After Ischia and Procida, it is time to discover yet another island of the Campanian archipelago. For all French citizens (like me), Capri is one of the most notorious island in Italy, made famous by the song “Capri, c’est fini” by Hervé Vilard. In this song, he identifies Capri as the place where his first love story occurred. As a result, while Ischia and Procida are generally unknown from the French public, Capri is often seen as the dreamiest Italian island where to experience the true dolce vita.

In this photo: Photo taken on a walk in Capri

Capri, due to its fame and to the popularity of the island among the jet-set, is quite an expensive island. I thus highly recommend visiting it on a day trip, while staying in Ischia or Naples. You can access the island of Capri by ferry. Count 47 euros per person for the round-trip Ischia-Capri with the company Sun & Sea. The boat trip from Ischia and Capri is really enjoyable and you will be able to sit outside on the deck of the boat during the ride. Along the way, you will get great sights of the Vesuvius from afar.

In this photo: View from the stairs going from Porto Turistico di Capri to Capri town center

Upon your arrival in Capri, the ferry will leave you at Capri’s touristic harbour (Porto Turistico di Capri). To reach the town center of Capri, you will have to climb lots of stairs or take the funicular. We chose the first option as we were only starting the day and felt quite fresh. The heart of Capri’s town center is Piazzeta di Capri where you will get a wonderful view of the island and its coastline. In the middle of the summer, this square can also get quite crowded. I suggest you then continue your visit with a stroll in Via Roma where you will find lots of shops to get great souvenirs from the island, especially pretty jewelry shops. We got some lemon-shaped earrings there as well as bright lemon-shaped coasters.

In this photo: View on the Faraglioni di Capri from Giardini di Augusta

After a little of shopping in Via Roma, head to Giardini di Augusta. This small garden gives you great views on the cliffs and the Faraglioni of Capri (big rocks sticking out from the sea) and on the famous Via Krupp which should be your next stop. Via Krupp is a winding road down a cliff, made initially at the demand of a German industrialist wishing to connect his hotel at the top of the cliff to the small harbour (Marina Piccola) where his yacht was parked. It is the unusual, winding shape of this road and the pretty views from it that turned it into a must-visit place in Capri.

In this photo: View from Via Krupp

Once having stridden down Via Krupp, you have various options. You can either continue down to Marina Piccola, you can go back up and try to catch a bus to Anacapri or you can head in the other direction back towards Capri town center. Indeed, the island of Capri is made up of 2 towns: Capri (the most famous one) and Anacapri. Our initial plan was to head to Anacapri and go up Monte Solaro. However, all the buses heading in the direction of Anacapri seemed to be full (it was peak season in August). We thus decided to go back to Capri town center.

In this photo: Villa Lysis

Back in the center of the town of Capri, we bought a Caprese sandwich and started to walk in the direction of Villa Lysis at the most Eastern point of the island. On your way, you will find more quiet and residential streets of Capri with lots of beautiful villas hidden behind hedges and stone walls.

Villa Lysis is a wonderful villa overlooking the sea built in the early 20th century by a homosexual French poet. This poet had come to Capri in exile after numerous sexual scandals in his home country. He later became a drug addict. He had even created an Opium room within Villa Lysis. He actually died of an overdose of cocaine that he had taken in a champagne glass in 1923. I really recommend the visit of this villa to enjoy the peaceful grounds of this beautiful house and to learn more about the eccentric life of the poet Jacques d’Adelswärd-Ferden. The entrance to the villa will cost you 2,5 € per person.

In this photo: Me at Villa Lysis

After your visit of Villa Lysis, make sure to take the short hiking trail on the right of the house. This trail will bring you to Villa Jovis, an archeological site where you will be able to see the remains of a Roman palace. The entrance to this site costs 6 €. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, we were not able to see this.

With your head full of pretty sights seen throughout the course of the day, it is now time to head back to the main harbour to catch the ferry and come back from this great day trip. This article closes the series of posts of my trip in the Gulf of Naples in Italy. Overall, I absolutely loved the islands of Ischia, Procida and Capri but I found Naples a bit too crazy for me. In next week’s article, we will head to Spain to visit the Andalucian city of Sevilla.