PTM // Sorrento to Ischia, Italy!

This morning I had to wake up at 7AM so that I could jump in the shower, and get ready to check out of my hotel. The ferry that I needed to catch was leaving from the Port of Sorrento at 9:30, and there’s only one ferry daily from Sorrento to Ischia so I couldn’t be late!

I threw my backpack on my back and headed down to the train station. It took about 15 minutes to get to the station. I bought my ticket and headed 1 stop down to Sorrento. From there I made the walk down to the port to buy my ticket for the ferry. A one way ticket from Sorrento to Ischia on the only available ferry (Jet Boat) was 18.50 Euro. Sort of pricey if you ask me.

The ferry took about 45-50 minutes to get over to Ischia, I slept most of the way due to being so tired from the night before. When I arrived I immediately hopped off of the boat and headed straight to the bus ticket window. All I wanted to do is drop my backpack and see the island while the weather was nice. I bought a bus ticket for 1.20 Euro, and headed off on the #1 Bus to the port of Forio (Forio is an area on the west coast of Ischia) where my hostel is located.

I found directions to the Ring Hostel on their website the night before arriving and the directions were pretty spot on. I didn’t have any trouble finding it so that was comforting. After about a 15 minute walk from the Port of Forio, I finally arrived. When I walked in I felt like I was in a ghost town, there was one woman at reception that checked me in and the rest of the hostel was empty. When I was shown my room (the Blue Room) I walked through the dorm room and I was glad to see that there were a few backpacks and clothes under a few beds as I walked to the back to find my bed. It was nice to see that there actually were people staying here!

After picking my bed I changed into my bathing suit and planned on heading out to the Baia di Sorgeto (Natural Hot Springs) here in Ischia. I walked down to the Port of Forio and took the CS Bus to Panza where the Baia di Sorgeto is located. Unfortunately I missed the stop originally and had to take another short bus ride back to the Sorgeto stop but it wasn’t a big deal. Once I got off I had to walk about 15 minutes downhill until I reached the top edge of the cove (as you’ll see below).

From there I walked down 228 stairs to get to the bottom. At this point I was already envisioning the walk back up. Once I reached the bottom I dropped my bags underneath this little cave type of thing that is along the shore (as you’ll see below).

I couldn’t wait to get into the water! As you walk into the water it feels like an actual jacuzzi. You have to be very careful though because if you step or jump in the wrong spot of the water or you will literally burn yourself. That is how hot some of the spots are! I was told before I went there that I should only go into the spots of the water that people were already lying in because at least you know it’s not boiling in those areas.

I laid down in the shallow water up rested my head on a rock as the cool tide came in and swept the hot water from the shore edge back out towards me. It was an amazing feeling! I spent about 45 minutes lying in the water taking in the sun and relaxing. It was such a good time.

After spending some time at the Baia di Sorgeto I decided to head back to the hostel to shower and relax for a few hours before dinner. I took the bus back to the hostel, took a cold shower (no hot water here). Figures!

At 8PM a few of us met in the lobby of the hostel and headed on a crazy rollercoaster type of car ride from the hostel to the owners restaurant which was located about 5-10 minutes away. On the way we stopped to take a photo of an amazing sunset! Dinner was good, I sat with two girls from California (Rebecca & Kristen) that are staying with me at the Ring Hostel. I had Gnocchi and I also ordered a cheese pizza to go.

I was dead tired from the previous night so I headed to bed around 1AM. Tomorrow I’ll sleep in for a while and then head off to explore the island a little bit.