Ischia is a beautiful island in the Bay of Naples. It is often overlooked in favour of its sister, the smaller exclusive Capri. Having been to both islands, Ischia is by far superior.
Ischia is a Spa Island and is famous for its thermal springs which make it so green in comparison to its neighbour. Many flora and fauna cannot be found elsewhere in the region.
We made the journey to Ischia by Hydrofoil. It took around 30 minutes and was pretty pleasant. When you disembark you arrive in Ischia Town, a small pretty village with a harbour and shops/cafes. The tourist information is located by the harbourside and is a good place to stop off for maps and leaflets. Just behind the tourist information is the bus terminus. There is a huge board telling you the times and routes for all the buses, and they are pretty frequent.
We chose to go to a small town called Lacco Ameno, which was around 15 minutes on the bus. Lacco Ameno hosts one of the largest public Spas on the Island, Giardini Negombo. When you get off the bus, you will see a map on the side of the road, which basically shows you that you need to follow the main road (all the other roads are small side streets so you won't get lost) and you will get to Giardini Negombo. It is likely that you will walk for 10 minutes (as we did) and think you have gone wrong and that you needed to turn off somewhere as the road turns to a dirt track, but you don't. Just follow that dirt track and you will get to Negombo.
We paid 25 euros for the day entry to Negombo. Negombo is an open-air spa and there are something like 12 thermal spas and 25 natural water pools, as well as a huge swimming pool and a beautiful sandy secluded bay - which is really pretty big.
The spas are up the right hand side of the bay, built into the cliff. There are a good variety - from warm pools, Japanese Waterfalls, Foot massaging ones (where you walk on pebbles - ouch!), A natural sauna - carved into the rock - really beautiful, deep single person baths, a hot pool and a cold plunge pool beside it (heart stopping - but you must try it!), and floatation pools. My only advice would be to try them all. It's a completely amazing experience and you feel all the minerals over you when you've finished.
There are loads of sunloungers on the many different paths up the cliff as well as on the beach if you decide to catch a tan. We sat out for about an hour to dry off, as the secnery is beautiful.
If you need even more relaxation, the spa also offers beauty therapy treatments for an extra cost.
A totally awe-inspiring experience which should not be missed.