Rome to Capri day trip?

If you have a total of 3 days for Rome and one of those would be the day trip to Capri, then I would say it's not the best use of your time. Unless you've been to Rome before you need at least 3 full days there to do it justice. If the day trip to Capri would be in addition to the 3 full days in Rome, then I would say it's doable if it's that important to you. Personally I wouldn't do a whole long tiring day like that for Capri. It's beautiful but I don't think it's worth the long trip from Rome and is best done as a day trip from Naples or Sorrento. I'm also a very budget traveler and I do a lot of weighing of time/cost against importance to me as a destination. Often even one of my bucket list items just isn't worth the time/cost involved to fit it into my trip. Only you can decide that.

There is plenty to do in Rome for three full days (and then some), I wouldn't try to rope in anything else (especially a place as far away as Capri). If you do this, you'll end up shortchanging both places and you'll have one incredibly long trip day, which will probably make you much less energetic the following day.

Hi Lisa -
I'm going to throw my hat in with Nancy and Agnes' advice here. If you've only 3 full days in Rome, you really should spend all of it in Rome. There is a LOT of ground to cover in that one, and taking 1/3rd of your time for an entire day somewhere else would mean missing a chunk of what it has to offer...not to mention having to dash madly about trying to fit what you CAN see into just 2 days. Just IMHO, I consider 4 nights/3.5 days the minimum for scratching the surface of the Eternal City!

That tour is more than just "somewhat" pricey. For much less than $600 you can do a LOT of of other things and save Capri for a future trip to the Amalfi Coast/Pompeii. We've been to Capri and think it's also one of those places, like the Cinque Terre, that are best stayed at overnight (we had 2 nights) versus day-trip amongst the hordes of other day-trippers. That said, if you were staying in the region then you could pick a fair-weather day to ferry over from Sorrento or another location on the coast. Committing to a tour in advance means putting up with whatever the weather happens to be on your scheduled day. Rain can happen: it dumped buckets on us all the way from Rome to Naples and from Naples on the ferry to the island.

For future reference, you don't need a tour to explore Capri. With some advance reading and a map, it's easily covered without a guide. But again, there's so much to see and do in Rome that it just makes sense not to try and cram it in this time.

Thank you for your advice ladies! Very helpful!

Based on the 'givens' it would be better to do Capri when you have time to spend a few days in the Naples/Sorrento area.

Your limited time can be better utilized in Rome.

My $0.02

When you visit Naples and southern Italy go to Capri for several nights. Even a day trip from Naples is exhausting .