Marathon, the plain of the battle, 40 km from Athens.

In 490 BC, on a plain between the mountain and the sea 40 km from Athens, some ten thousand Athenians and their Plataean allies defeated the Persian army that had just landed in the bay. That saved Athens, opened its golden age and left a legend, that of the messenger who ran to the city to announce the victory, which ended up giving the race its name. Today the plain of Marathon is fields, greenhouses and houses, but the burial mound of the dead is still in the middle, and around it there is a museum, a sanctuary above the sea and a long beach backed by pine woods. It is a half-day excursion from Athens, or a full day with the beach.

How do you get there from Athens?

By car, about 50 minutes for 40 km along Marathonos Avenue, which leaves from the north-east of the city. From the airport, about 30 km via Rafina and Nea Makri, half an hour. The sites are 4 to 15 km apart: a car is what works.

Without a car is complicated: by public transport you can't reach the sites easily, as they are spread out. If you don't drive, a taxi for half a day is better.

What is there to see at Marathon?

Start with the museum, in Vrana: the fragments of the victory trophy, the busts of Herodes Atticus, who was born here, and the colossal Egyptian-style statues from his sanctuary at Vrexiza. Next to the museum is the Plataeans' mound. Then, the Athenian burial mound, the Soros, a nine-metre earthen mound over the fallen hoplites. If you have time, go north to Rhamnous, the sanctuary of Nemesis and Themis above the Euboean Gulf, with a road of tombs that runs down to the sea fortress.

For the afternoon, Schinias beach, several kilometres of sand with pine woods behind, in the very bay where the Persians anchored. On the way back, the marble dam of Lake Marathon, faced with stone from Pentelicus, the mountain of the Parthenon's marble.

How much does it cost and what are the opening hours?

Each site has its own ticket: the mound, the museum, Vrexiza and Rhamnous, €5 each (reduced, €3). All open from 8:30 to 15:30 all year and close on Tuesdays. Free on the first and third Sunday of each month from November to March, 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September and 28 October. They close on 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Easter Sunday and 25 and 26 December. Buy them at tickets.hh.gr or at the ticket office.

Where to eat and sleep?

Marathon can be seen in a day from Athens, but you can also sleep on the coast, in Nea Makri or in Mati, half an hour from the airport. For lunch, the fish tavernas of Nea Makri: the Argo, at the end of the promenade, open every day, and the Trata, run by the same family since 1981. On the sand at Schinias, a café at Moraitis Beach.

To sleep, the Marathon Beach Resort, a beach hotel next to the port of Nea Makri; the NLH Mati Seafront, over the sea in Mati, and the Ballos Apartments, with kitchens, for families. If you prefer to sleep in central Athens, you have the listings in Athens. If you want more coast, combine it with Sounion on another day.

How much time do you need?

Half a day for the museum and the mound; a whole day with Rhamnous and the beach. You have it hour by hour in the excursion to Marathon from Athens. If you prefer a quieter Sunday, with a fish lunch in Nea Makri, see the Sunday in Marathon Bay; and to stay a night, the getaway to Marathon.