets list their validity and what each one includes:
- Museum of Illusions admission: valid for 1 day, entry to a sensory museum of mind-bending visual tricks.
- Byzantine Museum e-ticket and audio city tour: valid for 1 day, a phone e-ticket for the Museum of Byzantine Culture plus a self-guided audio walk through the city.
- Byzantine Museum e-ticket with audio tour: valid for 1 day, a phone e-ticket plus an audio tour on the stories behind the museum’s famous objects.
- Ancient Greek Technology Museum entry: valid for 1 day, entry to a museum on the technology of ancient Greece.
- Selfie Museum: a 60-minute immersive visit with themed sets to play in with family or friends.
- White Tower self-guided audio tour: valid for 365 days, a phone audio tour on the tower’s history, with views from the top floor.
- Hop-on hop-off bus: an open-top city bus pass, covered in its own section below.
Choosing between an e-ticket and the door comes down to planning. An e-ticket sits on your phone, so you show the screen at the entrance. Booking Thessaloniki tickets online also settles your plan before the day. The two Byzantine Museum tickets need booking at least 30 minutes ahead, and the Museum of Illusions needs 10 minutes.
Five of the seven listings offer free cancellation, which keeps an online plan open to change. Buying at the door suits a looser day, since you pick a venue on the spot. Online Thessaloniki tickets for the Byzantine Museum also bundle entry with an audio tour.
Which museum Thessaloniki tickets can you buy?
Museum Thessaloniki tickets cover the two main state museums in the city: the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the Museum of Byzantine Culture. Each museum sells its own entry ticket, and the Museum of Byzantine Culture also sells tickets online.
Thessaloniki tickets for the Archaeological Museum cover finds from the city and wider Macedonia. The displays run from prehistoric times to the Roman period. Star pieces include the Derveni Krater, a vase for mixing wine and water, and the Derveni Papyrus. A wing called The Gold of Macedon puts gold at the centre of its story.
Thessaloniki tickets for the Museum of Byzantine Culture take you inside a winner of the Council of Europe Museum Prize. Its building on Stratou Avenue came from a design competition. The rooms show icons, mosaics, wall paintings, coins, seals and textiles.
Opening hours change by season. The Archaeological Museum also stays open into the evening on the first Thursday of each month from late spring through September. Check each museum’s official site before your visit. Our page on Thessaloniki museums covers the city’s other collections.
Which monument Thessaloniki tickets can you buy?
Monument Thessaloniki tickets are sold at Ministry of Culture sites such as the Roman Forum and the Heptapyrgion fortress. Entry terms differ elsewhere. The Galerius Palace information centre has free admission, and the White Tower is open to the public as a city-history museum.
The White Tower stands on the waterfront along Nikis Avenue. Its six floors hold an exhibition on the history of the city, organised by the Museum of Byzantine Culture. A platform on the roof looks out over the city and the sea.
The Rotunda is a round building ordered by the Roman emperor Galerius, who historians think meant it as his tomb. It later served as a church and then a mosque, and its minaret still stands. Today the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities runs it as a monument.
The palace of Galerius survives as remains in Navarinou Square, now an open-air museum. The information centre for the Galerian Complex sits in the Apsidal Hall and has free admission from Tuesday to Sunday. The Ministry of Culture lists full and reduced Thessaloniki tickets for the Roman Forum, the city’s Ancient Agora.
The Heptapyrgion, or Eptapyrgio, guards the north-east corner of the acropolis in Ano Poli, the upper town. The fortress worked as a prison until the prison moved out of the city. The Ministry of Culture then took over the site, and restoration work continues there. Full and reduced Thessaloniki tickets apply here too.
The Rotunda belongs to a group of fifteen early Christian and Byzantine monuments on the UNESCO list. The group also includes the city walls, Hagios Demetrios, Hagia Sophia and the Blatades Monastery. Check each site’s entry terms with the Ministry of Culture, because Thessaloniki tickets differ from one monument to the next.
How do bus and metro Thessaloniki tickets work?
Bus and metro Thessaloniki tickets come from two networks: OASTH runs the city buses, and THEMA runs the driverless metro. Bus riders validate a ticket or buy one from the machine on board. Metro riders pass fare gates with electronic tickets.
OASTH, the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organisation, runs only buses, on a network of 267 routes. The metro has two lines with 18 stations, and its trains run without drivers. Line 1 links the New Railway Station with the suburb of Nea Elvetia. THEMA, a Franco-Italian consortium, operates the system.
The OASTH fares page lists two bus ticket products, the ThessCard and the ThessTicket. It also gives guides to recharging tickets and to electronic validation. The metro uses an electronic card system with paper tickets and plastic cards. A monthly metro ticket is also on sale. OASTH offers reduced or zero fares to special groups.
Thessaloniki tickets for the bus are sold at these points:
- OASTH ticket points, open on working days, with separate winter and summer hours. They close on weekends and public holidays, apart from listed exceptions.
- The ticket machine inside the bus, which issues a ticket right after you board.
Validation follows one rule. Right after boarding, validate a pre-printed ticket or issue one from the machine. Keep it for the whole ride and show it to any fare controller who asks. A rider without a ticket pays a fine of 60 times the basic fare.
Three OASTH lines serve Macedonia Airport. Line 01X runs between the KTEL coach station and the airport, and the 01N night bus covers the same route. Line 79 links IKEA with the airport. A metro extension to the airport is planned but not built. Our page on the airport to the city centre covers that ride.
The OASTH Telematics service shows the route, stops and map of each bus line. Use it to match Thessaloniki tickets to the right trip. For the wider network, see our page on getting around Thessaloniki.
How do hop-on hop-off Thessaloniki tickets work?
Hop-on hop-off Thessaloniki tickets for the Big Bus open-top tour come as a 24-hour or a 48-hour pass. You ride at your own pace and stop at landmarks like the White Tower and Aristotelous Square.
The bus has an open top, which gives panoramic views as it moves across the city. You choose where to step off and when to board again. Pick the 48-hour pass if you plan to spread your sightseeing over two days.
Hop-on hop-off Thessaloniki tickets come in adult and child types. Adult tickets cover ages 13 to 99, and child tickets cover ages 4 to 12. Children aged 3 and younger are not permitted on this tour.
The tour is listed as wheelchair accessible, and the booking includes free cancellation. Route details for the open-top bus sit on our Thessaloniki hop-on hop-off page.
Where do you buy train, coach and flight Thessaloniki tickets?
You buy train Thessaloniki tickets at the staffed ticket offices of Thessaloniki railway station. KTEL sells coach tickets at its Macedonia bus terminal. Airlines sell flight tickets for Thessaloniki Airport “Makedonia” (SKG), which handles domestic and international flights.
- Train: Hellenic Train runs long-distance services from the station on Monastiriou Street to Athens, Larissa, Florina and Alexandroupolis.
- Coach: the KTEL terminal sits west of the city centre and serves regional and international routes.
- Flight: the airport lies 13 km south-east of the city, in the suburb of Thermi.
The InterCity Express to Athens takes about 4 hours. The regular Intercity takes over 5 hours, and the coach takes over 7 hours. Check the current Hellenic Train timetable before you buy Thessaloniki tickets for Athens.
The railway station also serves regional lines to Edessa and Serres, plus a shuttle to Sindos. It has luggage lockers, so you can leave bags there before a day out. For coach seats, buy at the Macedonia terminal or check the official KTEL Macedonia website first.
Flying in? Book Thessaloniki airport transfers before you land, so your ride from Thermi into the city is set. Flights from outside the Schengen area use Terminal 1, so check your terminal before you leave for the airport.
What do travellers ask about Thessaloniki tickets?
Do children pay for Thessaloniki tickets to museums?
No, not at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, a state museum. It admits children and young people up to 25 from EU countries free, with an ID card or passport. Children up to 18 from non-EU countries also enter free with a passport. Other museums set their own rules, so check each ticket page.
Can you show Thessaloniki tickets on your phone?
Each seller decides the format, and its official ticket page states the rule. Check that page before you travel to the venue or station. Save the ticket file or confirmation email on your phone, and keep the battery charged. Carry a printed copy as well when the seller asks for paper Thessaloniki tickets.
Are Thessaloniki tickets for state museums free on set days?
Yes. The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is free on the first and third Sunday of each month from November to March. Entry is also free on 6 March, 18 April, International Museum Day, the last weekend of September and 28 October. For other museums in the city, confirm the dates on their official sites.
Can you cancel Thessaloniki tickets bought online?
Each seller sets its own cancellation terms and shows them at booking, before you pay. A museum, a rail operator, a coach company and an airline each apply a separate policy. Read the terms before you confirm. When your plans change, contact the seller that issued your Thessaloniki tickets as soon as you can.