HillsdaleHounds

Looking for advice. We are a family of 4 (2 active boys ages 10 and 12) spending 3 days in Sorrento and planning a day trip to Capri in mid-July. (I know, crazy time to go!)

I have picked up lots of tips from this site. Will buy early (return) tickets the day before for the fast ferry or hydrofoil.

I would like to do a 3 hour around the island boat tour and will book this beforehand. Will decide if to skip Blue Grotto in lieu of smaller and hopefully less crowded ones on the actual day and advice of the guide. The boys will want to swim and snorkel a bit if possible. I'd like to see the Faraglionni and Natural Arch from the water if possible. We would grab sandwiches for the boat from the Marina.

The rest of the day would be spent on the island. My tentative plan is to take the bus to Anacapri and ride the chair lift to the top. Undecided about ride or hike down. Would get back to Capri (bus? walk?) and then walk to the Augustus Gardens and hopefully down the Via Krupp to the Marina Piccola. Maybe a dip (though no sun at that time) and then bus back to Capri and funnicular to the Marina.

Does this seem doable? Considering the crowds, would it be better to reverse the order and tour the island in the am and the boat tour in the afternoon? There seems like so much to do but we have only 1 day.

Thanks for any advice!

vincenzo32951

Just offering an alternative or two to think about:

If you can make your way to Positano, you can hire a boat on the beach to take you to Capri, tour the island, and take you back at an appointed time. For four of you, you could hire one of the rubber speedboats and driver. He'll do the tour part first, including some hidden grottoes and bring you to the Blue Grotto if you choose -- it'll probably be a zoo at that time of year.

Then he can drop you at the marina. Consider hiring a convertible taxi to take you to Anacapri. A lot more fun than the bus.

kybourbon

If you are planning to take a regular ferry or hydrofoil back to Sorrento, you will not be able to stay late on Capri. Last boat is usually around 7 - 7:30 or so.

isabel

You do not need to go to Positano to get a boat to Capri, there are plenty of options from Sorrento. There are public ferry and hydrofoil options, but as pointed out the last one is not very late. There are also 'day trips' - several hotels have one. We stayed at Ulysses Hotel and they offered a great trip that included a relatively small boat over and back, about 4 hours on the island and then a two hour boat ride around the island (including stopping at the blue grotto). If you take a public ferry over there are tons of people selling rides around the island from the marina once you get there. But these are usually only an hour long.

Here's the link to my trip report that includes the day trip to Capri that we took (in July) from Sorrento. It was great.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rful-weeks.cfm

Jean

IMO, the walk down from Mt. Solaro will take too much time. We thought the paths were not very well-marked, so finding the most direct, fastest route back to Anacapri wasn't easy. You'll want to spend a little time at the top looking at the views.

kja

You'll need to keep an eye on the watch to make sure you get your boat back to Sorrento, so like Jean, I would think trying to walk down from Mt. Solaro a bit much. OTOH, if you have time, the Villa San Michele in Anacapri is quite lovely.

isabel

And the walk from Villa San Michele down to the harbor is via the Phoenician Steps. My legs were like jelly when we got down there but what a view.

Christina55

I think you can do it
Here you can find some suggestions to visit Capri in a day http://www.capri.com/en/i/the-island-in-a-day

And here the ferry and hidrofoil times from Sorrento: http://www.capri.com/en/ferry-schedule

HillsdaleHounds

Thanks Christina55 for that link. It's exactly what I was planning to do that day!! Now I have hope ��

Pawleys

Great info. Thanks

WWK

We took a wonderful tour around Capri with a company called WHALES DI WENDY. The owners are Wendy and Stefano. We had a blast, and they will customize to your taste. You need to reserve at least a day ahead if interested. I think it's probably cheaper than going through a hotel.

BTW, it's also much more comfortable than stuffing your family into one of those rubber boats at the Positano town dock. We had a lot of fun taking one of those one day with a driver to Nerano, but the water was quite choppy and we were all sore when we got out for lunch!

tuscanlifeedit

Here's the part that gives me pause:

"Would get back to Capri (bus? walk?) and then walk to the Augustus Gardens and hopefully down the Via Krupp to the Marina Piccola. Maybe a dip (though no sun at that time) and then bus back to Capri and funnicular to the Marina."

Buses are very crowded and small, and it will be hot. The buses aren't always prompt, and sometimes they are over full and pass by a stop. If I had a boat to catch, I might rethink the stop at Marina Piccola or reroute to depend less on the buses.

Sassafrass

While I am no big fan myself, I think your kids would love going to the Blue Grotto (or ones similar). I took young teens and they loved it.