I’ve never seen Mamma Mia!, but standing beside the Church of Agios Ioannis, the chapel where the wedding took place at the end of the film, I didn’t need that context to understand why visitors make the 200-step climb.
The tiny chapel sits atop a rock 100 metres above the sea, overlooking pine-covered hills and the sapphire Aegean that pools around the Sporades archipelago. It’s as lovely as it is logistically improbable.
While Agios Ioannis may be Skopelos’ best-known landmark, it’s the landscape beyond it that best defines the greenest island in Greece. With more than two-thirds of Skopelos covered in Aleppo pine forests — the estimates put the number of trees somewhere between six and eight million — I was excited to explore a fraction of them via a network of centuries-old footpaths. Once used by shepherds and villagers to traverse the island prior to today’s roadways, these cobbled trails remain an integral part of Skopelos’ history.
Heather Parsons of Skopelos Walks deserves much of the credit for the island’s approximately 125 kilometres of waymarked hiking routes, having spent the last four decades uncovering and restoring ancient overgrown paths with the help of keen volunteers.
A morning spent on foot through fragrant woodland, walking past monasteries, olive groves and sweeping coastal viewpoints left me feeling connected to Skopelos in a way I’d have missed had I only ventured out by car. The trail also left me conveniently back at my hotel, where I made a beeline to the pool deck for lunch and a cold beer.
Opened in summer 2025, Minnŏ Boutique Hotel & Spa is just a ten-minute walk from Skopelos Town. It strikes the happy balance between being close enough to wander into town for dinner, yet removed enough to feel like a proper retreat, with contemporary rooms, an inviting spa and a pool overlooking the harbour. Minnŏ’s greatest highlight is perhaps its namesake restaurant, whose reservations are open to both the public and hotel guests. Chef Dimitris Charitidis keeps Skopelos traditions — like crisp, flaky cheese pie and the island’s signature fish stifado — at the forefront, while preparing them with a creative twist.
I’ll admit I often approach “elevated” takes on local cuisine with a degree of scepticism, preferring well-executed classics to overly conceptual plating. Minnŏ, however, won me over completely. Chef Charitidis’ interpretation of stifado retained all the rich, slow-cooked flavours of the original, but reimagined them as a perfectly cooked fillet with caramelised onions and a wonderfully spiced jus. I loved my dish, but spent much of dinner eyeing (and eventually commandeering half of) my companion’s coq au vin croquette. Succulent, fall-apart braised chicken encased in crisp pastry with a wine reduction and an unexpectedly fitting corn hollandaise proved to be the most interesting take I’ve seen on such a dish. Paired with Greek wines, a Skopelos Fashioned made with local plum liqueur and a sea breeze drifting across the terrace, it all made for an evening that felt both inventive and rooted in a sense of place.
Despite being the island’s main settlement, Skopelos Town still has the easygoing vibe of a fishing village. There are independent shops and cats aplenty, the latter lazing unbothered on warm stone steps. Mercifully, this is not a party town — though I can heartily recommend cocktails at Oionos Blue Bar, which is tucked into a side street and supervised by two very relaxed dogs. I ended up there twice: once after top-notch gyros at Aktaion Taverna, then again following moussaka at Stou Dimitraki.
As much as I enjoyed wandering around Skopelos Town, some of my favourite moments were on the road in my hire car. The island is compact enough that nowhere feels particularly far away (less than an hour, generally), and driving between stops is half the fun. The roads are hilly and twisty; one minute winding through forest, the next pulling into what feels like a secluded cove with a near-empty beach.
While Kastani Beach is well-known for its role in Mamma Mia!, I most enjoyed my dip in the sea at Perivoliou Beach. It was so quiet during my early June visit that I was able to make a stealthy change into my bathing suit by lingering near the tree-topped rock face that rises sharply from the beach, before skittering barefoot across the hot sand to the cool relief of the water.
If I had a euro for every time I exclaimed, “It’s so green here!” I would be able to afford a return flight back to the island. Or close to it, at least. Part of what keeps Skopelos so quiet (and green) is its lack of airport. “The locals didn’t want one,” my Dolphin of Skopelos Mamma Mia! tour guide, Maaike, told me; a sentiment confirmed with an emphatic nod from our coach driver, Tommy. Instead, visitors fly into neighbouring Skiathos and catch a 30- to 45-minute ferry to Skopelos. This seems to make all the difference. It’s only one extra step, but you’ll make it only if you really want to go to Skopelos.
Ouzeri Anatoli. Image credit: Summer Rylander
If I’d had more time, perhaps I’d have added a couple of nights in Skiathos to my trip for more context. I’m not sure Skopelos needs to be compared with its busier neighbour, though. It’s already Greece’s greenest island, and it has the Mamma Mia! claim to fame. It also has Ouzeri Anatoli, perched along Skopelos Town’s highest point, where traditional live music plays late into the night, and the chilled pots of rosé are seemingly bottomless as the sun sinks into the sea. It’s one of those last-night-on-holiday spots that leaves you wondering if you should move here.
Summer travelled with support from ARCA Origins Eco Travel and the Greek National Tourism Organisation.
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Lead image credit: Summer Rylander
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