Sparta

Sparta lies in the fertile Evrotas valley of Laconia, in the southern Peloponnese, on the eastern foothills of the towering Mount Taygetos range. The modern town was laid out in 1834 on the site of the ancient city, and it is a planned settlement of broad, tree-lined avenues and orange groves rather than a place of grand classical monuments.

Visitors expecting the drama of Delphi or Olympia should adjust their expectations, because ancient Sparta famously left little behind. The Spartans built for war rather than for show, and the historian Thucydides predicted that later generations would struggle to believe the city's power from its modest remains. The Acropolis of ancient Sparta, north of the modern centre, offers the excavated theatre, scattered walls and the sanctuary of Athena Chalkioikos in a peaceful, wooded archaeological park.

The town itself is pleasant and unpretentious. The Archaeological Museum of Sparta holds finds from across Laconia, including Roman mosaics and the striking marble bust known as the "Leonidas", while a modern statue of Leonidas stands at the head of the main avenue near the stadium, honouring the king who fell at Thermopylae. On the hillside a few kilometres east lie the ruins of the Menelaion, a shrine linked to Menelaus and Helen with fine valley views.

Most travellers use Sparta as a comfortable, well-serviced base rather than a destination in itself. Its great advantage is position: the Byzantine ghost-city of Mystras rises only a few kilometres to the west, the wild Mani peninsula lies to the south, and the mountain villages and gorges of Taygetos are close at hand. Ancient Messene and the coast at Gythio are both within reach for a day out, and the road north over the mountains links Laconia to Arcadia and the rest of the Peloponnese.

Good tavernas, a friendly working-town atmosphere and reasonable prices make it an easy, honest stopover in the heart of Laconia. The evening promenade fills the main avenue, the orange trees perfume the air in spring, and Taygetos provides a constant, dramatic backdrop. Come for the setting, the sense of history and the ease of exploring rather than for grand ruins, and Sparta repays the visit.