Naples - Ischia Travel Guides | Naples | Sub Regions | Naples - Ischia

The island of Ischia, once home, at least in mythology, to Typhon, creator of volcanoes, has had no volcanic activity since 1883. But many of its springs still run warm and there is a thriving spa industry. The biggest island in the bay, and one where tourism arrived later than on Capri, Ischia is nevertheless very much a tourist destination. It’s still a very beautiful place, however; trees mask a lot of development, and steep slopes prevent too much encroachment into the centre of the island.

Ischia also has bigger beaches than Capri, a spectacularly situated castle, a good (if strenuous) walk up to the 787-m summit of Monte Epomeo, some sleepy towns, a botanical garden complete with tea house built by British composer William Walton and his wife (La Mortella, on the outskirts of Forio on the west coast, T 081-986220, http://www.ischia.it/mortella), and, in Sant'Angelo, on the south of the island, one of the Bay of Naples' most attractive villages. Once separate, Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte are now joined and often referred to as ‘Ischia’. Two distinct centres still exist, however. Forio, on the west coast, has an impressive whitewashed church, Chiesa Madonna del Soccorso, on land protruding out into the sea, Casamicciola Terme and Lacco Ameno, on the north coast, have beaches and spas.

Getting around A reasonably efficient bus service runs around the island, most routes starting or finishing at the terminus at Ischia Porto (behind the port). The most useful routes are the CD (circolare destra) and CS (circolare sinistra) which run in either direction around the island, stopping at Casamicciola, Lacco Ameno, Forio, Sant’Angelo, Fontana and Barano. They run every 15 minutes or half an hour depending on the time of day. There is also a service (linea 1) every 15 minutes to Sant’Angelo via Forio. Tickets €0.93 single, €2.74 for a whole day and are available from tabacchi and from the terminus.

Sights

Ischia Porto

Ischia Porto is the main bus terminus – see above.

Arriving by sea, the harbour of Ischia Porto was once a volcanic crater, only connected to the sea in 1854 by King Ferdinand II, and its origins are still clear in its shape. Ferries arrive at the western side of the harbour, hydrofoils towards the east. Along the eastern curve of the harbour via Porto is entirely made up of bars and restaurants with good views.

Bar di Maoi, just off the southeast corner of the harbour, sells particularly good ice-cream.

Follow via Porto inland and around to the left and it connects to via Roma which soon becomes the (mainly pedestrianized) corso Vittoria Colonna. A couple of blocks behind via Roma, to the east of the port, Spiaggia di San Pietro e della Marina is a good public beach. The beaches east of here are also popular but you have to pay for the privilege.

Corso Vittoria Colonna leads all the way to Ischia Ponte, past upmarket clothes and ceramics shops, restaurants, houses and the occasional church. Roads to the left lead down to various mainly private beaches. About half way along on the left, opposite the tiny church of San Girolamo (also known as Madonna della Pace), the pleasantly shaded public park of Villa Nenzi Bozzi is filled with trees and birdsong. The church itself has a mosaic dome.

As the road heads downhill to the sea it runs parallel to Spiaggia dei Pescatori (Beach of the Fishermen), a beach which is indeed still used by fishermen as well as sunbathers, and has excellent views of the castle (see below).

Ischia Ponte

If you don't fancy the 20-minute walk, bus 7 shuttles back and forth between the port and Ischia Ponte. Castello Aragonese: Mar-Nov, Mon-Sun 0930-1 hr before sunset. €8.

The ‘ponte’ of the name is more a walkway than a bridge, connecting the mainland with the towering fortified island of the Castello Aragonese. The first fortress here was built in 474BC by Syracusan Greeks. Conquered variously by the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Swabians, the Angevins and the English, and attacked by nearly everybody else, from the Goths to the Visigoths and the Vandals, the castle remained a vital place of refuge for the islanders, from volcanic explosions as well as pirates and invaders. At the beginning of the 18th century the castle held nearly 2000 families, as well as a convent, an abbey, 13 churches, and a prince. It was also the place where, in the 15th century, Ferrante d’Avalos married the beautiful poet-princess Vittoria Colonna, who later became a great friend of Michelangelo. Today it is an extraordinary maze of steps and walls, simple sun-bleached churches and vine and olive terraces, with panoramic views on all sides.

It’s worth allowing a couple of hours to have a look round.

Sleek cats laze in the sun on bleached pastel-coloured walls in traffic- free and picturesque Sant’Angelo in the south of the island. The place retains a more Italian feel than the rest of the island and has a spa and a decent beach immediately to the east (Spiaggia dei Maronti), being recreated at the time of writing after having been washed away for the second time in recent years.

The town tumbles down a steep hillside to an isthmus connecting the mainland to an attractive but inaccessible rocky outcrop. There are plenty of cafés and restaurants along the seafront in which to laze the day away, or you could pay for a day or half-day in the Giardini Termali Aphrodite: a large complex of 12 pools, hot springs, waterfalls, saunas and beauty centres belonging to the Park Hotel Miramare.

Monte Epomeo

Signposted path from Fontana.

With an almost 360-degree view of the island, and 787 m above the sea, the rocky peak of Monte Epomeo is well worth the steep climb from Fontana. The sun-dappled path passes among chestnut trees before opening out at the top to spectacular views down over abandoned terraces and the coast below. The path to and from Forio is less well signposted but is a good alternative way down.

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