Aigai (Vergina) Royal Tombs

Tickets and tours: all the options

Entry is managed by the Greek Ministry of Culture. A single ticket covers the Museum of the Royal Tombs, the palace and theatre on the hill above the village and the newer Polycentric Museum near the palace; it is sold at the tomb museum and costs the same all year. EU citizens under 25 enter free, and there are reductions for older EU visitors and students. There is no need to book: queues are rare outside school-trip mornings.

What is sold online is mainly a full-day tour from Thessaloniki. The most common format pairs Vergina with Pella, Alexander's birthplace and the later capital, with a guide and air-conditioned minibus; entry tickets are usually extra. Some tours add Veria and its Byzantine churches, or Edessa and its waterfalls, and a few begin in Ohrid in North Macedonia. Private tours with a driver-guide suit families and small groups and allow more time inside.

If you have a car, Vergina is easy to visit alone, and the tomb museum has clear labels in English. Without one, a group day tour from Thessaloniki that includes Pella is the sensible option, because public transport needs a change at Veria and leaves little time for both sites.

A short history

Aigai was the seat of the Argead kings of Macedon from around the 7th century BC, a cluster of villages around a walled acropolis on the foothills of the Pierian mountains. King Archelaus moved the capital to Pella around 400 BC, but Aigai remained the sacred city and the royal burial ground. Philip II was assassinated in its theatre in 336 BC, and Alexander was proclaimed king there. Gallic mercenaries looted many tombs in 276 BC, and the Romans burned the city after 168 BC. Leon Heuzey dug the palace in the 1860s; Manolis Andronikos found the royal tombs in 1977. The site was added to the UNESCO list in 1996.

Getting there

Vergina lies about 75 km west of Thessaloniki and 13 km south-east of Veria. By car the drive from Thessaloniki takes about an hour and a quarter on the Egnatia motorway; there is free parking beside the tomb museum and at the palace. Thessaloniki airport is about 90 km away. By public transport, take a KTEL bus from the main Thessaloniki bus station to Veria, which runs frequently and takes about an hour and a quarter, then a local bus to Vergina, which runs only a few times a day, or a taxi for the last 13 km. Trains from Thessaloniki to Veria are slower. From the village centre the tomb museum is a short walk.

Rules and what to bring

Photography is not allowed inside the Museum of the Royal Tombs, and the guards enforce it. Large bags and food stay outside. On the palace hill keep to the walkways over the mosaics, and do not climb on the theatre seats. Bring water and a hat for the walk between the tombs and the palace, as there is little shade. Cafes and tavernas in Vergina village serve simple lunches.

When to go

The tomb museum is underground and cool, so it can be visited at any hour, but the palace and theatre are exposed and summer afternoons on the hill are hot. A good order is the palace at opening, then the theatre and Polycentric Museum, and the tombs in the heat of the day. Day tours from Thessaloniki usually arrive in late morning or after lunch at Pella, and Greek school groups come on weekday mornings in spring.

April to June and September to October are the most comfortable months, with mild temperatures and green fields around the village. July and August are hot but rarely crowded here. Winter is quiet and the museum is just as good, though everything closes at 5 pm and on Tuesdays. On the first and third Sundays from November to March entry is free. Allow about an hour and a half for the tombs and as long again for the palace, theatre and second museum.