Pick up from your hotel or from established meeting place, continue toward the port of Sorrento and board the fast boat, with all comforts for a fascinating trip. After about 50 minutes you reach the port of Ischia and continue by bus up to the "Belvedere" where you can sample local products and admire the magnificent panorama of the "Bay of Citara”. The historian D’ Ascia says that the water of Citara was placed by the Romans under the protection of Venus, a statue of Venus made of white marble was found but later destroyed. This is a beautiful beach with soft sand, clear, very long coastline and fully equipped, only its lower portion which is free. The sea is very beautiful, turquoise, crystal clear and transparent, perfect for swimming, as well as various water sports. The beach is almost always crowded, because of its beauty, and for the different services it offers(bars and restaurants) and for being one of the most sunny beaches on the island, in a position that allows you to admire the beautiful sunsets. In this modern tourist world, an old legend, inspired by rock formations can be seen from the beach: it is said that a the ship passed with Phaeacian and Ulisse, upon his return he was transformed into a rock as punishment. It is also said that two men tried to escape from the ship, but they too were turned into rocks, before they got on to the beach. Nicer is the verbal tradition that says in this water the vestal virgins used to bathe, and that the thermal waters of these springs have revitalizing capabilities for lovers who swim there. Continuing and stopping in the village of Sant Angelo you will have free time and the possibility to stay on the beach. Sant'Angelo d'Ischia is a small fishing village, south of the island has always radiated a special charm on its tourists, forever in search of a charming corner “uncontaminated and primitive”. The four houses under the Tower, and the old centre which starts from the small square with a handful of old houses partially restored, opening like a fan, invade the countryside of Madonnelle, Ruffano and Fondolillo have not really spoiled this remote corner of paradise.
Sant'Angelo is actually a rock, a tuff cone, connected to the rest of the island by a thin isthmus and testimony of its volcanic origin and extending to the sea with a strip of dark sand. At the top of the small island called the "Tower" once stood a small church where St. Michael, the guardian angel who gave his name appears in the village. Sant'Angelo d'Ischia has a region rich in thermal springs and its exposed to the South, sheltered from cold winds and in a typical sandy inlet. On the right side of the village, past the church, we arrive at Quarry Petrelle where there are “stoves” and where in the fine sand, because of its heat, an egg will cook in less than a minute. It is one of the favourite tourist destinations with its gardens, spas, hotels beaches and outdoor restaurants that have maintained the beautiful scenery and above all peace and tranquillity, not to mention the boutiques that offer top quality fashion garments . During the stop at Sant'Angelo you can decide whether to bathe in hot springs or visit the famous gardens of Lady Walton. The Spas of Sant'Angelo are among the oldest on the island and the treatments are mainly oriented for skin care. Since 1990, every Spring it is possible to visit the wonderful garden of the villa "La Mortella” in Forio d'Ischia, where around 800 varieties of tropical and Mediterranean plants. The villa was designed in the '60s by the English architect Russell Page and bought to life by William and Susana Walton. It is possible to visit the villa where he lived for nearly three decades until his death on the 8th March 1983, Sir William Walton, one of the greatest contemporary British composers whose ashes are buried here in a rock on the promontory about 120 meters from sea level. From here you can see the beautiful panorama of Forio, a town on the island of Ischia, that in the '50s and '60s, became the preferred choice for writers, musicians and painters, among them Truman Capote, WH Auden and William Walton. The garden, which stretches over an area of about twenty thousand square meters, and the house-museum where the maestro composed his works are open to the public by the William Walton Charitable Trust (of which the honorary president is the Prince of Wales), the Italo-British charitable trust established by the widow of Sir William, Lady Walton, in order to keep up the memory of her husband. The William Walton Foundation, has as its principal aims, to make “La Mortella” a study centre for young talented musicians under the direction of leading masters of the world, and to open the gardens and the museum to the public. The departure from Ischia to Sorrento is at 17.20.
Lunch and entrance fees not included. |
Visit Ischia!
