343. Ischia and Procida - Two Islands, One Perfect Light [From the Vault]

Untold Italy travel podcast

Host Katie Clark and guest Holly Star explore the distinct charms of Ischia and Procida, two islands near Naples that offer a more authentic

Key takeaways

• Ischia is characterized by its volcanic geology, offering thermal springs like the Poseidon Thermal Park and sandy beaches.
• Procida provides a much smaller, flatter landscape known for its iconic pastel-colored houses and fishing village atmosphere in Corricella.

Main topics

• Ischia thermal spas
• Procida pastel architecture

Notable quotes

leave nothing behind in Ischia

Conclusion

The episode serves as an inspiring guide for travelers seeking a slowe

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Most people know the island of Capri, but did you know that there are two other islands off the Italian coast near Naples that are beautiful side trips for those of you who love Mediterranean seaside towns, full of charm, a healthy dose of history, and of course, delicious cuisine? Listen on as we discover Ischia and Proscita. Speaker 1 (0:23) Ciao a tutti and benvenuti to Untold Italy, the travel podcast where you go to the towns and villages, mountains and lakes, hills and coastlines of bella Italia. Each week your host, Katie Clark, takes you on a journey in search of magical landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato and, of course, a whole lot of pasta. If you're dreaming of Italy and planning future adventures there, you've come to the right place. Speaker 2 (1:00) Benvenuti friends, welcome to the Untold Italy podcast where we help travellers move beyond the checklist so they really feel part of Italy. This is the Untold Italy Way and I'm your host Katie Clark. On today's episode we are setting sail for two beautiful islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Ischia and Proscita. That may not be as popular as their neighbour Capri, but that's probably because they simply in the Italian way are not the subject of intense marketing activity to English-speaking travellers. They are very popular with Italians and Europeans, however. Case in point, my guest today is my friend Holly Starr, who lives on Capri and loves to take regular breaks on both islands to make the most of their different atmospheres and local charm. From volcanic hot springs, beaches and a medieval castle on Ischia, to the pretty pastel towns of Prosciutto, there is so much to explore and options for both day trippers and those of you who prefer a longer stay. That is highly recommended. In my opinion, there is no joy rushing through these places as they will stick in your mind for years to come and you'll simply want to go back and explore some more. Holly and I share plenty of tips and ideas if you are planning your own trip to southern Italy. But should you want assistance with that planning, like which boat trip or hotel to choose and where to stay, Book in for a trip consultation with our trip planning team. And if you want to hand it all over, we also offer private custom tours so you can simply turn up and go. We'll leave all the details in the show notes. You are going to love these Italian islands. So, Andiamo, let's dive in. Speaker 2 (2:38) Bentonata Holly, welcome back to the Untold Italy podcast. How are you? Speaker 3 (2:42) I'm wonderful. Thank you very much for having me back here. I always love talking with you, chatting with you, Katie. Speaker 2 (2:49) Oh, ditto. I love talking with you too. It's just, it's my little home away from home in Campania. I love it. How is life on beautiful Capri? I'm definitely Speaker 3 (3:00) not complaining. It's a beautiful sunny day here and in February as well. So I'm, you know. I'm going to be out in the garden this afternoon. That's where I'll be. Speaker 2 (3:10) That sounds lovely. Now, of course, you are a familiar voice to our regular listeners of the podcast, but for those of you who haven't heard your lovely Sydney accent just yet, could you do us a quick intro so everyone knows how you came to be living on Carpree and what you do there now? I came Speaker 3 (3:27) to Carpree. Quite a while ago now, in 2013, I came here on a whim. In fact, we're going to be talking about it later because I was actually supposed to be going to Ischia and I ended up in Capri for three nights. It was my very first time. On my second night, I dined in a wonderful restaurant called Michelangelo where I met my now husband. Obviously, I've since moved to Capri. We have two beautiful children and we live here year round and we run food experiences and a cooking school on the island and we grow our own food and enjoy meeting people from all over the world. So albeit that I'm on a tiny little remote island, I do feel like I'm part of something Speaker 2 (4:07) bigger. Oh, you really are. You really are. And I mean, seriously, it is a wonderful story. And if you want the full unabridged version of this story, which we're all waiting for the movie of. You can listen to episode number 42 of this podcast, folks. Anyway, today we're not really going to be talking so much about Capri because we've talked about it quite a lot, haven't we, Holly, on the podcast, and there are quite a few episodes that people can take a listen to. But we will be taking a look at some of your neighbours there in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Ischia and Proshida. So these are... you know, like this area is just, it's ridiculously good looking to quote a famous movie. It's just full of amazing sites and different experiences. And so we wanted to give you an idea of what that's like. So Holly, can you share with everyone what the geography and lay of the land is and describe these different islands in relation to Naples, Sorrento and also Capri so people get an idea of where everything's situated? Speaker 3 (5:13) Okay, so we're relatively close together in the scheme of things. We're on the Bay of Naples, okay? So from Naples, you can catch a boat directly to Capri or to Prashita and Ischia, and generally they stop at both islands because they're very close together. For both to come to Capri or Prashita or Ischia, it's around 40 to 50 to one hour, depending if you're getting a slow ferry or an alaskan ferry, which is a fast ferry. And we can also, in the summer, there are direct ferries from Capri to Ischia as well. And again, about an hour. Speaker 2 (5:45) On that note, Speaker 3 (5:47) I would say, look, you know, from the perspective of where I am in Anacapri, I look across to Ischia and Prosheda all the time. And I always think it's so close, but living on islands, it can feel far away, but really they're so accessible. And I would say this, they're very different in terms of the topography and how they came about in terms of... We're here at a limestone island. You know, Ischia and Prussia are volcanic by their geology. Speaker 1 (6:11) So Speaker 3 (6:12) don't get me too much into that because that's not my expertise. But I will say this. In terms of size-wise, Ischia is the largest of all of the three islands. They're 46 kilometres, so 18 square miles. We've got Capri in the middle, which is about 10 square kilometres, four square miles. And we've got Prussia, which is small and flat, and that is about four... kilometers, 1.4 square miles. So in terms of population, you've got Ischia with like 60,000 residents living there. We've got Capri at 14,000 and we've got Pochita at 10,000. So this gives you an idea of the sizes. So a lot of people say, oh, Capri is such a small island. Well, in fact, Pochita is a lot smaller, although probably more densely populated. And Ischia is almost to me like a little mini city like it's big it's six communes we've only got two in in Capri Capri and Anacapri so it feel Speaker 2 (7:09) very different they're very different feels Yeah, and I think that's really exciting actually because they've all got different things that make them special and, you know, I know that sometimes you just pop over to Iskia for a break because it really is like completely different to where you live on Capri. It is indeed. I will Speaker 3 (7:29) say one thing, okay, island life I believe is like similar in any island that you live in the world in that they've got a different ethos. It's all about relaxing. It's all about... slowing down, island time, a different pace, you know, being sleepy. All of these three islands are blessed with the natural wonders of beauty and landscape and architecture like nowhere else. They're all blessed, but they have very different vibes. They each have their own special, unique reason for visiting or living there. You know, they've got their own identities. And so that's the beauty of it is that I can just jump on a ferry from Capri to Ischia or to Proscita and feel like I'm on a completely different island, you know? So for me, I absolutely love it because it's so close. Sometimes in the summer season, for example, if I get a chance to leave, which I did a lot more when we had the restaurant and when the kids were a little younger, I used to just jump on a ferry with the kids. Unfortunately, John Luke would. mostly be working, but I got to get away a couple of times by myself. And I just loved Ischia because it felt, number one, it was a great place for me to take the kids by myself. It's very relaxing. It had a similar vibe to Capri, although like in terms of being an island, although the kids got to enjoy a sandy beach and I couldn't believe it. And that's one of the major differences I'll say between Capri and Ischia Pochino is that, you know, we've got the stones versus sand. Speaker 2 (8:58) Yeah, it's super interesting that they're so close but yet so different. So how about we do this? How about we do a little deep dive into Ischia first and tell everyone what Ischia is all about and then we'll move on to Prashadar because we have, as I mentioned, we have talked a lot about Capri and I know people really love it because it's really spectacular and dramatic and it's got a little bit of a mystique about it. But Ischia has got its own special... I loved it. I have to say, I was saying to someone last week at an event that they'd never been to Italy before, but they were going to spend 10 days on Ischia. And I went, ooh, that's a very smart move. I said, I was really impressed. I said, I don't think I've been more relaxed than I have been on Ischia, actually, I have to say. But let's talk about it a little bit. Give us an idea of what's happened there. what it's all about. And, you know, we know it's bigger, but what are the things to do and where are the places that we need to see? Speaker 3 (9:56) Okay. Well, I will say that what you go there for is thermal spas and springs, et cetera. So it's very much like an island of healing properties. And that's maybe why everyone feels so relaxed there. Speaker 3 (10:13) And beach clubs, you know, there are so many beach clubs. Now, I know, and I've talked about this before in my other podcasts, I'm not as beachy. It's quite funny that I'm on an island because I live on an island that's known for beaches. So I'm not actually the biggest beach person. I do love it more on the cusps of the season because it's a little bit more relaxed. But the East here, because there are so many and it's more spread out, it feels different than in Capri because I guess ours are very concentrated and also small. and difficult kind of to navigate. But I find East Gears Beach is much more, how do you say, like the beaches are more long and sparse. Speaker 2 (10:50) First of all, I need to say, are you even Australian if you don't like a beach? Speaker 2 (10:56) I have a natural Speaker 3 (10:57) redhead. I'm just not good in the sun. That's what I'll say. But I love the beach. I love