Mother’s Day Weekend on Ischia
The island of Ischia, one of the three islands in the Gulf of Naples, is only an hour away from us by ferry. We decided to spend Mother’s Day weekend there and absolutely lucked out with beautiful, warm weather. The island, which is much larger than its neighbouring island, Procida, is known as L’Isola Verde, or the green island. It only takes one visit to understand why. The nature here is absolutely stunning and the views of Mount Epomeo, both from the ferry as you pull up to the island, or while driving around, are some of my favorite in Southern Italy.
Below I will share our weekend itinerary and recommendations for this beautiful slice of paradise.
Saturday
Take a morning ferry over from Pozzuoli so you’re on the island between 9:30-10:30am
Tip: we took our smaller car over with us so that we didn’t have to take the bus or taxis all weekend. The cost of taking the car on the ferry was cheaper than multiple taxi rides would have been (especially considering our plans and everywhere we wanted to see). But the island is totally doable without a car and most people prefer it that way!
When you take the car over, you have to go to the actual check in counter to get your tickets, versus getting them digitally on your phone. All we needed to do was provide the check-in desk with our car registration and we were good to go. Parking by the port in Pozzuoli can be hard but luckily we were able to get our car in the line to pull onto the ferry and then walk over to check-in. I definitely recommend getting to the ferry 30-45 minutes before your scheduled departure so you have time to check-in and pull the car onto the boat. It it important to note that residents of Campania are restricted from taking cars to Ischia April - October. We had no issues at check-in, likely because we are not permanent residents and our car isn’t registered in the Italian system, but in the military one.
From the port, head straight to Negombo Thermal Park.
Kids under 12 only have access to three seawater pools, not the actual thermal pools, but my 4 year old didn’t even notice there were pools he couldn’t enter. He was perfectly happy in the seawater pools and playing on the beach.
Negombo has its own parking lot and was incredibly easy to get to via car! Parking for the day was €6.50.
Swim caps (cuffie) were not required according to the woman at the check-in desk. We just had to have our hair tied up.
We didn’t make use of it, but friends highly recommend the spa at Negombo for massages, facials, full body scrubs, etc.
Eat lunch at Negombo. There are multiple restaurant and bar options and we opted to eat on the terrace overlooking the beach. The food was delicious.
Drive 6 minutes to the Airbnb (Rock Villa House) near Forio (parking at the house).
Play in the heated pool and relax on rooftop deck enjoying views of the mountains
Drive into Forio for apertivo at L’Artefatto (this turned into dinner because they had fantastic gastropub type options)
Walk around the center of Forio for gelato and shopping
Recommendations for Forio:
Playground (in town)
Playground (on the beach)
Chiesa del Soccorso and the piazza right near it for beautiful panoramic sea views (amazing for sunset)
Sunday
Drive to Sant’Angelo for a late breakfast and shopping. This tiny fishing village is absolutely beautiful. We found parking at the top of town and walked down the hill to reach town. We had breakfast at Dal Pescatore, right in the center of town near the water, and my partner particularly enjoyed that they offered omelettes for breakfast.
Walk around town, grab a gelato, and play on the beach
Drive back towards home and visit the Giardini La Mortella, a beautiful botanic garden. We could have walked from the house but since we were already in the car, decided to drive and park in their free parking lot.
Kids were free and adult tickets were €12. The garden is built into the side of the hill and there are beautiful views from the top looking back towards Forio.
There is a tea house inside the garden with food and drink options
Head home for naptime
Drive to Forio to play on the beach playground
Aperitivo at L’Artefatto (a friend’s cousin owns this bar and they won best mixologist in Italy a few years ago!)
Enjoy a little more shopping and a little more gelato
Drive back towards to house and head to Spiaggia di San Francesco for sunset (we parked at the first lido at the bottom of the hill)
Have dinner at Di Meglio pizzeria
Head home for one last night swim in the heated pool
Monday
Sleep in and enjoy relaxing a bit longer at the house
Check out by 10am and get dressed in your bathing suits. Head to Poseidon Thermal Park for the day before taking the ferry home.
We loved both Negombo and Poseidon for different reasons. Poseidon felt much larger and more spread out, while Negombo felt a bit more secluded and intimate.
Again, there were only three pools that our four year old could go in (not that he minded). Two felt like true baby pools, in that they are very shallow and he could touch everywhere (these were heated). The third is a much larger, cool temperature pool, which was great for practicing actual swimming skills. Poseidon also has a beach with chairs and umbrellas.
We ate lunch at the self-service restaurant closest to the entrance (the other restaurant listed on the map was not open). There was also a snack bar closer to the kid pools.
Note: Poseidon requires swim caps whenever you are in the pool. We were able to buy them at the shop near the snack bar. Negombo did not require caps, just for your hair to be up.
Shower and change at Poseidon to get ready for the ferry ride
Drive to the Casamicciola port (closer to the side of the island we were on than Ischia Porto) and take the 1650 ferry back to Pozzuoli.
Ischia is one of my favorite places and was a perfect weekend getaway. It is so much less crowded than somewhere like Capri and, in my opinion, just as beautiful if not more.
