Rick Steves Capri Itinerary -- rearrange for best results

We followed the RS advice in April except we skipped the boat tour and headed straight for Anacapri and it was excellent advice. We were the first in line for tickets and the bus to Anacapri and had the place to ourselves for a couple of hours. It wasn't until we headed to Capri Town that we met the crowds. I get a sense that most people that complain about crowds and commercialization of Capri never leave that main street. Even there we managed to get away from the rest when we walked in a few blocks.

I'm not opposed to advance planning, but what if real life doesn't work like The Book? Suppose you love or hate the Villa St. Michelle tour, or there's a long line for it? Suppose you want to walk down the Phoenecian Steps to the Ferry? Suppose it's too hot and sunny, or (unlikely) too cold? What if you hope to see Villa Jovis? What if there's long line for the chairlift? What if (God forbid !) you want to go to the Blue Grotto (which we cheerfully skipped?)

We spent my three nights on Capri and the boat around the island was the one thing we wish we had skipped.

I'd be curious to know how hard is was discerning which ferry company to use, and what times. According to the ferries web site, there are ferries to Capris from Sorrento starting at 7:15 am on Thursday, May 16!

We spent a whole week on the island--mind you way back in 2003--with Naples on either end. We did Monte Solaro as a hike from Capri up and over and down to Anacapri, then took a taxi back to Capri Town. Not sure where the chairlift lets people off to see the view because on our hike we didn't see a soul. The trail must not go by there. We did do the boat around the island, which we enjoyed (I guess it must have been super calm because I recall no seasickness). Really enjoyed as well the Fortini Trail that goes along the coastal cliffs. The bigger endeavor was our day trip during the week from Capri to Sorrento to Pompeii and back. It was worth it, but very tiring.

Beatleman, I would say you should go as early as you would like! If it were me, I would see the operating hours (and/or bus schedules) for the things I wanted to do and then get there near the beginning of them.....less people getting up early on vacation!

I have been twice (didn't get there the first time until almost 2 years living down the coast) and the first thing we did was to get up to Anacapri, the bus lines are shorter and easier to wander about (and catch an emptier bus back! haha) and do the chairlift. Then we came back down through town and ended up doing a private boat we hired at the harbor to drive us around the island just a bit before we left the island. Pretty great! I don't think I would enjoy it as much on a bigger commercial group boat though.

So I would definitely agree with economizing time and doing things when you are able instead of waiting for things to happen.

Okay, I am clearly more tired than I realized. I read the title as "Rick Steves in Capris" and immediately tried to visualize him wearing Capris down the street..... Time for a nap.

I'd be curious to know how hard is was discerning which ferry company
to use, and what times. According to the ferries web site, there are
ferries to Capris from Sorrento starting at 7:15 am on Thursday, May
16!

I can't recall the other company but there were two companies with very large ferries going to Capri and they leave from the same dock; one on the left and one on the right and it was clearly marked. We used Alilauro at 8am. It was perfectly fine. But on the way back to Sorrento there was a lot of chaos and it wasn't clearly marked. It didn't seem to matter what time your ticket said for the return or which ferry company you used, people just hopped on and the ticket takers didn't seem to care. We experienced this later in the week on our ferry to and from Amalfi as well , southern Italian chaos at its finest.

Sorry to hear it didn’t work. Guess it all depends. I followed his itinerary to the T and it was awesome. Did it en route from Sorrento to Amalfi. Did not experience these difficulties. Anacapri didn’t really get crowded until lunchtime and by then I was headed down.