Short answer: Most of the famous places in Greek, Egyptian, Norse and Irish myth are real, still standing, and open to visitors. Delphi, Knossos, Karnak and Newgrange all have opening hours. What you cannot buy a ticket for is the myth itself, so the list below keeps archaeology and legend in separate boxes. Browse the sites we cover in places, and the gods attached to them starting with Zeus and Poseidon.
The 15 places
| Place | Country | The myth | Can you go in? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delphi | Greece | The Pythia prophesied here for centuries, and the omphalos stone marked what Greeks called the navel of the world | Yes. Ticketed archaeological site plus an excellent museum |
| Mount Olympus | Greece | Home of the gods. The real mountain tops out at 2,917 m at the summit called Mytikas | Yes. National park, free to walk, mountain refuges on the way up |
| Knossos, Crete | Greece | The Minoan palace linked to Minos, the Minotaur and the labyrinth. The maze link is legendary, not archaeological | Yes. Ticketed. Note that the bright painted sections are Arthur Evans' reconstructions, not originals |
| Cape Sounion | Greece | Poseidon's cliff temple. Legend says Aegeus jumped from here, naming the Aegean | Yes. Ticketed site, famous at sunset |
| The Acropolis, Athens | Greece | Where Athena beat Poseidon in a contest for the city, olive tree against saltwater spring | Yes. Ticketed, busy, unmissable |
| Necromanteion of Ephyra | Greece | An oracle of the dead beside the river Acheron, one of several claimed doors to the underworld. The identification is debated by archaeologists | Yes. Small ticketed site, quiet |
| Mount Etna | Italy | Typhon pinned underneath, and Hephaestus' forge under the crater. The eruptions were his temper | Yes. Cable car and guided tours, access depends on current volcanic activity |
| Karnak and Luxor | Egypt | The vast temple complex of Amun-Ra, expanded by pharaohs for around two thousand years | Yes. Two ticketed sites, walkable from each other |
| Valley of the Kings | Egypt | Royal tombs painted with the funerary texts that guide the dead through the night, cousins of the Book of the Dead | Yes. Ticketed, with extra tickets for certain tombs |
| Abu Simbel | Egypt | Ramesses II carved into the rock. Twice a year the sunrise reaches the inner sanctuary | Yes. Ticketed. The whole temple was cut up and moved uphill in the 1960s |
| Newgrange | Ireland | A passage tomb older than the pyramids at Giza, aligned to the winter solstice sunrise, later tied to the Tuatha De Danann | Yes, but only on a guided tour from the visitor centre. Solstice entry is by lottery |
| Gamla Uppsala | Sweden | Adam of Bremen described a great pagan temple here. The royal burial mounds are certain, the temple is not | Yes. Mounds are open ground, the museum is ticketed |
| Thingvellir | Iceland | Where the Althing assembly met from 930, in the rift landscape behind much of saga literature | Yes. National park, free to walk, parking is paid |
| Externsteine | Germany | A rock formation with contested pre-Christian associations. The medieval Christian carvings are the certain part | Yes. Free to approach, small fee to climb the rock stairs |
| Mount Ida, Crete | Greece | The Idaean Cave, where the infant Zeus was hidden from Cronus. A second cave, Dikteon, claims the same story | Yes. Mountain road plus a walk, no ticket for the cave itself |
Three worth planning a trip around
Delphi. Nothing else gives you the feel of a place people crossed the sea to consult. Go early, walk up to the stadium, come back down through the museum.
Newgrange, for the solstice. Any day of the year you get a 5,000 year old chamber. In midwinter you get the reason it exists, and entry is decided by public lottery.
Thingvellir. Two things at once: the birthplace of a parliament and the Norse landscape at its most legible, a valley pulling itself apart between two continents.
Quick questions
Can you visit Mount Olympus?
Yes. It is a real mountain in a national park and a popular multi day hike, usually starting near Litochoro, with refuges on the route. The summit section is serious terrain rather than a stroll, so check conditions, go in season and go properly prepared or with a guide.
Was the labyrinth real?
Knossos is real and you can walk it. A built maze holding a Minotaur is not attested anywhere in the archaeology. The palace is large and confusingly planned, and the Minoan double axe, labrys, may be behind the name, which is enough to explain how a story grew. The full version is in Minos, Pasiphae, the Minotaur and Daedalus, and the creature ranks in Greek monsters ranked.
Where was the entrance to the Greek underworld?
There is no single answer, because several places claimed it. The Necromanteion of Ephyra by the Acheron, Cape Tainaron at the tip of the Mani peninsula, and Lake Avernus in Italy, the door Virgil sends Aeneas through. All three are visitable, and none of them is the official one. More on the god behind the door in Hades.
Hear the myth of a place before you stand in it, or while you do. MythologyNow narrates them like films, voices, music and all, so Delphi arrives with the oracle already in your head. Start with places, or read up first with the Celtic guide and the Egyptian gods list. Bring headphones.
