EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

FORIO sprawls around its bay, another growing resort that is quite pretty behind its seafront of bars and pizzerias, focusing around the busy main street of Corso Umberto. Out on the point on the far side of the old centre (turn right at the far end of Corso Umberto), the Chiesa Soccorso is a bold, whitewashed landmark from which to survey the town, a simple church, one of whose chapels preserves a wooden crucifix discovered among the rocks below after a storm in the early 1500s.

There are good beaches either side of Forio: the Spiaggia di Chiaia , a short walk to the north; to the south Cava del Isola which is popular with a young crowd; and the Spiaggia di Citara , a somewhat longer walk to the south along Via G. Mazzella. Here you'll find the Giardini Poseidon (April-Oct daily 8.30am-6.30pm; L45,000/¬23.24 per day, L35,000/¬18.08 for a half-day), an extensive complex of blissfully relaxing thermal baths on the seafront.

If you decide to stay , try the charming and central Punta del Sole on Piazza Maltese (tel 081.989.156; L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29), with balconied rooms set in a beautiful garden - or there's the more basic Nettuno , Via C. Piro 1 (tel 081.997.140; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47). There are some good eating options here: head for the delightful Umberto a Mare (April-Oct) tucked under the Chiesa Soccorso, whose pretty whitewashed interior looks out onto the sea. If you have a car, take the road to Monte Epomeo and head for Peppina di Renato (closed Wed; April -June) where you sit on barrel seats to consume great pizzas; or just off the coast road heading south, is Il Melograno (April-Sept daily; Nov & Dec Wed-Sun), which does a modern take on traditional Ischia cuisine.