Campania · Napoli
Forio
The largest Ischia commune by area, a Tyrrhenian coastal town facing the island's only sunset.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Visiting
- J14°
- F15°
- M15°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S27°
- O22°
- N19°
- D16°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 15°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Forio sits on the western coast of Ischia, the largest commune of the island by area and the second by population. Seventeen towers, built between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries to defend against Saracen raids, are scattered through the town and surrounding countryside, with the largest anchoring the old center and the rest marking the line where the built town gives way to open countryside. The coast runs from the northern bay below the church of San Francesco di Paola down to the western beaches at Citara, where the volcanic sand faces the only sunset on the island.
Inland and above, the hillside terrain that drew a composer to build and plant runs down toward the thermal springs feeding the pools near the shore. The commune reads as a string of distinct pieces, defensive towers, a promontory church, a garden hillside, a thermal coast, held together less by a single center than by the shared western exposure that lights the water each evening.
How to get there
Forio is on an island and is reached by ferry.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Chiesa del Soccorso
White walls on a promontory catch the light over the sea, the church mixing Moorish, Byzantine and Mediterranean elements in its rebuilding.
Il Torrione
Fifteenth-century defensive tower in the centro storico, largest of the seventeen Forio towers, now a small museum and viewpoint.
Giardini La Mortella
Susana Walton built the garden on the hillside her husband William composed on, terraces of subtropical species climbing the slope above the town.
Giardini Poseidon
Thermal park at Citara bay with twenty-two pools at varying temperatures, fed by springs flowing beneath Monte Epomeo.
Spiaggia di Citara
Volcanic-sand beach on the western coast facing the sunset, the longest stretch of free beach in the Forio commune.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Il MirtoRistorante
Il Mirto has one Gambero Rosso fork (78/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Il SaturninoRistorante
Il Saturnino carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Mezzatorre Hotel & Thermal SpaHotel
Mezzatorre Hotel & Thermal Spa carries a La Liste score of 95, plus a Leading Hotels of the World listing.
1 more place the guides name in Forio
Botania Relais & SpaHotel
A Leading Hotels of the World listing, at Botania Relais & Spa.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Forio is an island.
- Reached by ferry. In the series we say we would never live on an island: the ferry is a commitment every time you leave.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 17,531, up 0.7% since 2015
- Nearest national health service hospital Lacco Ameno, 3 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,550 to €3,900 per m² to buy, €7.40 to €11.40 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 24% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Regional capital Naples, across the water
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and the Dominican Republic, against 9% across Italy. 119 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, Austria and the United States. There are 166 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 22% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Naples province ranks 104th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Lacco Ameno, 3 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Working from here
Poste Italiane has finished a coworking room in the comune, on its register of 30 September 2026. Check that it is open on Poste's booking site before you count on it.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.02% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Campania spends about €1,800 a month, €650 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €328 a year for water, on the Campania average. In Naples, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.25, a meal in a pizzeria €11.02 and a man's haircut €18.55.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone C, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 15 to March 31, up to 10 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 3% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 13% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Thermal baths in town: Sorgente Sorgeto, Parco idrotermale Poseidon, Giardini Poseidon Terme.
Known for
IL SOCCORSO
Sixteenth-century white church on a sea promontory, the most photographed building on Ischia and the symbol of Forio.
LA MORTELLA
Composer William Walton and Susana Walton created the two-hectare subtropical garden above Forio between 1956 and 1991.
CITARA THERMAL
Thermal springs on the western coast feeding the Poseidon Gardens with twenty-two pools below the slopes of Monte Epomeo.
Common questions
- What is Forio known for?
- Forio is the largest Ischia commune by area, a Tyrrhenian coastal town facing the island's only sunset.
- Where is Forio?
- Forio is a comune in the province of Napoli, in Campania, at 18 meters above sea level.
- How do you get to Forio?
- Forio is on an island and is reached by ferry.
- When is the best time to visit Forio?
- Best in May–Sep. August is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Forio?
- Procida, Capri and Agropoli.
- How many people live in Forio?
- 17,531 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Forio a good place to live?
- Forio is an island town, reached by ferry, which our Where to Move in Italy series treats as the furthest end of the road. The nearest national health service hospital is in Lacco Ameno, 3 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 24% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 18 m
- Population: 17,531
- Surface area: 13.08 km²
On the map
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Forio appears in
Similar
Towns like Forio
What all six share with Forio: on the Tyrrhenian coast · near sea level
Procida
Province: Napoli
both over 10,000 people · both islands, reached by ferry
Capri
Province: Napoli
both islands, reached by ferry
Agropoli
Province: Salerno
both over 10,000 people
Massa Lubrense
Province: Napoli
both over 10,000 people
- Written about. No. 51.
Monte Argentario
Province: Grosseto
both over 10,000 people
- Written about. No. 39.
Piombino
Province: Livorno
both over 10,000 people
The letter
Forio is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Forio comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 203 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.