What’s happening everybody? These are my top seven things to do in Ischia Italy.

Located 19 miles away from the city of Napoli Ischia is actually the largest island in the Neopolitan archipelago. It is about an hour and a half ride from Napoli itself and the island is known as the Green Island and is famous for an abundance of natural beauty, ts charm, ability to relax and of course adventure, so talking about adventure let’s kick off the list with the first thing to do being to hike Mount Aomo.

Now Mount Aomo is actually the highest point on the entire island of Ischia. The mountain itself is 2589 ft above sea level, so being an island that will give you pretty darn good vantage point. Now the hike itself is relatively easy. It’s only 3.2 miles out and back, so to get there and to get back 3.2 miles not too bad at all. It’s a little steep but definitely fun and enjoyable and the views along the way and the setting is absolutely insane. You can see lots of lush Greenery beautiful vineyards. You can see the Island of Procha, Capri, you can see Mount Vesuvius and some other areas in the Gulf of Naples. Now to begin the hike to Mount Aomo you could take the bus. Being the CD or CS, one runs counterclockwise-one runs clockwise to the town of Sera Fontana or Fontana. Just look at Google Maps and it’ll show you. Look for a statue of Jesus present and that’ll be your indication to get off. Then the hike is very easily labeled and not too hard to find a navigates from there at all. Now unfortunately I wasn’t able to hike to the very top because of short run time in Ischia, but there’s a little pull off point along the way which still gives you a great view of the sort of south side of the island and just the views and experience of doing the hike is a great way to see an interesting part of Ischia in as much of the island and surrounding area as possible.

So, the second thing on my list of things to do in Ischia is an absolute must as they all are, but is also the most iconic site and probably the most famous thing that Ischia has to offer. That is to visit the Castello Aragon.  Now the Castello or Castle Aragon is a massive Castle ped up upon this mountain or Cliff tall Hill, what you want to call it. That is connected to the main island of Ischia by this little walking area. Not necessarily a bridge. More of like a long-elongated Pier which gives you Grand Scenic mesmerizing sites of this fantastic castle. Now, the history of this area was, it was built all the way back in 474 BC by hero of Syracuse. Was later taken over by the Romans and eventually became known as the Castello Aragon that it is today. Village was used as a fortress for lots of military battles or defenses and is just so ridiculously scenic and stunning. I absolutely loved being able to visit this. Even though it was closed for entry just being able to walk up to it and witness. It was very scenic it was only about less than an hour walk from ISO Porto or where you come in on the ferry you can easily take a bus to Ischia Ponte as well and it’ll take you right at the foot of the Castello Eron, so it is a must visit guys. Whether you can go up and spend a whole bunch of time exploring the actual Village and Castle itself or just look at it from below in marvel at it. Definitely a must see and it’s very famous and iconic for good reason.

Now number three on the list isn’t as iconic as the Castel Aron, but it’s just as famous and popular to do when visiting. This is going to be to visit the hot springs of Ischia, because Ischia the island has a lot of volcanic activity which provides some hot springs which are just essentially pools of water that are heated from the volcanic activity making it for perfect natural hot tubs and some of the most beautiful and scenic places in Italy. Now there’s a few ways to go about this I personally recommend doing a little bit of a free sort of adventurous way by visiting the Baya Sorto. Now this is located in the town of Panza which you can easily reach by the CD or CS buses again. I went in the winter, but during the summer apparently the ocean water at the bay itself is so warm that is like a hot spring water there,  so people will kind of make their own hot springs with rocks and kind of contain hot water to bathe in. People even cook potatoes and eggs and stuff like that. The ocean water is that warm. I went in the winter and I noticed that the ocean water wasn’t freezing but it wasn’t hot either. It was probably like a lukewarm room temperature sort of feeling, but there were still actually hot springs that get access which were just a little bit to the left of the main Cove in Bay Area. Through this little cave and in the cave, there are some hot springs.

There was a resident worker that was tending to him and kind of set me up, gave me some coffee and some oranges and he did expect to be tipped so keep in mind you might want to give them like 5 or 10 Euros for however long you’re there. It really depends but really cool to know that they can visit Hot Springs from the winter or the summer season for free. Now there are some other options for visiting the hot springs, but they will not be free. They will be public. Sort of thermal baths or thermal Gardens and they normally cost about 30 to $40 for the entire day. So, a little bit pricey but I’m sure it would definitely be worth it to get that magical hot spring experience and the two places I would recommend is number one going to be the Poseidon or Netuno thermal bath and Gardens. It has 22 different baths and springs of varying temperatures and sizes. It is also located between the town of Panza and Fore, so maybe you could hit that up in combination with the Sorto, the Bay of Sorto. That is because it’s only like a town or half a town over to the north side of the island. Now, the other public thermal Garden hot spring, whatever you want to call it, that I recommend is going to be called the Neomo thermal Gardens. Now, these are located near the town of Lao Ameno which is the Northwestern portion of the island. It’s also pretty Scenic because it’s by the Bay of San Montano or Spa de San Monano, has 12 different hot springs of varying size and temperatures and also a very scenic really cool Japanese labyrinth garden. The picture will definitely maybe make you want to go or not want to go, it’s up to you. Those are the two public options that I recommend. If you’re not interested in the free one or you want to do a free one and a public one.

Now number four on my list is going to be a beautiful architectural and natural experience which is to visit the Chiesa del sol Cristo near the town of Forio. now the Chiesa del sol Cristo is a very scenic all-white Church overlooking the terranean sea and it is perched above the cliffs giving it a very dramatic destination with a very beautiful aesthetic appearance behind you. You can also see some stunning views of the mountains in the island. Most notably Mount of Pomo which maybe you hiked earlier or you’re going to get to at some point or just want to appreciate the grand size and beauty of it. Some interesting history about this church. It was built back in 1350 and it was influenced by some sort of Greek and Byzantine architectural design which to me makes a lot of sense because that is a sort of image or view. I picture in the Mediterranean islands off of Grace like Santorini or who knows. It’s very scenic you can also see lots of towns on Ischia up and down the coast. You might be able to see some other Islands surrounding you. It’s a great place to also see some architecture inside the church, but for me what takes the cake away is the just sheer natural beauty of the location of this church. It is also located only minutes away from Forio which we’ll talk about more later, so it’s very accessible by bus and you can easily fit into a day of doing other things as well.

Now if you’re a budget traveler like me you will inevitably do number five just by way of doing these other things which is to take the bus around Ischia. Now of course this is very useful to do because it’s a great way to get to these locations that we’ve talked about. Thus far, but I really enjoy just taking the bus as an experience by itself, because first of all the bus tickets are very cheap only about 4 to 5 Euros for the entire day and you could see so much by either taking the CD or CS bus line. Again, those are one that I don’t remember which is which, but one is counterclockwise one is clockwise. Along this bus ride you’ll pass through beautiful towns little villages, the countryside seeing vineyards and farms. You’ll go along the coast with beautiful views of the water. You’ll also wind through the mountains and see different sort of mountainy towns and stunning views over the ocean. It takes about 1.5 hours to circle the island. I cannot recommend it enough just for a great way to see Ischia. The towns and the areas between.

So, number six on my list is arguably my favorite thing that I did in my whole time I spent in Ischia which is to just spend some time exploring the small quaint but extremely charming and picturesque towns on Ischia and inevitably you will start off at the first town being Ischia Porto, because that is where the ferry comes in and to me Ischia Porto had a bit of a touristy feel, but because I went during the offseason it was a little bit like a sleepy fishing village saw lots of beautiful buildings with that pastel Italian sort of color, lots of quaint streets to walk down, some more busy than others, lots of restaurants, boutiques, great to do some souvenir shopping here and hotels, so a great place to stay and bit yourself out of as well and just gives a really good first impression and overall feel for the town of Ischia. Island of Ischia that you’ll be exploring throughout however much time you could spend there. For complete contrast to Ischia Porto, I recommend just briefly stomping by the town of Fontana or Sera Fontana. I’m not sure exactly which it’s called. It either will appear on Google Maps. In contrast this has more of a mountain town sort of feel versus the Sleepy fishing Village feel, because this is located at the bottom or the base of Mount Nomo and here there’s tiny winding streets going up and down, small little Plaza with a very stunning statue of Jesus by a church, beautiful pastel-colored buildings, more vineyards and sort of countryside and farmland, so a much smaller quainter town. Now arguably my favorite town that I checked out while being in Ischia was the town of Fiore.

Now this is the town we talked a little bit earlier, because it was by the Chiesa del sol Cristo and this is a very beautiful town. It’s not too big but there’s a lot of density in there, lot straighter wider streets. Not too wide we can drive down them, a little bit there’s lots of cafes, restaurants, little bars. By bars I mean like the Italian bars we go and get an espresso maybe not like a karaoke bar in America. If you catch my drift. Beautiful plazas, a lot of people sitting out, eating food, seems like there’s a strong community there and just a really charming ridiculously seen town right by the ocean. The cliffs as well, so definitely recommend spending a lot of time in Fiore just walking around and checking it out. There’s also the town of Panza which was located near the Sorto Bay or the Baya Sorto. Now, I would describe Panza as being more Villas, hotels, a lot more residential, but man oh man, they are beautiful and stunning. This to me reminded me of Sorini and it’s a really steep hill. Getting some dramatic coastal hillside villas and hotels. See what I mean guys? Definitely recommend checking Al Panza and lastly unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to check out this town. This town is going to be named Santangelo or Santangelo. I don’t know, Italians tell me if my pronunciation is wrong.

Not just on this, but everything in this video is so far. Now, the town of San Angelo is located just a bit east of the Baya Sorto or the town of Panza and this is an extremely scenic. Going to catch say a lot of times this video Scenic. Amazing sites, so ridiculously scenic and stunning just being able to walk up, witness it was very scenic, very scenic. All white church it’s also pretty scenic, very scenic. Really cool Japanese Garden. Very Scenic. Yeah, I need to add some new words to my vocabulary. Town which is perched on the end of this cliff between the massive rock of San Angelo and sort of the cliffs in coastal side of the main Ischia island. The buildings are so crammed tight together that you can’t even drive cars through them which makes things a lot slower paced and not as crazy with traffic, but more of a residential walking. Town looks extremely gorgeous there’s also a little beach and Bay right nearby. Definitely need to check out myself included San angalo at a different time.

Finally, number seven on my list isn’t just one thing. Making it just seven by itself it’s sort of a collection of things because there’s so much to do on Ischia. I didn’t have a chance to do all of it over my two days but I turned this number seven into an honorable mentions or things I didn’t get to do that I would still want to do or recommend other people category. So, number one in this honorable mention is going to be visiting the Gardini La Mortella. This is a beautiful botanic Garden from pictures that I could see located in the Northwestern part of the island sort of between Forio and La Ameno and actually this Garden was closed when I went due to the Corona virus.

Very sad or maybe it was limited hours but I was not able to visit cuz it was not open. Definitely my list of things to do cuz I love Botanical Gardens and I’m sure that this one is as beautiful as the pictures and the reviews lead it to be online. Another thing that you have to do or I would like to do as well is to visit the Fumar role of San Angelo or San Angelo and this is located on the bay San Angelo and the Fumar is actually a thermally heated Beach which is so cool because we know that Ischia has that volcanic activity that it’s famous for but the beach itself is actually hot, so the sand some of it you can’t actually walk on and just like the bioseston people will cook things like eggs or whatever by putting them in the sand and just leaving them for a while and the heated sand will actually cook it, so that’d be a really cool experience to visit a  heated beach like that. In a really scenic island in Ischia the Fumar that’s what they call it, everybody and of course when you’re on an island and presumably if you’re there during the high season. I was there in the winter so, it wasn’t too good of a time of year to do this, but this is going to be.

Have a beach day visit. Some of the beautiful rocky or sandy beaches that you can find in the Mediterranean of Ischia. Now, from my research some of the better beaches is going to be starting off with the Spaggia the San Monano.

This is going to be located sort of in that La Ameno area by, again, the Negombo thermal Gardens, that we talked about a while ago. On this list I also hear that the Bay of Citra by which again was we talked about with the Cissio dell Socorso definitely a scenic bay that I’ve heard and some research on online as well and then I’ve heard of the Maronti spaggia or beach which is going to be located near San Angelo or San Angelo as well, so those are three beaches that you can decide to check out. There’s plenty more on the island as an activity definitely should consider having a beach day if the weather permits on the beautiful island of Ischia.

So, those are my top seven things to do in Ischia everybody. I absolutely loved it there. I was so excited to visit. Exceeded all of my expectations when I spent 2 days there. I could easily spend a week there if I was strictly traveling exploring, sightseeing or there on vacation too. You have a perfect balance of adventure, restaurants, shopping, relaxation, physical activity and a variety of different scenic natural beauty and different things you can do on the island of Ischia everybody. So, let me know down below have you done any of these things? Are any of these looking particularly appealing to you? Have you been to Ischia? Are you planning to go anytime soon? Thanks so much for watching everybody. Don’t forget to like, like and subscribe. That’s it. See you in the next video. Peace.