The best surviving classical wall paintings decorate the tombs, including, on Philip's tomb, a faded but remarkable scene of Alexander hunting, while the neighbouring tomb's scene of the "Rape of Persephone" is a tour de force of rapid brush-strokes that looks forward to Tiepolo.Vergina is on the lush, orchard-covered plain of Lower Macedonia, which is also the centre of a major wine region. On the slopes of the surrounding mountains, Naoussa lends its name to one of Greece's noblest red wines. Just below the town, the idyllic Sanctuary of the Nymphs (open daylight hours) is a series of caves and ruined foundations on a ledge over a stream, where Aristotle is believed to have taught the young Alexander. It's only a few minutes from here to the Boutari vineyards in Stenimachos, where, if you ring in advance, you can have both a tour and a lunch built around the local wines (00 30 233 204 2678, open Mon-Fri, set menus from €11-22/£8-16).Just north of here lies Pella (00 30 238 203 1160, open 8.30am-3pm, closed Mon, €3/£2), the capital of Macedonia, before it was moved to Thessaloniki in the late 4th century BC.

Philip II and Alexander were born here, presumably in the massive royal palace, a 60,000 square metre complex with a pool that is still being excavated. Pella is best known for the remarkable pebble mosaics that carpeted the floors of its villas, including one of Alexander and friend hunting a lion, and a charming portrait of Dionysos. AND IF I KEEP HEADING EAST? The Chalkidiki peninsula – on the map that big three-fingered paw dangling east of Thessaloniki – is the luxury beach playground of north, while its easternmost prong is the monastic republic of Mount Athos, where women have been banned since the 9th century. In classical times, however, Chalkidiki hosted more than a score of Greek colonies, which banded together in a confederation in 432BC and founded a capital, Olynthos (00 30 237 192 2148, open 8am-7pm, closed Mon, €2/£1). They designed it according to the precepts of the classical town planner, Hippodamus of Miletus, who promoted isonomia (equality of rights) in his careful grid plans.

Philip II destroyed Olynthos 84 years later, and it was never rebuilt, making its tidy but eloquent geometric foundations on a lonely bluff the "purest" classical city in Greece.Just east of Chalkidiki on the river Strymonas, the Athenians founded Amphipolis in 437BC, hoping to cash in on the nearby gold mines of Mount Pangaion, the El Dorado of ancient Greece. Amphipolis's elaborate classical walls and gate survive near the river, along with the unique fossilised wooden piles of a classical bridge. To the south, near the modern steel bridge, stands a giant stone lion, erected (probably) in honour of Laomedon, one of Alexander's generals. DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVOURITE SECRET CLASSICAL SITES? Minor classical ruins lost in the Greek countryside can be wonderfully evocative, and usually you have them all to yourself. The Castle of Aigosthena is one of these places, guarding the north-west corner of Attica, just behind the little beach resort of Porto Germano on the Gulf of Corinth; although seemingly forgotten, it's the best preserved fortress dating from the 5th century BC in Greece, made of beautifully cut polygonal stone.Along the wild and wooded Neda gorge in the Peloponnese (just under Bassae), the recently discovered foundations of a classical temple and altar lie lonely outside the nearly abandoned hamlet of Figelia, which also has an ancient fountain-house in its centre and an enchanting waterfall on the Neda river.