Getting to Sparta
Visitors can travel to Sparta by car or bus. There is no airport in Sparta. The nearest airports are located in Kalamata and Athens.
Sparta is located 225 km south west of Athens, on the south eastern side of Peloponnese. To drive there, you follow the National Highway from Athens to Tripoli, and then you take the rural road from Tripoli to Sparta. The road trip from Athens to Sparta is approximately 2 and a half hours.
There are daily buses that connect Athens to Sparta. The buses to Sparta depart from Kifissos Bus Station in Athens. The bus trip is approximately 3 hours.
Useful Numbers
- Telephone Area Code: +30 27310
- Municipality of Sparta: +30 27310 22226
- Tourist Police: +30 27310 89583
- General Hospital: +30 27310 28671
- Police Station: +30 27310 89580
- Taxis: +30 2731 200200
- Archaeological Museum: +30 27310 21516
- Museum of Olive Oil: +30 27310 89315
About Sparta
Surrounded by mounts Taýgetos and Párnon, Sparta was the kingdom of Menelaus and his beautiful queen, the most beautiful of all mortal women of her age, Helen. But Aphrodite had promised Paris of Troy the most beautiful woman on earth in return of a favour, so the Trojan prince came to Sparta to claim his trophy. He abducted Helen and travelled back to his homeland. Menelaus wanted his wife back and talked all the other kings of Greece into fighting against the Trojans. That’s pretty much how the most celebrated war of the myths started.
Broad streets full of trees, large squares, neoclassical buildings and nice hotels, scented by the olive, orange and lemon trees of the nearby valley of the Eurotas River: this is Sparta!
Visit the Archaeological Museum: its exhibits cover a tremendously long period (Neolithic to late Roman age).
“Koumantários” Art Gallery: admire oil paintings of prominent European artists of the 16th to the 20th century.
Visit the Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive oil: get to know the culture and technology of a natural product that is inextricably connected with the Greek and Mediterranean identity.
Take a trip to the perched on the sides of mount Taýgetos villages of Ksirokámpi, Koumoustá and Anavrytí with the traditional stone houses and the old stone fountains. In Ksirokámpi, visit the church of Áyios Níkonas with the frescoes of the 14th century.
