Ischia overview

Mount Epomeo can be thanked for providing today’s expansive spa industry in Ischia; the first of which opened back in 1604 once the still-active volcano was deemed dormant. The thermal surroundings have inspired countless body-pampering institutions which have traditionally hosted society’s upper crust. Ischia was virtually ignored as a tourist destination until the 1950s, when wealthy Italians arrived in the hope of discovering an alternative to the rapidly overcrowding Capri. Little has changed, with Ischia still a quieter version of it more prominent neighbour and the scenery and beaches have only been mildly overtaken by mud-wrapped German spa tourists. Away from the unimaginative tourist centre on the north coast sit rustic farms and forests full of chestnut trees. Sant’Angelo on the south coast is a bucolic blend of twisted laneways overlooking a busy harbour, where sun worshipping Brits and Germans battle gentrified locals for beach space.