Hi all,

With the advice of so many here, my husband and I have a trip planned for the first two weeks of May to Italy that we are SO looking forward to! However, you know what they say about the best laid plans ... here's the dilemma:

We originally had planned to fly from Venice to Naples, arrive ~1:00p, have a driver pick us up, visit Pompeii, and catch the last boat from Sorrento to Capri (where we are staying) around 7p that night. However, our airline (AirOne - BOO!) moved our flight back to a 3:00 p arrival. It's their first flight of the day and the earliest flight out of Venice that day except for a 7:00 am Alitalia that would be murder to catch.

I checked with the driver we booked, and he thought we could still squeeze in an hour or so max at Pompeii, but my husband and I are thinking that it's just overdoing it and we can leave Capri to go back and see Pompeii if we really decide we can't live without seeing it on this trip.

That's where the question comes in -- how easy/feasible would it be to catch a taxi from the airport in Naples to the port and then get a boat (hydrofoil?) from Naples to Capri? Is that the best alternative? I'd rather not splurge on a driver if we're not going to get the most bang for our (ever-shrinking) buck.

What say you, fodorites??

Thanks in advance, as always ...

Hi A,

>how easy/feasible would it be to catch a taxi from the airport in Naples to the port and then get a boat (hydrofoil?) from Naples to Capri?

There won't be any difficulty finding a cab at NAP to take you to the docks.

Do you have the ferry schedules?

Hi Ira:

I bookmarked this a while back ...

http://www.capri.net/salsa/lang/en/page/transport.html

Although there seem to be plentiful options, I thought I'd double check it a few days before departure so I am hopefully working with the most accurate schedule.

You can just buy tickets at the dock, correct? More importantly - where is the dock in Naples? I haven't seen that turn up ...

Given your limited options, if it were me, I'd commit that murder to catch the 7:00 am Alitalia...

Just wanted to mention that we headed straight to Capri when we hit Naples and then took an afternoon and ferried over to see Pompeii. There is no need for the driver. Take a cab. But you should probably close your eyes when you get close to the ferry drop off. Our driver crossed four lanes of moving traffic at a breakneck speed to get into the marina. This, alas, is typical. Have a blast!

Dejais, did you have to have specific directions/address for the ferry dock? (I know this sounds weird, but I live in DC, where you have to get in a cab and then tell them how to get there.) Or can we just ask for the name of the dock as given by the ferry company?

Also, does any one know if the taxis from the airport are regulated? I've had some bad experiences w/gypsy cabs in other countries ...

I haven't taken a taxi from the Naples airport, but I'm thinking if you wait in the taxi rank you'll be safe. I don't think the driver will have trouble understanding where you want to go, but here's a timetable that shows the harbor names. Print this out and show the driver which ferry you want.

http://www.capri.com/en/orari-traghetti

There are actually are two marinas - one has alot more departures than the other. I know you can find ferry schedules somewhere so you would know which departure point is best for you time wise. Maybe someone here can post the link to the ferry companies. And yes, the traffic in the marina area (and all of Naples that I have seen) is chaos. One year we paid probably an additional 15E's while the taxi crawled along to make a U turn. The next year, the taxi dropped us off on the opposite side of the street - between the traffic and my anxiety that we were due to be robbed AT ANY MOMENT (Naples, you know!)I don't know which was worse - the overpayment for crawling thru the traffic or having to get across the very busy street, pulling our bags. But I'm sure you'll make it! and you will love Capri!

Passenger vessels to Capri leave from Molo Beverello which is near Castel Nuovo and Piazza Municipio.
www.navlib.it
www.caremar.it
www.snav.it
Some of Caremar's services are by car ferries which now sail from Porta di Massa, about 750m north west from Molo Beverello. These ferries started using this quay on 4 February.

Thanks, everyone. This is super-helpful!

abcdc...As I remember, we came in on the overnight train from Venice and had made friends with another couple. We were all headed to the same ferry so I am pretty sure that someone gave the specific name of the marina as there are two (as someone stated in an earlier post). But if you read the ferry schedules you should know which one you are headed for and this will help.

Also, just as an aside, abc, one of the absolute best things we did while we were staying in Capri was hire a guy in the harbor to take us around the island on his boat. I have his name and number if you are interested. He was quite knowledgable and a LOT of fun. Cost was around 180E but it was a private tour, he took us to the Blue Grotto (and others) and he stopped for us to swim at great places. We were out about 4 hrs. Post back if you want his info.

At this point I would not book anything on Alitalia.

And I think I would skip Pompeii.

Dejais, that would be great if you would be willing to share his info. Capri is the one leg of the trip where we are being completely laid back and flexible about what we do during the day - no agenda whatsoever. (Not to mention we are saving abt EUR 130 by now skipping the driver to Pompeii ...)

And tuscanlife, I booked on Air One specifically to avoid Alitalia! I don't know a thing about them, but I couldn't find any bad reviews online, which one cannot say about Alitalia.

abcdc...Email me at [email protected] and I will be happy to give all the info I have. I also have some restaurant names we ate in in Capri if you need some.

I'm also planning to get from Naples airport to Capri, having given up on staying in Naples because of the garbage situation. However, I'm planning to take the airport bus to Piazzo Municipio and then walk to the ferry dock. (I pack light.) Any reason that won't work? It doesn't look very far on the map.

Dejais, why don't you just post the information here so others can learn as well? Thanks!

thursdaysd: It will work.

That's what I did -- when we came out of the airport, we just asked people "Molo Beverello?" and got on the bus we were directed to get on, confirming with the driver that we were going to Molo Beverello. When we got off it was a pretty short walk to the ferry ticket booths, we just followed the crowd. We were dragging our luggage and managed fine, with our limited Italian and all.

In retrospect, it probably would have been easier to take a taxi from the airport to the port, because it's not a very long trip, and we might have been dropped off a little closer, but it certainly wasn't a huge deal to take the bus.

abcdc

I just noticed that we may be in Capri at the same time, as we are also going to Italy the first two weeks of May.

We arrive on Capri on May 10 and depart May 13. How about you?

I also would like to know the information for the private tour by boat around Capri.

And I forgot to mention that in my experience, AirOne is fine.

Hi Tuscan - For Capri boat tours try:

http://www.capritimeboats.com/

http://www.caprirelaxboats.com/

http://www.capriseaservice.com/

http://www.caprieventi.com/salsa/en/...?card1_id=1053

http://www.caprieventi.com/salsa/en/...l?card1_id=884

http://www.caprieventi.com/salsa/en/...l?card1_id=450


You can find other links on:

http://www.capri.net/salsa/lang/en/page/home.html

Hope this helps ...

Steve