Where Was Mamma Mia! Filmed? The Real Kalokairi

Mamma Mia! was filmed on the Greek island of Skopelos, with more scenes on Skiathos next door and at Damouchari on the Pelion coast of the mainland. Kalokairi, the island in the film, isn’t real. Most of the movie was shot on a set at Pinewood Studios, near London.

The 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, didn’t go back to Greece. It was filmed on the island of Vis, in Croatia, and at Shepperton Studios in England.

This guide counts down the 10 Mamma Mia! filming locations across both movies, from an office block in London to the chapel on the rock where Sophie nearly gets married.

#	Real place	Scene	Film	Can you visit?
10	The Lloyd’s building, London	Sam’s “New York” office	Mamma Mia!	The outside
9	Pinewood’s 007 Stage, England	Villa Donna	Mamma Mia!	No. It’s a working studio
8	Skiathos old port	The dads chase the boat	Mamma Mia!	Yes
7	Stiniva and Barjoska, Vis	Beaches and the sequel’s jetty	Here We Go Again	Yes, by boat
6	Komiža and Vis Town, Croatia	The sequel’s Kalokairi	Here We Go Again	Yes
5	Damouchari, Pelion	The end of Dancing Queen	Mamma Mia!	Yes
4	Glysteri beach, Skopelos	Villa Donna’s gate	Mamma Mia!	Yes. The gate is gone
3	Amarandos and Agnontas, Skopelos	Our Last Summer and the boat	Mamma Mia!	Yes
2	Kastani beach, Skopelos	Lay All Your Love on Me	Mamma Mia!	Yes
1	Agios Ioannis sto Kastri, Skopelos	The wedding chapel	Mamma Mia!	Yes. It’s free

The 10 Mamma Mia! Filming Locations

The countdown starts in the City of London and ends at the top of about 106 steps on Skopelos.

10) The Lloyd’s Building, London: Sam’s Office

Sam’s “New York” office is a famous building in London.

Sam, played by Pierce Brosnan, is an architect in New York when Sophie’s letter arrives. His office scene was filmed in London, outside the Lloyd’s building, the steel tower with its pipes and lifts on the outside. The crew parked yellow cabs out front and dressed extras as New York mounted police.

It’s one of the few scenes in the film that isn’t Greek, real or fake. The building is in the City of London, a few minutes’ walk from Bank station, and you can see the outside from the street.

9) Pinewood’s 007 Stage: Villa Donna

Donna’s hotel never existed. It was built on one of the biggest stages in Europe.

Most of Mamma Mia! was shot on a set, not in Greece. The crew built Villa Donna, its courtyard and a Greek village inside Pinewood’s 007 Stage, and filled them with real trees that had to be watered every day. A blue screen behind the set was replaced with sky and sea.

The stage had burned down in July 2006, and Mamma Mia! was the first production on it after it was rebuilt. When Donna leads the island women through the courtyard at the start of Dancing Queen, they’re dancing in England. The song finishes in Greece, at number 5.

8) Skiathos Old Port: The Dads Chase the Boat

The harbour where Sam, Bill and Harry try to get to Kalokairi is on Skiathos.

Sam, Bill and Harry meet for the first time at a busy harbour, then miss the ferry and talk Bill into taking them on his boat. That’s the old port of Skiathos Town. The crew aged some of the shop fronts for the shoot. Rosie and Tanya’s ferry scene is said to have been filmed here too.

Skiathos is the easiest way into the Mamma Mia! islands, because it has the airport. The old port is next to the Bourtzi, a small pine-covered peninsula, and you can walk it in a few minutes.

7) Stiniva and Barjoska, Vis: The Sequel’s Beaches

The sequel built a copy of the Dancing Queen jetty on a Croatian beach.

The crew built a copy of the first film’s Dancing Queen jetty at Barjoska, a beach on the west of Vis. Several of the sequel’s song and beach scenes were filmed there.

Stiniva also gets a shot. It’s a cove almost closed off by two cliffs, with a gap in the rock so narrow that only small boats can get through. You can reach it by a small taxi boat or a steep path down.

6) Komiža and Vis Town, Croatia: The Sequel’s Kalokairi

When the sequel chose not to go back to Greece, a Croatian island became Kalokairi.

The sequel spent 24 days filming on Vis in the autumn of 2017. Komiža, a fishing town on the west coast, played Kalokairi’s town, and the Jastozera restaurant was the taverna. Over in Vis Town, the harbour and square were used for the market and dance scenes, and the Franciscan monastery of St Jerome is in the background as Bill and Donna help a fisherman get to the wedding.

Why not Greece? Producer Judy Craymer said the film was bigger and costlier, and other countries offered better tax breaks. “It was with a heavy heart that we moved,” she said.

5) Damouchari, Pelion: The End of Dancing Queen

Dancing Queen ends on a jetty in a tiny village on the Greek mainland.

Dancing Queen is three places stitched together. It starts in the courtyard set at Pinewood, runs past the gate at Glysteri beach on Skopelos, and ends at Damouchari’s little port on the mainland, where Donna and the island women pile onto a jetty and jump into the sea.

Damouchari is a hamlet on the Pelion coast, with 33 residents in the 2021 census. The jetty was built for the scene and taken down. You’ll need a car to get there from Volos, which is also the main mainland port for Skopelos ferries.

4) Glysteri Beach, Skopelos: Villa Donna’s Gate

The stone arch at the entrance to Villa Donna was built on a Skopelos beach, out of styrofoam.

Glysteri is a small pebble beach a short drive from Skopelos Town. The crew built Villa Donna’s stone entrance arch here, and the big rocks around it were styrofoam. The Dancing Queen run passes through on its way to the sea. Some guides put Sophie’s diary scene nearby, though others place it in the forest above Skopelos Town.

The arch is gone, but the beach and its pine trees are still there. It’s one of the quieter Mamma Mia! spots, and a good swim after the drive.

3) Amarandos and Agnontas, Skopelos: Our Last Summer and the Boat

The sailing scenes and the picnic were filmed along the south coast of Skopelos.

Our Last Summer, sung by Sophie and her three dads on Bill’s boat, was filmed off the cove at Amarandos. Guides also put the picnic and the path up to Villa Donna here, though they don’t all agree on which scene is which. The boat was Bill’s yacht in the story, a real 1934 ketch called the Tai-Mo-Shan.

Agnontas is the small harbour nearby where the boat docks at the end of Money, Money, Money. It’s also one of Skopelos’s three ports. Ferries use it when strong north winds close the main harbour.

2) Kastani Beach, Skopelos: Lay All Your Love on Me

The beach where Sophie and Sky sing to each other is the island’s main Mamma Mia! beach.

Kastani is where Sophie and Sky sing Lay All Your Love on Me before his friends drag him off for a stag party, and where Tanya sends off Pepper in Does Your Mother Know. It’s a sandy cove with pine trees down to the water, and it’s the best-known Mamma Mia! beach.

The bar and jetty in the film were built by the crew and taken down. There’s a different beach bar there today, with sunbeds and shade. The last bit of the road is a short dirt track.

1) Agios Ioannis sto Kastri, Skopelos: The Wedding Chapel

The chapel on the rock is real, and you can climb the steps Donna runs up.

Agios Ioannis sto Kastri is a tiny white chapel on top of a rock that sticks out of the sea. In the film it’s where Sophie’s wedding is held, where Donna runs up the steps, and where she sings The Winner Takes It All to Sam on the rocks below. Sources count anywhere from 100 to about 200 steps. The island’s own guide and Greeka both say 106.

Only the outside was filmed here. The inside of the church in the film isn’t the real chapel. Entry is free, with a small car park and snack bar at the bottom and no toilets at the top. Go early or late in summer, because the steps get hot.

Where Was Mamma Mia 2 Filmed?

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was filmed on Vis, in Croatia, and at Shepperton Studios in England. There were also scenes in Oxford, Hampton Court, Bordeaux and Stockholm.

The sequel shot from August to December 2017. Its Kalokairi scenes were filmed on Vis, at numbers 6 and 7. The Hotel Bella Donna doesn’t exist either. It was added to a Vis hillside with CGI, and built as sets on the stages at Shepperton, where most of the musical numbers were filmed.

Scene	Where it was filmed	Film
Young Donna’s graduation, When I Kissed the Teacher	New College, Oxford	Here We Go Again
A park scene with Harry	Hampton Court Palace	Here We Go Again
Young Donna in Paris	Bordeaux, France	Here We Go Again
The Hotel Bella Donna	CGI on Vis, and sets at Shepperton	Here We Go Again
Villa Donna	Sets at Pinewood, and a gate at Glysteri	Mamma Mia!

How Mamma Mia! Was Filmed

Mamma Mia! started as a stage musical built on ABBA songs, and the film became one of the biggest musicals ever made.

• The writer: Catherine Johnson wrote the screenplay, from her own book for the 1999 stage show. Phyllida Lloyd, who directed the show, directed the film.
• The shoot: Outdoor scenes were filmed on Skopelos, Skiathos and the Pelion coast from late August to September 2007. Most of the film was shot at Pinewood.
• The cast: Meryl Streep wrote a thank-you letter to the Broadway cast after seeing the show, and the producers remembered it when they cast Donna. Pierce Brosnan said he agreed as soon as he heard three things: Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia! and Greece.
• The box office: It cost $52 million and made about $706 million worldwide. In December 2008 it was announced as the biggest film ever at the UK box office, just ahead of Titanic. The BFI later revised its total down slightly, so the record is disputed. Avatar passed both in 2010.
• The records: It was the highest-grossing live-action musical until Beauty and the Beast in 2017.
• The awards: It was nominated for two Golden Globes, including Best Actress for Streep, and three BAFTAs. Brosnan won a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor.

The sequel cost $75 million and made over $400 million worldwide. Sources disagree on the exact figure.

How to Visit the Mamma Mia! Locations

Skopelos has the chapel and the beaches, so start there. Give yourself two or three days.

Skopelos and Skiathos.

1. Fly to Skiathos. There are flights from Athens all year, and charter flights from Europe in summer.
2. Walk the old port in Skiathos Town, where the dads chase the boat.
3. Take the boat to Skopelos. The hydrofoil takes about 45 minutes to Skopelos Town and the ferry about 70. Glossa is closer to the chapel, and fast boats get there in under half an hour. Check which port your ticket is for.
4. Climb the steps at Agios Ioannis, then drive to Kastani for a swim.

There’s no airport on Skopelos. You can also take a ferry from Volos or Agios Konstantinos on the mainland. Several local companies run Mamma Mia! tours of the island.

Damouchari. Drive from Volos to the Pelion coast. It’s a good stop if you’re taking the ferry from Volos.

Vis. Take the catamaran from Split, about 70 minutes, or the car ferry, about 2 hours 20 minutes. Buses run from Vis Town to Komiža.

When to go. May, June or September. Ferries and flights thin out in the off season, and August is very hot for the steps.

More Mamma Mia! Filming Locations

Place	Scene	Film
Little Venice, London	Harry’s London house	Mamma Mia!
Skiathos Town	The opening, as Sophie posts her invitations (some guides say Skopelos Town)	Mamma Mia!
Shepperton Studios, Surrey	The Hotel Bella Donna and most of the musical numbers	Here We Go Again
New College, Oxford	Young Donna’s graduation	Here We Go Again
Hampton Court Palace	A park scene with Harry	Here We Go Again
Bordeaux, France	Young Donna in Paris	Here We Go Again

FAQs About Where Mamma Mia! Was Filmed

The Final Cut on Where Mamma Mia! Was Filmed

So where was Mamma Mia! filmed? On Skopelos, Skiathos and the Pelion coast in Greece, with Villa Donna on a stage at Pinewood. The sequel moved Kalokairi to Vis, in Croatia.

Kalokairi isn’t on any map, but the chapel is. Climb the steps, then go for a swim at Kastani.

Which Mamma Mia! location would you visit first?

For more, see where Dirty Dancing was filmed, pick from our summer movies to watch, see the islands where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed, or browse all our film locations.