Let’s face it, one of the things that deters budget-conscious travelers from coming to Capri is the island’s reputation as the privileged playground of the rich and famous.

How much does a weekend for two on Capri cost? 

Lets imagine you’re a couple traveling from Naples/Sorrento to the island of Capri for a couple of day.

It’s summer time and you want to spend one day relaxing by the sea and the other exploring the island.

Here’s a rough estimate of how much you can expect to spend. We based our calculations on two types of vacationer: the traveler with a limited budget at his disposal, and the holidaymaker with a little more cash to splash.

In both cases, the cost of accommodation was been based on the room rates applied in an affordable B&B in Anacapri. If, instead of visiting the island in the high season months of July and August, you come to Capri in the shoulder or low season, the price of accommodation will drop significantly  (to as little as 60 euro a night!). It goes without saying that, if you choose to stay in a luxury hotel in the center of Capri (at any time of the year) the prices of accommodation will sky-rocket!

N.B. all prices – with the exception of public transport – are approximate, and serve to give you a rough idea of how much you might spend!.

Economy weekend (a break that won’t break the bank) – on the island of Capri – 1 night

• 2 return ferry tickets Naples-Capri = 44 €
• 1 night in a bed and breakfast in Anacapri = 100  €
• 2 return funicular train tickets   = 7,20 €
• 2 return bus tickets  Capri – Anacapri = 7,20 €
• Time on a free beach (Marina Grande, Marina Piccola or Faro)= “free” means free!
• Lunch for two from a kiosk on the beach (one  roll and one soft drink per person): 20 €
• Dinner for two in a pizzeria (one  pizza and one beer per person )= 30 euro
• 2 return bus tickets Anacapri – Grotta Azzurra= 7,20 €
• 2 tickets for the Grotta Azzurra= 26 €
• 2 single tickets for the chairlift to Monte Solaro= 14 €
• Lunch for two in a reasonably priced restaurant= 70 €
• 2 coffees served at a table in the Piazzetta= 8 €
• 2 tickets for the Gardens of  Augusto= 2 €

Total= 335 euro

Comfort weekend (because you’re worth it!) on the island of Capri – 2 nights

• 2 return hydrofoil tickets Naples-Capri = 68 €
• 2 nights in a bed and breakfast in Anacapri = 200 €
• 2 return funicular train tickets = 7,20 €
• 2 return bus tickets Capri – Anacapri = 7,20 €
• Dinner for two in an economic restaurant= 60 €
• Entrance to beach club + use of two sun loungers  and umbrella= 50 €
• Lunch for two at the beach club’s restaurant = 120 €
• 2 drinks (aperitif) in the Piazzetta = 16 €
• Dinner for two in a pizzeria = 30 €
• Entrance to a night club a cocktail = 80 €
• 2 return bus tickets Anacapri- Marina Grande = 7,20 €
• 2 seats on a boat trip around the island  = 30 €
• 2 tickets for the Grotta Azzurra= 26 €
• 2 single tickets for the chairlift to Monte Solaro = 14 €
• Lunch for two in a reasonable priced  restaurant = 70 €
• 2 coffees served at a table in the Piazzetta= 8 €
• 2 tickets for the Gardens of Augustus = 2 €

Total= 795 euro

What do you think? Seems pretty reasonable or far too expensive? Have you ever spent a week-end on the island of Capri? Did you end up paying more or did you manage to spend less?

Whilst you’ll find traditional Neapolitan pizza on the menu in restaurants throughout the Campagna region, including here on the island of Capri, there’s nothing quite like a Margherita made in one of Naples’ historic pizzerias.

That’s why, after a day in the office, the Caprionline team can often be found heading across the water to enjoy a fragrant pizza on the mainland. Want to know where?

Sorbillo

21 sons, 21 pizza chefs: for the Sorbillo boys, pizza is a family passion. You’ll see customers queuing to enter Gino Sorbillo’s pizzeria long before you see the restaurant and, in fact, you’ll almost always have to wait to get a table. For many, the waiting is a fundamental part of the experience; amply rewarded by a generously sized, wonderfully light pizza . A great choice if you’re in the area near to the Tribunali, and Piazza San Domenico Maggiore.

Sorbillo
Via dei Tribunali 32, 80138 Napoli
Telephone +39 081 446643

Di Matteo

In the same area of the city as Sorbillo, Naples’ Restaurant Di Matteo is famous for both its pizza and fried foods. Di Matteo has had the honor of serving any number of celebrities, including the American President Bill Clinton, during his visit to Naples for the 1997 G7. The restaurant’s signature dish? The Ruota di Carro pizza: created for those with a seriously BIG appetite!

Di Matteo
Via dei Tribunali 94, 80138 Napoli
Telephone +39 081 455262

Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba

The name says it all: the Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba is the oldest pizzeria in Naples! In 1738, it was a meeting place for itinerant workers, a hundred years later, it was transformed into a tavern. Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba and its celebrity pizza chefs have been drawing crowds of pizza lovers ever since. Famous customers include King Ferdinand of Bourbon, Benedetto Croce, Salvatore Di Giacomo and Gabriele D’Annunzio.

Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba
Via Port’Alba 18, Napoli
Telephone +39 081 4421061

Da Michele

If you’re a pizza fan, at least once in your life, you must have a pizza from Da Michele. Much loved by pizza fundamentalists, this tiny little restaurant only makes two varieties of pizza: Margherita and Marinara. Although Michele Condurro opened his first pizzeria in 1906, it was in 1930 that he moved to the current premises in Via Cesare Sersale. 5 generations of pizza chefs have learnt their art from Michele: the art of making amazing pizza with just a few, high quality ingredients and dough which has risen – to perfection!

Da Michele
Via Cesare Sersale 1, 80139 Napoli
Telephone +39 081 553 9204

Da Attilio

You can’t get more traditional than this. Grandpa Attilio began selling pizzas cooked in his wood burning oven back in 1938. He passed the business (and all the secrets of pizza making) to his grandson. Today’s menu includes the spectacular Pizza Carnevale, the rim of which is filled with ricotta! Oh, and don’t worry if you see fellow customers drawing on the table cloths… it’s normal here!

Da Attilio
Via Pignasecca 17, 80134 Napoli
Telephone +39 081 552 0479

Have you got a favorite pizzeria in Naples? We’d love to know which it is – leave a comment below.

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Every time I tell one of my friends on the mainland that I now live on the Island of Capri all year round, their reaction ranges from an astonished “How on earth do you manage to live on Capri in the winter?” to a puzzled “What do you want to do that for, the place is deserted isn’t it?” to a sincerely concerned “Aren’t you worried you’ll end up getting seriously depressed?”

To be honest, that’s exactly the kind of thing I had found myself wanting to ask the islanders years ago, when, at the tender age of 15, I visited Capri on a cold and grey January morning, when almost every bar, shop, restaurant and hotel I came across was “closed for the winter season”.

15 years later, on a sunny September morning, I arrived on Capri for what was to be my first day’s work at Caprionline. On that occasion, I struggled to wade my way through lanes, flooded with tourists. The tourists continued to arrive in their hundreds, if not thousands, for the whole of September and October, to such an extent that, when, on one particularly warm and bright November morning, Capri woke up to discover that the morning ferries had all arrived half-empty, the island and the islanders all seemed to sigh one huge sigh of relief.

All of a sudden, you could actually see what the lanes of Capri looked like! And, walking down the zigzagging  Via Krupp, you could finally see the sea … nothing but the sea, without a yacht, motorboat or dinghy in sight.  In the Piazzetta, elderly islanders sat quietly reading the newspapers in the sun, at tables which, only days before, had been submerged in a hoard of holidaymakers. Capri was back.

It was when the icy winter rain came, and Capri wrapped her protective arms around all those who had not abandoned her, that I decided I too would stay.

As a winter resident, I was immediately made to feel one of the gang (an authentic islander!), and people who had previously ignored me, suddenly greeted me as if I was an old school chum.

Yes, it’s true, the island’s famous boutiques are all closed in the winter (the average islander doesn’t shop at Prada, Dolce&Gabbana, Gucci or Louis Vuitton anyway), but the grocery shops, supermarkets, a handful of bars and a couple of (good!) pizzerias and restaurants stay open throughout the year.

And the nightlife? “Do it yourself or don’t do anything” sums it up nicely!

Transportation is limited in winter: the funicular railway is closed and you’ll have to use local buses to get around. By the way, if you want to spend a night on the mainland, you’ll need to be at the port  by 20.00 hrs, when the last ferry to Naples sets sail. Miss that boat, and it’s just you, the sea and “the rock”.

 No! Do I miss the glitz and glamour of the celebrity-packed Piazzetta? Sometimes! But then, I go for a walk through the breathtakingly beautiful and blissfully tourist-free Capri and can’t help thinking how very lucky I am to experience this tiny Italian island winter, spring, summer and fall; 365 days a year.

Why should I visit Capri in the winter?

Want to come to Capri in the winter, but worried you’ll find everything closed? Here are a few insider tips for those keen to discover a different kind of Capri: wild, romantic, and almost completely tourist-free!

Transportation

If you’ve decided to come to Capri in the winter, the best way to get here is by ferry or fast ferry (operated by Caremar). The boats may be a little slower than hydrofoils, but they are cheaper and, more importantly, whilst hydrofoil services are almost always cancelled when the sea is rough, ferries invariably continue to sail. Bear in mind that from January to March Capri’s funicular railway is closed and the service replaced by a bus.
Ferry times to and from Capri

Where can I get a good coffee?

The only bar in the Piazzetta to stay open throughout the winter is the Piccolo Bar. A great choice for a shot of hot coffee or warming aperitif, both in and outside (the bar has recently purchased some incredibly effective patio heaters!).

Won’t they rip me off?
Don’t worry, contrary to popular belief, a coffee in Capri’s Piazzetta costs as much as anywhere else in Italy: 1.10 € if you drink it standing at the bar,  4€ if you drink it, at leisure, sat at one of the little tables outside.

What can I do?

Walk of course! One of the best walks (made all the more pleasant by the lack of crowds) begins at the Gardens of Augustus and continues down the spectacular Via Krupp all the way to Marina Piccola. Less energetic visitors can take the stroll along Via Tragara instead, knowing they’ll be rewarded by a fabulous view of the Faraglioni at the end. If the weather is fine and the sea is calm, you can visit the Grotta Azzurra. Don’t give up just because the ticket office is closed: ask one of the local fishermen in Marina Grande and, miraculously, a boat will appear!

Another all-year-round attraction is the chairlift to Monte Solaro. In the winter, the chairlift is open until 16.00hrs. On a clear winter’s day (without the risk of summer haze!) the view from the summit is particularly spectacular. Don’t be lazy: by all means, take the chairlift up to the top of the mountain, but make the descent in foot, via the pretty cliff edge church of Cetrella.

Where should I go to eat?

One advantage of coming to Capri in the winter is that the usual tourist traps are all closed and your chances of living and eating like a local are blissfully high! Here’s our list of tried and trusted winter watering holes:

• E’ Di Vino: a restaurant-wine bar hidden away in a little lane off Via Le Botteghe. Once a private home, the beds, sofas and traditional kitchen table of which are still on show, the restaurant has a distinctly vintage feel – as does the menu, comprised of old fashioned vegetable soups, stockfish, and semolina puddings….?Vico Sella Orta, 10/a Tel: +39 0818378364?Closed Tuesday
• Verginello: a simple restaurant famous for its good honest food and a view of the Bay of Naples guaranteed to take your breath away. Needless to say, the locals love it. Verginello does a great pizza too, available at both lunch and dinner.?Via Lo Palazzo, 25/A (at the bottom of the steps next to the post office on via Roma) – Tel: +39 081 8370944
• La Piazzetta: don’t be fooled by the name, you won’t find this restaurant in Capri’s famous square but rather in Marina Piccola. Whilst in the summer months, meals are served in the terrace facing the Faraglioni, in the winter customers eat inside in the sea-view dining room. On warm winter days, you can ask to eat on one of the few tables outside. The fish dishes are fabulous. Don’t dare leave without having tried the souffle: served warm with two little dishes of dark and white chocolate. Want to ease your calorie-induced sense of guilt? Walk back to the center of Capri up the tortuous Via Krupp ?Via Marina Piccola 126 -  Tel:    +39  081 8370944      ?Open for lunch only

If you decide to stay the night on the island, we suggest you have dinner in Anacapri, home to two of the island’s best eateries:

• Aumm Aumm: if you’re a pizza perfectionist, you’ve come to the right place! Aumm Aumm, serves a huge variety of pizzas (cooked in a traditional wood-burning oven), as well as panini and pasta dishes. This is where the islanders come to watch the soccer on the mega screen, so if there’s a big match (and especially if Napoli is playing) you’ll need to book in advance! ?Via Caprile 18 , Anacapri -  Tel. +39 081 8373000      ?Open evenings only, closed Monday
• Il Buco: good pizza and a good selection of typical island dishes too. Intimate with just a few tables. The spaghetti with clams is simply divine!? Via Tommaso De Tommaso 24, Anacapri – Tel +39 0818371970

And if I decide to stay for the night?
The majority of Capri’s hotels are closed from early November until Easter. This said, there is an ever growing number of B&Bs on the island – nearly all of which stay open all-year-round.
To find out who’s open and who’s not, check out our online booking site:
Find a hotel on the island of Capri

‘Four friends on the island of Capri’,  that was the official name of our holiday. An unforgettable pre-Easter escape which I had been promising my 3 old school chums from Bologna for months.
And unforgettable it was: wonderful weather, fantastic food, visits to classic tourist attractions (like the Axel Munthe’s museum-house, the Certosa, and Monte Solaro) and, the highlight of the trip - a walk we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

I wanted my friends to experience a Capri off the beaten tourist track, so I enlisted the help of Nello and Christina from Caprionline. They suggested we walk along the Sentiero dei Fortini coastal path.

We arranged to meet at 8.30, by the bus stop next to Anacapri’s cemetery, armed with comfortable walking shoes, a supply of water and, of course, our cameras. We had decided not to do the entire walk (Nello, who had offered to be our guide, was not convinced that we would manage the whole stretch!) and so we missed seeing the Orrico blockhouse on Punta Miglio. We started the walk along a, immersed in greenery, in the direction of the Mesola blockhouse, Here we stopped to breathe in the sea air and take in an enchanting vision of the coast.

Nello told us that the blockhouses had originally been built to defend the island of Capri from Saracen attack and were then reinforced by the British troops during the 19th century. In 1998, the council of Anacapri obtained funds from the European Community to restore the tiny forts and the coastal path which links them. Restoration of the path included the addition of ceramic tiles, indicating the main sights on-route and, to my delight, the plants growing in the area too.

Continuing South wards, towards Punta Carena, we discovered a different kind of Capri: a wild and wonderful Capri where sun bleached rocks alternate with fragrant bushes of Mediterranean rosemary, rock roses and euphorbia. The colors of the dramatically beautiful landscape continued to change (if I close my eyes, I can still see that incredible green of the sea which I saw from Cala di Mezzo). In single file, we continued along the narrow footpath to reach the Pino and Tombosiello blockhouses and an awesome view of Cala del Limmo. Once at Punta Carena (let’s forget that final 1km uphill climb to get there!) we collapsed on the rocks beneath the lighthouse, soaking up the spring sun, like salamanders.

We had arranged to meet Gianni for lunch at Anacapri’s Ristorante da Gelsomina, close to the Migliera viewing point. Happy and hungry, we took our seats at a table on the panoramic terrace, ready to commence what proved to be a veritable feast of antipasti, ravioli alla caprese and mixed meats. I only had the merest morsel of dessert (I swear!). Relaxed and replete, we made our way to the nearby viewing point overlooking Punta Carena to take a few hundred photos of the Faraglioni and the surrounding seascapes. Ok, we may have seemed a bit like Japanese tourists, but we needed to return to Bologna with plenty of ammunition if we wanted to make those who had only ever seen the Piazzetta and the Grotta Azzurra die with envy!

New web site for Hotel Conca Azzurra, a 4 star boutique hotel on the Amalfi Coast, between Praiano and Conca dei Marini. The web site features Salsa Booking for online reservations.

www.concaazzurra.it

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