The Empúries ruins open from 10:00 to 20:00 from 1 June to 30 September and from 10:00 to 18:00 in spring and autumn; from 15 November to 15 February, Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00. A standard ticket costs €7 and includes the museum and the audio guide; under-16s get in free.
Empúries is the only site in the Iberian Peninsula where you walk through the remains of a Greek colony and a Roman city side by side, facing the sea at l'Escala. From Cadaqués it makes a half-day trip. Here is the practical side —hours, tickets, free days— and what is worth knowing before you go in, using the website of the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya, checked in October 2026.
Opening hours by season
The archaeological site changes its hours four times a year. From 16 February to 31 May it opens Monday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00 (until 19:00 at Easter). From 1 June to 30 September, from 10:00 to 20:00. From 1 October it goes back to 10:00 to 18:00 until mid-November: the opening-hours page says until the 14th and the museum's home page says until the 15th.
From 15 November to 15 February it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00 and closes on Mondays. On 24 and 31 December it closes at 15:00, and it does not open on 25 and 26 December or on 1 and 6 January. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing, and the museum rooms also close half an hour before the site (checked in October 2026).
Tickets, discounts and free days
A standard ticket costs €7 and a reduced one €5 (over-65s and pensioners, large or single-parent families, and several cards such as the Carnet Jove, which has a two-for-one offer). Under-16s, unemployed people and people with a disability certificate get in free, as does their companion if they need one. The ticket covers the site, every room of the museum and the audio guide (checked in October 2026).
You can buy online, but you have to validate the ticket at the visitor centre before going in. Discounted tickets that need proof, and free tickets on their own, are issued at the ticket desk.
There are open days: the first Sunday of every month, except July, August and September, plus a list of special dates that in 2026 included 11 September, the Diada. What is left this year is Science Week in November, with the date still to be confirmed.
There is a municipal car park next to the entrance. From July to September your museum ticket gets you two hours' discount (get it stamped at the ticket desk); the rest of the year parking is free. Dogs may walk round the site on a lead, but they cannot go into the museum or the exhibition rooms.
What you see: two cities and a harbour that is no longer there
The first to arrive were Greek traders from Phocaea, in the 6th century BC. They settled on the headland where the hamlet of Sant Martí d'Empúries stands today, which they called Palaiàpolis, the old city; it is the only corner of the place that has been lived in without a break ever since. Soon afterwards the new city, the Neàpolis, grew up south of the harbour and came to cover 4 hectares.
On top of the hill, the Romans founded a city of 22.5 hectares at the start of the 1st century BC, with a grid of streets, a forum, baths and an amphitheatre for about 3,300 spectators. Only about a quarter of it has been excavated. From the museum terrace you look over the old Greek harbour, now buried under the sediment that has gradually pushed the coastline out. The museum suggests allowing at least 2 hours for the visit.
The small stories in the stones
The most famous piece is the statue of the god the museum presents as Asclepius, the god of medicine, found in the second year of excavation. According to the Catalan Wikipedia it turned up in 1909, in two pieces, stands 2.15 metres tall and combines two different marbles; it spent 98 years at the Barcelona branch of the museum and came back to Empúries in March 2008. The same encyclopedia notes that many experts now think it represents Serapis. There is a replica in its original spot on the site, and the original is in the museum.
Next to it, the temple of Serapis and Isis was paid for, according to an inscription in Greek and Latin, by Noumas, a merchant from Alexandria. Further on there is a Roman fish-salting works where tuna was cut up and fish sauces were made, the best known being garum. And in a Greek house, in front of the door, the floor spells out in white tesserae ΗΔΥΚΟΙΤΟΣ, ‘may it be sweet to recline’: probably a banqueting room. In the Roman wall, by the main gate, you can still see the ruts left by carts and a phallus carved into a block, a kind of good-luck charm for the new city.
The museum, and a warning for autumn
The museum stands on what was a monastery of the Servite friars from the early 17th century; the first building to show the finds opened in 1917. The current exhibition, Empúries. Port de Cultures, was renewed in 2024 and brings together more than 600 original pieces: besides the Asclepius, the mosaic of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, a Greek commercial letter from the 6th century BC and an Emporitan drachma.
If you are travelling in autumn, it is worth knowing that the site's mosaics are covered in winter to protect them from frost. In 2026 the work starts on Monday 26 October and ends on 6 November, and once covered they will not be visible again until spring 2027.
Getting there from Cadaqués
The car is the practical option. It is about 44 km and a little under an hour without traffic, according to our own calculation with OpenStreetMap: the GI-614 to Roses and then local roads south to l'Escala. The museum is on Carrer Puig i Cadafalch, with no street number. For public transport, the museum's website only gives the bus stop on Avinguda Francesc Macià in l'Escala, with services from Girona and Barcelona.
Something for the journey: Federico García Lorca visited these excavations with Dalí, as the guide to Lorca in Cadaqués tells.
Checked
Checked in October 2026 on the website of the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya (Empúries pages: plan your visit, the site and the exhibition Empúries. Port de Cultures) and on the Catalan Wikipedia (Asclepi d'Empúries). The driving distance and time are our own calculation with OpenStreetMap.
Quick questions
How long do you need to see Empúries?
The museum suggests at least 2 hours to walk round the Greek city, the Roman city and the museum rooms.
When is entry to Empúries free?
On the first Sunday of every month, except July, August and September, and on some special dates such as 11 September. Under-16s always get in free.
How long does it take to get to Empúries from Cadaqués?
It is about 44 km by car, a little under an hour without traffic according to a calculation with OpenStreetMap, along the GI-614 to Roses and then south to l'Escala.
Can you see the mosaics in winter?
No. They are covered to protect them from frost: in 2026 the work runs from 26 October to 6 November and they will not be visible again until spring 2027.