What to Expect During a Weekend in Capri

In my personal opinion, Capri captures the best of both worlds. You have the emerald waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea squeezing against a dramatic mountainous island. For me, this combination of natural beauty of the sea and the soaring mountains is just simply captivating.

How to get there

When we planned our trip, we found out that the best place to fly into would be Naples. Then to connect Naples to Capri, your only option is to go by water. For just €20, you can catch the high-speed ferry at the Molo Beverello Port in Naples. In 45 minutes you will arrive at this beautiful Italian island.

Ferries run frequently so it wasn’t a problem that we didn’t pre-book our tickets when we went. If you’re planning your own trip to Capri, check out the most up to date timetable here!

Transportation

The Ferry drops off at the Marina Grande port. From there, you have a couple of different options for transportation. First, you can take the Funicular to the center of Capri, which is the fastest option. This ticket will only run €1.80. Unfortunately,  the months of January through March, the Funicular is closed for maintenance, so travelers have to use a different form of transportation. Luckily, there are still plenty of affordable options to get from one point to another.

Since I came to Capri during these months, I used the public bus. A single ticket costs €1.80, and connects several stops throughout the island. Buses run about every 20 minutes, however we quickly learned that they are always on “Italian time”; A.K.A they are unpredictable when they will show up. Even if it is on schedule, they are quite small and don’t fit a lot of people. That means they are often times crowded and can have a very long line.

Walking is your next best option for saving money. Whenever I travel, I walk everywhere I can. Not only to save money, but also so I can “earn” that gelato I probably will be eating later that night.

With all of our backpacks straight off the ferry, walking all the way to Anacapri (where we were staying) from the port just wasn’t an option. The walk, which is definitely more of a climb, has steep uphill stairs and takes about 45 minutes. I do suggest doing this scenic path during your visit; however drop off your bags first.

You can also take the more convenient option by renting a taxi. This would obviously be the easiest way to get to your accommodation and probably the smartest. But when you’re ballin’ on a budget like we always are, waiting for the bus would be just fine. A taxi from the port to Anacapri will cost around €20.

Hiking

Once you get out of the main towns and you’re surrounded by lemon groves and vineyards, you will understand why Capri is so incredible. While they do have traditional hiking trails, you can still get amazing views just by venturing on their walking paths. These walking trails link together all the towns of the island. If you are down for some adventure and a butt-kicking workout, go get lost on these steep cobblestone stairs. We really didn’t know where we were going when we initially started to wander on one of the trails, however it’s impossible to get too lost.

The views from the trails are unlike anything I have ever seen before. Between the lush green landscape of the surrounding mountains and the piercing blue waters below, you could say I was quickly transported to heaven.

I would also suggest taking the trails downhill and use the public bus to get back to your original location. Unless you are doing these stairs purely for exercise, don’t put yourself through that misery. If you do choose to be a trooper and hike uphill, wear real walking shoes. You’ll thank me later.

Food

If you are a student traveling to Capri, know before you go everything is going to be expensive and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Katie, Ashley, and I felt like we were a couple of backpacking hoodlums roaming through the streets of this swanky island. We constantly looked under dressed even when we were just walking around town.

When it comes to affordable dining options, be prepared to be paying more than most places you’ve probably visited in the past. Expect to pay €14-20 at least if you go to a sit down dinner. We found a restaurant called Buca de Baco that seemed to have the best reviews with the cheapest prices.  They also had a lemon Alfredo pasta that was to die for.

Of course you can grab the italian favorites like cannolis and gelato, but don’t even think about leaving Capri without trying something made with lemons. Whether it’s sweet or savory, locals seem to sell every kind of lemony treat.

Activities

A popular activity to do in Capri is to take a chairlift from Anacapri to Mount Solaro. Mount Solaro is the highest point on the island and delivers the most breathtaking views while soaring 589 meters above sea level. It costs €11 round trip, but if you wanted you could pay just €8 and hike your way down. This is another way to get those scenic views of the island, without breaking the bank. As long as you aren’t too scared of heights, you’ll be good!

If there is one thing this island is known for, it would hands down be for its enchanting Blue Grotto. In fact, most people arrange their travel plans to stop at this island specifically to visit this phenomenal spectacle. In our case, that was top priority for Ashley and Katie.

I was fortunate enough to see the grotto four years ago with my family on our Italian summer vacation. It definitely is one of those places that you just have to see in your lifetime.

How it works is tour companies organize groups of people down by the port and take them around the island by boat for about €18. From there, tourists then get on a smaller rowboat right outside the blue grotto for an additional €13. Although you only get about 5 minutes inside the grotto, the experience is worth every penny (even on a budget). The skipper of the rowboat makes everyone lay down flat on their backs while he reels the boat through an opening in the side of the cliff. You are going to think that there is absolutely no way the rowboat will fit, but some how these skippers have perfected the timing of the tide and know exactly when it’s time to pull the boat inside the grotto.

Once inside, the enclosed grotto brightly glows the most vivid color blue you will ever see. This happens from the sunlight that comes through the opening of the grotto which reflects the light to illuminate the entire cave. There is something so unique and magical about this place.  There is no way for me to properly describe its full beauty, unless you go see it for yourself.

Our Experience

Unfortunately, we did not have the best of luck on our only available day to see the Blue Grotto. If the tide is too high, like it just happened to be the day we went, then the boats cannot go inside safely. Which means you’re basically out of luck. Since we had arranged our entire backpacking trip to see the grotto, you could say we were beyond pissed off, and that’s putting it nicely. The situation was completely out of our control, but it clearly taught us that no matter how much you plan, things can always go wrong. This seemed to be turning into a common theme for our two week backpacking excursion.

So with an open day of endless possibilities, we had to rearrange our plans.

We ended up going in a completely different direction. We knew we had to get to the Amalfi Coast by the end of the day, so instead of taking the last ferry that afternoon like we had planned, we decided to hop on the next available high speed ferry to Sorrento, which costs €16. Sorrento is the very first town along the Amalfi Coast and from there we would take a bus to the town of Amalfi.

Before we could catch our ferry, we had to get back to Anacapri to grab all of our luggage and we were very crunched on time. We tried to take the bus, however the line to board the bus was so long it would have taken hours, so our only other option would be to climb that treacherous steep stone path all the way to our town.  Let me just say, it was pure hell. Once we got our backpacks, we had to get on a bus as soon as possible if we were going to have any chance of making our ferry on time. Luckily, we were able to chase our bus down the street and hop on. Exhausted, sweaty, and tired, all we could do at that point was laugh at the luck we kept having. This is the point of the trip that we had to remind ourselves to role with the punches. To be frank, it seemed like we were in a losing battle, but hey, at least we made our ferry to Sorrento!

Next Stop: Amalfi Coast