Skopelos

When the producers of Mamma Mia! needed an island that could plausibly represent a Greek paradise untouched by mass tourism, they chose Skopelos — and the fact that so few viewers knew its name only confirmed its credentials. This verdant jewel in the Northern Sporades, lying east of the Pelion peninsula in the western Aegean, has been inhabited since at least the Minoan era, when settlers from Crete established a colony here around 1600 BCE. The island's ancient name, Peparethos, was synonymous with wine production throughout the classical world, and Aristotle himself mentioned its vintages. Yet Skopelos has never courted fame; it has simply continued being beautiful, letting centuries wash over its pine-forested hills like the gentle swells of the Aegean below.

Skopelos Town, the island's capital, is widely regarded as one of the most photogenic settlements in all of Greece. Over 360 churches and chapels punctuate a cascading amphitheatre of whitewashed houses with grey slate roofs — a distinctive architectural signature that sets Skopelos apart from the blue-and-white Cycladic cliché. The harbour curves in a protective arc, its waterfront lined with mulberry trees, tavernas, and the occasional cat sleeping on a coiled rope. Above the town, a ruined Venetian fortress offers panoramic views across the strait to neighbouring Alonissos, while the narrow alleys below are festooned with bougainvillea so abundant it forms living tunnels of magenta and violet overhead.

The island's culinary identity revolves around its extraordinary plum production — Skopelos plums are renowned throughout Greece, dried, preserved in syrup, or distilled into a fragrant spirit. The local cheese pie, skopelitiki tyropita, is a spiralling coil of hand-stretched pastry filled with goat's cheese and baked until golden, best sampled at the bakeries around the harbour square. Tavernas serve the catch of the day — red mullet, sea bream, or octopus — grilled over charcoal and dressed simply with lemon, olive oil, and capers. The island's honey, produced by bees foraging on wild thyme and pine blossoms, is considered among the finest in Greece.

Skopelos is roughly 60 percent forested, making it one of the greenest islands in the Aegean. Hiking trails wind through Aleppo pine woods to secluded beaches — Kastani, where the Mamma Mia! cast danced on the sand, and Panormos, a sheltered bay of turquoise water backed by pine trees that dip their branches to the waterline. The Agios Ioannis chapel, perched dramatically atop a rocky pinnacle above the northern coast, is reached by 105 steps carved into the cliff face — the setting for the film's wedding scene and one of the most photographed spots in the Sporades. Nearby, the marine park surrounding Alonissos protects the endangered Mediterranean monk seal and offers exceptional snorkelling over Posidonia seagrass meadows.

Skopelos is called upon by Star Clippers and Windstar Cruises during Aegean island-hopping itineraries, typically between May and October. The shoulder months of May and late September are particularly rewarding, when the water remains warm enough for swimming, the pine forests are fragrant after autumn's first rains, and the tavernas serve their finest without the midsummer rush.