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Capri for the day

I'll be travelling from Ischia to Amalfi coast, and I'm thinking about stopping in Capri for the day, arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon. I've checked ferry companies and it's viable, but my question is, I'll be travelling with a suitcase. Would I find a place to leave the suitcase while I visit Capri? Any suggestions are deeply appreciated.

Posted by
8 posts

Luggage storage available right at the end of the Ferry dock, as recently as this past Wednesday. Enjoy your trip!

Posted by
30 posts

I'll be in Positano in March and was thinking about a day trip to Capri. What kind of things are there to do? Is it mostly walking the island exploring the town?

Posted by
7179 posts

Capri is so large that you can't possibly see the entire island in a daytrip out from the mainland. You can see a lot, subject to walking ability, weather, heat and sun tolerance. I recommend looking at Lonely Planet Italy in the library to select what you want to see and do.

Much internet newsboard posting involves a single attraction, the Blue Grotto. But many people choose to skip it, because it is so time-consuming for a very brief "sight." We skipped it, with two separate days on Capri. (One time ferry from Sorrento for the day, one time cruise ship single-day port.)

Although unpaved hiking is the tiniest part of it, vigor and heat tolerance are very important for the long distances on paved sidewalks. The island is largely pedestrianized, and you DO NOT have the option of flagging down a taxi if you get tired. Thinking about your day in advance is not "overplanning" here, because it's so big. We did plan to end up near the Phonecian Steps at the end of the day, with time available to walk down this massive, long-distance steps and some level walking at the bottom, back to the harbor (and past the public beach.) I'm not saying that should be anyone else's plan, it's just an example of planning out the day in a general way.

Just as an example, I prioritized the luxury Roman villa ruins, Villa Jovis. This is a perfectly good Roman ruin, with splendid sea views. But it is an incredibly long walk, "uphill both ways", on hot asphalt paths with almost zero refreshment opportunities. There was a cafe near the ruins, but I wouldn't go without water bottles anyway, in case it isn't open. This takes nearly two hours, round-trip, and may not be for everyone. It was exhausting.

I read about a hillside climb down to the Blue Grotto site, but didn't happen to see the entry to it. I would think that you would not want to climb back up, so you'd be depending on getting a boat ride (that doesn't happen to be at capacity with people on the pure Blue Grotto outing from elsewhere. It also sounds like a hiking shoe outing. (No personal experience on this!)

Our return ferry, ticket bought with the outward ferry, (pressure from the ticket agent - but you need to be sure of a return ticket in high season!) was a very different size, and left from a very different slip than where our ferry TO Capri docked. I mention that because the extra 1/4 mile of walking (level) around the port was a drag at the end of a very physical day. Make sure you know where the signboard that might show your ferry slip is, upon arrival at Capri.

Posted by
3586 posts

In my opinion, the best thing we saw was the church of San Michele, in Anacapri. It has a ceramic tile floor depicting the Garden of Eden. Visitors are not allowed to tread on it, so a viewing balcony was built. You actually get a better view than if you were down on the floor. It’s fun to see how the artist imagined some animals. He clearly had never seen an elephant.
There is also a 19th c. Villa San Michele, with nice gardens, a museum displaying the collections of its original owner, and great views. Anacapri is less jammed with visitors than Capri.
Do pay attention to the warning above about knowing the location of your return ferry. We had a hard time finding ours. Fortunately, we had allowed lots of time. We were staying in Sorrento; and, at the time of year we were there (May?), the last boat left at 6.

In retrospect, I wished we had planned to stay overnight.