Ischia, Italy's spa island

Ischia: From the wonderfully warm sea to the island's spa gardens: a bite-size guide to Ischia's thermal baths.

Sorgeto: free thermal baths, in the middle of the sea

Not just one of the most beautiful of Ischia's bays, Sorgeto is also home to the island's best '''free thermal baths'''. Here the hyper-thermal water bubbles up from the seabed at 90°C and mixes with the sea water to provide a quite unique thalasso-therapeutic experience. The mild climate and hot water allow for all-year-round bathing. You can make your own beauty mask too, using the area's volcanic mud!

How to reach Sorgeto: by taxi boat from the port of Sant'Angelo, or on foot, from the district of Panza, via a flight of 200 steps. The rocks can be baking hot, so it's not a good idea to walk barefoot!

Cooking in the sand, at Fumarole

No ordinary thermal experience, the sand covering Ischia's Fumarole beach is heated by the steam rising from the fumaroles which testify to the island's volcanic origins. Taking care, so that you do not get burnt, you can cook eggs, chicken and potatoes here, by simply wrapping them in silver foil and burying them in the sand. A few minutes exposure to the natural underground energy and... lunch is ready!
The beach is close to Sant'Angelo, you can get here on foot, by shuttle or by taxi boat.

The ancient charm of the Cavascura thermal baths

From the beach of Maronti, follow the little stream of hot water making its way through the rocks to reach the Terme di Cavascura, one of the island's oldest thermal stations. Despite having developed into a fully blown medical spa and wellness center, the baths, surrounded by broom bushes and ancient chestnut and oak trees, have retained all of their natural charm. Here, the piping hot 'thermal water spouts out between rocks dotted with little grottoes inside which you can enjoy baths, mud packs and treatments for the respiratory system.

Terme di Cavascura

Showered in beauty at the Nitrodi spring

Surrounded by lush Mediterranean flora, the Spring of Nitrodi, in the district of Buonopane di Barano d'Ischia was dedicated to the God Apollo and his nymphs, as can be seen in a series of precious votive reliefs, found in the area. Refreshingly cool, even on the hottest of days, the thermal water is great for invigorating showers and delicious to drink. As it evaporates, the water releases all its natural moisturizing properties, leaving the skin as soft as silk. There are deck chairs and loungers at the baths, making it the ideal place in which to laze in the sun, immersed in the silence and the scents of the sub tropical flowers.

Fonte delle Ninfe Nitrodi

Thermal waters by the sea: Giardini Poseidon

On the southwest side of the island, at Forio d'Ischia , in the center of Citara Bay, the '''Giardini Termali Poseidon ''', is one of Ischia's largest thermal parks.

Spa lovers will be spoilt for choice at the Giardini Termali Poseidon, which boasts some 22 thermal pools filled with water of various temperatures (from 15° to 40°C), a private beach, and a 60.000sqm park full of Mediterranean plants and flowers.

The entry fee includes use of all the pools, showers, sauna and Japanese bath as well as a sun lounger and beach umbrella. Spa and beauty treatments are extra.

www.giardiniposeidonterme.com.

Contemporary art and spa at Negombo

In 1946, the much-travelled Duke Luigi Silvestro Camerini, fell head-over-heels in love with Ischia's San Montano bay, which reminded him of Ceylon's Negombo Bay. The result of the Duke's passion for botany is the '''Negombo Thermal Park''' which is home to hundreds of rare plant species and a series of pools filled with both thermal and sea water. The beautifully maintained gardens now also provide the unique setting for contemporary artworks by the likes of Alessandro Pomodoro.

www.negombo.it