Travel Where Mamma Mia! Was Filmed

The thickly forested mountains and idyllic tile-roofed towns of the Sporades islands became familiar images almost overnight, with the release of the hit musical Mamma Mia!, filmed on two of them. And where the movie crews (not to mention Pierce Brosnan) go, can travelers be far behind? Of course not.

The 11 Sporades islands lie off the eastern shore of mainland Greece, and are not connected by ferry to Piraeus, the port of Athens, whose airport is where most visitors arrive in Greece. Instead, travelers can take the train to Volos (there is a change in Paleofarsalos for the short ride to the coast), where they board ferries for the 2 1/2-hour ferry ride to Skiathos. Ferries operated by Hellenic Seaways operate 4 times a day in the summer, and they stop at both Skopelos and Skiathos.

Ferry from Naxos and Heraklion

Visitors to the Greek islands can also get there from the other popular island destinations of Naxos, Santorini and Heraklion, but these involve longer ferry rides of 13 hours (from the closest, Naxos) to almost 24 hours from Heraklion. G.A. Ferries operates these.

Hellas Flying Dolphins hydrofoils take only an hour from the port of Agios Konstantinos, but it can only be accessed by a bus from Kannigos Square in central Athens; regular ferries also operate from here. The combined bus and boat ride takes about four hours by hydrofoil.

Flying to Mamma Mia! Sites

Although it loses a lot of the romance of arriving on an island by boat, the fastest and easiest way to get to the Sporades is to fly there directly from Athens airport. This flight takes about 40 minutes, but you’ll need to reserve well in advance because flights are limited. Also, because it is a popular beach destination, several fun-in-the-sun tour operators offer charter vacations there from England and other points in Europe.

Once on either island, there are frequent ferries between the two (about an hour) and to the more remote island of Alonissos, about 11/2 hours away.

These 11 islands, of which only four are inhabited (Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonnisos and Skyros), are just as beautiful in person as they look in the scenes from Mamma Mia! that were shot there. Not only do they have a lot more forests and vegetation than other Greek islands, they are surrounded by some of the cleanest and bluest waters in the Aegean Sea – and in the entire Mediterranean region.

Along with their natural beauty, pretty towns and long sand beaches, the islands are covered in historical Byzantine churches and monasteries and even Neolithic sites, such as the such as the graves carved into the rock at Sedoukia.