Cliffside beach clubs, lemon-scented lanes and dinner with a view of the Bay of Naples. This is how to make the most of Italy's most glamorous island.
Fontelina beach club
The sun loungers are spread across small cliff plateaus right by the sea. Book a table or a lounger well in advance in high season.
Capri is a small, rocky island off the Sorrento peninsula, and it has drawn artists, writers and film stars for well over a century. There are plenty of things to do in Capri, but the real pleasure is slowing down: swimming off the rocks, walking between viewpoints and lingering over long lunches.
The island has two main towns. Capri town, with its famous Piazzetta and designer boutiques, buzzes with day-trippers, while Anacapri, higher up the slopes, feels calmer and more local. For more of the country, see our guide to Italy holidays.
Seafood on Capri
The restaurants along the Capri coast are known for their seafood. Ask what came in with the boats that morning.
Take a boat trip around the island to see the sea caves, the Faraglioni rock stacks and hidden coves. The Blue Grotto is the most famous cave, though it closes when the sea is rough.
Ride the chairlift from Anacapri up Monte Solaro, the island's highest point, for views across the Bay of Naples.
Visit the Gardens of Augustus, where terraces look down over the hairpin bends of Via Krupp and Marina Piccola.
Spend a day at a beach club. Capri has few sandy beaches, so locals and visitors swim from rocky platforms and lidos with sun loungers.
Shop and people-watch around the Piazzetta, then follow the lanes to quieter corners of town.
Seafood is the star, from simple grilled fish to elaborate tasting menus. Many of the best tables are hidden in the old town's back lanes or right by the water at Marina Piccola.
Our guide to 7 warm and cosy restaurants in Capri includes a terrace by the clock tower, a celebrity favourite run by the same family since 1900, a seafood spot supplied by the morning catch and a restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide. It also suggests a boat trip to Positano on the Amalfi Coast for dinner.
Dinner on Capri
Capri is at its most magical in the evening, after the last day-trippers have taken the ferry home.
Capri has no airport. Most visitors fly to Naples and take a ferry or hydrofoil from the port in the city, or travel on to Sorrento for a shorter crossing. In summer there are also boats from Positano and Amalfi.
Boats arrive at Marina Grande, where a funicular climbs up to Capri town. Visitors cannot usually bring a car, so you get around by bus, taxi, funicular or on foot. Capri works as a day trip, but staying a night or two lets you enjoy the island in the quiet evenings.
The best time to visit Capri is May, June and September, when the sea is warm and the island is lively without the peak crowds of July and August. Spring and early autumn are also better for walking.
Many hotels and restaurants close from late autumn until around Easter, so the island is very quiet in winter.
Capri is an island in the Bay of Naples in southern Italy, off the tip of the Sorrento peninsula. It belongs to the Campania region, the same region as Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, and it is reached by ferry or hydrofoil from Naples, Sorrento and, in summer, several towns on the Amalfi Coast.
Yes, Capri is one of the more expensive places to visit in Italy, especially for hotels and restaurants in Capri town during high season. You can keep costs down by visiting outside July and August, staying in Anacapri, using the buses instead of taxis and eating at simpler trattorias away from the Piazzetta.
Capri is worth visiting if you love dramatic coastline, swimming in clear water and good food. It gets very busy with day-trippers in summer, so arrive early or stay overnight to see it at its best. Combine it with Naples, Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast for a varied holiday.
The quickest way from Naples to Capri is by hydrofoil or fast ferry from the port in central Naples, a crossing of around an hour or less. Slower ferries also run. Book ahead in high season and keep an eye on the weather, as crossings can be cancelled when the sea is rough.
Stay in Capri town near the Piazzetta for shops, restaurants and evenings out, or in Anacapri for quieter streets and easy access to Monte Solaro and the Blue Grotto. Marina Grande is handy for the boats. If you stay overnight, you have the island almost to yourself once the day trippers have left. See also 7 warm and cosy restaurants on Capri.
Food & Wine
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