The beautiful Italian island of Ischia is situated a few kilometres off the mainland in the gulf of Naples.  Though less well known than its smaller neighbour, the Isle of Capri, the island has lots to offer as a holiday destination.  Ischia is a popular destination with both Italians from the nearby Neapolitan area and Italians from the north of Italy who enjoy both its beauty and its warm climate. The Germans are the most numerous non-Italian visitors, though a sprinkling of American and British accents can be heard.  I learned to say: “Non sono Tedesca” when we were there. It means: “I’m not German”, in Italian. It was quite amusing being mistaken for being German so often, but there were no language difficulties. I can speak basic Italian but I found most Ischian people could speak much better English than I could speak Italian!

Travelling to Ischia

We had wanted to visit Ischia for many years but all the package holidays seemed very expensive.  In the end, we decided to arrange the trip ourselves. Luckily, we are just a fifteen minute drive or a fifteen minute train journey from Birmingham airport.  We are so lucky to have a major airport hub so close to our home, so naturally, our journey started from there.

Ischia is both too small, and too mountainous to have its own airport.  You first must fly to Naples and make your way to Ischia from there.   Taking the Alibus from Naples airport to the ferry port sounds easy, doesn’t it?  In fact, it was the most difficult part of the whole trip! Getting the Alibus was no problem, but when we arrived at the ferry port  there were few signs telling you exactly where to go. We later learnt that there are two ports in Naples: some travellers go to the wrong one.

We inevitably got lost and spent over half an hour lugging our suitcases around the port area in our search for the Ischia ferry.  At one point we found ourselves in a swanky new shopping complex. We had thought it was the ferry booking area, but later discovered it was the purpose built shopping destination for the large cruise liners that call into Naples. Luckily, my basic Italian helped in obtaining proper directions from the shopping centre to the ferry booking terminal.

We did eventually get there and we did take some great photos on our one and a half hour sail to Ischia.  All the walking was worth it.

Where we stayed

A great money saving idea we had was to convert our Tesco clubcard vouchers into Hotels.com vouchers and then use them for our accommodation.  This dramatically reduced the cost of our holiday. There are many, many hotels to choose from all over the island catering for all budgets.

Friends of ours stayed in Ischia last year and they recommended the hotel that they stayed in, so we decided to do the same.  Hotel Vittoria is a family owned hotel and is situated in the main town of Ischia, not far from the port so we could walk there after leaving the ferry. It’s a 3 star hotel with an outside swimming pool and also a lovely warm thermal pool.  The garden is lovely too with beautiful plants and lemon trees. We stayed on a B&B basis. The breakfast is the usual continental buffet style with the addition of delicious home-made cakes every day! The location was good, easy to get to the port and bus station for any travel. We loved having free wi-fi in the room, but did miss not being able to make our own tea or coffee as you can do in UK hotels.

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Travelling around the island

We thought we were visiting a quiet, unspoilt island, but we were wrong.  It’s incredibly busy on the roads, even in the off peak times. You can hire cars and scooters, but we thought it best to stick with the bus. Travelling on the Ischia buses is quite an experience. Martin was genuinely nervous and more than once closed his eyes as the bus careered around the narrow, busy roads and climbed up the steep hills. There aren’t many seats on the buses, so people end up standing, packed sardine-like, for their journey. I wished I had taken a photo of the large number of people on the bus, but it was so packed I couldn’t get my camera out of my bag!

There is only one main road around the island. The CD and the CS buses go clockwise and anti-clockwise around the 25 kilometre perimeter of the island using this road.  Though incredibly cramped, the buses are frequent, running every fifteen minutes when we were there.  If you think of the bus journey as a rollercoaster ride at the fair then it can be fun!

Mount Epomeo

One of the best things to do on the island is to climb up Mount Epomeo.  We got the bus to Fontana (get off when you see the statue of Jesus) and followed the path to the top. It’s the highest point on the island and you get rewarded with fantastic views on your way up and spectacular views when you get to the top.   Don’t forget to collect your free walking stick from the cafe on your way up – you’ll need it!

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Parts of the route are very steep and not suited to anyone with mobility difficulties. We had great views on the walk.  It was strange being at cloud level too! There is a cafe at the top so you can rest and enjoy the views.  Maybe you could try their speciality – rabbit stew?

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Giardini La Mortella

The other must do whilst in Ischia is to visit the exotic gardens: Giardini La Mortella. We braved the packed bus journey to get to the gardens. Remember to ask the driver to tell you when to get off for the gardens. You may have to do this in Italian as we found not all the drivers spoke English.  The bus stop is on a busy narrow road so take care when crossing the road. There is a small sign near the bus stop which directs you to the 500 metre walk to the gardens.

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The gardens are spectacular.  There are many levels with something new and interesting to see at every turn.  If you love classical music then make sure you go there for one of the music evenings.  What a fantastic place it is to hold an event. If you want a good cup of tea and cake then you can have them here. You can sit in gorgeous surroundings and have the chance to sample a great variety of teas. Funnily enough, we found lots of the visitors here were British – it must be true that the British love their gardens and afternoon tea!

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Don’t miss the orchid house either.  Here are a few of the close up shots we took at the gardens.

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Food

If you love seafood then you’ll be in heaven in Ischia.  Beautiful fresh fish is served in all the restaurants across the island.

However, if like us, you’re not too keen on fish, then your choices are more limited.  We didn’t see any chicken dishes or even lasagne on any menu when we were there. We had veal one night and lots of pizza and pasta on other occasions.  Being Italy, the ice cream was great and you can get it at stalls everywhere. The restaurants were quiet until about 8.30 pm when they got a bit busier. We were not there in the peak summer months, but looking at the number of restaurants available, then there must be crowds of visitors in the summer. We loved being able to eat outside with views of the sea.

History of Ischia

Ischia has a long and turbulent history but sadly, there are few memorials or plaques on the island to commemorate it.  Like most of southern Italy, Ischia was first colonised by the Greeks before the Roman conquest around 320BC. About 200 metres of a Roman aqueduct remain in one of the of the small towns a few kilometres outside of Ischia.  This remarkable piece of Roman engineering can be seen from the CS/CD bus if one takes it. I found no official information about the aqueduct in any of the tourist information packs we had. Quite sad I thought.

The collapse of the Roman Empire saw Ischia controlled by foreign powers for more than a thousand years.  Barbarian Ostrogoths were followed by Muslim Saracens, Normans, Germans and French lords till finally the Spanish rulers of Aragon took control of the island in the mid-15th century.  The Aragonese Castle on the outskirts of the town of Ischia pre-dates the Spanish conquest but the Spanish did build the causeway which connects the castle to the main island. The French arrived again in the mid-18th century with the British turning up in the Napoleonic Wars to oust them from the island.  Sadly, a British naval bombardment in 1809 damaged much of the original Aragonese Castle. Besides the tour guide in the castle, we could find no information on the island detailing these historic British attacks.

The end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 saw peace restored to the island though it took  Italian unification in 1870 before Ischia became a part of a modern united Italy. Even now though, there is political friction between the north and south of Italy, a friction that can be traced back to when the Greeks colonised Ischia and the rest of southern Italy.

As in the UK, you will find a number of memorials dedicated to the victims of the World Wars.  The memorial in the picturesque village of Fontana is unique in that it also commemorates the death of over 6000 Italian soldiers in the Battle of Adjua in 1896 in what is now modern Ethiopia, but what was then,  Abyssinia. The battle ensured Abyssinian independence from Italy which had been attempting to build an African Empire. The battle, now called the Battle of Adwa by modern scholars, was one of the few occasions when an African army defeated a European force.

Forty years later in 1935, Mussolini invaded Abbysinia with aircraft and tanks and obtained his revenge for Adjua.  Britain and France did nothing to stop the Italian invasion. It was the start of the failed Allied policy of Appeasement.   Mussolini and Hitler believed the Allies would do nothing against their military aggression. A year later Hitler’s troops occupied the Rhineland and the rest, as they say, is history.

The small memorial in Fontana is of global historical significance yet even local Italians seem unaware of its presence.  Such a shame.

Running in Ischia

Finding places to run in the main town of Ischia is difficult because the pavements are very narrow and dangerous becuase of the traffic congestion. Ischia town has two small parks, but in reality these are simply two areas of woodlands with rough paths going through them.  I did some running there, but it wasn’t enjoyable and I did suffer from a number of mosquito bites. I was told that In the height of summer the mosquitoes are really quite bad in the woods.  In the town of Forio there is a small traffic-free promenade which you can run on, but if you are not staying in Forio it would be difficult to get to.

To be honest, Ischia is not for road runners.  Fell runners, on the other hand, might enjoy running up and down the mountains.  It wasn’t for me though. Every good running programme includes a rest period. Regard your Ischia holiday as a well earned rest period from running – it will do you good! If you’re anything like us, you will get enough exercise walking around the town and various sites.

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