How to Spend 24 Hours Visiting Capri, Italy
Capri – A Gorgeous Island Located off the Amalfi Coast
Capri, Italy is a timeless island located off the Amalfi Coast on the western side of the country. It’s small size and close proximity to mainland Italy make it the perfect place to spend one day of your vacation if you’re traveling to the Amalfi Coast or Naples. My husband and I spent four wonderful days exploring the Amalfi Coast in September and we would highly recommend using one day to visit Capri! It’s the perfect blend of a beautiful Italian town with quality coastal Italian food!
If you’d like to check our full Amalfi Coast travel post, click here: Amalfi Coast 4-Day Travel Guide!
Itinerary
8:20am – Ferry Boat from Sorrento to Capri
When taking a day trip you always want to make the most of your time! Whether you are a morning person or not, taking an early transit option to your destination will provide the most time to explore! My husband and I stayed at an Airbnb in Sorrento, Italy (the perfect affordable base location for your trip to the Amalfi Coast) and took the second ferry of the day from the ferry port in Sorrento.
There are many ferry options to Capri, most taking 20-30 minutes to get to the island and priced between €18-30 euros per person. There are also a few different ferry brands you can pick from depending on your schedule. Before your trip, I’d suggest checking the website for time schedules and availability From Sorrento to Capri – Ferry Schedules & Prices2024. It’s also a good idea to book your tickets in advance because there was a super long line to buy them at the ferry port.
9:00am – Walk around Capri’s Port Area
We arrived in Capri around 9:00am, which was a little later than scheduled but seems to be common for these ferries. Once getting off the ferry, we walked along the dock to Capri’s port, Marina Grande. Regardless of if you are taking a ferry from Sorrento or Naples, all ferries dock at Marina Grande port. Marina Grande was very crowded even in the early morning which is to be expected even when traveling in the shoulder seasons. You can spend some time walking around Marina Grande where there are some shops and restaurants, but I’d caution you that these places are a little overpriced since they’re right off the port.
9:45am – Pastries and Coffee and Lots of Uphill Walking!
After walking around Marina Grande, we started off on the uphill trek to the city of Capri, which is on up on a big hill in the middle of the island. If you’re not up for walking, you have the option to take a cable car to and from Marina Grande and Capri for only a few euros! Along our walk we stopped at a small breakfast bar for coffee and pastries, always the highlight of our mornings in Italy!
The mostly uphill walk to Capri took us a little over an hour, partially because we stopped for breakfast and views along the way!
11:00am – Dreamy Paninis and Capri Town
Once we were almost to the town of Capri on the hill, we stopped at Dodeca supermarket hungry for food. Little did we know we were about to have the best panini of our whole trip! The man in the deli was hilarious and was unsure of my request for a panini with prosciutto and mortadella (apparently, it’s not common to have more than one meat on a sandwich in Italy). After grabbing a panino (singular for panini in Italian) loaf, he came back and told me he would not make a panino with both meats! He was super nice about it, and instead said he would make me a prosciutto, burrata, and pesto panino. I’m very glad we listened to him, because he was right, that combination of fresh ingredients on baked-that-morning bread was amazing and affordable!
After indulging in panini, Samuel and I explored the Piazzetta in the center of Capri. This beautiful town square offers the best views of Capri. As a warning, the Piazzetta was just as packed as Marina Grande. It seems everyone wants to see what Capri has to offer! Anyway, there are charming buildings and cute churches located around the Piazzetta, so take some time to walk around, take in the architecture, and enjoy the view! Maybe even enjoy a cold, refreshing lemon ice served in a fresh lemon!
2:00pm – Walk to Marina Piccola
Capri town is beautiful, and you can see the ocean for miles, but after being in two super crowded areas, we were ready for a more relaxing scene. We headed over to the swimming area known as Marina Piccola. Unlike Marina Grande, large commercial boats don’t dock here. However, you are likely to see some smaller, private boats, and possibly some celebrities on them! To get to Marina Piccola, we walked from Capri town along Via Krupp. Along the way we passed took a pitstop at the Augustus Gardens. Augustus Gardens costs a few euros and offers a perfect serene escape from the crowded Piazzetta.
Continuing along Via Krupp, we arrived at Marina Piccola in about 20 minutes. This walk is pretty much all downhill, which was much appreciated after the uphill walk to Capri town. Just keep in mind that you’ll be walking up on the way back or you can take a bus also! I’d vouch for the walk though as it offers the most beautiful views.
Marina Piccola is a wonderful little beach surrounded by rocky cliffs and the sunlight is so warm and inviting! Samuel and I spent a couple hours swimming in the cool water, laying out in the sun, and reading my book. It was a delightful afternoon!
4:30pm – Leisurely Make Our Way Back to Marina Grande
Capri is a very small island so after our time at Marina Piccolo we felt like we saw most of the island. If you’re willing to spend some extra money and want to see the island from the water, I’d suggest adding either the Capri boat tour to your day and/or the Blue Grotto! I was really looking forward to seeing the Blue Grotto, however, being able to see it is determined by the weather and tides, which unfortunately were not in our favor. If I ever go back to Capri, I hope I get to do both the boat tour and the Blue Grotto!
Since neither of those were in our plans, we leisurely strolled back to the Piazzetta where we got some refreshing gelato to cool off! Then, we made the downhill walk about the Marina Grande to catch our ferry boat back to Sorrento.
6:00pm – Ferry Back to Sorrento
Around 6:00pm we took a ferry boat back to our base stay location of Sorrento. We opted to take an earlier ferry boat ride back and have dinner in Sorrento as restaurants are much more affordable in Sorrento than in Capri. However, if you want to spend more time in Capri, it would be a nice experience to eat dinner as the sun is setting over the island!
Capri Day Trip Recap
Getting to Capri – About 20-30 minutes by ferry boat
Getting Around Capri – Capri is best explored by walking, however getting up to Capri town is more easily accessible by the affordable cable car (about €3 euros)
Best Time to Visit – March to October
Budget for A Couple – $175-$225 euros
Helpful Tips
- Purchase ferry ticket in advance at From Sorrento to Capri – Ferry Schedules & Prices2024
- There’s a quicker 20-minute option or the standard 30-minute option
- If you’d like to visit the Blue Grotto, plan accordingly to the weather and tides. You can call the office in the morning to see if they’ll be open that day. Do this early in the morning to avoid lines if you plan to see it!
- If lots of walking and stairs will be difficult or inconvenient for you, take the cable car to and from Marina Grande/Capri Town and the bus to and from Capri Town/Spaggia di Marina Piccoli (the beach!)
- Wear comfortable shoes, bring swimsuit and lots of sunscreen, you’ll be in the sun all day
