The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 22 April 2018 *** 3

COVER STORY take a chance , below, is the location for the Mamma Mia! sequel UNIVERSAL PICTURES; SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY; ALAMY ALAMY GETTY; SHUTTERSTOCK; PICTURES; UNIVERSAL Find your perfect Mamma Mia island

Greece HOW THE ISLANDS ‘It wins hands down on MEASURE UP history, legend and variety’ PURE GLAMOUR o interchangeable are the sunlit lemon groves. I remember the islands of Greece and , excitement of discovering the shrine of SANTORINI, lagoons deliver the cocktail bars of say the producers of the St Arsenius, a tiny chapel tucked into most bewitching exclusive Oia, on S film sequel (due the folds of the sea-facing rocks south GREECE sunsets in Greece, the northern tip of Mamma Mia! for release this July), they have of Kalami Bay. Lawrence Durrell, the Dazzling Santorini dissolving each the island. chosen Vis, off the Dalmatian coast, writer, used to swim from there with is impossibly evening into a  Join Oia’s as a stand-in for the story’s fictional his wife, Nancy, when they lived on photogenic. Atop gouache of pinks Instagram set in Greek island of Kalokairi – which Corfu in the Thirties. (In Prospero’s the fiery red-black and golds. deluxe retreat must have had Greek tourism Cell, he describes her diving “like an walls of the island’s Honeymooners and Canaves Oia officials harrumphing over their otter” to retrieve cherry stones from rocky caldera, A-listers – most (telegraph.co.uk/ houmous. (The jetty-front frolics of the sandy sea-floor.) Starkly beautiful villages perch like recently Jennifer tt-canaves-oia; Meryl Streep and company brought and stone-silent, it is sheer magic. A scene from the first ‘Mamma Mia!’, above; and one from the sequel, below pearly tiaras, Lawrence, Shakira doubles from £360 flocks of first-time visitors to the Years later, in Ikaria, in the bubbling with and Katy Perry – B&B), a cliff-top picture-perfect Greek island of Aegean, my husband and I sat on a from the chic Kefalonian harbour of Trikeri, off the Pelion peninsula blue-and-white congregate for cascade of white Skopelos, where most of the 2008 mountainside drinking Pramnian Fiskardo to rugged Polis Bay on Ithaca (dubbed “The Island of Dangerous domed churches. discreet decadence suites, tiered original was shot.) So is Croatia the wine in the moonlight, outside a is like sailing direct into the world of Women” when 5,000 female political Below, vast and in the ritzy “cave” balconies and new Greece? I’m not so sure. I have secret cave hidden behind a slab of Homer’s epic. There, in a low cave, prisoners were banished there dreamy cobalt hotels and arty infinity pools. visited a dozen or so of Croatia’s granite. Ikaria is said to be the model archaeologists unearthed a priceless during the Greek Civil War). islands over the years, and they’ve for the island of Aeaea, and it was the fragment of clay mask inscribed “To The Greeks also have numbers on provided me with some cracking same dark red and sticky-thick wine the glory of Odysseus”. their side. Greece has 6,000 islands moments. On Veliki Brijun, I was that Circe used to flavour the cereal The Greek islands also win hands (227 of them inhabited) as opposed to taken for a spin in former president with which she drugged Odysseus’s down on variety. There are pocket- Croatia’s 1,000 (of which fewer than 50 Tito’s pine-green Fifties Cadillac, men. It felt as though we’d been sized gems such as Symi and Halki in are inhabited). They also have greater and met an elephant called Lanka. transported 3,000 years back in time. the Dodecanese, their Venetian-style accessibility (more than a dozen Greek But it’s still the Greek islands that When it comes to history and legend, harbours ringed with the Neoclassical islands have international airports) have the hold on my heart. the Greeks have it in the bag. From the mansions of former sea captains. and a much more favourable climate in This passion dates back to the Palace of Knossos on Crete (home to There are iconic beaches – the silver shoulder seasons. And the Greeks have Seventies, when I first buzzed round the legend of the Minotaur), to St John’s scythe of Myrtos in Kefalonia, or “filoxenia” – the love of strangers – a Corfu on an orange scooter with stone pillow on Patmos (in the cave Zakynthos’s dramatic Navagio, defining national characteristic. If you dodgy brakes. Everything was new where he wrote “Revelations”), the sheltering the rusty shipwreck left haven’t already done so, it’s time to to me then – the shimmering Greek Mediterranean is a floating aground on its sand. And there are visit your first Greek island right now. turquoise of the sea, the scent of wild jigsaw puzzle of ancient ruins. Hiring a quirky hideaways such as Kastellorizo, thyme, the sugar-cube houses in motorboat to cross the narrow channel just off south-west Turkey, or Paleo Linda Cookson

HVAR, trendiest, ritziest wooden sunbeds Croatia and priciest island. built into the rocks, CROATIA It’s a warren of as yachts moor up Beyoncé and Jay Z contemporary along the quay. ‘If you want an exhilarating holiday, this is your best bet’ love it. So does hotels, eateries After midnight, Bond – Sean specialising in water taxis shuttle ’m lying in blazing sunshine on permits). For decades, Greece has harbour, unlike the Greek islands on arriving on party boats were causing Connery, Roger lobster, champagne revellers to Carpe a bleached beach in a small relied on the simple “sea, sand and the Aegean, where land can be out of havoc, he intervened, enforcing fines Moore and Daniel and lavender ice Diem Beach, where sheltered cove. Behind me, sunshine” formula to woo visitors, but sight and you’re exposed to the for public nudity; this is not the Craig have all been cream and bijou international DJs I steep rocky slopes are planted Croatia, where the coast is dotted with ferocious wind in summer. destination for stag parties. spotted here. , stores selling run the party. meltemi with pinewoods and vineyards. On pebble coves, has had to invent In Croatia, you can go dolphin Maybe you just want a peaceful spot with its elegant jewellery and  Stay at the newly the sea, a fisherman in a wooden alternatives, particularly a host of spotting (dolphin-watching.com to swim and sunbathe. Croatia’s lack of Baroque cathedral, designer refurbished Hotel boat is throwing out nets. The water outdoor activities and off Losinj), or try free-diving sandy beaches has inadvertently saved aristocratic beachwear. Hula Adriana (telegraph. is glistening blue, and a gentle sea adventure sports. At with a world champion the islands from over-development Venetian-era stone Hula (hulahulahvar. co.uk/tt-hotel- breeze cools the air. This is a excellent facilities, with (diving-croatia.hr) on Vis. and big resorts; instead, hotels here palazzi and hilltop com) serves adriana; rooms Dalmatian island, and this scene has enthusiastic instructors, Unwind with wine- are about quality, not quantity. Croatia fortress, is Croatia’s sundown mojitos at from £106). been unchanged for centuries. you can try sailing, tasting at Nada doesn’t draw the boozy young Brits in How do I know I’m in Croatia? scuba-diving, (nada-vrbnik.hr) in anything like the quantities Greece Could it not be Greece? windsurfing, sea Vrbnik on , and at does; instead, you’ll find some These countries, after all, have kayaking, stand-up Tomic Winery wonderful boutique hideaways, such much in common – a balmy paddling or cycling. (bastijana.hr) at Jelsa in as the Lesic Dimitri Palace on Korcula Mediterranean climate, scattered I’ve been on wine and Hvar. And you’ll find and Palmizana on Hvar. For something islands and an innate affinity with olive-oil tasting cycling old-fashioned konobe really special, rent a lighthouse on a the sea. They’re both on the Balkan trips that last days (taverns) serving authentic remote uninhabited rocky islet Peninsula and both have been (cyclingcroatia.com); I’ve tried sea local food on all the islands – it’s (uniline.hr) or sleep in a bell-tent on occupied (partially) by the Romans, kayaking around the lighter than Greek fare, with more fish glamping-island Obonjan (obonjan- the Byzantines, the Ottoman Turks archipelago (malikadventures.com); and fresh salad, less meat and chips. island.com) and you’ll truly relax. and the Venetians. In fact, the but I’ve yet to find the courage to take On over-commercialised Greek While Greek beaches are a delight, ancient Greeks founded several early on the 3km (2 miles) per day swims islands, in particular Santorini, one the devil of the holiday is in the detail. settlements on Dalmatian islands. between the islets of the Sibenik suspects that half the islanders have If you want a purely hedonistic break, In the present day, they’re easy to archipelago (swimtrek.com). made a pact with the devil; there are go to the Greek islands; if you want a distinguish: Croatia is better Croatia’s islands lie close to the outrageously overpriced sunbeds on healthy and exhilarating island organised (Vis allegedly won the mainland coast, and close together. If (black sand) beaches. By contrast, holiday, Croatia is your best bet. Mamma Mia! contract thanks to you’re sailing, it rarely takes more than last summer, when the mayor of greater ease at arranging filming a couple of hours to reach the next Hvar realised that rowdy youngsters Jane Foster Continued on Page 4 