9. Where the Beatles went on their Greek island cruise (according to a Greek newspaper)
According to ‘To Vima’, the Beatles visited the North Evian Gulf and the Northern Sporades islands on a ‘six-day cruise’ before returning to Athens.
The Athens-based newspaper To Vima continued to report on the Beatles’ itinerary once they had begun their island cruise – through daily articles bylined “L.T.”, presumably referring to L. Tsirigotakis, the journalist who had already written about the Beatles’ Athens “bolthole” and their visit to Arachova.
The locations mentioned in these reports suggest that the Beatles and their companions travelled north up the Evian Gulf and then on to the Sporades islands – a route that could easily have included all three of the islands that have been linked to them.
The possible route of the Beatles’ Greek island cruise (based on reports in ‘To Vima’)
A To Vima article published on 26 July says that Ringo Starr and the Beatles’ assistant Neil Aspinall had left at lunchtime the previous day. (Ringo was returning to London to be with his pregnant wife.)
The article continues:
“The moment that Ringo Starr left subdued and melancholy for London, the other three Beatles and their party were in a luxurious yacht in the Aegean Sea. From the day before yesterday, they have been carrying out a leisurely cruise in the Greek islands.”1
This apparently indicates that the Beatles’ cruise departed from Athens on 24 July – though a departure date of 25th is arguably also possible (see below).
Whenever exactly the yacht departed, by 26 July it had reportedly reached the North Evian Gulf. A To Vima article on 27 July said that the Beatles’ party had visited two coastal resorts in this area the previous day. They bathed “somewhere at Kamena Vourla” on the Greek mainland opposite Evia, the report says, and ate at an “secluded place” in Edipsos on Evia itself. (Both Kamena Vourla and Edipsos have long been spa resorts thanks to the area’s geothermal springs.)
The next day, according to To Vima, the Beatles had travelled further north-east and disembarked on the island of Skiathos. But when they went to see one of its main attractions – the golden-sand beach at Koukounaries – they apparently found themselves surrounded by onlookers, who soon began to applaud and cheer “in the familiar hysterical way”. So Mardas drove the group to a quieter beach, where they swam and played in the sand before returning to the yacht to eat. The newspaper also states that the Beatles’ assistant Alistair Taylor – referred to as “Mr Alster” – had on 27 July departed for London by aircraft.
On 29 July, To Vima reported that the Beatles had decided to return to London, where various important matters awaited them. Their yacht was, an article said, making its way to the port of Tourkolimano (today called Mikrolimano) near Athens. The report added that on 28th, the Beatles had visited the northern Sporades – the group of islands that includes Skiathos. They had “passed close to the island that was proposed to them to buy”, and spent a few hours on Alonissos, where they ate lunch.
On 30 July, the newspaper reported that the group were now back in Athens – with their base now specified as being in the city’s Papagou neighbourhood – and were planning to leave by the following morning at the latest. According to the article, the group and their companions had spent many hours on Skyros two days earlier, where they had been for walks and bought gifts and souvenirs, and had “also enjoyed Skopelos a lot”.
Party time
These reports in To Vima, and another in the newspaper Makedonia, also suggest that musical merrymaking was a big part of the cruise. To Vima tells us (26 July) that shortly before they left for the cruise, John and Paul had bought traditional Greek instruments – a bouzouki and a floghera (a type of flute). The next day (27th July), the newspaper reported that that “laughter and songs are constantly heard” on the boat. Every evening between 10pm and 5am, this article said, there was great “revelry”2. John and Paul, the article said, “have given up their guitars and are practising intensively on the bouzouki and floghera”.
According to a To Vima article on 27 July, on the evening of Monday 24th, “John Lennon gave a lavish party to celebrate his son Julian's birthday”, with all those on the trip offering the child “beautiful gifts”. (This birthday is also mentioned in a later To Vima article, but the timing is puzzling – see below.)
High spirits on board the yacht are discussed of an article in another newspaper, Makedonia, published on 9 August 1967 (and which is covered in this lifo.gr article by Fontas Trousas).
The Makedonia article discusses an event which it says happened “last Wednesday”, but is referring to when the Beatles were on Skiathos. A crowd gathered by the group’s yacht when it was in Skiathos’ harbour, says the paper, but the Beatles didn’t appear on the deck. Instead, they stayed playing music and singing inside the boat, from where there were heard “furious echoing rhythms, hysterical screams, pandemonium”. The young people on Skiathos began to dance, with the result that “the whole beach had been turned into a dance floor”.
Islands linked to the Beatles
If the itinerary reported by To Vima was largely accurate, what would that mean for the various islands that have been linked to the Beatles? The group’s reported movements would certainly be consistent with them visiting Monolia and the other Lichadonisia islands, which are close to both Kamena Vourla and Edipsos – two places that the group reportedly visited. (The archipelago is a fifteen-minute boat trip from Kamena Vourla.)
And clearly, during the time the group spent around Skiathos and the other northern Sporades, they would have had time to visit or see Tsougria. If they did, this could explain To Vima’s reference to the group “passing close to the island that had been proposed for them to buy” when they were in this area.
Could the Beatles have visited Agia Triada, the other island that they are often associated with, on this cruise? It would have been possible between them leaving Athens on 24 or 25 July and reaching Kamena Vourla on 26th (or, if they travelled back down the Evian Gulf, as they returned to Athens from 29th). But the island isn’t mentioned at any of the contemporary reports on the trip that I’ve seen.
The Beatles’ itinerary in Greece (according to reports in ‘To Vima’)
If accurate, the reports in To Vima suggest that the Beatles travelled north from Athens up the Evian Gulf, then up to the northern Sporades. The articles don’t say anything about the cruise’s return route. (The itinerary below doesn’t include all reported references to the Beatles’ travelling companions.)
Thursday 20 July
Ringo Starr and George Harrison arrived in Athens. For the next couple of days they stayed at the Mardas family’s villa in the Papagou neighbourhood, relaxing there and also visiting Vouliagmeni beach just outside of Athens.
Saturday 22 July
John Lennon and Paul McCartney arrived in Athens. At least some of the Beatles – apparently just George and Ringo – spoke to a To Vima journalist named L. Tsirigotakis at a villa owned by the Mardas family. An article by Tsigourakis, “In the Beatles’ bolthole”, appeared in the newspaper the next day. The article suggests that Tsirigotakis also witnessed Lennon and McCartney arrive at the airport.
Sunday 23 July
The Beatles and their travelling companions visited Arachova, Itea and Delphi (where they didn’t watch a performance of a Greek tragedy as had been intended) before returning to Athens in the evening.
Monday 24 July
The Beatles were back in Athens. Some time between now and 26 July, the majority of the group departed on the yacht for the island cruise.
Tuesday 25 July
At 12:25 pm Ringo Starr flew back to London, accompanied by Neil Aspinall. At this point, the rest of the party were reportedly already on board their hired yacht.
Wednesday 26 July
The Beatles’ cruise had reached the North Evian gulf. The party bathed at Kamena Vourla on the mainland, and ate “at a secluded place” in Edipsos.
Thursday 27 July
The Beatles’ party disembarked on Skiathos. They visited Koukounaries beach, but were quickly recognised. To escape the crowds, Alex Mardas drove them to an isolated beach.
On this day, Alistair Taylor left Greece by aircraft for London, though we are not told where exactly from.
Friday 28 July
The Beatles visited other islands in the northern Sporades and “passed opposite the island that was being suggested to them to buy.” They spent a few hours in Alonissos, where they ate lunch, and Skyros, where they went for walks and bought gifts and souvenirs. They also visited Skopelos which they “enjoyed…a lot”.
Saturday 29 July
By now, the Beatles’ yacht was making its way back to Athens’ Tourkolimano harbour, where it was due to arrive in the afternoon or early evening.
Sunday 30 July
The Beatles stayed in Athens at the Mardas family villa before flying back to London, either on this day or the next.
Unsolved puzzles – and who was keeping To Vima informed?
While the chronology reported by To Vima generally seems credible, some questions remain. For example, when exactly did the Beatles’ hired yacht depart from Athens?
To Vima’s report on the group’s visit to Arachova says that the following day – 24 July – the group got up at 1pm. John, Ringo and the women from the Beatles’ party then went to Vouliagmeni to bathe, it says, while the others stayed in playing with John Lennon’s son Julian – “and their schedule is probably not going to change for today [25th]”.
That seems to contradict the newspaper’s later article on 26 July, which seems to clearly indicate that the group had begun their cruise two days previously.
A departure date of 25 July would arguably make more sense in terms of timing. It would also align with another To Vima article (30 July), which refers to the Beatles returning from their “six-day cruise”. This could refer to a cruise that began on 25 July and ended on 30 July, when the yacht returned to Athens.
The references to a celebration of Julian Lennon’s birthday during the Beatles’ cruise are also puzzling: Julian’s birthday is on 8 April, so wouldn’t have taken place during the trip.
We don’t know how To Vima learned the information it reported, but presumably it came from somebody on the cruise: in my opinion the most likely source is Alexis Mardas. The inconsistencies discussed above should caution us against believing all of the details in these reports. But overall, they give a plausible account of where the Beatles went – and describe an itinerary which would have allowed the group to visit or see the various islands that have been linked to them.
In Greek, the second sentence is: ‘Πραγματοποιουν απο προχθες ξενοιαστοι κρουαζιερα στα Ελλενικα νησια.’
The Greek word is ‘glenti’, which To Vima also used to describe the rooftop music and dancing in Arachova.