Ischia

Swimming is a big part of a summer stay here, and the island has more sand than most of the Bay of Naples. The longest beach is Maronti on the south coast, a long curve of dark volcanic sand that runs east from Sant'Angelo towards Barano, with steaming patches and hot springs at its western end near Sant'Angelo. Citara near Forio faces the sunset, San Montano at Lacco Ameno is a sheltered bay with calm, shallow water, and Cartaromana looks across to the Aragonese castle.

The sea is warm enough from June to early October and reaches about 25°C in August. Elsewhere the coast is mostly rock and small coves, many easiest to reach by water taxi. The popular bays fill with sunbeds and day boats in high summer, so June and September are the easier months.

Ischia's cooking comes from the hills as much as the sea. The signature dish is coniglio all'ischitana, rabbit braised slowly in terracotta with tomato, garlic and herbs, traditionally raised in pits dug into the volcanic soil. Fishing harbours such as Sant'Angelo, Forio and Ischia Ponte serve grilled catch, linguine with clams and lemony seafood antipasti. The island's own white wines from Biancolella and Forastera grapes are grown on terraces cut into Monte Epomeo, and there are small wineries to visit.

The range is narrow. A lot of the island stays on half-board in large spa hotels, there is little street food and no market life to speak of, and the best meals take some seeking out in the villages on the hills and the west coast.

The island's great sight is the Aragonese Castle, a fortified rock joined to Ischia Ponte by a causeway, with ruined churches, a cathedral shell, convent crypts and views across the island. At Lacco Ameno, the archaeological museum in Villa Arbusta holds finds from Pithekoussai, one of the oldest Greek settlements in the West, including Nestor's Cup, which carries one of the earliest known Greek inscriptions.

The rest is gentle: the old fishing quarter of Ischia Ponte, the white Soccorso church on its headland at Forio, the stepped lanes of Sant'Angelo and the Mortella gardens. A couple of days covers it. Visitors who want more heritage cross to the mainland.

Evenings are mainly about a long dinner and the passeggiata. The most life is around Ischia Porto, where the waterfront and the shopping streets have wine bars, cocktail terraces and a couple of summer disco venues that stay open late in July and August. Sant'Angelo and Forio have drinks by the harbour at sunset and then quiet down. Much of the island's crowd is here for the thermal waters, the season for going out is short, and anyone looking for a real club night will be disappointed.

Ischia is a volcanic island, and it is greener and steeper than most visitors expect. Monte Epomeo, at 789m, rises from the centre and has paths through chestnut woods and vineyards to a summit of eroded green tuff with views over the whole Bay of Naples. Smaller trails follow the hills above Serrara Fontana and the cliffs around Sant'Angelo. Steam vents and hot ground on the south coast show that the volcano is still active.

The Regno di Nettuno marine protected area around Ischia and Procida is good for snorkelling, diving and boat trips around the coast, and dolphins are sometimes seen offshore. Spring and autumn are the months for walking. The island is small, though, and a week runs through its landscapes.

Every day out starts at the ferry quay, and what lies across the water is a strong list. Procida, a short hop away, is a small island of pastel fishing houses and the old Terra Murata quarter. Naples is about an hour by fast ferry, with its historic centre, archaeological museum and pizza. The ferries to Pozzuoli reach the Phlegraean Fields, with the Roman amphitheatre, the Solfatara crater and the sunken city of Baia.

In summer there are direct boats to Capri and to Sorrento. Herculaneum and Pompeii are possible by ferry and the local train, but it makes a long day. Ischia Porto and Casamicciola have the most connections, so they are the best bases for anyone planning several outings.

For a family, the island is good for a slow beach and pool vacation and not much more. The sheltered bay of San Montano and the long sand at Maronti have gentle water for young children, and the large thermal parks around Forio and Lacco Ameno, set in gardens with pools at different temperatures, work as easy water days. Southern Italian warmth towards children makes eating out simple. Nothing on the island is built for children, though. Some villages are all steps, the buses are crowded in summer, and older children may tire of it after a week unless the trip includes boat days.

The island is small, and one coastal road loops around it, served by local buses in both directions with branches up into the hills. They reach every village, but in summer they are slow and often packed. Small open microtaxis and water taxis fill the gaps, and Sant'Angelo is closed to traffic. A car is more trouble than it is worth: the roads are narrow, parking is scarce and access for visitors' cars is limited in high season. Most people choose a base, walk within it and use the bus for the rest. Getting there means a ferry or hydrofoil from Naples or Pozzuoli.

Most of the shopping is on one long walk, Via Roma and Corso Vittoria Colonna between Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte. It has resort fashion, linen, leather sandals and jewellery shops that stay open into the evening. Elsewhere the shops sell hand-painted ceramics, limoncello, local wine and thermal cosmetics made with the island's waters. It is pleasant for an evening stroll, but nobody comes here to shop.

Ischia is priced as an ordinary Italian resort, not a luxury one. Hundreds of family-run spa hotels sell half-board stays with access to their own thermal pools, and outside the harbour fronts trattorias, buses and ferries are fairly priced. Costs rise in July and August, when rooms on the beaches and at Sant'Angelo and Lacco Ameno fill up, and sunbeds, thermal park entry and boat trips add up over a week. Spring and autumn are noticeably cheaper and still warm.

There is little to attend. In summer, the Mortella gardens at Forio, created by the composer William Walton and his wife, hold chamber music concerts. The Aragonese Castle hosts concerts and film screenings during the island's summer film festival, and village saint's days bring processions and band music. Outside the warm months there is almost nothing, and the nearest opera house and concert halls are across the water in Naples.

Taking the waters is what Ischia is about. The island has dozens of hot springs, and most hotels pipe the water into their own pools and treatment rooms. The large thermal parks at Citara near Forio, at Lacco Ameno and at Casamicciola are terraced gardens with pools at different temperatures, often stepping down to the sea, where a whole day is spent moving between warm water and shade.

The wilder bathing is the best of it. At Sorgeto, a hot spring bubbles into rock pools in the sea below a long stairway, and it is warm enough to use even on winter evenings. The Cavascura gorge near Maronti has ancient steam caves cut into the cliff. Mud treatments are a local speciality. The pace of the island, especially from April to June and in October, is slow and restorative.