You don’t have to be a Mamma Mia! fan to enjoy a Star Clippers sailing cruise to the Sporades, but if you are a fan, you’re in for a special treat.
As our bus traversed the narrow, winding mountain roads of Skopelos (where most of the movie’s exterior scenes were filmed), our guide told stories about the filming of the 2008 Meryl Streep musical – punctuated by music from the soundtrack.
With ABBA earworms buzzing in our brains, we visited Kastani Beach, where Sophie and Sky sang “Lay All Your Love on Me” and Tanya sang “Does Your Mother Know,” and climbed the 200-plus steep stone steps to the small church at Kastri where the movie’s climactic wedding scene was set.
Pergamon’s stolen library
Our ship, the Star Clipper, departed from Athens (just two hours by plane from Tel Aviv). After a day at sea, our first port of call was Dikili, Turkey. From there, we visited the site of the ancient city of Pergamon – once the richest in the world. (Its famous monumental altar, removed by a German engineer in 1878, is now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.)
Pergamon had a notable sanctuary of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, with a treatment center that included hot, cold, and mud baths, fountains, pools, a 3,500-seat theater, a sunbathing terrace, and a library.
The library’s 200,000 scrolls were carried off by Mark Antony in 41 BCE and presented as a gift to Cleopatra, whose own library at Alexandria had burned down in 48 BCE when Julius Caesar was besieged there.
Ancient Pergamon once had a Jewish community. In 62 BCE, the Roman governor Flaccus confiscated a small amount of gold that was destined for Jerusalem in payment for the annual Temple tax, according to Cicero. A stone fragment decorated with a seven-branched menorah and flanked by a lulav and etrog – perhaps part of a synagogue – was found during excavations.
A Venetian castle and a giant cat
Our next stop was Lemnos (Limnos), a Greek island in the northern Aegean. The port town of Myrina is overlooked by a ruined Venetian castle built as a defense against pirates. A challenging hike to the top of the ruins is rewarded with a 360-degree view of the island, and we saw fallow deer and wild goats along the way.
We approached Skiathos, an island in the Sporades archipelago, at dawn the next day. We were informed by Google Maps that a leading tourist attraction is “Chonkus Maximus,” an orange cat of impressive girth. We found him in the window of a toy store; his actual name is “Vangelis.”
Skiathos also has several small but interesting museums, including a maritime museum. In season, the main town is known for its live music. It’s also the home of the outdoor Garden Theatre, where performances with dance and music (narrated in Greek and English), based on the works of ancient and modern Greek authors, are presented from June to September.
The island has a well-developed hiking network, with maps available from tourist offices. For example, a short €3 bus ride from the port takes you to the easy 7-km. “Forest and Sea” trail carpeted by pine needles.
After Skopelos and the Mamma Mia! sites, we proceeded to the island of Poros, passing the illuminated Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion at night.
Nearby, we visited yet another Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus. The well-preserved theater, built in the late fourth century BCE, seats 14,000 spectators and is still used for performances. You can stand on stage and test its legendary acoustics.
Clipper ships reborn
Star Clippers was founded in 1989 by Swedish entrepreneur and classic boat aficionado Mikael Krafft. The 115.5-meter Star Clipper – a four-masted barquentine – was launched in 1992. Along with her twin-sister ship, the Star Flyer, these were the first sailing clippers to be built since 1910.
(By the way, clipper ships are called “clippers” because they are light and fast and seem to “clip” the waves rather than plowing through them.)
The Clipper and Flyer are propelled by sails whenever conditions allow, making them a relatively eco-friendly form of transportation.
A clipper ship under full sail is a thing of beauty, with 3,365 sq.m. of white canvas billowing in the wind. Passengers can help raise the sails and (weather allowing) climb the mast to the crow’s nest. Crew members also teach nautical knot-tying.
The ships each accommodate 166 passengers and a crew of 74. Most guest cabins are around 12-14 sq.m..
The ships each have a dining room, two small swimming pools, plenty of on-deck sunbathing space, outdoor and indoor bars (with a piano and DJ), a library, a gift shop, and a massage area.
While in port, the ships offer the free use of snorkels, kayaks, sailing dinghies, windsurfers, and water skis.
Because the clippers are smaller than conventional cruise ships, they can visit ports skipped by larger craft.
Once we left Athens, we were the only cruise ship in sight, and the ports we visited were almost empty of tourists – especially since we were there late in the cruise season.
Star Clippers offers itineraries of three to 14 nights, including sailings in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, Panama Canal transits, and transatlantic crossings at the start and end of each Summer season.
The Star Flyer will be sailing the same Sporades itinerary in September 2026. Rates for the seven-day voyage start at €2,260 per person if booked by January 31.
www.starclippers.com/
The writer was a guest of Star Clippers Cruises.