Many things to do in Ischia start with the water: a day in a thermal park, a swim in a free hot spring, a long sandy beach, a boat tour around the coast. Add the Castello Aragonese, the villages, a hike up Monte Epomeo and a day on Procida or Capri, and you have more than a week can hold. Ischia is the largest island in the Gulf of Naples, with six towns and a different feel on each coast. The choice is less about what to see than about where to spend your days.

If you already know how long you are staying, our one-day itineraries and our three-day plan for Ischia turn these ideas into a schedule, hour by hour.

1. Soak in the thermal parks and free hot springs

The thermal water is the reason many people choose Ischia over the other islands.**

The island is a volcano in the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields), and rainwater that filters down through the rock comes back up hot enough to fill a pool with no heating.

There are two ways to enjoy the water. A thermal park is a garden by the sea with pools kept at different temperatures, saunas, a beach and a restaurant. You pay for a day pass. The two best known are Negombo, on San Montano bay near Lacco Ameno, and Giardini Poseidon, on Citara bay in Forio, with 20 pools. The parks open from April to October. Plan on a full day: you will move from pool to pool, have lunch inside and finish on the beach.

The free springs cost nothing and offer nothing beyond the water. At Sorgeto Bay, below the village of Panza, hot water rises among the rocks at about 99°F (37°C), warm enough for a swim in January. You reach it on foot down about 250 steps and climb the same steps back up, or take a water taxi from Sant’Angelo. Go in the late afternoon, when the steps are in the shade, and wear water shoes: the rock is sharp and some spots are scalding.

Our guide to thermal baths on Ischia compares the parks, and the page on free hot springs has the directions.

2. Spend a day on the beaches

Of the islands in the Gulf of Naples, Ischia is the one with long stretches of sand and shallow water. If you are traveling with children, that makes it easier than Capri or the Amalfi Coast. Most beaches mix beach clubs, where you rent a lounge chair and an umbrella, with free public stretches.

Three are worth knowing first. Citara bay in Forio has fine sand, sun until evening and west-coast sunsets. San Montano, between Lacco Ameno and Forio, is a half-moon bay with calm water, partly taken up by the Negombo park. Maronti beach, on the south coast, runs for about 2 miles (3 km), and at its Sant’Angelo end volcanic gas warms both the sand and the sea at the Fumarole beach. Some coves have no road at all. Cava dell’Isola is reached by a long flight of rock-cut steps, and its deep water and rocky bottom suit adults better than small children. The full list, coast by coast, is in our guide to beaches on Ischia.

3. See the coast from a boat

From the water you see what the roads miss: the Grotta del Mago, the Green Grotto, San Pancrazio beach, which you can only reach by sea, and the Castello Aragonese from offshore. A boat tour is also the simplest way to escape the crowds of July and August.

You have two options. On a group tour you buy a seat on a shared boat with a fixed route, usually from Forio or Ischia Porto. A tour around the whole island takes about seven hours, with lunch at anchor and several swim stops. A half-day tour lasts three to four hours and covers one side of the island, a good test if you are not sure how you do on boats. A private boat is yours alone, so you choose the stops, how long you stay and whether to continue to Procida or Capri.

The two grottoes are only accessible in calm water, and strong wind can cancel stops at the exposed coves. Our page on boat tours on Ischia explains how to choose.

4.Visit the Castello Aragonese and Ischia Ponte

The Castello Aragonese (Aragonese Castle) is the island’s best-known sight, a fortress on a volcanic islet joined to Ischia Ponte by a stone bridge. The first settlement on the rock dates back to the 5th century BC. Inside the walls you will find churches, a convent, Bourbon-era prison cells and terraces that look across to Procida, Capri and Monte Epomeo.

A visit takes about two hours. The route has stairs and uphill paths, and an elevator goes up to the higher levels. Open all year, the castle is the obvious plan for a gray day. The cemetery of the Poor Clares, where the nuns’ bodies were left to decompose on stone seats, is the stop people talk about afterward.

Leave time for the village below. Ischia Ponte was a fishing village, and its narrow lanes, baroque palazzi and the small Museo del Mare are a short walk from the bridge. From Ischia Porto you can walk there in about 30 minutes along the main street, Corso Vittoria Colonna. Underwater, off the castle, lie the remains of Aenaria, a Roman town you can see from a glass-bottomed boat.

5.Wander the villages

Each of the island’s towns has its own pace, and choosing one is often choosing your base.

- Ischia Porto: the main port and the liveliest evenings, with the bars of the Riva Destra and the shops of Via Roma and Corso Vittoria Colonna, closed to traffic in the evening.
- Forio: the main town on the west coast, with sandy beaches, artisan workshops and Saracen watchtowers such as the Torrione.
- Sant’Angelo: a fishing village on the south coast, entirely pedestrian, joined by a narrow strip of land to the tufa islet called La Torre.
- Lacco Ameno: the smallest town, where Ischia’s luxury tourism began in the 1950s, with the Fungo rock just offshore.
- Casamicciola Terme: the town of thermal hotels, rebuilt by the sea after the 1883 earthquake, with early 20th-century buildings along the waterfront.
- Barano d’Ischia: hill country behind Maronti beach, with the Nitrodi spring and the Fiaiano pine wood.

The island bus links all of them from the terminal at Ischia Porto. Our page on getting around Ischia explains the routes, and a scooter is often faster in summer traffic.

6.See La Mortella and Ischia’s Greek past

The Greeks who settled here called the island Pithecusa, one of the earliest Greek colonies in Italy. Their most famous trace is Nestor’s Cup, a small vase bearing one of the oldest known examples of writing in the Greek alphabet, from the 8th century BC. It is on display in the archaeological museum at Villa Arbusto in Lacco Ameno.

In Forio, the Giardini La Mortella were created by the family of the English composer William Walton: more than 3,000 plant species on terraces cut into the volcanic rock, with fountains, ponds and summer concerts. The gardens open only part of the year and on set days, so check before you go.

7.Watch the sunset from the Chiesa del Soccorso

Forio is the place for sunsets over open sea, and the classic spot to watch them is the terrace in front of the Chiesa del Soccorso. The small white church stands right above the water in the center of town, facing west.

Inside is a wooden crucifix from the 1400s that, according to local tradition, sailors left on the island after surviving a storm. The walls are hung with the ex-votos of generations of fishermen.

Come a little before sunset. On clear evenings people wait on the terrace for the green flash, the last flicker of light as the sun drops into the sea.

8.Hike Monte Epomeo

Monte Epomeo, 2,589 feet (789 m) high, is the only real mountain on Ischia, and the view from the top takes in the whole Gulf of Naples. The shortest trail starts from the square in Fontana and takes about an hour through chestnut woods, climbing about 1,300 feet (400 m). Near the top stands the hermitage of San Nicola, carved out of the rock.

Spring and fall are the seasons to go. In summer, start early in the morning, carry plenty of water and wear sturdy shoes: the last stretch is exposed and steep. If you would rather not walk, a local organization runs guided horseback rides along the slopes.

9. Eat like an islander

The island’s signature dish is not fish. Coniglio all’ischitana, rabbit cooked in a terracotta pot with tomato, garlic, herbs and white wine, comes from Ischia’s farming past. You will find the traditional version in the hills, at family-run places in Barano and Serrara Fontana, and it is worth ordering ahead because it takes hours to cook. For a snack, try a zingara: two slices of rustic bread filled and toasted, most often with mozzarella, tomato, prosciutto and mayonnaise. In Ischia Porto, breakfast at Bar Calise is a local ritual, especially after a late night. Our guide to where to eat on Ischia lists the restaurants by type.

10. Take a day trip to Procida or Capri

Procida is the easy one.

Ferries connect the two islands all year. Procida is small and flat enough to see on foot in a day. Walk up to Terra Murata, take the stairs down to the colorful houses of Marina Corricella, have lunch on the harbor and swim at Chiaia beach.

Capri needs more planning. Direct ferries run from April to mid-October, and the crossing takes about an hour. Catch the first boat of the morning: in high season Capri is crowded and the lines for the funicular and the buses slow everything down. A private boat from Ischia avoids the ferry altogether, at a much higher cost.

How many days you need

One day is enough for a first look, but not for the whole island. A day trip works best with one area and one thermal stop, and our one-day itineraries show three ways to plan it. Three days let you combine the castle, a full day in a thermal park and a boat tour or a beach, as in our plan for three days on Ischia. With a week you can add Monte Epomeo, the villages and Procida or Capri without rushing.

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