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Capri overnight

Normally staying somewhere only one night seems disruptive to me. But for our recent visit to the Amalfi Coast we did one night in Capri and I highly recommend it. Once the last ferry left at 6 p.m., the island's character completely changed. In Anacapri especially, the locals came out. The square and restaurants were full of people speaking Italian, rather than Americans everywhere. We saw a big church procession complete with costumes, statues, etc. It got much quieter and more fun to ride the scooter.

Our formula was 2 nights in Sorrento, 1 in Capri, 2 in Praiano. Brooke Shields walked passed us on the sidewalk when we were out for a stroll in Praiano, an absolutely charming seaside town between Positano and Amalfi that hasn't been completely overrun yet and still felt Italian. If you go, the lovely Hotel Margherita has a pool with a view that goes on forever, free shuttle van to the uncrowded beach at Marina di Praia, and a funny little electric Twizy cart for 2 you can rent that will get you to Ravello and back no problem.

Posted by
3961 posts

Mark- thanks for sharing your experience on Capri. What a great idea to be there in the evening after the day trippers vacate! How fun to see the locals and Brooke Shields strolling in Praiano! We were in Southern Italy about 7 years ago with a tour group. Capri was a day trip that included the Monte Solaro Chairlift and Villa San Michelle. We enjoyed Sorrento & Positano as well. Sorry we missed Praiano. Thank you for “taking me back” to one of our favorite areas in Italy!

Posted by
155 posts

Mark, I agree about staying overnight (or 2) if you can fit it into your schedule. We stayed 2 nights and really enjoyed Capri without feeling that we had to rush to tick off all the recommendations. It was packed and a little crazy around midday to mid-afternoon such that the public buses had trouble getting from Anacapri to the downtown terminal and let us off early. People coming up in the funicular had trouble exiting the terminal and heading west in their little tour groups past the souvenir shops. Early morning or early evening was quite pleasant. On the first day, we walked east to Villa Jovis and discovered a restaurant / pizzeria Lo Sfizio which we ended up going to both nights. Geared more to locals or long stays than day tourists.
Sometimes we've been in luck being in a town (Valencia in particular) when they're celebrating something with parades, massive dances in a square and fireworks, or a couple of fancy weddings and a bride-to-be celebrating her hens stag afternoon / evening. Would only have seen this and been peripherally involved as we were staying overnight.