When we told our kids we were planning another family trip to Italy, they both begged to go to Pompeii. After looking into visiting Pompeii with kids, we realized we’d have some extra time in our itinerary and wanted to visit one of the nearby islands in the Gulf of Naples. At first, Capri seemed the obvious choice, but the more we looked into it, Ischia emerged as the clear winner for our family. We chose to visit Ischia with kids for three days for its mix of amazing outdoor activities and cultural attractions.
To help you decide whether Ischia belongs in your family trip to Italy, here is how we spent three days in Ischia with kids.
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Day 1 on Ischia with Kids
After spending a fun day just outside Naples climbing Mt. Vesuvius and visiting the Herculaneum ruins, it was time to visit the Italian island of Ischia. To get there, we took a short, scenic 50-minute ferry ride from Naples.
We settled into our family-friendly waterfront Ischia hotel before heading out to explore the area. Our destination for our first afternoon in Ischia with kids was the medieval Aragonese Castle.
Spiaggia di San Pietro
Our hotel was along the water in the Ischia harbour. As we set out to walk towards the Aragonese Castle, we stopped at Spiaggia di San Pietro (the main beach in town), which was just minutes from our hotel.
In our experience, most beaches in the Mediterranean have small pebbles instead of sand, like when we visited Elba with kids on a previous family trip to Italy. So we were quite surprised when we discovered Spiaggia di San Pietro was a real sandy beach.
We visited Ischia with kids in April, so it wasn’t quite beach weather yet, but it looked like a great sandy beach for families in warmer weather.
Via Roma Shopping Street
After the beach, we spent some time walking along Via Roma, the main tourist shopping street in Ischia. Much of Via Roma was pedestrian-only, which is especially nice when walking with kids. Without having to worry about traffic, we were able to focus on just walking and having fun.
All along Via Roma, there were lots of clothing stores, souvenir shops, and the occasional restaurant or bakery. Like many places in southern Italy, the shops were full of lemon-themed gifts, treats, and products that made for fun browsing. It’s a pleasant street to wander if you want a little shopping time during your day in Ischia.
Aragonese Castle (Castello Aragonese d’Ischia)
After a fun walk through the main tourist parts of Ischia, we arrived at our main attraction for the day. The Aragonese Castle sits dramatically on a rocky volcanic islet just off Ischia, connected to the island by a stone bridge. The first fortress here dates back to 474 BC, while many of the fortifications visitors see today were added in 1441.
We chose to enjoy the long walk up the historical entrance to the Aragonese Castle instead of taking the elevator, and it ended up being a lot of fun. We loved imagining how soldiers might have defended the castle as we walked up the long entrance. It was fun to see our kids piece together the castle design with their wild imaginations.
Once in the castle, we enjoyed wandering through the many rooms, gardens, and terraces. The armoury was especially fun, with swords, suits of armour, and helmets to see up close. The room of torture was interesting for everyone, although definitely a bit disturbing.
There were also churches, a wine-making cellar, and plenty of other spaces to explore. One of the best parts of visiting the Aragonese Castle was the amazing views of the sea and Ischia from high up in the castle. The signage was not very good throughout, and we felt lost much of the time, but that was honestly part of the fun.
Day 2 on Ischia with Kids
Ischia Kayaking Tour
On our first full morning in Ischia with kids, we hopped on a local public bus destined for the Cava Grado beach near Sant’Angelo. We got off at the final stop and walked down to a nearby beach in a cove. This is where we met our tour guide for our family-friendly Ischia kayaking tour.
Our family was lucky enough to be the only ones on the kayaking tour that morning, so after changing into our kayaking clothes, we hopped into our double kayaks and were on our way.
The coastline near Sant’Angelo is beautiful, with rocky cliffs rising straight out of the sea. Many sea birds call these cliffs home and flew around us overhead. The water was very clear, allowing us to see all the way to the bottom.
We paddled directly to the furthest point on the tour right away. This secluded rocky cove is our guide’s favorite place on the island; apparently, he grew up very close to there. We spent time on the small rock beach looking for elusive octopuses on the ocean floor, but given their expert camouflage skills, we didn’t find any.
Sorgeto Bay (Baia di Sorgeto)
After an enjoyable break in the secluded cove, we kayaked to the nearby Sorgeto Bay, one of the most popular attractions on the island. Sorgeto Bay is a popular spot due to the natural hot springs which bubble up in the very shallow coastal waters. People sit in the little pools just offshore in an amazing mixture of hot thermally heated water and cold ocean water. It’s a very unusual, yet intoxicating combination.
Upon arrival our guide put six eggs into a small bubbling pool of thermal water. We left them there to cook while we enjoyed the thermal pools.
Our guide then led us into a small cave area with several tubs carved into the rock, where you can sit and soak in the thermal waters. He poured us each a glass of local white wine to enjoy as we relaxed in the water (the kids each got a juice box).
After our wine, we left the cave and sat in the oceanside hot pools. It was so much fun trying to find just the right spot which wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was a funny little exercise as the water was constantly swirling and changing.
Just as we were about to leave, we retrieved our hard-boiled eggs and ate them. They were cooked to perfection!
‘Secret’ Blue Cave
The last stop on our kid-friendly Ischia kayaking tour was into a large cave. The water glowed green inside the cave as one small opening allowed light in. It was a beautiful effect.
There was a little cliff inside the cave, which our guide encouraged our kids to jump off of. The water was too cold for us adults, but the kids were game and each jumped off a few times. The water was freezing, but they loved it!
We finished back on the Spiaggia di Cavagrado beach where we started. Our guide poured us the rest of the wine and served us some homemade bruschetta on fresh bread. The combination of the ischia oceanfront scenery, local wine and homemade bruschetta was truly amazing.
As we sat on a rock eating our delicious lunch, our kids discovered the sand under our feet was really hot. They dug down a few inches and the heat was suddenly unbearable. Then, the water started steaming… Ischia is known for its thermal waters, but this was a super fun discovery!
Recommended Tour
This family-friendly Ischia kayaking tour was one of our favorite activities on our entire trip to Ischia and the Amalfi Coast!
Sant’Angelo
After we finished our lunch, we walked into nearby Sant’Angelo in search of gelato. Sant’Angelo has an incredible setting with a two-sided beach on a massive rocky peninsula jutting into the ocean.
We found a gelato shop and each ordered two flavours. After spending the morning kayaking, it felt like a two-scoop kind of day. We sat on an oceanfront bench and just soaked it all in.
Although we didn’t stay to enjoy it, the beach at Sant’Angelo looked pretty nice for families. It had lots of real sand and had several wave breaks offshore, which would protect the beach from large waves.
Day 3 on Ischia with Kids
Fontana to Monte Epomeo Hike
For our final day on Ischia with kids, we did the Fontana to Monte Epomeo hike, the most popular family-friendly hike on the island. We took the public bus to the high elevation town of Fontana. Due to its high elevation inside the old volcanic crater, even the bus trip to get there was exciting.
Trailhead in Fontana
We got off the bus in Fontana and the hiking trail conveniently begins at the bus stop. It’s a loop hiking trail, and we followed the recommended clockwise direction. The trail begins along a busy road, but quickly transitions to a secondary road, then to a dirt road.
The road was steep here but was made more interesting by the steady stream of historic houses carved into the side of the mountain. There were also hundreds of little green lizards scurrying around the trail, which is always fun for kids.
Just as we started noticing little patches of flat land being farmed on the steep mountainside, a friendly elderly farmer beckoned us over. He wanted to show us the inside of a historic stone house on his property. It was a rare opportunity to get to see inside one of these houses; yet another example of Italian hospitality towards families.
Ischia Viewpoints
After about 1.5 km (0.9 miles) of steady climbing we reached our first real viewpoint. From here, we could see a rocky outcrop, farms, a tiny village, and Mediterranean Sea views that seemed to go on forever.
The trail is reasonably flat for a while before beginning the final ascent to the top of Monte Epomeo. The trail is surrounded by forest here and the air was filled with birdsong.
Hermitage of St. Nicholas (Eremo di San Nicola)
Upon reaching the top, we entered the first of two rock-cut structures; a beautiful, small church. We then went to the adjacent building which was a museum of the Hermitage of St. Nicholas. Yes, this is the same St. Nicholas whose story eventually inspired Santa Claus, although here he is remembered in his much older role as Saint Nicholas of Bari.
The hermitage museum was amazing! We wandered from room-to-room looking at replicas of how they used to live. The displays in the kitchen looked so real we just had to touch them, and to our surprise, all the food was real. No wonder the tomatoes looked so fresh!
The rooms in the Hermitage of St. Nicholas had the creepiest mannequins ever. They were supposed to be monks with their hoods pulled over their heads, but the effect was really creepy. We had a lot of good laughs.
Monte Epomeo Summit Viewpoint
After the hermitage museum we headed to the viewpoint at the summit of Monte Epomeo. The 360-degree views from the top were spectacular. It felt like we could see the entire island from up there.
There’s a restaurant at the top which you can walk through to see another viewpoint for an earthquake which destroyed a nearby village. We couldn’t figure out where the village was, but the food in the restaurant smelled so good, we decided to stay for lunch. The food and the views from the Ristorante La Grotta da Fiore were amazing. We recommend this as a perfect lunch stop for your family.
Beginning our way back down towards Fontana, the trail led us through a deep narrow valley, which was a lot of fun to walk through. We passed a few more restaurants, but none of them offered the same views as Ristorante La Grotta da Fiore.
See the Fontana to Monte Epomeo Hike on AllTrails
Cava Grado Thermal Beach
We had so much fun at the Cava Grado (Spiaggia di Cavagrado) thermal beach the day before that we abandoned our plans to walk through the historic old town in Forio and we took the bus back to the beach.
Our kids played for a long time in the water, digging little hot pools to play in. Celine and I spent our time finding sea glass as there was an abundant supply of many colors in the sand. We found we couldn’t sit very long in the same spot as the sand became too hot from the thermal energy!
Where We Stayed in Ischia with Kids
For our three-night stay in Ischia with kids, we got two rooms at the Aragona Palace Hotel & Spa. This beautiful hotel has a scenic waterfront location overlooking the harbour, and like many resorts on the island, has thermal waters.
The Aragona Palace Hotel & Spa has an all-ages thermally heated rooftop pool, plus an interior pool and spa for adult guests. Our kids loved the rooftop pool, and we didn’t mind spending time up there as the views were so good.
Another big benefit of staying at the Aragona Palace Hotel & Spa is the large buffet breakfast. They have one of the largest breakfast selections that we have seen on our family travels around Italy so far.
Our Ischia hotel had a very convenient location for our itinerary. We enjoyed that it was only a 5-minute walk to our hotel from the ferry terminal, and an equal distance to the public bus terminal, which allowed us to easily and affordably get around the island.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Aragona Palace Hotel & Spa and easily recommend it to your family.
Follow Along on our Family Trip to the Bay of Naples and the Amalfi Coast
We hope you enjoyed reading about our family visit to Ischia and found it useful for planning your family trip!
If you wish to follow along on our recent family vacation to Italy, we started our trip with 24 hours in Rome with kids.
After Ischia we traveled to Sorrento to visit the Amalfi Coast with kids. We had two full days in Sorrento, but one day was lost due to our food poisoning issue. We made the most of our remaining day by taking a ferry tour along the coastline of the world-famous Amalfi Coast, stopping at the beautiful towns of Amalfi and Positano.
This was our second trip to Italy with our kids. If you are interested in seeing where we went on our original 4-week family vacation to Italy, you can see the details in our Italy family itinerary.
Our Travel Journal for Kids
Based on our family travels, our kids helped us design this Travel Journal for Active Kids! This engaging travel journal encourages kids to document their adventures, spark creativity, and stay entertained on the go – grab yours now on Amazon!
