san angelo
 
Ischia is most pleasant on its southern side, the landscape steeper and greener, with fewer people to enjoy it. SANT'ANGELO is probably its loveliest spot, a tiny fishing village crowded around a narrow isthmus linking with a humpy islet that's out of bounds to buses, which drop you right outside. It's inevitably quite developed, centring on a square and harbour crowded with café tables and surrounded by pricey boutiques, but if all you want to do is laze in the sun it's perhaps the island's most appealing spot to do so. There's a reasonable beach lining one side of the isthmus that connects Sant'Angelo to its islet, as well as the nearby stretch of the Spiaggia dei Maronti , 1km east, which is accessible by plentiful taxi boats from Sant'Angelo's harbour (L4000/¬2.07), or on foot in about 25 minutes - take the path from the top of the village.

Taxi boats will drop you at one of a number of specific features: one, the Fumarole , is where steam emerges from under the rocks in a kind of outdoor sauna; further along close by a couple of hotels is a path that cuts inland through a mini-gorge to the Terme Cavascura , where hot springs have been harnessed for you to pamper yourself thoroughly (daily 8.30am-1.30pm & 2.30-6pm; L16,000/¬8.26 for swim & sauna; L35,000/¬18.08 upwards for mud treatments).

Up above Sant'Angelo looms the craggy summit of Ischia's now dormant volcano, Monte Epomeo . Ischia Porto-bound buses make the twenty-minute trip up to FONTANA , a superb ride, with wonderful views back over the coast, from where you can climb up to the summit of the volcano. Follow the signposted road off to the left from the centre of Fontana: after about five minutes it joins a larger road; after another ten-fifteen minutes take the left fork, a stony track off the road, and follow this up to the summit - when in doubt, always fork left and you can't go wrong. About a fifty-minute climb in all, perhaps an hour, it's a steep haul and at times quite testing, especially at the end when the path becomes no more than a channel cut out of the soft rock. However, there are a couple of scenically placed cafés in which to gather your energies at the top, and the views from its craggy summit are stunning - right around the island and back across to the sprawl of Naples. Bear in mind, too, that you can drive to within about twenty minutes of the summit, leaving your vehicle by the signs for the military exclusion zone, if you don't think you can manage it there and back on foot; you can also rent a mule in Fontana; reckon on paying up to L35,000/¬18.08 each way for this, though.

There are plenty of places to stay in and around Sant'Angelo; the cheaper places tend to be outside the village proper. Up in Succhivo, ten minutes' walk back in the direction of Forio (the bus passes right by), Casa Guiseppina , on the main road (tel 081.907.771; half board obligatory, L60,000/¬30.99), is excellent. On a rocky headland above Sant'Angelo itself, the San Michele (tel 081.999.276; L200,000-250,000/¬103.29-129.11) is pricier but has a beautifully lush garden and terrace and a seawater pool. When it comes to eating , you might be wise to walk up to the next village along from Succhivo, Panza, where the Da Leopoldo restaurant (tel 081.907.806; closed Mon-Sat lunchtimes; Nov-March call ahead to check opening times) is famous in these parts for its Ischian specialities (rabbit, great sausages and good antipasto table), cosy atmosphere and moderate prices. It is, however, a bit difficult to find: follow Via S. Gennaro from the main square of Panza for about ten minutes, and it's a little way past the Hotel Al Bosco . Alternatively, head north to the village of Serrara to Il Bracconiere Alberto (open daily), which also has a great local reputation for its Ischian cooking. In Sant'Angelo itself you could do worse than stoke up on the fine pizzas at the unpretentious Da Pasquale (no closing day), up in the old centre of the village; everywhere else is much of a muchness.