For us, there wasn’t a question when it came to which part of Capri we were going to spend our time. Since I had some pretty vivid memories of my trip to the isle 17 years ago, Anacapri was where I wanted to take Neil. However, if you aren’t sure which part of the island to visit, let me offer my insights to help you decide.
Getting to Capri is a little bit of a journey, but absolutely worth it. Being that it is an island, you must take a boat from the mainland of Italy. Most commonly, you can depart from Sorrento or Naples, via ferry, hydrofoil, or private boat. During our 2019 trip to Italy, I wanted to maximize our time in each city we visited, so I mapped out how to get from the Rome airport to Capri on the same day we flew in. We took the high speed train from the airport to Roma Termini, bought tickets for another train to take us to Naples, where we had a quick pizza dinner and caught a ferry. It was a very long day at that point and there was still a taxi ride up to Anacapri, but we were greeted with this incredible sunset.
Geography
This is probably the obvious difference you’ve already concluded your own. The city of Capri itself is the lower part of the island. With easy access to the water, it’s ideal to spend some time down there if you want to get some time on the sea. Anacapri sits atop the rocky cliffs, with its highest peak reaching just over 1,900 ft. Both cities have small centers, many hotels and restaurants, and incredible Neapolitan coast charm. Italians live all over the island, pretty evenly divided between the two cities.
Hotels
If you want an ocean view on your visit, both cities will offer these since you are on a small island. The majority of Capri will afford you views of the mainland coast, including Vesuvius on a clear day. If you want an amazing ocean view, including the harbor below, then you’ll want to head up the very winding road to Anacapri. We spent one night at the Hotel San Michele, one of the first hotels you reach near the town center. The location is perfect to walk up to the city center in about 5 minutes- careful though- there are some stretches of the streets without sidewalks and the cars are very quick around the corners. Since we arrived pretty late at night, we only had enough energy to walk outside, enjoy the view in front of the hotel, and then settled into bed. Hotel San Michele’s accommodations were fantastic, the room had a tub and a shower! In the morning, we were greeted with a wonderful complimentary breakfast spread. Considering it was our first breakfast in Italy, we were pretty excited to see the trays with meats and cheeses, more pastries than I could count, and of course, espresso made to order. Pretty sure they had some cereal too, but who wants to eat that when you’re in Italy?! The staff were incredibly helpful as well; they held our bags while we went to explore the town and coordinated a boat tour for the afternoon, including the shuttle ride down to the pier.
Ambiance & Food
The town of Anacapri is, in a word, quaint. Gelato shops are sprinkled in between souvenir vendors, with nearly every item adorned with the iconic (and giant!) Capri lemons. Beautiful flowers were blooming at every turn, adding to the charm of the intricate tile work and buildings in a Mediterranean color palette. The chairlift ride up to the top of Mount Solaro begins from the main town square and it is worth the 12 Euro for a round trip ticket. We did this as soon as they opened on the day we were there and had the lookout points on the top of the island nearly to ourselves. There are great views of the entire coastline below, and of course, Faraglioni.
After we journeyed back down, we were ready for some good walking. We wandered through several streets lined with restaurants and shops and then worked our way into the more residential area. Again, we found ourselves in an area without much in the way of true sidewalks, so just pay attention to your surroundings. A modern white and turquoise hotel made for a wonderful setting to grab a craft cocktail and then we settled on gelato for lunch. With so many choices, we were both impressed with our flavor selections and highly recommend visiting Capri Crema Caffe.
After lunch, we went onto more browsing and were very pleasantly surprised to learn that there are a few shops that will make you custom sandals while you wait! As you already know, I have a fond relationship with footwear, and thought this was the coolest souvenir. One shop caught my eye in particular where the cobbler was working in the window. Neil helped me pick out a pair that I customized to my foot and color specifications and within 15 minutes, I had these beauties.
As for Capri, we wanted to get to see it from the water, so we headed down the winding road in the complimentary hotel shuttle to meet the great folks from Blue Sea Capri. Captain David and his first mate helped us with all of our luggage onto the private boat where we had an amazing 2 hour tour. We got to enjoy the entire island, with all of the stunning grottos, mountain goats, the lighthouse, and got to loop through Faraglioni. While the Blue Grotto is the most famous on this island, if there is any sort of wait to take the row boat inside, I say skip it. We saw so many other beautiful green and blue grottos that your time is much better served getting to enjoy the rest of them rather than waiting for the one that happens to be famous.
While we didn’t have time to really see the rest of Capri itself on this trip, there is another main square with more shopping and of course, many restaurants on the lower part of the island. I’ve read that there is some nightlife to enjoy down there as well.
Traveling from Capri to Anacapri
If you get to spend the whole day on Capri and want to travel between the lower and upper parts of the island, there are a few ways to get around. From the marina, you can take the cable car (funicular) to the main square of Capri and then a public bus to up to Anacapri. Hiring a taxi is another option if you have a few people in your group and want to keep the cost lower. Many hotels also offer shuttles in either direction, so be sure to check those out too.
One full day on Capri would probably be enough to get to enjoy both parts of the island, but spending at least a night will let you get to check out any nightlife and have the chance to be greeted by one of the most amazing sunrises you’ll ever see.
