We are travelling Italy in July with children (4 & 6).Our last 4 days is on Ischia & we are looking for somewhere nice to stay (not too expensive), accessable without a car. Pref near a good beach! Any suggestions & ideas of what to do with the children v welcome!

I once planned on staying on Ischia for 3 nights at this hotel:

http://www.albergoilmonastero.it/

There are cheaper hotels, but I think this one looks very charming and interesting.

I hope this helps.

Many thanks - it looks great!

Casa Celestino is in Sant Angelo. It is run by Carla. Your kids can wander around Sant Angelo without any worry. There is a wonderful beach and many thermes. Da Pasquale has the best pizza. You can take a bus to Sant Angelo and walk down the hill.

http://www.casacelestino.it/en/default.asp

Casa Celestino is spotlessly clean and the rooms overlook the sea. I think all rooms have a balcony with tables and chairs.

This is my number one choice. Not sure if this is too expensive.

http://www.mezzatorre.it/site/start.php?lang=en

How do you get to Ischia? I am thinking of going there from Zurich.
It looks amazing.

Mezzatorre is my first choice too!!

Ragz, Ischia is a rather short boat ride from the docks in Naples (and also some access from Sorrento). It's great.

JennyMc, we loved the deal we got at a 5 star, the Miramare E. Castellon -- just over $100 a day-- but that was at the end of May. July is expensive there.

It looks great. How does it compare to Capri? Is 5 days too long to stay There?

We spent five nights on Ischia a couple years ago. It was great. We did a day trip to Procida which is very close one day for the full day for some hiking and exploring the two parts of the fishing villages there.
Ischia has several areas for exploring, some beautiful gardens, an interesting old castle, good eating, and just generally fun -- pretty laid back and casual. We've only spent 2 or 3 nights each time on Capri, which we felt was about right there. Capri is much more "upscale", but there is more to "do" on Ischia.

Thanks. Can you reccomend any hotels? The Mezzetorre looks great but it is expensive

One more question;
Are there sand beaches on Ischia?
Capri?

Ischia beaches include Maronti, Citara, Ischia Porto, San Francesco, San Montano, Cartaromana. There are also some tucked away accessible by boat. Those are the best. You can rent a small boat and sail around the island to find them. Just be careful because the rocks in the sea are close to the top of the water in many places. But if you do that, you can be the only ones swimming in a cove. It's really fabulous.

Thanks for the reply. This place seems like a paradise. I assume the food and wine are great as is with the rest of Italy. What else should I know about this place?

Ischia has it's own wine. There are many wineries around the island. The specialty food is rabbit (which I won't eat) but they also have a lot of seafood. Go to www.ischiaonline.it and surf around. You will get a wealth of information there.

Our family is there so we go every year and just enjoy it's wonderfulness (if that's a word)