Capri & the Blue Grotto

Capri has been a byword for beauty since the emperor Tiberius ruled Rome from his villa here in the first century, and the island still delivers: limestone cliffs plunging into impossibly clear water, lemon groves and bougainvillea, white lanes of designer boutiques, and views that stop conversation. Ferries and hydrofoils land at Marina Grande, from where the funicular climbs to the town of Capri and its Piazzetta, the tiny square of café tables that is the island's living room. From there, lanes lead to the Gardens of Augustus, terraced flowerbeds with the classic view of the Faraglioni, the three sea stacks off the southern coast, and down the hairpin Via Krupp toward Marina Piccola. A longer walk heads east to the ruins of Villa Jovis, Tiberius's clifftop palace. Buses and taxis — the island's famous open-top convertibles — climb to Anacapri, the higher and quieter of the two towns, with the Villa San Michele, the Swedish doctor Axel Munthe's dreamlike home and garden, and the chairlift up Monte Solaro, the highest point. And then there is the Blue Grotto. On the north-west coast, a sea cave with an entrance about a metre high glows an unearthly electric blue, as sunlight enters through an underwater opening and lights the water from below. You reach it by small rowing boats that carry up to four passengers; the boatman pulls you through the low entrance on a chain while you lie back flat, and inside you have a few minutes of magic before gliding out. Boat tours of the island from Marina Grande circle the coast and often stop at the grotto, and day trips from Naples or Sorrento, like those sold on Tiqets, handle ferries and guiding.

The Blue Grotto needs managing expectations. It opens only when the sea is calm enough for rowing boats to enter, and strong northerly winds or swell close it, sometimes for days, especially from November to March, when it is often shut; even in summer it can open and close within a day. Hours are longer in summer and shorter in winter (from mid-October roughly mid-morning to early afternoon, weather permitting). Expect queues in high season — sometimes an hour or more on the water at midday — and pay at the cave, preferably in cash, for the rowing boat plus a site ticket. The light is most intense around midday. Arriving early, by a transfer boat from Marina Grande or by bus from Anacapri and the steps down, is the best way to beat the lines. Swimming inside is forbidden. If the grotto is closed, a boat trip around the island to the Faraglioni and the other sea caves is a superb consolation.

Getting there: fast ferries and hydrofoils run from Naples (Molo Beverello and Calata Porta di Massa) and from Sorrento all year, with reduced winter timetables, and from Positano and Amalfi in season only (roughly April to October). Sea crossings can be cancelled in rough weather, so avoid scheduling Capri on the last day before a flight. In summer, day-trippers flood Marina Grande and the Piazzetta from mid-morning to late afternoon: catch the first boat, head straight up the hill or to the grotto, and stay into the evening if you can, when the island empties and its glamour returns. Overnight stays transform the experience but are expensive, and many island hotels close in winter.

A good day: early ferry from Naples or Sorrento, transfer boat to the Blue Grotto if the sea is calm (or a round-island tour if not), bus to Anacapri for Villa San Michele and the chairlift where operating, back to Capri town for lunch, the Gardens of Augustus and the Faraglioni view, a granita or limoncello in the Piazzetta, and a late ferry home. Families do well with a boat tour and a swim; couples with a long lunch over the sea at Marina Piccola. In winter, Capri is quiet and local, with fewer services but a gentler, truer charm.