On our Europe trip with my mom, we took a ferry from Sorrento to Capri Island, Italy’s most popular resort island. It was my first visit here, so I arrived feeling half excited and half nervous.
To take in all of Capri Island at a glance, you ride a stunt-driving minibus and then a chairlift for quite a while. The sun was brutally hot that day.
The ride up felt hot enough to cook alive, so if you visit Capri Island, pack sunscreen carefully.
Capri Island is Italy’s most popular resort island. It was already famous, but it is also known as the honeymoon destination of Britain’s Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, and of Korean football star Park Ji-sung. It was once a Roman emperor’s villa, and traces of that remain.
We arrived at Monte Solaro by chairlift.
The view of Capri Island from Monte Solaro was pure beauty. My only regret was not capturing it properly in photos. Like Sorrento, Capri Island cannot rely on fishing, so most locals run yacht rentals or tourist lodging.
After the long climb, Monte Solaro turned out to be surprisingly modest, just a simple tent-style cafe and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Still, I was satisfied just to take in the Mediterranean I had wanted to see.
Then we came back down to the Capri harbor and walked along the coast.
Capri is pricey, and one of its famous products is jewel-encrusted watches. They cost as much as luxury brand watches, so I only looked, though plenty of people were buying.
Despite being an island in the sea, Capri Island has sandy beaches where many people swim.
The beach was modest for the fame of Capri Island, and the water was not quite emerald, which was a bit disappointing.
Still, the water was fairly clean, so we dipped our feet in, and since the shore is shallow, quite a few people were swimming.
Even though it was early June, southern Italy was over 30 degrees and very hot.
My mom and I sat on the Capri beach for a long time, talking about how this might be our last trip to Europe with just the two of us.
Prices, hours and details in this post are from our visit in May 2018 and may have changed, so check the latest information before you go.