Featured holiday Capri and Ischia two-centre holiday Italy

Arrive at Naples airport (we recommend taking a morning flight) and then you are transferred by car and hydrofoil to the island of Capri and taken to your hotel. In a central location on Capri, the Hotel Luna offers verdant grounds and brilliant access to Capri and attractions such as Monte Solaro. This makes it a haven in the day for enjoying the bustle of the town and is within easy reach of the main square with its shops and activity.

You have three full days to discover the island of Capri and to relax in the climate of southern Italy. Capri town is the island’s hub and at its heart is the Piazzetta Umberto whose cobbled square comprises the Town Hall and four bars that provide the right place to watch the world go by. Nearby are the chic shopping streets of Via Vittorio Emmanuele and Via Camerelle. Capri town is a treasure trove of art galleries, antique shops and jewellery shops. A short walk from the centre of Capri town or by boat you’ll be able to find secluded beaches such as the Bagni Tiberio, favoured by the Emperior Augustus. At the feet of the famous Faraglioni Rocks, La Fontelina is one of Capri’s most enchanting bathing spots, where you feel a million miles away from the buzz of the Piazzetta. The sea emits a light and reflection seen nowhere else on the island. (Please note, as there is no sand and there are shallow reefs, La Fontelina is not suitable for children). If you do not make it to La Fontelina for bathing, a trip to the Faraglioni should still feature on your list of things to see and do on Capri. This impressive natural sight comprises 3 towering rocks that jut up from the crashing waves. The outer most rock is home to a species of lizard found nowhere else in the world. For a cultural injection between spa treatments, bathing, shopping and haute cuisine, you may like to take an extended walk to the Villa Jovis. Built in the First Century AD, covering 7000m² and serving as the primary residence for Emperor Tiberius, Villa Jovis is the most important of Capri’s 12 imperial villas. It was from here that Tiberius decreed the fate of the Empire from 27 to 37 A.D. Balanced on the summit of Mount Tiberius, the excavated villa offers the intrepid tourist unrivalled views to the mainland Amalfi Coast. From Capri’s Piazzetta, take the via Longano, continue along the via Sopramonte and finally take the via Tiberio in order to reach the villa located on Viale Amedeo Maiuri. The walk should take approximately 45 minutes and the route is signposted, albeit sporadically. Anacapri, Capri town’s more tranquil but equally attractive neighbour sits at 300 metres above sea level and offers breathtaking views across the Bay of Naples, stretching as far as Vesuvius and the neighbouring islands of Ischia and Procida. The white washed town is a 10-minute taxi drive from Capri. Anacapri boasts some of Capri’s most famous attractions: The Villa San Michele, once home to the Swedish Doctor Axel Munthe is now a museum renowned for its gardens, with great views over the ocean and the Monte Solare, the highest panoramic vantage point on the island and best reached by an exhilarating chairlift ascent from Anacapri town. A leisurely amble through Anacapri’s quaint streets will bring you to the Blue Grotto (La Grotta Azzurra). This is a must see for any stay on Capri; only accessible by boat, one sails through the 60 metre long and 25 metre wide magical cavity lit by the phosphorescent phenomenon of sunlight reflection.

Today you are transferred by car and sea from Capri to Ischia via Naples. Your hotel on Ischia is the Regina Isabella on the waterfront in the seaside town and picturesque port of Lacco Ameno.

You have three full days to discover the island of Ischia or to relax at your 5-star spa hotel. Ischia’s fame as a spa centre for cosmopolitan high society originated in Lacco Ameno in the 1950’s, thanks to the Italian film producer, Angelo Rizzoli. Although currently the smallest of Ishcia’s towns, the pretty harbour town is still renowned for its thermal waters and bathing areas including: Legni, Capitello, Santa Restituta, Regina Isabella, the thermal sands of Santa Restituta and the steamy cave of San Lorenzo. The town is equally famous for its 10-metre high ‘Fungi’: a large rock shaped like a mushroom, which rises from the sea just off shore from the marina. Legend details that the rock fell during one of Mount Epomeo’s great eruptions. Forio is the second major town on Ischia. Nestled between the two peninsulas of Punta Caruso (at Zaro) and Punta Imperatore, the town is home to two of Ischia’s most beautiful beaches. The inlets along this shoreline allow bathing not just from the beaches but also from other more private spots. It is the only settlement on Ischia that has preserved its entire historical centre. Its tiny streets, churches, lofty towers and monuments all remain as they were originally constructed. Forio is Ischia’s cultural heart. In the 1950s, it became the meeting place for an impressive melange of international show business personalities (Luchino Visconti, Pierpaolo Pasolini, Sir William Walton, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton), writers (Elsa Morante, Alberto Moravia, Auden, Pablo Neruda), politicians (Pietro Nenni) and the jet-set (Jackelin Kennedy, Aristotele Onassis) as well as many others. Ischia prides itself on being the home to 103 hot mineral springs, most of which supply numerous stabilimenti thermali at which to while away a day. The island is recognised for its mild climate and sub-tropical vegetation, which clads its volcanic slopes. Inland from the Mezzatorre, and looming over Forio is the volcano, Monte Epomeo (787m a.s.l.). The hot climb is worth the peak’s marvellous 360º views extending to Mount Vesuvius and Capri. The volcano can be accessed by foot on a track from Forio. Ischia’s best sandy beach is the Spiaggia dei Maronti, on Ischia’s south eastern side. The 3km long beach offers various water sports and stretches as far as the exclusive Sant’Angelo where one can leisurely sip on a local liqueur. You can reach the beach in two ways: either take the island’s main road, the S270 in the opposite direction from Ischia Porto to Ciglio, and then take the right turning to Punta S. Angelo where the beach’s northern tip will coax you towards the crystal sea, or continue through Ciglio to Barano and take the breathtaking hairpin road down to the southern (and quieter) end of the beach.

We need to allow about 3 hours door to door from the hotel in Ischia to Naples airport, so your departure will be timed to coincide with your flight from Naples and the ferry times. You are transferred from the hotel to the airport in Naples for your return flight to London.