tuleppy

We will be in Capri this August for a week and would like suggestions on things to do! We are renting a villa for a week. We love food, off the beaten path things, shopping, art, music, festivals! It sounds like they do not rent cars which is a bummer for us, as we like to explore! I am little nervous about this and having to rely on taxis. We are celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary with our 3 girls! We are also spending a week in the Amalfi Coast and I have that pretty much all figured out. I have not done a ton of research on Capri yet and looking for any advice! Thank you!

kja

What guide book(s) are you using?

tuleppy

No guidebook. I use the internet to research.

kja

Your trip, your loss! The cost of a guidebook will be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip. As an experienced traveler, I strongly urge you to reconsider.

tuleppy

I am a very experienced traveler KJA. I have traveled the world. Sorry you have so much anger.. Please don't respond anymore..

kja

Not anger, tuleppy -- freely given advice. Good luck!

Jean

I like guidebooks, too, but I guess everyone travels differently.

At least Google Top 10 or 20 things to do on Capri and then look at locations and walking distances on maps.google.com. You will be doing a lot of walking.

When we were last there, we bought a multi-day pass for the mini buses that run around the island. That pass isn't available anymore, and the single ride fare is not cheap. 2 euros, I think. Buses will be crowded in August. You should research the bus routes in relation to your lodging and your sightseeing.

You could also look into renting scooters for a day or two or three. However, when we looked into it, we decided there were too few places near sightseeing where scooter parking was legal so we'd just be driving around and not really sightseeing. Also, not cheap, and there is a minimum age limit.

Just FYI, Capri is only 4 sq. miles, and August is the absolute peak of high season. I highly doubt there are any "off the beaten path" places or things that anyone could recommend.

Capri.net has a lot of info.

HappyTrvlr

Views from the Giardini de Augusto are beautiful. Walk out to Punta Tragara for more ciews. Visit Anacapri, chair lift, charming town. Take a boat ride aeoung the island; they often cancel due to the conditions of tne sea.
since you are renting a cilla you won’t have a front desk staff to help you with recommendations and restaurant reservations.
I also agree with kja that a guide book would be very helpful. She has not shown any anger in her posts, only helpful recommendations..

suec1

Well I think you can find alot on the internet - some guide books don't have all that much info on Capri - it is a pretty small part of Italy!

So there are some lovely walks - some are strolls, some are arduous (death marches!) I loved exploring on foot thru residential areas and then up to the old Roman ruins. Anacapri is a great day outing - the chair lift and there is a church there with an amazing mosaic of the garden of Eden, I think.

As far as restaurants go, I think the internet is much better than a guide book - so much more info and current reviews. Some of the restaurants are pretty chi-chi as some very rich folks like to go to Capri. But you can stroll and look at the menus - the one we really liked, cliff side in Capri town, has changed owner.

You might want to do a beach club for a day - usually there is a restaurant on site. You used to be able to swim into the Blue Grotto from a beach club at that end of the island - or take a boat in from there instead of doing the whole circle. But I'm sure you can get all the info you need on TripAdvisor.

whitehall

I am always surprised to see the first suggestion by posters here is to get a guide book. When I made my first trip to Europe 18 years ago, I collected all sorts of guide books, and all have been tossed away. The internet has so much info, from all sorts of perspectives, all for free. Here is Lonely Planet's lengthy list, for example, of top things to see and do on Capri: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/c...o/a/poi/359874

We have been to Capri a few times and enjoyed hiring a private boat to circle the island and see some of the smaller and less busy grottoes. One of our favorite spots in Italy for views is the top of Monte Solaro in Anacapri.

ToujoursVoyager

We rented a villa last year in Capri for 5 nights and there was a lot to do. Capri.net has good suggestions. Don't worry about relying on taxis. They are fun, convertibles, and we never had an issue getting one. We did several hikes, boat tours, ate at fantastic restaurants, visited Villa St Michele, went up Mount Solaro on the chairlift, swam every day.

kja

I recommend guidebooks because they have, in one place, information about the things people don't know to ask -- and of course, the internet is only as good as the questions one knows to post. I read a lot of posts in which people bemoan what they wish they had known, and those posts almost always make me sad, because that information is almost always featured in the better guidebooks to the places they visited.

whitehall

Like it or not, printed travel guides will soon be a thing of the past. Our children, and their many friends, do much more travel than we ever thought of when we were 20, 30 or 40 somethings. And, not one of them has ever looked at a travel guide. Their phones and tablets are determining the future of printed guides. Digital information, or even digital travel guides, already are replacing many of them. Despite, massive growth in travel, printed guides have been losing significant ground for a decade. Expect that decline to continue. Today’s traveler has access to loads of free information and wants up-to-the minute information. Guides printed even once a year, by their very nature, cannot keep up with the digital revolution. The exciting thing is that in the future, I expect that the massive information that is contained on the internet will get better organized, and soon we will be able to self-create a customized travel guide for an entire trip.

kja

If you choose to forego valuable information because of your vision of the future, sobeit! In the meantime, I will continue to use, and recommend the use of, guidebooks.

suec1

Guidebooks help me with the big picture - for example in planning a 2 week trip to a new country. I can see the major cities, get an idea of distances (maps!) and then some ideas of sights there so I know how long I might want to stay and what part of a city could be most convenient. Then it's time for the internet. In our current discussion Capri is such a small destination the internet is going to have more detailed information.

I know some posters start out here with a very broad request, like what should I do in Italy fo two weeks. and it really would be much better if they started with a guidebook. However, I love to travel chat so I don't mind tossing out a few ideas as well and hope they follow up with their own research and perhaps getting a guidebook!

tuleppy

I am laughing here as I never thought my original post would turn into a discussion on 'Travel Guidebooks' vs. Internet searching. HAHA! I feel guidebooks like a few of you have said are not up to date. I also don't want to be carrying them with me while traveling. There are SO many travel blogs and websites that are extremely helpful! For me, I prefer to research in that manner. Thank you for all the information! We are planning a boat and seeing the Grottos, heading over to Ischia to explore for a day as well. We are very excited to explore the island and of course take many pictures of those gorgeous views! Thanks again!

whitehall

We enjoyed several days on Ischia. A good starting point for us: https://www.ischiareview.com/to-see--do.html

Vttraveler

I would highly recommend a visit to Villa San Michele in Anncapri, mentioned in another post.
Villa San Michele ? Villa San Michele ? English version
The Thursday tours to Monte Barbarossa also sound very worthwhile.
Munthe, who built San Michele, wrote a fascinating book called The story of San Michele.

tuleppy

Thanks for that website Whitehall! Some great info!! Vttraveler, I am going to try to find that book! Thanks!

PalenQ

The most striking thing I saw in Capri was the Villa Jovis (which I'm assume is on your list but if not - it's perhced high up on a cliff off which Tiberius was said to allegedly toss his enemies - I then had a lovely walk across center of island to Ana Capri and chairlift to higher summits. Walk was neat on little lanes - mopeds would be great too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Jovis

I enjoyed Ischia as much as Capri - both were great but Ischia more a spa for Italians than foreign tourists.