SKOPELOS: More than Mamma Mia!
Of all the Greek isles, it was Skopelos that Hollywood chose to star in the 2007 Abba musical, Mamma Mia! Inevitably, there is the odd Mamma Mia! boat tour and such but the island has still maintained a refreshing authenticity.
In part this is thanks to the fact that getting there is no mean feat, which helps limit visitor numbers.
The island has no airport and the quickest way to get there is via neighbouring Skiathos, home to one of Europe’s shortest and narrowest runways, followed by an hour-long boat ride before Skopelos town comes into view.
It is one of the most beautiful ports in the country, a hillside sprawl of dazzling white walls topped with terracotta tiles, dozens of chapels scattered within, all overlooked by a ruined Venetian fortress.
The town makes the most concessions to tourists — there are car rentals, a few restaurants with Wi-Fi and even a souvenir shop or two — but it still retains much of its charm. The kafeneon (traditional Greek coffee shop) still attracts a clutch of old boys who play backgammon over coffee while coiffured young islanders whizz down narrow alleyways on scooters and a battered old fish van prowls up and down calling out prices on a loudspeaker.
Glossa town, in the far northwest, its whitewashed houses clinging to even steeper slopes, is more authentic still, making almost no allowances for outsiders. We spent a pleasant couple of hours there clambering along quiet, shrub-filled streets, past shuttered homes and a couple of sleepy stores selling olive oil, plums and honey, to the town square. An oasis of shade, overlooked by a church and a café, it has perhaps the finest views on the entire island.
There are also dozens of monasteries scattered around, each one with a dusky chapel filled with glittering icons and chirping birds in cages. There are 10 on Mount Palouki alone. Some — such as Evangelismos,
built in 1712 and 16th-century Sotiris, manned by a single, rather grumpy monk — make for a perfect ecclesiastical crawl.
From Sotiris you can join the T1 walking path (there are three other marked routes on the island). It meanders up the mountain and darts in and out of the forest. The path ends at the atmospheric abandoned monasteries of Taxiarches and Anna. It’s a wonderful route, overwhelmingly green, teeming with life and with dramatic views of Alonnisos, the next island in the Sporades archipelago, yet remains largely untrodden.
Even the chapel of Agios Ioannis on the northwest of the island, which perches atop a 100m-high rock and is the best-known Mamma Mia! location, we found deserted, while no more than 10 people occupied the beautiful beach below it.
In Skopelos town, head uphill, away from the pedestrianised harbour front and you’ll soon stumble upon characterful courtyard restaurants, each filled with wooden tables, jasmine and bougainvillea and contented diners.
For real solitude rent a motorboat from Panormos and head north — you’ll find beautiful spots all the way up the coast that are inaccessible to cars and subsequently occupied only by other couples who have rented motorboats and the occasional determined German naturist.