Ischia Holidays

Ischia has long attracted European and Hollywood royalty to its island shores. Less glitzy than neighbouring Capri, its roll-call of the rich and famous includes surnames such as Garibaldi, Ibsen, Nietzsche, Chaplin, Olivier, Callas, Taylor, Capote, Cruise and Kidman.

According to the Iliad, the titan, Typhon, was confined by Jupiter under the island's highest peak, Mount Epomeo and the Romans built public baths to harness his streaming tears. This fashion for spas caught on, and the little island just off Naples is now home to the largest concentration of spas in Europe with no fewer than 103 springs, just in case you're counting. This volcanic outcrop is the largest of the islands in the Bay of Naples and is a persuasive concoction of real working towns, verdant gardens, vineyards and thick forests interlaced with picturesque small villages; all delightfully fringed by fine beaches. On the calm south coast, car-free Sant'Angelo offers the drowsy delights of cosy harbour, sunbathing cats and bubbling thermal spas. Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte blend into one, long, graceful spread of pastel-coloured buildings where elegant restaurants, shops and boutiques make for enjoyably relaxed wanderings. The harbour is host to a string of restaurants not surprisingly serving fresh seafood daily.

Cuisine
Eating is one of the island's great pleasures and, while seafood is an obvious speciality, Ischia is also famed for rabbit, bred on inland farms. Another local speciality is rucolino, a green, liquorice-flavoured liqueur made from rucola (rocket) leaves. Ischia's cuisine is full of authenticity with dishes that are prepared with typical regional and island products. Pesce all'acqua pazza was originally and in poorer times prepared with leftovers of fish that were stuck to the hook and cooked with garlic, chili pepper and parsley; it is now prepared with choicer cuts of anchovies, sardines and mackerel. Another of the island's specialties is honey, made with the aroma of citrus fruits or millefiori essence.

To start planning your luxury holiday to Ischia, call 0800 008 7288