Few places evoke the mythic legacy of the Mediterranean as powerfully as the tiny Tyrrhenian island of Ischia. With its tangles of bougainvillaea cascading over parched rocks, lizards darting between slabs of volcanic tufa and cliffs rearing up over indigo waves, Ischia feels more like a place Odysseus might have visited than a typical Italian holiday destination.

But with some of the oldest, and best, thermal baths in the world (Virgil and Pliny celebrated the healing powers of the waters), uncrowded beaches and food that blends mountain earthiness with the freshness of the sea, Capri's less ostentatious neighbour is the perfect place to experience southern Italy's vast, untrammelled landscapes.