Everyone Loves Capri

The world comes to Capri.

For instance, on one brilliant morning recently, about three dozen American and German tourists were gathered at the Gardens of Augustus, a cliff-top park on the south coast of the island, where lush flowers give way to ancient stonework, which gives way to sheer cliffs, which give way to a sea that may be azure or cobalt, or both, depending on the sunlight and the hour.

Some of the Americans pointed at the Mediterranean below, where bright-hued boats bobbed at the docks at Marina Piccola. Other tourists settled onto benches by the garden fountain, or squinted up at the old fortress on the neighboring mountaintop, once a rampart against medieval pirates.

But the tourists’ guides were distracted from these views. The Americans’ guide, 40ish and ascot-wrapped, was barking English into his tiny cell phone.

“Hello? Where are you calling from? Japan? Tokyo?”

Tokyo it was. The Germans and Americans glanced up to the Villa Krupp, now a hotel but 90 years ago where the expatriate Russian Maxim Gorki briefly lived and entertained a house guest named Lenin. Or they gazed upon the twisting stony footpath that the German steel magnate

Friedrich Alfred Krupp commissioned in 1900 to connect the marina below with the villas above. Still others among the visitors were looking east to the dramatic rock formations--the Faraglioni--that jut from the sea off the bluffs of Punta di Tragara.

Finally the tour guide rang off with the Japanese--”We are here at your disposal!”--and rounded up his Americans.

“Japanese,” he sighed with a you-know-how-they-are shrug. Over the summer season to come, as surely as the ferries and hydrofoils will come from Naples and Sorrento, this sigh and shrug will be used among Japanese regarding the French, among French regarding the Germans, among Germans regarding the Americans and so on. The world wants to visit Capri, and for this the world cannot be faulted.

Even with all the summertime traffic the island gets--about 2.1 million day-trippers last year, and about 100,000 overnight guests, all crawling over a patch of land about four miles long and two miles wide--it’s hard to imagine a more sure-fire destination for a honeymoon or any romantic escape. There are spectacular footpaths, scores of restaurants and dozens of hotels, from the intimate to the palatial. Blood-red, fresh-squeezed orange juice. Deep blue sea caves. Rampant flowers. Pasta with seafood prepared by adept hands. Lemon liqueur from the island’s own orchards. And a collection of villas, public and private, ruined and restored, that stand as impressive measure of just how well a human being can live with enough money and the right real estate.

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In fact, the island’s history of wealth writ large begins about 2,000 years ago with the Roman emperors Augustus and his successor Tiberius, who had the Villa Jovis built here. Tiberius lived in the villa for the last decade of his life and, the story goes, occasionally had those who displeased him thrown off the backyard cliff, nearly 1,000 feet above the sea.

Now Tiberius’ turf seems besieged every sunny weekend day. Nevertheless, in just about every direction, the island is spellbinding. Blame this on either its natural wonders--picture Big Sur with more sun and 360 degrees of ocean--or the venerable human constructions on, in and under those wonders. You pause at a particularly striking bluff-top viewpoint, and discover, incidentally, that someone has chiseled into the wall a poem about the island by Pablo Neruda: “Reina de roca/ en tu vestido/ de color amaranto y azzurra . . .”(Queen of the rock/ in your dress/ the color of amaranth and azzuro). Inevitably, a later pair of lovers have just below declared their togetherness per sempre (“forever”), but still, if ever a lily were successfully gilded, Capri is it.

The trick is appreciating it when it’s not enveloped in buzzing bees--that is, other people. The crowds in Capri and Anacapri, the island’s secondary town, are often alarmingly thick at midday in July and August, and there are more than a few T-shirt vendors and souvenir shops alongside the designer shops in Capri town (and an even larger number flanking the pedestrian areas of Anacapri). Since Capri is just a 40-minute hydrofoil ride from Naples in good weather--and 20 minutes from Sorrento--it’s easy for big tour groups to wedge a few island hours into a go-go-go itinerary.

It’s also true that in many ways Capri doesn’t seem to belong to Italy as much as it belongs to a certain stripe of international artist and aristocrat: the German industrialist who built the footpath; the Chilean poet who sang the island’s praises; the Russian thinkers who repaired here to escape the czars’ regime; the pair of German visitors who rediscovered and popularized the Blue Grotto in 1826; the Swedish doctor and writer, Axel Munthe, who built the immaculate Villa San Michele on its incomparable aerie at Anacapri. Certainly, the marbled and columned lobby of the 150-room Grand Hotel Quisisana has harbored many a global public figure (short list: Claudette Colbert, Tom Cruise, Gerald Ford, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre and Sting) and, with rates reaching well beyond $250 nightly and a bit of cool attitude, intimidated many a traveler.

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But there’s plenty for the rest of us. To flee the crowds in town, you can hike past private homes and vineyards to the ruins of the Tiberius’ Villa Jovis at the island’s west end. You can appraise the stony geometry of the 14th century monastery, Certosa di San Giacomo. Rise early and you may stroll in relative peace through the art-rich, sun-drenched rooms of Axel Munthe’s Villa San Michele (entrance is about $4).

Or you steer yourself toward the backside of Capri town, past the private homes and terraced hotels of Via Camerelle and Via Tragara, then continue along the cliff-clinging stone trail that leads through dense greenery to the Arco Naturale, an earthen quirk with a backdrop of deep blue sea, hundreds of feet below. Few walks in the world deliver this kind of scenery. And on the way back from the arch, you might choose to stop for lunch or lemon cake on the terrace of Ristorante Le Grottelle, whose kitchen is carved into the cliff wall.

What can it cost to sleep on such an island? If you’re willing to come in April, May, September or October and do without a swimming pool, you can sleep in atmospheric little hotels such as the five-room Pensione Belsito or the 12-room Hotel Villa Krupp for under $125 nightly, breakfast and taxes included. From June through August, the numbers at those places are closer to $135 to $170 a night. At the high-style hotels such as the Quisisana or the Scalinatella, both with sea-view balconies, pools and immaculate public rooms, tariffs routinely run $300 to $400 in peak season.

I stayed at the Quisisana at reduced off-season rates, but still felt guilty about not exploiting the sprawling facilities--spa, reading room and so on--for which I was paying so much. Next time, I’d take the unpretentious old Belsito or Villa Krupp, or maybe splurge with the Hotel Luna, one of the best-sited hotels you can find anywhere, with spacious gardens and rates that often fall under $200 nightly.

Because Capri is such a small, steep island with so few roads, there are virtually no tour buses (although government buses run regularly between Capri and Anacapri for about $1 each way), and most streets are pedestrian-only. It’s very hard to be unhappy, having just ascended via funicular rail car from the landing at Marina Grande (about $1 each way), to step into the snug pedestrian Piazza Umberto I, under the blue-and-yellow face of the clock tower. You choose one of the four sidewalk cafes, pull up a wicker chair and settle in to watch the world go by. (You should, however, make the moment last. A beer at those cafes runs about $6.)

If you pick your spots and times properly, you may go home a bit poorer, but you need not be crowd-crazed. Avoid weekends if you possibly can, and take your romantic walks and your funicular rides before 10 and after 5, when most of the day-trippers are gone. In the midday hours, recline with a good book or plant yourself at a table with a view of humanity or scenery and take your time.

Prepare yourself for a mob scene and three minutes tops in the cave at the Blue Grotto, which costs about $13 once you’ve paid the government, the motorboat operator who takes you to the grotto entrance and the rowboat pilot who steers you into the cave with the cobalt glow. (Or take a bus out to the site and pop in at the end of the day.) There’s also likely to be a crowd waiting to ride the chairlift (one person per chair) from Anacapri over the pines and olive groves to the island’s highest viewpoint atop Mt. Solaro, about 1,800 feet above the sea. (On windy days the chairlift and the grotto close down.)

Duck out of the sun in Anacapri and inspect the remarkable 18th century majolica tile mosaic illustrations of Adam and Eve in Paradise that cover the entire floor of the Church of San Michele (entrance about $1). Or really challenge yourself and tackle the 800-odd steps of the Scala Fenicia (Phoenician Stairs), cut into cliff rock, that run down the hill from Anacapri to water’s edge at Marina Grande.

For a top-notch dinner, make reservations at La Campannina in Capri town, where service is gracious and multilingual, and the ravioli Caprese will command your full attention.

And after you’ve finished, you can stroll to the handiest viewpoint, cast aside all thought of fellow tourists, appraise the winking lights of Naples on the horizon, try to catch the moon’s reflection in the Mediterranean, and hope the ghost of Tiberius doesn’t sneak up behind you.

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GUIDEBOOK

Contemplating Capri

Getting there: Most travelers reach Capri by flying to Rome, taking a train to Naples, then hopping a hydrofoil or ferry. TWA, Delta, US Airways and Alitalia airlines have direct flights (one stop, no plane change) from LAX to Rome; restricted round-trip coach fares begin at $840. Trains to Naples from Rome’s Termini station cost about $25 for a second-class ticket.

Several lines offer service via hydrofoil (40 minutes) and ferry (75 minutes) between Naples and Capri, with summer departures approximately hourly. Ferries cost about $5 each way, hydrofoils about $12. Service to Capri is also available from Sorrento (a 20-minute hydrofoil ride). Steamer ferries connect Capri with Positano, Amalfi, Salerno and the neighboring island of Ischia.

Where to stay: Taxes and a light breakfast are traditionally included in hotel rates. But remember that some hotels quote rates per room, others (often those that include two meals daily) quote rates per person. Some hotels have suites at higher prices than quoted here.

Top contenders include the five-star, 150-room Grand Hotel Quisisana, telephone 011-39-81-837-0788, fax 011-39-81-837-6080, double rooms about $230 to $460; the more intimate GUIDEBOOK

Contemplating Capri

Getting there: Most travelers reach Capri by flying to Rome, taking a train to Naples, then hopping a hydrofoil or ferry. TWA, Delta, US Airways and Alitalia airlines have direct flights (one stop, no plane change) from LAX to Rome; restricted round-trip coach fares begin at $840. Trains to Naples from Rome’s Termini station cost about $25 for a second-class ticket.

Several lines offer service via hydrofoil (40 minutes) and ferry (75 minutes) between Naples and Capri, with summer departures approximately hourly. Ferries cost about $5 each way, hydrofoils about $12. Service to Capri is also available from Sorrento (a 20-minute hydrofoil ride). Steamer ferries connect Capri with Positano, Amalfi, Salerno and the neighboring island of Ischia.

Where to stay: Taxes and a light breakfast are traditionally included in hotel rates. But remember that some hotels quote rates per room, others (often those that include two meals daily) quote rates per person. Some hotels have suites at higher prices than quoted here.

Top contenders include the five-star, 150-room Grand Hotel Quisisana, telephone 011-39-81-837-0788, fax 011-39-81-837-6080, double rooms about $230 to $460; the more intimate 30-room Hotel Scalinatella, tel. 011-39-81-837-0633, fax 011-39-81-837-8291, double rooms $275 to $400; the spectacularly sited and spacious 50-room Hotel Luna, tel. 011-39-81-837-0433, fax 011-39-81-837-7459, double rooms $140 to $275 (depending on view and season); the centrally placed 64-room Hotel La Palma, tel. 011-39-81-837-0133, fax 011-39-81-837-6966, double rooms $120 to $245; and the 18-room Hotel La Certosella, tel. 011-39-81-837-0713, fax 011-39-81-837-0722, double rooms $125 to $240.

More affordable picks: The Hotel Villa Krupp, tel. 011-39-81-837-0362, fax 011-39-81-837-6489, with 12 simple rooms, most with balconies, and spectacular views from its patio, double rooms $100 to $135, depending on season and room view; and the five-room Pensione Belsito, tel. 011-39-81-837-0969-6622, fax 011-39-81-837-6622), a converted 18th century home in a relatively quiet neighborhood, $60 to $85 per person per day including breakfast and either lunch or dinner.

Where to eat: My best meal on the island was at La Campannina, via Le Botteghe 12/14; local tel. 837-0732; extensive wine cellar, no views, main dishes $10-$20. For more casual atmosphere and panoramic views, try Da Gemma, Via Madre Serafina 6, tel. 837-0461); main dishes $5-$17. For lunch alfresco, Ristorante Le Grottelle, Via Arco Naturale 13, tel. 837-0469); main dishes $6.50-$15.

For more information: Italian Government Tourist Board, 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Los Angeles, CA 90025; tel. (310) 820-0098, fax (310) 820-6357.

NEXT WEEK: Ponza, an undiscovered gem.