Last summer, more than 22,000 people visited the Acropolis every day, forcing authorities to introduce controls including a time slot system. Photo: Russell Mountford/Alamy
Jackie and Malcolm Love stood among a crowd of tourists in the heart of Athens and admired the Acropolis with a mixture of awe and admiration. The Greek capital's largest classical site was truly beautiful, they said, but the crowds were so great even in April that they preferred to experience it from a distance.
"We didn't go, not with all those people," Jackie said, looking up at the fifth-century monument from the cobblestone boulevard below. "We didn't think this would be the best thing to do, right?" she said as she nudged her husband.
The couple, who are enjoying a city break from their English hometown of Ipswich, had been considering whether to take a private tour instead. The Greek Ministry of Culture is planning personalized visits to the ancient complex - for €5,000 (£4,285). "We wouldn't pay that," says Malcolm, a truck driver. "Crazy prices," Jackie interjected. "Certainly not for people like us."
The Acropolis is by far Greece's biggest attraction and attracted more than 22,000 visitors a day last summer, forcing authorities to introduce strict controls, including a time slot system.
This year, officials have gone a step further by announcing a plan that will allow tourists to beat the crowds and experience Periclean's masterpiece on an exclusive basis. The initiative will see up to four groups of five people guided around the site by expert archaeologists between 7am and 9am and between 8pm and 10pm - before opening and after closing, to avoid the thousands of selfie snappers who frequent the rocky cliffs every hour. climb hill. "We have been receiving requests from tour operators for this for a long time," said Nikoleta Valakou, president of the Hellenic Organization for the Development of Cultural Resources, a state body linked to the culture ministry.
The ministry, she said, was willing to allow tours for individuals, provided they were willing to pay the group fee. "There will also be souvenirs," Valakou added. "A replica of a coin perhaps, or a copy of a small statue... something to bring back memories of the unique experience."
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But the measure - part of a review of ticketing policies for more than 350 archaeological sites and museums managed by Greece's culture ministry - has sparked anger and ridicule, including among archaeologists. Guides have described it as impractical and critics have argued that it goes against the spirit of everything the world's premier symbol of democracy is supposed to represent. "Before you know it, people will be proposing and drinking champagne there," said Despina Koutsoumba, the vice-president of the country's archaeologists' association. "Once they've spent that kind of money, they'll feel like they have the right to do whatever they want on the site."
The whole idea, she said, was "unacceptably exclusive". After all, the monument was the emblem of democratic Athens, where citizens enjoyed equality before the law.
"What this says is that Greece is willing to give people who have money the opportunity to enjoy the Acropolis in a very exclusive way, while leaving out those who simply do not have such resources. We are absolutely against it," Koutsoumba added.
Previously, only world leaders, royalty and the occasional celebrity had been allowed access to the site after hours.
The public, excluding academics and conservationists, has one day - the August full moon - to enjoy the temples at night.
Opponents of the plan have questioned the wisdom of the decision at a time when the country's wealth gap has been widening. "It's downright elitist," says Costas Zambas, who led restoration work on the Acropolis for more than 25 years.
"The whole idea goes against the spirit of a place we associate with democracy. It doesn't sit well."
With Athens at the sharp end of the climate crisis, tourist guides have raised concerns about the workability of a plan that overwhelmingly sees the site opening at 9am instead of 8am. Last summer, the Greek capital - continental Europe's southernmost metropolis - experienced record temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius, forcing officials to take the unprecedented step of closing the Acropolis for several days.
"If they reduce the opening hours to 9 a.m. because of these private tours, it will be a disaster," said Kriton Piperas, who until recently headed the 4,000-member Panhellenic Federation of Tourist Guides. "Our union has been insisting for years that the Acropolis should open earlier precisely because of the changing weather. Don't forget that it is much hotter there due to the lack of shade."
He said Greece's pro-business centre-right government was increasingly viewing culture through an exclusively commercial lens. "They consider the Acropolis and everything related to tourism as a product," he said. "This idea of unique tours is like putting a price tag on the site, it reminds me of an auction where the highest bidder wins and is told 'you can have it all to yourself'. It is wrong and will certainly lead to problems."
Cruise ship ticket holders, which are the source of increasing numbers of day trippers to the Greek capital, often book months in advance and are on a very tight schedule. Most queue at the Acropolis at 8am.
Speaking in her office overlooking a central boulevard in Athens, Valakou said the culture ministry had taken the criticism to heart. It is estimated that the tours can generate up to €40,000 per day, with proceeds going to cash-strapped cultural projects.
"The revenues will be reinvested," she said. "As the Acropolis will be the first for such tours, it will be a pilot program and we are open to change."
The omens are not all bad. The plan has been greeted with delight by some in the Greek diaspora, where the wealthy have already suggested signing up.
"I have heard from dozens of friends who have expressed interest in participating in these tailor-made trips," said Peter Poulos, executive director of the Hellenic Initiative, a global philanthropic organization based in the Greek diaspora.
"Why not relieve people of their money if it will help protect and preserve our cultural monuments for generations to come? We all support the loftiest of ideals, but ultimately ideals will not be able to afford the high costs required to run a site of this size."
