Capri

The Island Belongs To You After The Last Boat Leaves

Capri is four square miles, and on a summer day it takes in a number of visitors that would be absurd for a place that size. They arrive by ferry and hydrofoil from Naples, Sorrento and the Amalfi towns from mid morning, they funnel up the funicular from Marina Grande into the Piazzetta, they walk the same three shopping streets, and from late afternoon they queue to leave. By seven in the evening the island has emptied out and handed itself to whoever booked a room. The Piazzetta becomes a village square again, the coastal paths are yours, and the whole argument for this destination is contained in that transition. A day trip to Capri and a stay on Capri are not the same trip and barely the same place.

The planning decision: stay the night, and choose your altitude

The first decision is simply to sleep here, ideally for three nights rather than one, because the mornings before the boats arrive are as good as the evenings after they go. The second is Capri town or Anacapri. Capri town sits above Marina Grande with the Piazzetta, the shops along Via Camerelle, most of the famous hotels and all of the energy; it is where you want to be if the social side matters. Anacapri is higher, reached by a switchback road, and it is quieter, cheaper, more residential and closer to Monte Solaro and the western coast. Ten minutes by taxi separates them and they feel like different islands. There are no rental cars for visitors, so you walk, take the small open taxis, the funicular or the bus, and that constraint is part of why the island works.

A short season and a Blue Grotto that is often closed

The season runs roughly from Easter to the end of October, and the strength of it is May, June, September and early October. July and August are hot and at capacity, with day boat numbers at their highest. From November into March the island genuinely closes: most hotels and many restaurants shut, ferry schedules thin and the shops board up. The Blue Grotto deserves a straight explanation, because it disappoints more people than anything else here. It can only be entered in calm sea and at the right tide, in small rowing boats through an opening you lie flat to pass, and it closes frequently without much warning. Treat it as a bonus rather than the reason you came, and confirm conditions on the day.

Getting here, and what to attach it to

Naples is the gateway. Hydrofoils take around fifty minutes from Naples and twenty from Sorrento, and a private boat transfer from Sorrento, Positano or Amalfi is by far the better arrival. Rough weather cancels sailings, which is a real risk at the shoulders of the season and a reason not to book a flight for the morning you leave the island. Capri sits naturally inside a southern Italian route: two or three nights here, three or four on the Amalfi Coast, a night or two in Naples for the archaeological museum and Pompeii. Hotel porters meet the boats and move luggage, which matters because the island is stairs.

Stay strategy in town and above it

JK Place Capri sits just above Marina Grande, looking out at the water rather than into the town, and it is the most polished small hotel on the island. Hotel Punta Tragara occupies the best position of all, a Le Corbusier designed building on the point directly above the Faraglioni. Grand Hotel Quisisana is the large historic house in the middle of Capri town, a social institution in its own right. In Anacapri, Capri Palace Jumeirah has the spa and the art collection, and Caesar Augustus stands on a cliff edge with a terrace that is the single best view on the island. Villa rentals with staff exist and suit families who want a pool and privacy.

When to begin

Six months for May, June and September, and longer for August. The island has a small fixed number of rooms and nowhere nearby to overflow into, which makes it tighter than its size suggests. Restaurant tables, boat days and beach club places should be arranged with the room rather than on arrival. Ferry and hydrofoil timetables change with the season and should be confirmed for your dates.

Four experiences worth building the days around

• A late afternoon circuit of the island by private boat, through the arch at the Faraglioni and into the grottoes, swimming off the back once the day traffic has gone.
• The chairlift up Monte Solaro from Anacapri at opening, when the whole Bay of Naples is clear and there is nobody else at the top.
• The walk out to Villa Jovis at the eastern end, the ruin of Tiberius's palace on a cliff, which almost no day visitor has time for.
• Dinner in the Piazzetta after eight, when the island has emptied and the square works the way residents remember it.

Who this trip suits

Capri suits couples more than any other group, and it suits anyone who likes swimming off boats and rocks rather than lying on sand. It suits walkers, since the coastal paths are excellent and empty. It is at its best as a two or three night leg inside a longer southern Italian trip rather than a standalone week, which is how our luxury leisure travel planning usually sequences it.

When another plan may fit better

There is almost no sand on Capri. Bathing is off rock platforms and club decks, and if a beach holiday is what you have in mind, Sardinia or the Greek Islands are the honest alternative. Mobility is the other real constraint: the island is steps, steep lanes and no cars, and it is difficult for anyone who cannot manage that. And if you have only one day, spend it on the Amalfi Coast instead, because the day trip version of Capri is the worst version of it.

Plan it with one accountable advisor

Tell us your month and how the southern Italy legs fit together, and we will hold the right room, set the private boat transfers and build the Amalfi and Naples side around it. One advisor stays accountable from the first call to the last transfer home.