13 Best Sights in Greece

It may seem a bit incongruous to admire Ming pottery in an ornate British colonial palace as the Ionian Sea shimmers outside the windows, but this elegant, colonnaded, 19th-century Regency structure houses the Museum of Asian Art, a notable collection of Asian porcelains, Japanese ukiyo-e prints, Indian sculpture, and Tibetan temple art. The building was constructed as a residence for the Lord High Commissioner and headquarters for the order of St. Michael and St. George; it was abandoned after the British left in 1864 and renovated about a hundred years later by the British ambassador to Greece. After visiting the galleries, wander in the shady courtyard behind the palace, where you may have trouble tearing yourself away from the fairy-tale view of the lush islet of Vido and the mountainous coast of Albania. Don't miss the Municipal Gallery.

This museum has an outstanding collection of 350 Cycladic artifacts dating from the Bronze Age, including many of the enigmatic marble figurines whose slender shapes fascinated such artists as Picasso, Modigliani, and Brancusi. The main building is an imposing glass-and-steel design dating from 1985 and built to convey the austere landscapes and the diffusion of refracted light that predominate in the Cyclades. Along with Cycladic masterpieces, a wide array from other eras is also on view, ranging from the Bronze Age through the 6th century AD, while the third floor is devoted to Cypriot art. To handle the overflow, a new wing opened in 2005. A glass corridor connects the main building to the gorgeous, 19th-century neoclassical Stathatos Mansion, where temporary exhibitions are presented. Throughout the year, the museum organizes educational initiatives for children and collaborates with several institutions for this purpose. For a break, visit the skylighted café in an enclosed courtyard around a Cycladic-inspired fountain, or the art shop selling artifact replicas as well as books, home decor items, jewelry, and accessories by classic and contemporary Greek designers.

After seemingly endless years of waiting for major renovations to be made, the National Gallery finally reopened in its spanking-new glass-and-metal ultramodern form in 2021. It houses permanent collections showcasing a broad array of Greek paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, and installations dating from the 1400s up to the present day. The gallery, also known as the Alexandros Soutsos Museum, presents several temporary exhibitions as well as offering digital presentations and educational programs. Set aside several hours if you really want to try and take in the abundant variety of art on show.

The story of the 1822 revolution, as told through the paintings, art and letters of the era, is the joy of this far-flung wing of Athens' National Gallery. Set in a beautiful, lemon-colored neoclassical house, its front yard is strewn with sculptures, but what draws you inside is its magnificent collection of paintings, with works centered on heroic deeds or suffering locals. It's a glimpse into the mindset of an era when Greece was finding its voice amid the parting smoke of revolution. Look out for pieces by Dionysios Tsokos, one of the defining brushes of post-independence Greek art.

This remarkable two-floor museum is a testament to the resilience of the island. Most of the ecclesiastical artworks here date from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and were rescued from more than 100 churches across the island after the 1953 earthquakes tore through the land. Entire frescoes, woodcarvings, iconostases, and religious artworks by key artists from the Ionian School of painters (Doxaras, Koutouzis), who flourished in the post-Renaissance, all survive here. The only tragedy is the lack of English translation to give context to their past. Last entry is 3:30 pm.

The impressive Benaki Museum Annexe is located at one of the busiest and most industrially developed points in the city. The minimalist exterior is covered in smooth pink stone—a kind of beacon of modernity—with creatively designed clean lines on the dusty, loud avenue. Inside, all is high-ceiling atriums, transparent walkway ascents, and multiple levels, a dramatic setting for the museum's temporary exhibitions (many of which are far more avant-garde in character than those housed in the main building).

In a handsome Venetian building that was once a soap factory, there is now an airy space given over to contemporary art. Interesting and provocative, the museum has a permanent collection of over 500 works by Greek artists covering a range of genres from 1950 onwards. Temporary exhibitions from artists all over the world feature, as do an assembly of works from Rethymnian Lefteris Kanakakis.

Housed in what was once Greece’s first brewery/beer factory owned by (and named after) the Bavarian Fix family, the museum opened in 2020 after decades of homelessness and much controversy. Today the superbly renovated postindustrial building houses three bright, modern floors of photo, painting and sculpture exhibitions, art installations and collections, both temporary and permanent. Most of the works on show reflect contemporary sociopolitical thought, by both Greek and international artists.

The home of Stratis Eleftheriadis, better known by his French name, Teriade, houses a luminous collection of French art, much of which appeared in his highly influential Paris publications Minotaure and Verve. Among the works on display are lithographs done for the publisher/collector/critic by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Rouault, Giacometti, and Miró. The house is set among the olive trees of Varia and is worth the detour; it is also home to the Museum of Theophilos.

Sitting amid olive groves this dusty pink museum houses a large number of the eponymous artist's "naive," precise neo-Hellenic works, detailing the everyday life of local folk such as fishermen and farmers, and polytheical fantasies of another age. Theophilos lived in poverty but painted airplanes and cities he had never seen. He painted in bakeries for bread, and in cafés for ouzo, and walked around in ancient dress. For a time, he lived inside a tree that can be seen in the hamlet of Karini.

This moody box of experimental and conceptual art, inside a remodeled warehouse on Thessaloniki's port, features a wide range of new-media art and video installations. It showcases some of the most exciting young Greek artists around and hosts cutting-edge, temporary exhibitions.