Autumn is the right time to walk around Capri, following in the footsteps of Tiberius, who governed the empire from a cliff at the island's eastern tip. The days are still mild, the light is low, and on the paths you can avoid the summer heat.
The first ferry leaves the Beverello pier when Naples is still drowsy. After well over an hour at sea, you arrive at Marina Grande, where the queue for the funicular snakes all the way to the open-top taxi park, on a fine holiday, even well into November. Those wearing walking boots, however, will find a valid alternative. Next to the station, a pedestrian stairway climbs steeply between white houses with domed roofs and grapevine pergolas, occasionally crossing the road. Good legs and lungs are required. In under a kilometre, the footpath gains 150 metres in altitude and emerges at the funicular terrace, sometimes even ahead of those waiting in the queue.
Capri is a vertical island. It stretches barely six kilometres as the crow flies, and Monte Solaro reaches 589 metres. It is the continuation of the Sorrentine Peninsula and the Lattari Mountains, with the same limestone rock that almost everywhere drops sheer into the sea. It is inevitable that on such a steep island there are few roads: many of its most beautiful spots can only be reached on foot. The crowds of Capri have a precise geography. They concentrate on the quayside, at the funicular, in the Piazzetta and in the lanes of shops, all just a few minutes from one another. Those who come to the island for a few hours almost always stay within this perimeter. Beyond via Sopramonte the passers-by thin out, and on the lanes climbing towards the eastern tip you walk in silence, between gardens and walls behind which villas lie hidden.
Capri suffers from the same problems as all the most popular destinations on the international tourist circuit. The crowds follow the most easily accessible routes, drawn by the glitter of shop windows, and perhaps that is for the best. The rest of the territory remains available to those who explore it on their own two feet. Among the many possible itineraries on the island, the Tiberius loop to the Faraglioni starts and ends at Marina Grande, follows a long stretch of cliff dropping sheer into the open sea, and touches the places sought out by those who came to Capri in search of rest and solitude. A stop in the Piazzetta and in the most fashionable promenading streets rounds off an unusually wild day.
After the Piazzetta, the signs to follow are those for Villa Lysis. The villa appears among the pines and holm oaks, white with Ionic columns. Its forms are classicising, the date of construction is 1905. It was commissioned by Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, writer and poet, and heir to a French steel fortune. Through the restoration work of the 1990s, the villa recovered its decorations and eclectic furnishings, ranging from neoclassical to Art Nouveau. In the basement the opium den is still there, decorated with mosaics and Chinese ideograms. Today it is owned by the Municipality of Capri and is open to visitors. From the garden you can see the entire Gulf of Naples as far as Vesuvius, and below, Marina Grande with its constant coming and going of boats.
At Villa Lysis the comfortable paved footpath ends and a proper trail begins: the CAI Le Calanche route, marked by waymark 393. It climbs through woodland above the cliff, along what was perhaps the original approach to Emperor Tiberius's villa. In autumn the wood is silent; the cicadas of summer have long since stopped their deafening chirring. Through the tangle of scrub and pine forest you can sense the sheer drop and, below, the sea. The highest point of the day is here, on the cliff edge between Punta del Capo and Punta del Monaco, at around 300 metres above sea level. Then the path descends towards what at first glance looks like a ruined city. It was the home of a man as powerful as he was solitary.
There is plenty of time to set down your rucksack and visit the archaeological site of Villa Jovis, first excavated in the 18th century and then again in the 1930s. From 26 to 37 AD, Tiberius governed Rome from this cliff. He transformed an older residence into a centre of power, connected to the capital by a network of coastal watchtowers and by the liburnians, the fast ships of the imperial fleet. Villa Jovis is little visited. Tall weeds grow among the walls and walkways; sparse signage guides you through the great cisterns and service rooms, all the way to the core of the imperial quarters, jutting out towards the sea. Lower down runs the loggia, a walkway nearly a hundred metres long, with exedrae for sitting and contemplating the landscape. This was the emperor's ambulatio, the place of his daily walk. At its centre stood the triclinium, with a floor of polychrome marbles that today can be found in the cathedral of Santo Stefano, overlooking the Piazzetta.
Via Tiberio would lead back to the village, but at the junction with via Matermania it is worth making a detour. The first few hundred metres still wind between villas and gardens, then the terrain becomes steep and wild. A few extra steps bring you to the Arco Naturale, a great rock arch that frames the sea between Punta del Monaco and Punta di Tragara. Continuing down the long stairway, increasingly shaded, you descend to the Grotta di Matermania. It was a Roman nymphaeum, dedicated to Cybele, the Magna Mater; according to others, at different times it was a space consecrated to the god Mithras. The mosaic and marble decorations were removed in the early decades of the 19th century, and of the richness of the space — which could host ceremonies and banquets alike — only a bare facing of masonry remains.
From the cave, via del Pizzolungo sets off, a deserted path that winds through the Mediterranean scrub, traversing the cliff face at mid-slope beneath Monte Tuoro. At a bend in the path, Casa Malaparte comes into view, looking unreachable from here. It is a Pompeian-red volume set on the rock of Punta Massullo, among Aleppo pines and strawberry trees that at this time of year bear cascades of small white flowers and fruit in vivid shades of orange or red, depending on the degree of ripeness. Curzio Malaparte bought the rock in 1937 for twelve thousand lire. The following year he entrusted the project to architect Adalberto Libera, then transformed it in his own way during construction, to the point that today the writer is considered the true designer of the house. The roof is a trapezoidal staircase of 32 steps leading up to the solarium. The house today belongs to his heirs and is not open to visitors. The interiors can, however, be seen in two films: Il disprezzo by Jean-Luc Godard, from 1963, and La pelle by Liliana Cavani, from 1981, based on Malaparte's best-known novel.
Along the descent, on the horizon, the Faraglioni stand out in silhouette. The Faraglione di Terra and the Faraglione di Fuori rise to over a hundred metres in height, while the Faraglione di Mezzo reaches around eighty and is pierced by a cavity some sixty metres long. In summer the stretch of water around the rocks fills with boats, and the overcrowding is one of the reasons why the island has sought to protect its sea. The establishment of the Isola di Capri marine protected area was announced just a few months ago. Its boundaries and regulations will be set by the Ministry of the Environment, which has six months to complete the technical assessment.
The Pizzolungo path returns to town at the Tragara belvedere, always crowded with people photographing the Faraglioni. Via Tragara climbs through the gardens up to the centre. Before the ferry there is time to step inside the cathedral of Santo Stefano to see the floor of Tiberius's triclinium, reused in the area around the high altar. One last stroll to peer into shop windows, then the stairway leads back down to Marina Grande. At sunset, on the pier, the morning crowd is queuing again for the last departures. Those who have walked all day head home having spent a few hours in the places that three men, centuries apart, had chosen for their solitude.
The loop covers 8.9 kilometres, with just over 500 metres of ascent and the same of descent. It starts and finishes at Marina Grande, reaches an altitude of around 300 metres at Villa Jovis, and takes approximately three and a half hours of walking, to which stops must be added. Most of the route follows stairways and pedestrian streets. The difficulty level is medium-easy, but the Calanche path has some exposed sections and could be slippery in the rain. The Matermania stairway is long and steep, and on the descent it puts the knees to the test.
Autumn is the right time to walk around Capri. The days are mild, the light is low, and on the paths you can avoid the summer heat. Capri is reached by ferry or hydrofoil from Naples and from Sorrento, and it is best to take one of the first departures of the morning. Sturdy walking shoes and a windproof jacket are essential, because on the sea and on Tiberius's cliff the wind makes itself felt in every season. Some refreshment points close at the end of the season, including the small panoramic bar near the archaeological area of Villa Jovis, so it is better to set off with water and lunch in your rucksack. It is also advisable to check the opening times and visiting arrangements for Villa Lysis and the archaeological area of Villa Jovis.
Those who wish to stay for more days will find other walking itineraries. Capri has an extensive network of numbered trails, maintained by the CAI sections of Castellammare di Stabia and Cava dei Tirreni. The Scala Fenicia climbs from Marina Grande to Anacapri with over nine hundred steps, the Sentiero dei Fortini runs along the entire western coast, from the Grotta Azzurra to the lighthouse at Punta Carena. Everything you need to get started can be found in the route sheet for the Tiberius loop to the Faraglioni. It includes a description of the route, with both the physical and technical difficulty ratings, the GPS track to download to your phone or sat-nav, and practical information for planning the day.