How to visit Capri: a way to bring a bit of this enchanting island of the Gulf of Naples home.
The Blue Grotto, Villas Jovis, Villa San Michele, Monte Solaro chairlift but also fashion, shopping, fragrances and sandals. Capri is an island that offers a world on its own.
The island of Capri is located in the Gulf of Naples, opposite the Sorrento Peninsula to which it was once united. Today Capri is connected to the mainland by the fast boats of many shipping companies to and from Naples, Sorrento and other destinations. To the visitor that approaches Capri for the first time, the island shows off its shimmering waters, magnificent rocks, breathtaking views, as well as evidence of its past and ancient history.
In fact, since Roman times Capri was the destination and residence of men like Emperor Augustus, who had several villas built here and then Emperor Tiberius, who chose the island as his own residence and renovated the same villas that Augustus had built. Today the remains of Villa Jovis stand to show how an imperial residence was meant to be.
This island hosted illustrious visitors between the XVIII and the XIX, when Capri was visited by a large number of travelers on the “Grand Tour”, like the composer Mendelssohn and the writer Dumas. Capri’s square became the background to animated discussions between the poet Maximus Gorkij and the Russian politician Lenin. This is the place where the inventor Alfred Krupp, heir of the German steelworks, took refuge, as well as the Swedish writer and doctor Axel Munthe. His was Villa San Michele, a remarkable beauty built on the ruins of an ancient Roman residence; it is an imposing construction that displays archaeological finds from the Roman period of Capri. Edwin Cerio, who became mayor of the island, was devoted to his geological, archaeological and botanical studies of the island and was an enthusiastic fan of Capri. He was a strong supporter of preserving its natural landscape, and he even described the longing for Capri as Delirium Caprensis, a psychic alteration that affects those who, after the initial brief tourist stop, then prefer a longer stay instead of leaving.
Edwin Cero was right in appreciating the evocative green spaces of the island that allow naturalistic excursions on foot. Among the most beautiful is the “Sentiero dei Fortini” in Anacapri, a landscape of wild beauty sculpted by the fury of the wind and the sea, with its exclusive flowers and a unique open-air path. A winding, panoramic pathway climbs along the edge of vertiginous cliffs to return then towards the inland and to the fragrant coolness of the high Mediterranean bush.
From the natural scents of flowers, citrus fruits, spices and precious woods in the Capri air some well-known fragrances have been created by “Carthusia”, a small laboratory near the Certosa di San Giacomo (St. James’ Charterhouse), dating back to the 12th century, with its 14th century church and cloister in Arabian style and also including the collection of the painter Diefenbach. The fragrances are prepared with natural raw materials and many essences, such as rosemary from Mount Solaro and wild carnation from Capri.
The island of Capri offers endless alternatives, in addition to the praised worldliness! Capri’s atmosphere can be found on the bars in the Piazzetta’s outdoor tables where you can taste the typical sweet caprese cake, “la caprese“, made of cocoa with almonds and walnuts, combined with a glass of excellent limoncello, the liquor obtained from the peels of the lemons of Capri left to macerate in alcohol. In the piazzetta, the clock’s face is impressive for the polychrome colors of its majolica imported from the factories of Vietri. Even the most distracted ear cannot fail to notice, before the sound of the quarters, the isolated beat of the bell tower, another symbol of the Piazzetta.
If you are looking for something exquisite to bring home from Capri, a compulsory stop during the 50’s and 60’s of the jet set and Capri’s dolce vita was the refined jewelry shop “Chantecler”, which today still crats exquisitely jewelry to crown one’s stay in Capri. If you are more into clothing, Via Fuorlovado is the shopping street with designer linen garments on display, as well as white safari jackets and soft pants. Next to the linens, stand the classic Capri sandals, made by artisans of the island, with hand-stitches and woven leather often illuminated by crystals and Swarovski.
Among the countless things to visit in Capri, you can’t leave without stopping at the fantastic Blue Grotto. Capri’s motorboat drivers transport tourists from all over the world so that they can admire the extension of the island with its caves, villas, and karst concretions, up to the famous rocks that rise 100 m high, called the Faraglioni. A magical iridescence makes the bottom of the Blue Grotto shine. This is an extraordinary phenomenon of light refraction that, crossing the water, illuminates the walls of the 20m deep cave. Once reached the entrance of the cave, the visit is made through a service of small local boats.
To admire a splendid 360-degree view from the highest point of the island, just take the Monte Solaro chairlift. Sitting on a chair for a duration of 12 minutes, along the way you’ll enjoy a splendid view of Anacapri and the Bay of Naples. At the top, the “Canzone del Cielo” bar awaits tourists. The absolute protagonist is the panorama that sweeps from the Gulf of Naples to Salerno, the Sorrento peninsula and Capri with the Faraglioni.
Capri doesn’t let you get away, and when you think you have, you begin to miss it excruciatingly. It is a country and a world on its own, it is a movie set that fascinates and continues to fascinate an entire generation of artists, VIPs and intellectuals from around the world. Capri is the ideal destination for those who are looking for beauty, elegance, dream and culture.
Carthusia
Not sure of what to bring back from your visit to Capri as a souvenir? What about a perfume approved by the Pope? Carthusia is the producer and brand of Capri’s original perfumes. Its story dates back to 1380 when the father prior of the local Carthusian monastery decided to collect Capri’s flowers in a bouquet destined to be given to the Queen. The visit of the queen was canceled but the bouquet lasted for three days in water. The father prior discovered that the same water had a distinctive pleasant fragrance.
He got the formula written down, and in 1948 the Prior of the Charterhouse decided to pass it to a chemist, so he asked the permission of the Pope and the smallest perfume laboratory in the world was open. Today, exploiting the natural scents of Capri, Carthusia handcrafts fragrances for men and women, from soap to eau de toilette, from home scents to eau de parfum. Carthusia has also a Barber Saloon where, thanks to the expert hands of a capable barber, the customer can be soaped and shaved with the fragrances of Carthusia. It is a way of bringing Capri back home and enjoying a pleasant whiff of the island anytime you miss it.
The Chair lift of Monte Solaro
The ultimate experience to definitely fall in love with Capri is to hop on the chair lift from Anacapri to the top of Monte Solaro. You can literally be swept off your feet in a vintage wooden chair and admire the Gulf of Naples, the Gulf of Salerno, the nearby islands and Vesuvius in the distance. Created in 1952 by an engineer that enjoyed the view from the top so much that he wanted to find a way to easily go back there instead of climbing again, it was later renovated and today the ride lasts thirteen minutes.
While going up, you are surrounded by lush nature, the sound of the birds chirping and the dazzling view of the sea while your feet swing in the air. The views are breathtaking and you can feel the 360 degrees panorama embrace you. The chair lift is in Anacapri’s Piazza Vittoria. It has different rates, depending if you want to use it one way or back and forth, the time schedule changes depending on the season. Mount Solaro is 598 meters high and it is the highest spot of Capri island. Once you’ve reached the top you can have a nice break at the bistrot La canzone del cielo and see the remains of a Napoleonic fortress. A pleasant stroll at the top will lead you to the Hermitage of S. Maria di Cetrella, where many and diverse botanic species like acanthus, myrtle, hyther, holm oak will make this trip even more remarkable.
Villa San Michele of Axel Munthe
he charm of Capri has an everlasting effect on its visitors, since before it started to be a tourist destination many came and simply couldn’t help not coming back again, bewitched by the island’s charm and beauty. This is what happened to Axel Munthe, a Swedish doctor who visited Capri in 1887 and bought Villa San Michele with the intention of creating a house museum similar to a Greek temple, filled inside and out with an excellent art collection of Roman and Greek art. The gardens that surround the villa have won awards for the most beautiful private park and, being Axel Munthe a nature lover, he created a bird sanctuary as well.
The life of this eclectic, idealist and quite ahead of his time doctor was made famous by his book where he retells the story of this villa. The view that can be enjoyed from the top next to the Egyptian spiìhinx exposed in the garden is just amazing.
Grotta Azzurra (Blue Grotto)
The Roman Emperor Tiberius used this grotto as his personal swimming pool, it seems he used to reach it thanks to a secret tunnel leaving from one of his villas. Today the only way to enter the grotto is to board on one of the small boats that are allowed to enter; the entry passageway is quite narrow and you will be asked to lay flat on the bottom of the boat while the boatman grasps the chains hooked on the grotto’s wall, ducks and pulls the boat inside. You will immediately be immersed in a darkness that is lighted up from the blue light of the sea, so from the bottom instead of the top, because the sunlight enters from the submerged side of the grotto and creates an eerie but enchanting effect. The grotto is quite high and large, and the songs of the boatmen are included in the price paid to visit it. There is also a staircase that takes you near the entrance or you can come via sea from Marina Grande, but the entry is in both cases only thanks to the little boats. The experience is quite mesmerizing and it lasts just around ten minutes, as this location is very popular.
A piece of advice: consider that you have to wait in line on your boat to enter, so try to visit it when there are as few people as possible.