Capri

Should we take ferry or do a private tour? What would a day itinerary look like for an enjoyable day?

This is what I would do. I looked at a random date in June (June 18th) for the ferry times.

• take the 9:15am ferry from Positano, arrive in Capri marina at 9:45am
• take the taxi or bus to Anacapri
• go to Monte Solaro (highest spot in the island, scenic views)
• go to Villa San Michele (beautiful garden and rooms, scenic views)
• take the taxi or bus to Capri (town)
• quick lunch
• go to Giardini di Augusto (beautiful garden, scenic views+++)
• walk around Capri (town)
• take the taxi, bus or funicular to the marina
• take the 5:15pm or 6:00pm ferry back to Positano

I think Monte Splaro takes maybe about 75-90 minutes, Villa San Michele and Giardini di Augusto about 60 minutes each.

The boat ride around the island with blue grotto takes about 90 minutes. You could replace the boat ride with one of the other attractions. I wouldn't, the boat ride is nice, but the orthers are nicer. Try to get your fill of scenic coast views in the Amalfi Coast. If you take an atttaction out for the boat ride, don't take out Giardini di Augusto.

I always took the bus instead of the taxi, but I was in Capri for 3 nights so I had plenty of time. Sometimes there's a line to get the bus, so the taxi would save time.

We are thinking of spending some time in Capri in early October. A day trip seems rushed, 3 days too much? We want to do some hiking when we're there. Can anyone give feedback on their experience regarding how much time they spend on Capri?

Can anyone give feedback on their experience regarding how much time they spend on Capri?

I spent 3 nights and would do it again, but I think 2 nights is good.

We did a day trip by ferry from Sorrento to Capri.

We didn't book, just went and bought a ticket. We decided agains the boat ride as it would have taken too much time out of the day.

We pretty well did what Marco suggested but in a different order. We spent time and had a drink in Capri Town first before going up to Ana Capri and Monte Solaro. We did the cable car to get up there, great experience and stunning views.

Ana Capri was disappointing though, we had planned lunch there but wish we had had that in Capri Town instead.

We very much enjoyed the gardens and an open topped taxi ride back down from Ana Capri.

It was a fantastic day and we felt that it was long enough for us.

Great suggestions for a day trip to Capri!
Would you recommend to buy in advance any of the attraction tickets (like villas, chair lift, etc.)?

To save time I've cut and pasted a section of my Trip Report of my day in Capri;

Capri was an unexpected surprise that we enjoyed more than the Amalfi
Coast and thought the views were even better. From Sorrento it’s
closer and more compact, giving us a full day at a more leisurely
pace. Still, I’d get there early and beat the crowds. Based on the RS
guidebook advice, we hopped off of our ferry and headed straight to
the ticket booth for bus tickets to Anacapri. Another customer service
story: we were the only ones in line and stood in front of the glass
fronted booth for 10 seconds or so while the woman inside was on her
phone. Not knowing if she noticed me, I tapped on the window. She
promptly and firmly stuck her finger up in the air in a ‘just a moment
sign’ and kept texting for at least 73 more seconds-plus the time it
took me to start the stopwatch on my phone as I became amused at how
long this was taking. Finally, with phone still in hand she looked up
at me, with no smile or verbal response and waited for me to place my
order for tickets. The whole time, the RS advice to “roll with it,
you’re in Italy,” was running through my head.

Because Capri has narrow, winding roads, the buses are small and seat
9 people. Luckily, we were close to the front of the line so we would
get on right away, but everybody behind us was also squeezed on.
Assuming I didn’t miss anybody, I counted 25 plus the driver on our
bus. Everybody was in good humour and laughingly wondering if the
overloaded bus was going to make it up the hill.

The highlight of Anacapri was Villa San Michelle
http://www.villasanmichele.eu/ which is a villa built in the late
1800’s on top of a roman villa built by Emperor Tiberius. The new
villa was built and decorated with quite a bit of the ruins and art
excavated from the site, as well as other objects the owner collected
over the years. And the views are spectacular. We almost didn’t go
because the description in the RS guidebook made it sound dull and
could be skipped. I think the description needs to be rewritten.

After about 3 hours in Anacapri we hopped the bus to Capri town, this
time with only 24 people plus a dog and the driver. Anacapri was busy,
but nothing like here and the visitors don’t seem to get off the main
road and hang out eating at overpriced restaurants and shopping at
overpriced stores. But if you take a walk to Augustus Park then you’re
in for a treat. More spectacular scenery, and water so clear we could
see the shadows of boats at the bottom of the water.
https://www.capriculturaeturismo.it/en/sites/gardens-of-augustus/

After some aimless wandering around a street with shops that would
make Rodeo Drive envious, we headed toward the funicular to get back
to the Marina. But we saw a directional sign that it was only a
10-minute walk to the marina. The sign was only off by 30 minutes. No
matter, we had plenty of time. As with yesterday’s ferry experience,
nobody seems concerned with what your ticket says. People with tickets
for an earlier, later, or even a different ferry company were hopping
on, and the crew didn’t seem to care as they took tickets without
looking.

Here's a link to the entire report if you're interested. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-2-weeks-of-day-trips-from-sorrento Capri was day 5.

Would you recommend to buy in advance any of the attraction tickets (like villas, chair lift, etc.)?

I didn't, I don't think you need to.