Capricious
I honestly wasn't sure what to make of Capri before our trip here. I'd read that it was terribly overcrowded and a haven for the rich and famous (not usually a big selling point), but I'd also heard that this is the best time of year to visit and that staying here is a much more pleasant experience than visiting for the day. I have to say, we LOVE it. Yeah, there are plenty of people who just ooze money, and there are lots of day-trippers clogging the narrow lanes, but the beauty is absolutely stunning, the weather is near perfect, and it's easy to avoid the crowds (which are only a fraction of the summer crush) and explore beautiful winding car-free streets with amazing views.
We started with a whirlwind...the train from Rome to Naples went very smoothly, the taxi from the Naples station to the marina was an adrenaline junkie's dream (and what little we saw of Naples from the taxi...wow--nothing like anything else we've seen in Italy, yet for some reason a part of me would like to possibly return someday and truly experience the chaos), the ferry to Capri was a breeze. We finally got to our hotel only to find out...that they didn't have our reservation. We usually have excellent travel karma and I'm usually good about confirming reservations, but in this case it turns out their computers crashed around the time we tried to confirm our reservation. Being near the point of exhaustion (me) and tears (Gretchen and Baby), I remembered that the JW Marriott had looked nice. A quick phone call and we were paying WAY more than we'd planned on, but for a large and decadently comfortable room in a much better location.
The bottom line: we wholeheartedly recommend Capri, but not for a day trip and not during high season. Late afternoons and evenings, when lots of tourists have left and locals come out en masse, are a great time to be out and about, and this time of year is really relaxing (at least during those moments when you don't have a hysterical baby...which, by the way is how you find yourself inside your hotel room blogging at 9:00pm in an island paradise).
We started with a whirlwind...the train from Rome to Naples went very smoothly, the taxi from the Naples station to the marina was an adrenaline junkie's dream (and what little we saw of Naples from the taxi...wow--nothing like anything else we've seen in Italy, yet for some reason a part of me would like to possibly return someday and truly experience the chaos), the ferry to Capri was a breeze. We finally got to our hotel only to find out...that they didn't have our reservation. We usually have excellent travel karma and I'm usually good about confirming reservations, but in this case it turns out their computers crashed around the time we tried to confirm our reservation. Being near the point of exhaustion (me) and tears (Gretchen and Baby), I remembered that the JW Marriott had looked nice. A quick phone call and we were paying WAY more than we'd planned on, but for a large and decadently comfortable room in a much better location.
The bottom line: we wholeheartedly recommend Capri, but not for a day trip and not during high season. Late afternoons and evenings, when lots of tourists have left and locals come out en masse, are a great time to be out and about, and this time of year is really relaxing (at least during those moments when you don't have a hysterical baby...which, by the way is how you find yourself inside your hotel room blogging at 9:00pm in an island paradise).
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