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Capri

Hello fellow travelers! I've gotten so much great advice and information from these boards and am hoping for some guidance.

My fiance and I are honeymooning in Italy in October this year and will be basing ourselves in Naples for a week. We'd like to do a day trip to Capri and book a half day private boat tour around the island for sightseeing and down time in the middle of our trip. I guess my question is, should we book this in advance or are there enough boat tour companies that we could play it by ear, based on the weather and seas, and book same day? Any experience you've had with a 3-4 hour boat tour would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Posted by
11851 posts

I cannot answer your Capri question, but I am wondering about your decision to spend a week in Naples. It's rather chaotic...I'd spend 2 or 3 nights there, then the rest of the time in a quieter Amalfi Coast location.

Posted by
16232 posts

Why don't you base yourselves in Positano (Amalfi Coast) or Sorrento? More romantic and quaint.

Napoli is like NYC, just more chaotic. It's ok for a couple of nights, but that's not where I would spend a full honeymoon week. Also you can commute to it from Sorrento on day trips.

Posted by
771 posts

We spent an overnight on Capri this past May and when we checked into our hotel in the AM were told that there was another couple who wanted to share a 3 hour boat tour for the afternoon. We didn't agree until about 1 PM, and still had a great experience with the private tour. Our hotel arranged it, but I'm sure you can find things online, or just go to the harbor. We stopped at the Blue Grotto by agreement. Even though it had been closed for the past five days due to rough weather, we could "skip the line" to get onto one of the grotto boats since we were with a private tour.
The front of the boat was cushioned, so you could lay or sit out there and enjoy the sun.

Posted by
117 posts

I would think in October it would be relatively easy to do this the day of or a few days in advance. I have used the following site: http://www.capri.net/en/boat-rentals to book a private boat tour for my parents and I. We are usually very thrifty when we travel and do not do private tours at any sites but we all agreed this was definitely worth the expense. We also used this site later to book a tour for a school group I was leaving; the day of the seas were bad and we couldn't get from Sorrento to Capri and we were able to cancel without a problem.

Posted by
490 posts

One week goes quickly. Best wishes and enjoy your honeymoon. Consider what to do once you finalize your plans. I have been to this area many times in late Sept. and up to mid Oct. weather is variable, this year it was cold and rained the whole time I was in Naples and Rome!
Do not book any boat trips until you get there, weather is a huge factor and seas are rough and small craft don't always go out. Others have mentioned May etc, this is totally different as Oct is off season for Capri. Stay one or two nights in Capri or Anacapri if it fits your costs. That time of year is lovely, but may be cold and windy for another boat trip...remember the ferry ride there is a boat trip! :) So you would take an hour ferry from Naples to Capri, then take a 3-4 hr boat ride around the island?? Then it would almost be time to go back to Naples, day trippers depart by 5p.m. or so. Since it is not a time for swimming, if anything I would do the regular boat tour 1 hr around the island, if you must, and not opt for private or shared with another couple trip, those are great in warmer weather when you want to park in a cove and going swimming or eat lunch. I think that a day trip should involve seeing the sites on the island itself...from up high. It is a very different island at night, so try to stay there. You can take a ferry from Capri to Positano and work your way back to Naples via bus and train....direct ferry from Positano to Naples ends in Sept. So Naples, Capri, Positano, Naples fly home. Or alternate trip, depending on weather, Naples 1 night , 2 nights Capri, back to Naples and directly to Rome for 2 nights, back to Naples 1 night fly home. There is nothing to do on the Amalfi coast when it is raining...but Rome can fill a rainy day and is only 1.5 hours by train from Naples, always take the fast train, slow regional takes 3.5 hours!

Posted by
12 posts

Thank you all for your replies! The Naples week is only part of the honeymoon. We fly into rome, train to Florence, spend a week there (return trip), then train to Naples, spend a week there with day trips to Capri, Pompeii (maybe Vesuvius), Sorrento and the AC. After our Naples week, we will be spending a week in Rome :)

Sounds like we will wait and see which day the weather is best when we get there and decide on if/when a long boat tour is needed.