Ischia is the largest island in the bay and the one least like Capri: less fashionable, far greener, built around thermal water rather than around a piazzetta. It has real sand beaches — rare in these parts — chestnut woods, and an extinct volcano, Monte Epomeo, at its centre.
Getting there from the B&B
This needs to be clear, because it is where our guests get most confused.
The direct Sorrento–Ischia connection is seasonal: it runs roughly from April to October, and not every day. Out of season — and often in season too — you go via Naples (Beverello or Calata Porta di Massa) or via Capri, with a change.
In practice: allow a long crossing, an hour and a half upwards, with or without a connection. Check the day's timetable before you leave and buy the ticket in advance.
Marina Piccola, Sorrento's port, is seven minutes' walk from the B&B.
Why it deserves a night
It is the only island in the bay we advise against doing as a day trip. Between the outward crossing, the return and the connections, a flying visit leaves you four or five actual hours on an island that is ten times the size of Capri.
If you can, stay a night: Ischia in the evening, once the ferries have gone, is a different place.
What to see
- The Castello Aragonese, on a rock islet joined by a causeway to Ischia Ponte. It is the finest thing on the island: a fortified village of churches, terraces and a view in every direction.
- The thermal parks: Giardini Poseidon at Forio, Negombo at Lacco Ameno, Castiglione at Casamicciola. Large complexes with dozens of pools at different temperatures, open in season.
- The Cavascura baths at Sant'Angelo, the exact opposite: tubs cut into the rock of a gorge, much as the Romans left them.
- Sant'Angelo, the prettiest village on the island, pedestrian-only, with the sand isthmus leading out to the tower.
- Maronti beach, the long stretch of sand below Barano, where fumaroles heat the sand from underneath.
- Monte Epomeo, 789 metres, an hour and a half's climb on foot from Fontana for the view over the whole bay.
When to go
May to October for the sea and the thermal parks. But Ischia has an extra season the other islands lack: in autumn and winter the spas still work, the island empties and prices collapse. If you want hot water and quiet, November is excellent — though check the connections, which in low season almost always route through Naples.
Our advice
Hire a scooter or rely on the buses: the island is large and the distances between Ischia Porto, Forio and Sant'Angelo are not walkable.
If you pick a thermal park, get there early: the hottest and best pools are the first to fill.
And decide before you go that Ischia is not Capri. Arrive looking for the Piazzetta and you will be disappointed; arrive looking for hot water, woods and quiet dinners and you will not.
Ischia coastline