Ischia: A Travel Guide to Italy’s Most Enchanting Island

There is a certain enchantment in Ischia, Italy that is hard to resist: the lush vegetation of La Mortella Gardens, the thermal waters of Negombo and Giardini Poseidon, the mix of relaxation and discovery that the island offers: walking on the old stones of the imposing Aragonese Castle or sinking one’s teeth in the taste of the island’s delicacies. It is a living breath of the Italian island life, an excellent location either for the one who loves to explore spectacular landscapes or for the one who simply wants to enjoy a relaxing spa treatment.

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• Personal Motivation for Visiting Ischia, Italy
• Arrival in Ischia
• Is Ischia Considered the Amalfi Coast?
• Ischia vs. Capri - A Comparative Insight
• Why Is Ischia Famous?
• A Tour of Ischia’s Beaches
• Ischia's climate?
• Thermal Bliss - Ischia’s Thermal Baths
• Where to Stay - Hotels in Ischia, Italy
• The Best Things to Do in Ischia, Italy
• Ischia Restaurants: Eating in Ischia
• Reflecting on Ischia

Personal Motivation for Visiting Ischia, Italy

As soon as I saw a picture of Ischia - the clear green waters, the steep ground clothed in vines - the island had me. Just a small, rounded rock, in the Tyrrhenian Sea two hours north of Naples, the destination promised natural beauty, layers of history, and serious off-work time - the kind that alleviates the stresses of the 21st century.

What, for me, held the most promise? The thermal spas. I’d heard that Ischia’s natural hot springs worked miracles on flesh and bones, and I wanted to be part of it. The appeal of sinking into centuries’ worth of mineral-rich water where human beings had been relaxing their weary muscles and soothing their overexposed psyches for centuries, was a powerful draw.

I desperately wanted to hike the island’s ragged, pockmarked trails, and wile away hours immersing myself in tiny-town buzz. And so, the wild, the history, the slow-time pace of it all, made it feel like the perfect place to stop. To breathe. And perhaps eat a lot too!

Which is to say, my soaking, walking, eating, people-watching — going about the business like an Ischitano ( an Ischia local) — would be a fortifying break from the helter skelter of home. A chance to wander and savor and perhaps to summon something of the me that’s obscured by the everyday. Hard to resist? You bet.

A little aside: the name of this craggy island is not easy to pronounce in every place you speak it. ‘Ischia’ comes out in English as ISK-ee-uh. When taking my espresso by the promenade in Italian, it’s EES-kee-ah. But say it to a local — Neapolitan, perhaps — and out it will come as EESH-kyuh.

Arrival in Ischia

Ischia from Naples

From Naples to Ischia, you need to figure out whether to take the slow ferry or the fast hydrofoil. The ships leave from different piers — ferries roll out of Porta di Massa and the hydrofoils dart from Beverello — and it’s a matter of tactics, depending on your schedule or your budget.

If time is of the essence, the hydrofoil will cut through the sea for approximately 50 minutes and dump you on Ischia. Pricey, but good for the fidgety. Ferries, by comparison drag their feet - 90 minutes - but are easier on the wallet and allow you to take in the views of the Gulf of Naples. Cruise past Procida; if you’re lucky, even a glimpse of Capo Miseno.

Pay around €13 for the ferry, or about €20 for the hydrofoil hustle. For some, the ferry ride is part of the vacation, a boat ride on which you can feel the sea air and watch the views.

Once you arrive on Ischia, you pour out into places such as Ischia Porto, Casamicciola, or Forio, which spread out their tentacles across the island, ready to ferry you into Ischia’s green interior or to its famed thermal baths.

Or, if you’re lugging bags or corralling a party, book a transfer, which buys your ferry tickets for you, syncs up with your timetable, and makes sure you’re always being guided in the right direction by someone who knows the way to your accommodation.

Ischia Italy Map

Ischia is shaped like a rough trapezoid, 10 kilometres long east to west and around 7 kilometres north to south, and packs a powerful punch into its 34 kilometres of winding coastline and its total area of 46.3 sq km. The island is high in itself - literally, rising to 788 metres (Mount Epomeo, the highest in the Phlegrean archipelago, and the highest point from which you can, really, almost touch the heavens).

This is not one of those one-town islands. Ischia is composed of six separate municipalities: the main town, called Ischia, as well as Forio, Serrara Fontana, Lacco Ameno, Casamicciola Terme and Barano d’Ischia. Each has its own personality, connected by a principal road that hugs the sea’s edge, like a life-giving umbilical cord stitching these diverse towns together. The far northern fringe of the island, home to Ischia Porto and Casamicciola, is a buzzing place, in stark contrast to the peaceful, wild beauty of its southern coastline.

Located at the heart of the Gulf of Naples, Ischia is more than just a pretty face; it is a meeting point of history, culture and climatic perfection. Via the Mediterranean climate, it has mild winters and warm and dry summers, tucked within the warm friendly embrace of its brighter, more animated past, from the ancient Greek settlers who first fell in love with its picturesque shores, to the Romans, under whose rule it became a prized possession.

Is Ischia Considered the Amalfi Coast?

Ischia is not on the Amalfi Coast. It is its very own, an island in the Bay of Naples, part of Campania, just like the Amalfi Coast. Alternatively: the Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline on the southern end of the Sorrentine Peninsula; it runs from Positano to Vietri sul Mare by the Tyrrhenian Sea and is terraced in cliffside towns, postcard views.

Ischia, too, is sometimes painted with the same brush as the Amalfi (perhaps because both are in Campania, and neighbors to boot) but Ischia is very different - less glossy, more soulful. You have a deep history, the thermal spas, wild landscapes, not just the polished, postcard-perfect scenes that you encounter in Amalfi, or Positano, or wherever. Both are beautiful, in that unmistakable southern Italian way, but they are, in my opinion, completely different.

Ischia vs. Capri - A Comparative Insight

Moving between Ischia and Capri, here is what I experienced:

Ischia

It’s Ischia’s raw, salty earthiness that Capri can’t aspire to, its unpretentious suntan vibe, its in-your-face invitation to anyone who’d prefer those beach towels without the shiny spit. There’s more room to breathe on Ischia - literally. Poseidon Gardens offers natural, thermal waters, as does Forio’s Maronti Beach, one of the largest in the entire archipelago and absolutely tranquil. You can get lost there, and it almost feels like it’s been designed with that in mind.

It is in those towns on Ischia - Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte - that the real life of the island beats. The streets are filled with the sound of Italian families chattering, and the smell of coniglio (rabbit, a local speciality) simmering its way through the air. It is in these places, away from the façade of tourism, that you can really get a sense of the day-to-day nature of island life.

Capri

And then there’s Capri. Capri is like a film set, staged from the cliff-edge vistas down to the designer-clad tourists that fill its piazzas. It is an expensive, gastronomic, haute couture spectacle, spectacularly displayed against sublime natural settings, but segmented by its exclusivity. The views from the Gardens of Augustus are almost too contrived to be true, while the Blue Grotto is a natural wonder, but one that is frequently overrun by its fans.

It’s pretty, Capri, with its rocky cliffs and plush villas, but it is also a bit distanced from the unshowy feeling of being on an island, of blending into the landscape, rather than being observed.

Personal Reflection

For me, Ischia was easier to get into a groove in. It was also the kind of place where its unpretentious scapes, the warmth of its inhabitants, provided a space for renewed breath and connection. If the right kind of ‘dazzle’ can be the currency of remembrance (the ‘luxury of recall’) then, on Capri, it was sometimes hard to see why I would want to return.

Ischia was a place where I could relax in a way that was real, not staged, and surrounded by natural beauty that hadn’t been art directed to within an inch of its life. It felt like a home in which to live, not holiday.

Final Takeaway: Ischia vs. Capri?

So where to go? That depends on what you’re looking for. If what you want is the gleam and the throb of an expensive fantasy, then Capri is in a class of its own. But if you want something less glossy and more deeply rooted in the realities of island life, then Ischia has so much more to offer. I’d argue that the Capri is nice, but Ischia is nicer. You can find fantasy anywhere. But, when you’re looking for reality… Ischia is what you want now.

Why Is Ischia Famous?

Ischia (which was called Pithekousai in the 8th century BCE) was the first Greek foothold in the region, and it bears the vestiges of the Bronze Age, Greek and Roman times, as well as being layered into Italian history.

The real draw of Ischia is the feverish pulse of its volcanic heart. Big and bold, it originated through a vast and complex underwater volcanic system, and it is also the home of its thermal hot springs, which have lured visitors in search of their therapeutic waters since the heyday of the toga. This tradition has only got more frenzied since the arrival of travelers from all over flocked to the island for a fix of ancient downtime.

Culturally too, Ischia is not just a beauty with healing waters, but one that has long inspired the island’s bohemian and intellectual set; its glorious and inglorious past is still mined for material by a small army of writers and artists. The continuous restoration of its historical sites adds playful depth to the Ischitan experience, giving it an enhanced role as a place both to live and as a stage on which to perform that living.

And then there are the day-trippers, who flock to Ischia for its natural bounties, its soaks of history and of mineral-rich mud - not to mention those spas that entice them over from the mainland.

A Tour of Ischia’s Beaches

And the island’s beaches retain an elemental beauty - for me, it’s not just about hopping from lido to lido with a cocktail in hand. Ischia has a kind of alchemical power for me to feel like I’m at the center of my Italian fantasy. Sun - sea - heaven.

Spiaggia di Sant’Angelo:

Sant’Angelo is where sea meets village. Small of stature but large of heart, this beach is attached by a narrow neck to an outcrop of ragged rock. To walk here is to follow a thread through lanes of color, the crescendo of town life before a respite in its sea. A beach where everyone knows your name and the water replies in ripples.

Spiaggia dei Maronti:

The Ischia coast is a lava-scoured study in fire and ice, but my favourite beach is Maronti, where the sea laps at towering ebonite lava flows and the shore is lined with natural thermal fumaroles, a volcano-heated spa gifted to the world by Mother Nature. Heat your lunch under your towel at Maronti and you’ll feel like the Goddess of the Sea has blessed you. It’s a place of science and magic. Here, the view stretches out to the far horizon, blurred by heat waves, and the stories rise like steam from the broth.

Baia di Sorgeto:

A little bit off the beaten track, Sorgeto can be reached only by a steep climb or a boat, but is well worth it. The natural sea pool is fed by underground hot springs a natural spa and a hot tub, but in nature. And it is divine. The striking nature of the hot springs in the sea means that a simple swim turns into a luxurious soak in a watery tub, all scented with salt and encircled by cliffs.

Lacco Ameno, Fungo Beach:

With its distinctive mushroom-like rock just yards from the shore, Fungo is a beach of white sand before long rows of colorful dwellings. Shallow, sun-filled and good for wave-free swimming for hours, it’s a good place for kids and for sunbathing into the late afternoon. The place is all laughter and chatter of children, and the easy banter of grown-ups.

Ischia's climate?

Usually Mediterranean. Hot sunny days, lovely for these beach walks, yet in midsummer the sun shines hard. But at twilight the air turns, carrying cool breezes that make nights magical — sometimes even to the accompaniment of fireworks, as if the island is celebrating another day well spent.

Thermal Bliss - Ischia’s Thermal Baths

While I was writing about Ischia, I stayed at the Ischia Blu Resort and Spa, right at the water’s edge. The place had its own private section of sand, and a heated infinity pool along the edge that also crept over the land, whirlpools built into the sand.

The accomodations? They’re cutting-edge (that is, contemporary Mediterranean-style) in a comfortable green way (solar panels, recycling systems, the works). They’re out-of-the-way enough to be serene but close enough to town to get to the port or the countryside for locally grown produce.

However, it’s the volcanic-sourced thermal baths for which Ischia is so lauded. I gorged on mud baths and hydropools and was left feeling rejuvenated.

Ischia also has some fantastic thermal parks, like Negombo and Giardini Poseidon. Negombo is hidden away near San Montano Bay, with a selection of thermal pools and a relaxed private beach that make it easy to melt away completely. Giardini Poseidon is another choice with its multitude of pools, and a beach set into the beautiful Bay of Citara, all amid classic Mediterranean greenery. You submerge in mineral waters that will aid everything from arthritis and eczema to the everyday stresses of life, and it shows.

Immersion in these waters is a mental and spiritual reboot. The place pares down all the clutter until you are left with something like peace - a peace you often barely knew existed. A sincere reset.

Where to Stay - Hotels in Ischia, Italy

The door to Ischia is thrown wide, with an array of accommodation options to suit any budget. From the palatial pads where you’re treated like the king or queen of royalty, to the cool and quirky boutique spots, and everything in between, there’s plenty of places to lay your head and make your stay as comfortable as possible, whether you’re spending like the most-affluent visitor in the history of the island or you’re counting your pennies.

Luxury Hotels

Ischia’s got you covered if you’re looking to splurge. The Grand Hotel Il Moresco is an institution, with rooms facing the Mediterranean and a wellness centre that is downright opulent, in grounds bubbling with thermal baths.

The Miramare Sea Resort Spa sits on a choice piece of property, famed for its location and its facilities.

Boutique Hotels

For vibe, Ischia’s boutique hotels are in spades: Semiramis Hotel De Charme Pools: if you are looking for a killer combination of palm-shaded serenity with a thermal pool, this place is just a hop, skip and jump to the Giardini Poseidon.

Tenuta Del Poggio Antico: killer views in a setting that rocks the mind into a stillness that even the busiest brains can’t escape.

Budget Accommodations

Can’t afford those high-end hotels? Not to worry. Hotel Don Felipe offers panoramic views of Cartaromana Bay for a fraction of the cost of the five-star hotels, and is conveniently situated within walking distance of Ischia Porto.

Booking Advice

Best Areas to Stay

Looking for vibrant street life and easy ferry access? Head to Ischia Porto. More interested in sunset views and a little history? Forio’s your place. Would you rather have a quiet touch of civilization, with fishing-village vibes? Try Sant’Angelo.You might want to book ahead, particularly once summer gets into full swing and Ischia is the place to be on a weekend. Go to Booking.com or a similar site to figure out where you can stay and what you can afford. Book your place, and then explore.

The Best Things to Do in Ischia, Italy

Ischia offers a great variety of things to do for people with different hobbies and interests, from natural sights to historical sites and culinary experiences. This is my top list of the top things to do in Ischia:

Castello Aragonese visit.

When you drive up to Castello Aragonese, you can’t help but feel the crush of time. The fortress, which sits on a rock just off the main island, is connected to the mainland by a bridge that seems as old as the castle itself. It’s a must-stop for any visitor to Ischia, and when you get there, the views that could kill are matched by an extensive historical tour of the island. During the summer, the castle hosts a variety of cultural events, from local art exhibits to the festival of Ischian cinema.

Explore Giardini La Mortella

Here nature and art essentially meld as a result of the vision of Susana Walton. Music plays a large part in the life of Giardini La Mortella, with live performances from the outdoor amphitheatre cascading through the garden.

Relax in Ischia's Thermal Parks

Thanks to its volcanic entrails. Ischia is viscous; there are thermal parks everywhere - Negombo, Aphrodite Apollon, and others. The pools are therapy, often set in almost surreal landscapes.

Enjoy the Beaches

The beaches are some of the best: the quiet Spiaggia dei Pescatori, the extensive sands of Maronti Beach, the small, wild and natural bathing spot of Sorgeto Beach, its waters bubbling like natural hot springs at the sea’s edge.

Hiking Mount Epomeo

If you’re climbing the wild side of Mount Epomeo, as many do, it gets the lungs going. But the reward is a 360-degree view of Ischia and beyond, and a beauty so raw it’s almost unseeable, the kind that forces you to always remember it.

Savor Local Cuisine

In Ischia, eating old and eating new are paired, hand in hand. Don’t leave without trying coniglio all’Ischitana (a rabbit stew as local as the sea), and also without sampling rucolino, a home-brewed liqueur made from arugula (an acquired taste, but Ischian to the bone). And no matter if your table is in a quaint household kitchen or a regal villa with castle views, every meal here is wonderful.

Take a Boat Tour

Seeing Ischia from the deck of a boat have you skirting the coast, dropping into hidden bays and perhaps drifting over the tiny Procida, all in view. Sea as road; horizon as guide.

Visit Local Vineyards

Then there is the landscape of vineyards, such as Cenatiempo, estates that allow to taste wine and to hear the history, the dirt and the soul of Ischia’s winemaking past, one glass at a time.

Ischia Restaurants: Eating in Ischia

Eating out in Ischia is often synonymous with a quest for a suitable epic backdrop - so where do you want to eat? At Il Bracconiere, on the 700-metre ridge of Monte Epomeo, it’s all about the rabbit stew - coniglio all’ischitana. The restaurant is a sort of time machine as old as the stone walls, with the old copper pots to match, and it’s a long walk to get there, literally, up the slopes.

And Ristorante Indaco, where it’s all about the sea - the view and the food, in this case a terracotta-tiled terrace with a setting sun and the catch of the day.

If you’re looking for an ultra-contemporary vibe, try Danì Maison - with chef Nino di Costanzo serving up dishes that helped the place earn two Michelin stars. Cosy, elite, a place with one foot on the cutting edge.

DINING TIPS: Choosing where to eat here is a bit of a minefield. As a general rule, go local. Ingredients produced here on the island simply taste better than produce shipped in. And the kitchens that really serve up the aromas and tastes of Ischia? Ask the locals. They know the real hotspots.

And if you are going, don’t forget the rabbit dishes … and the Spaghetti alle Vongole (mmmm!) … and of course the vineyards or so: nothing compares to pairing local wines at the table. Buon Appetito!

Reflecting on Ischia

At dusk, when the sea had turned amber and the sky a violet, I sat on the sea wall in Ischia and tried to work out where I’d been. I’d been all over this volcanic island, visiting its inland hot springs, its ancient, stone-capped hills. I’d wandered through markets and side streets. I’d absorbed the life of the alleys, with its unmediated humanity - all of the Ischia that has never changed.

What a shame for northern Italians, perhaps just 40 miles away, who might not appreciate what Ischia has to offer as much as its inhabitants do. The islanders have a deep respect for the old, natural values: respect for the land from the vines that creep across tiny terraces to the fishermen mending their nets beside the sea.

Is it worth going to Ischia, Italy?

Should you go to Ischia? That depends on what you seek: if it's a quietude and a relationship to both the past and nature, then the call of Ischia is strong. I urge anybody who is in search of beauty and tranquillity to come here and stroll, breathe in the salty air, and let Ischia bury its pleasantness into the soul.