Stay on the volcano is possible and even beautiful – when it comes to the island of Ischia. On the thermal waters and medical procedures, as well as food, castles, nuns and the fault of one of the most famous islands of the Mediterranean.
As you know, to get to Ischia have be done by a boat from Naples. Ischia, like the sudden love charms instantly: its bright colors in the harbor, tiny town, lemon and orange groves, serpentine narrow streets, which hardly are leaving the machine, and the very atmosphere of a very earthly happiness, enjoying every moment of life … And until the last moment of your stay on the island you will surf in light hops, like wine breathe vapors.
Country Limonite
Employees of the tourism industry like Italy position Ischia as a place where you can get everything at once: the beaches, and excursions, and treatment, because the local thermal parks are famous worldwide. Ischia – a volcanic island. Of course, it also has disadvantages – for example, because of the threat of landslides here it is prohibited to make new constructions. And still on the island they do not have their fresh water – it comes from Naples, through the pipes, laid on the seabed. But the pluses are far more: the soil here is so fertile that crops removed more than once per season. Local wines were known in Italy long before the Chianti area, famous for it and to this day, lemon and orange trees in orchards bend under the weight of fruit the size of half a soccer ball, but the main legacy of volcanoes – spring water here is muddy.
Most hotels on the island, regardless of the star, have a swimming pool with thermal water.
See, hear, feel
Leisure options in Ischia are so much that it is simply not enough room to tell about all the possibilities. We’ll suggest a couple of scenarios for a “one day excursion”.
First: take a bus or a swim in a boat-taxi to Sant’Angelo – a small isolated fishing village, a favorite vacation spot or Angela Merkel. Private yachts and rest of the mighty are parked here. By the way, here it is prohibited to entry into the machines. Visit restaurant drink ice Prosecco, eating it with strawberries. Then stroll through the local shops of ceramics, jewelry, drink coffee at Piazzetta – a cozy little space, or all-day journey into one of the two closest Thermal Park – “Tropical” or “Gardens of Apollo and Aphrodite.” Here you can move from pool to pool, wandering through the gardens, give yourself to smear mud and swim under the thermal jet, while healing water does not impregnate the body, like liquor – tiramisu, and the skin becomes silky. Also worth a try, what a sand bath on the beach Maronti – hot steam from the hot spring Cava Skura, located in a cave near the beach, gives healing properties of sand.
Option two: an excursion day. Embark on the Aragonese Castle – a fairy-tale citadel, which once served a place for the escaped from enemy inhabitants of the island, and later by the muse of Michelangelo, the poetess Victoria Colonna, found refuge artists, thinkers and writers. Today, this privately owned (found intelligent people who bought the castle) you can walk and enjoy the sea views from the survey sites, collection of paintings on Ischia .And not to forget about the continuous cycle of “birth-life-death”, should get a small dose of adrenaline: look at the burial chambers of nuns of the Order of St. Clare, who lived in a castle in the 16 – 19 centuries. They are buried in a rather original version: a body seated on the stone seats with holes, where they were decomposed.
But on such an option of excursions wine tasting as a visit to the winery, or horseback riding on a mule to the top of a sleeping volcano Epomeo, or visit the cactus garden (where, incidentally, regularly hosts yoga retreats), or stroll through the gardens of La Mortelle – – magnificent botanical park, you will surely learn from local guides, if you are able to overcome itself and at least for a day out of the thermal pools.
Thermal paradise
Choosing a hotel in Ischia, it is necessary to take into account not only the proximity to the sea, but the proximity to the thermal parks. In the end, the sea is in any other place in the world. And here is a miracle, as the largest thermal park in Europe – “Poseidon Gardens”, one can only see here. Just imagine: a huge fleet of eucalyptus, pine and olive trees, carpets of flowers, 18 swimming pools with thermal water of different temperatures; grotto with a natural sauna natural hyperthermal source of the Yogi rock (“Rocci Di Yoga”), wellness center, restaurant and a wine grotto – in general, then you can spend the day quietly and did not even think about the sea.
And if you live near the thermal park of Castiglione, “then it will be possible every day to descend from the park entrance to the term in the cable car, and then how should rinse the body in swimming pools, go to the center of balneotherapy and mud therapy.And then there are “Negombo”, and “Eden” – of course, beautiful, useful and worthy of attention.
From the life of leisure
At first, hitting the island, you might want to rent a car or scooter to visit all, stopping at each corner of the pick-me. But to survive on local roads, you should be ready for some “buts”. Remember the traffic here is often busy – a lot of cars, the streets are narrow, steep turns. Locals use mopeds, and scooters and in cars, riding is done without any rules.
The main thing – to go, watch and try it all. Because you should keep in mind that Ischia is not the place to come to the hotel and sit calmly on a lounger by the pool. Here you need to live – and in full force. So, as if you live on a volcano.
