Things to Do in Capri Italy
The highlights page lists the places. This one lists the things you can actually do with a day, in the order most people end up doing them. Where an activity needs a boat, a guide or a ticket, the Capri Italy tours from Sorrento bundle the lot into one fare.
Get in the water somewhere you cannot reach on foot
Almost every boat here anchors and puts a ladder over the side, usually off the Faraglioni.
Paddle into a cave a motorboat cannot enter
A kayak fits where a hull does not, and it is the cheapest way onto the water here.
Walk a coast path with nobody on it
The Sentiero dei Fortini and the Arco Naturale loop are free, and the day boats never reach either.
Ride to 589 metres on a chair
Twelve minutes from Anacapri, and the whole Bay of Naples on the way up.
Sit in the Piazzetta and pay for the view
Four cafes, a clock tower and the most watched square in southern Italy.
Taste what the island grows
Lemons the size of a fist, and the limoncello that comes out of them.
Swimming, and where you can actually get in
Capri has almost no sand. What it has is rock, pebble and a great deal of very clear water, and the good swimming is nearly all reached from a boat or down a flight of steps.
| Where | What it is | How you reach it | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marina Piccola | The island's main bathing beach, pebble, on the south side | Bus or taxi from Capri town, about 10 minutes | Public sections free; beach clubs charge |
| Bagni di Tiberio | A cove on the north shore below a Roman villa site | Small boat from Marina Grande, or a long walk | Free to swim; the lido charges |
| The Faraglioni | Deep water beside the stacks, the standard boat swim stop | By boat only | Free from a boat |
| Punta Carena | Rock platforms under the lighthouse, and the sunset | Bus from Anacapri, about 20 minutes | Free; there is a paid lido too |
| Cala del Rio and the coves | Small clear-water inlets on the west and south | By boat only | Free from a boat |
Take something on your feet. The pebbles are the sort that hurt, and the boat ladders are metal.
Out on the water
This is what the island is for, and the choice splits three ways. A shared boat runs about two hours and takes a dozen people round the coast for a fixed per-person fare. A charter is priced per boat, which means at six or eight travellers it can undercut the shared seats, and the route becomes yours. And a kayak — the most affordable way onto the water — goes into the sea caves that nothing with an engine can enter.
| What | Roughly | How long | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kayak from Marina Piccola | From $51 | 1h 30m | Confident swimmers who want the caves up close |
| Shared boat round the island | From $65 | 2 hours | One afternoon, no charter budget |
| Shared boat with a swim and limoncello | From $105 | 2 hours | The most-reviewed trip on the water here |
| Private charter from Capri | From $348 per boat | 3 hours | Small groups who want their own route |
| Private charter from the mainland | From $1,479 per boat | 7 hours to 8 hours | Parties staying in Sorrento or Positano |
Whichever you pick, check whether the Blue Grotto is on its route and whether the ticket is in the fare — on most of these it is not, and the Blue Grotto tours page explains why.
Ready to get on the water?
Every trip here refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead, so the date can be settled now and the weather worried about later.
Walking the island
Capri empties above about 200 metres, and the walks are free. The Arco Naturale loop from the Piazzetta takes an hour and a half and passes the Grotta di Matermania on the way to the arch. The Sentiero dei Fortini runs along the west coast between the old Napoleonic-era forts, roughly two hours one way, with nothing on it but the sea. The path to Monte Solaro from Piazza Vittoria in Anacapri climbs to 589 m in about an hour, and walking one leg and riding the other is the sensible compromise. The Scala Fenicia, the old stepped route between Capri and Anacapri, is a much longer climb than it looks on a map.
All of these are best before eleven or after four, for the same reason everything else on the island is: the day boats. The best time to visit page has the timetable.
Eating, and the one thing to order
Two dishes are Capri's own. Insalata caprese — tomato, mozzarella, basil — was named for the island, and a torta caprese is the flourless chocolate and almond cake that turns up at the end of most meals here. Ravioli capresi, filled with caciotta and marjoram, is the third.
Prices climb with the view. A table in the Piazzetta costs what a table in the Piazzetta costs, and eating in Anacapri or at Marina Grande is markedly cheaper for the same food. If you would rather learn to cook it than pay for it, one of the listings here is a three-hour class in a Capri kitchen with wine from the host's own family vineyard, capped at five people.
Lemons, limoncello and what is worth buying
The lemons are real, they are enormous, and the limoncello made from their peel is the island's one genuine souvenir. Five of the boat trips listed here pour it aboard, usually at the end. The other things actually made here are handmade leather sandals, cut to your foot in an afternoon, and the perfumes blended on the island. Everything else in the shop windows of Via Camerelle is the same as everywhere else, at Capri prices.
If you have a second day, or an afternoon with nothing in it
Doing nothing is a legitimate plan here. Take the funicular up, walk out to the Belvedere di Tragara for the Faraglioni from above, buy a coffee in the Piazzetta and sit down; two hours and about €10 covers all of it, and it is what people who come back tend to do.
A whole second day belongs to the high island. Anacapri, the chairlift, Villa San Michele and the bus down to the Punta Carena lighthouse make an entirely different day from the one at sea level, and the two do not compete for the same hours. The highlights page prices each of them, and getting there covers the last boat back if you are not staying.
Sources
Checked on 5 September 2026. Hours, fares and timetables belong to the bodies that publish them and they change with the season. The official pages are the place to confirm before you travel.
Pick the boat that fits your day
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead on every trip listed here.
See Top Tours