Things to do
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Faraglioni
Three limestone stacks standing off the southern shore, the middle one pierced by a tunnel boats pass through. They are the island's signature and are best seen from the Giardini di Augusto or from the water. Boat trips round the island run from Marina Grande through the day.
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Giardini di Augusto
Terraced gardens laid out by Friedrich Alfred Krupp above the southern cliffs, looking down on the Faraglioni on one side and Marina Piccola on the other. It is the most reliable view on the island and takes ten minutes to walk to from the Piazzetta.
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Grand Hotel Quisisana
The island's landmark hotel since 1845, at the top of the Via Camerelle a minute from the Piazzetta, and the social centre of Capri in season. The pool terraces sit behind it in a garden that is invisible from the street, and the shopping lanes run past the door.
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Grotta Azzurra
A sea cave entered by lying flat in a rowing boat, where light coming through a submerged opening turns the whole chamber a saturated blue. It closes whenever the swell is up, which is often, so it is never a fixed point in a plan.
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Hotel Punta Tragara
A villa designed by Le Corbusier on the point directly above the Faraglioni, converted to a hotel in 1968. Every terrace faces the three stacks. It stands at the end of the Via Tragara walk, about ten minutes on foot from the centre and well above the water.
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Marina Piccola
The sheltered southern cove under the Faraglioni, part free shingle and part beach clubs. It catches the sun all afternoon, which the northern side does not. A stepped path drops to it from the Via Krupp side of town, and the bus from the Piazzetta takes a few minutes.
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Monte Solaro
The island's high point at 589 metres, reached by a single-seat chairlift from Anacapri in about twelve minutes. On a clear day the view takes in the whole Bay of Naples and Vesuvius. The chairlift runs without a harness or a bar, which some find unnerving.
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Via Krupp
A path of hairpin switchbacks cut into the cliff face in 1902 to link the gardens with Marina Piccola, and an engineering piece as much as a walk. It closes for rockfall for long stretches, so check before counting on the descent.
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Villa Jovis
The largest of the twelve villas Tiberius built on Capri, spread over the northeastern headland where he spent his last decade running the empire. The walk out from the town takes about forty-five minutes and is mostly uphill. The site is open ground with little shade.
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Villa San Michele
The Anacapri house the Swedish physician Axel Munthe built on the ruins of a Roman villa, hung with classical fragments he collected. The pergola at the end looks straight down 300 metres to Marina Grande. The house and garden are open daily and the sphinx on the parapet is the fixed point of every photograph.
