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Capri Italy Tours › 13 Facts About Capri ItalyUpdated 2026-09-05

13 Facts About Capri Italy That Surprise First-Time Visitors

Hours, prices and access verified by the Capri Italy Tours team — last checked 2026-09-05

The cliffs of the Sorrentine coast falling into the Tyrrhenian, seen from high ground

The short answer

Tiberius governed Rome from Capri for ten years. The Blue Grotto's entrance is about a metre high, which is why it closes so often. A blue lizard lives on one of the three Faraglioni and nowhere else. And a German arms manufacturer paid for the island's finest footpath.

1. An emperor ran the Roman Empire from here for ten years

Tiberius moved to Capri permanently in AD 27 and governed from it until he died here in AD 37. Twelve villas on the island are attributed to him. The largest, Villa Jovis, still stands on the cliff at the north-east corner and is one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Italy. Admission is €6, and it is shut on Mondays and for the whole of January and February.

2. The Blue Grotto's entrance is about a metre high

Which is why you lie flat in the rowboat to get in. The opening is around two metres wide and a metre high, so a swell of almost any size makes your transfer unsafe and the cave closes. That decision is taken on the morning, at the cave, by the boatmen — not announced the day before.

3. A blue lizard lives on one rock and nowhere else

Podarcis siculus coeruleus is endemic to Scopolo, the outermost of the three Faraglioni. The usual explanation is camouflage against the water. You will not see one from a boat, and you cannot land.

4. The three stacks have names, and they are different heights

Stella, at 109 m, is still joined to the cliff. Faraglione di Mezzo, at 82 m, is the one with the arch that boats sail through. Scopolo, or Faraglione di Fuori, is 106 m and belongs to the lizards.

💡 Did you know? Passing through the arch in Faraglione di Mezzo is the single most photographed thing on the island, and it takes about ten seconds.

5. A German arms manufacturer built the island's best footpath

Friedrich Alfred Krupp commissioned the engineer Emilio Mayer to cut Via Krupp into the cliff between the Gardens of Augustus and Marina Piccola. It was built between 1900 and 1902 and drops about 100 m in a series of hairpins. It has been closed for long stretches since 1976 because of rockfall, and its openings are irregular, so what you can rely on is the view down onto it from the garden terrace.

6. Those gardens were his too, and they were renamed

The Gardens of Augustus were the Krupp Gardens until 1918. They cost you €2.50 today, which makes them the cheapest paid view on the island.

7. There are two towns and two separate councils

Capri and Anacapri are distinct comuni on an island of 10.4 square kilometres with about 13,451 residents between them. The bus between the two takes fifteen minutes and they do not feel like the same place.

8. The Blue Grotto was "rediscovered" in 1826

By the German writer August Kopisch, who turned it into a fixture of the Grand Tour. The Romans had used it long before that.

9. You cannot bring a car, and you would not want to

You cannot take a vehicle across as a non-resident for most of the year. What you get instead is a four-minute funicular at €2.40, buses at the same fare, and open-top taxis at fixed rates of €17 for up to four passengers.

10. Everyone pays to land, and almost nobody notices

You pay a landing tax of €5 per person from April to October and €2.50 the rest of the year. It is normally already inside your ferry ticket, which is why it feels like a rumour rather than a charge.

11. The island's summit is 589 metres, and a chair takes you up it

Monte Solaro, above Anacapri, and a single-seat chairlift takes you up from Piazza Vittoria in twelve minutes for €14 return. Walk it from the same square and you spend about an hour and nothing at all.

12. A Swedish doctor's house is one of the island's best museums

Axel Munthe (1857–1949) built Villa San Michele above Anacapri at the start of the twentieth century and filled it with Roman fragments. It will cost you €12, and do not plan it for February, when it is shut.

13. Most boat fares do not include the Blue Grotto

Of the trips listed here, only two put the €18 admission inside the price. On the others you either pay in cash outside or do not go in at all — and two of them tell you so in their own words. The Blue Grotto tours page sorts them out.

The figures, in one place

FactFigure
Island area10.4 km²
PopulationAbout 13,451
Highest pointMonte Solaro, 589 m
Tallest FaraglioneStella, 109 m
Blue Grotto entranceAbout 2 m wide, 1 m high
Blue Grotto, on a tour boat€18 (€12 rowboat + €6 entry)
Tiberius on CapriAD 27 to AD 37
Via Krupp built1900–1902
Gardens renamed1918

Nearly all of it costs you nothing to look at. What does not is on the visiting page, and things to do sorts the same island by activity instead of by fact.

Every trip named here is compared on price, hours and what the fare covers at Capri Italy Tours.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a ticket to get onto Capri?
No. Capri is an island with two working towns, not a gated site, and you can walk anywhere public on it for nothing. What you pay for is the boat over, the transport up the hill, and the handful of places that charge admission — the Blue Grotto, Villa San Michele, Villa Jovis, the Gardens of Augustus and the chairlift.
Why does the Blue Grotto close?
Because of the sea. The entrance is about a metre high, so any swell or strong wind makes the rowboat transfer unsafe and the boatmen close it, a decision taken on the morning rather than in advance. Several operators state in writing that if the cave shuts the tour runs without it and no refund is given, so a trip that includes other stops is the safer booking.
What is the difference between Capri and Anacapri?
They are two separate towns, and two separate comuni. Capri town sits on the saddle above Marina Grande with the Piazzetta and the smart shops; Anacapri is higher and quieter, and it is where Villa San Michele, the Monte Solaro chairlift and the road down to the Blue Grotto are. The bus between them takes about fifteen minutes.
What does Villa Jovis cost?
€6 full price, €2 for EU citizens aged 18 to 25 and free under 18. It closes on Mondays, shuts entirely in January and February, and opens weekends only in March. June to September are its longest hours, 9am to 7pm.
Can you swim at the Faraglioni?
Yes, and it is the standard swim stop on almost every boat trip here. Boats anchor off the stacks and put a ladder over the side, usually for fifteen to thirty minutes. The water is deep and clear, and the blue lizard that lives on Scopolo is not something you will meet in it.

Trips that get you to the things above

Half of this list is only visible from a boat, which is the real argument for spending part of a Capri day on the water.