Free Walking Tour Capri: Harbour to Natural Arch

Climb from the ferry quay to the Piazzetta, look down on Krupp's hairpin path, then follow the cliff trail past the Faraglioni to Capri's great rock arch.

9 Stops 5.7 km ~1 h 44 min walking
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Route map for the Capri walking tour
Stop 1 of 9
860 m·11 min
Marina Grande
Head south from the port up toward the Piazzetta
Ciao, welcome to Capri. I'm Alex, and one of the island's famous views began with a German industrialist.
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Capri on Foot: What This Route Covers

Nine stops lead from the harbour at Marina Grande up to the Piazzetta, across the town's gardens and terraces and out along the cliffs to the Natural Arch on the island's eastern tip. The route is 5.7 km with 1 h 44 min of pure walking; with the two visits worth paying for, plan around four and a half hours.

Only the Gardens of Augustus and the Charterhouse of San Giacomo charge entry; everything else is free and open around the clock. The GPS route in your browser is free, and the AI Tour Guide is optional.

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This short shows highlights of the route. All 9 stops follow below.

The Route

Walking Map of Capri: Harbour, Town and Cliff Path

9 stops 5.7 km 1 h 44 min walking
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The 9 stops along this route

  1. Marina Grande in Capri, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour
    1Marina Grande
  2. Piazzetta in Capri, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour
    2Piazzetta
  3. Gardens of Augustus in Capri, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour
    3Gardens of Augustus
  4. Via Krupp in Capri, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour
    4Via Krupp
  5. Belvedere Cannone in Capri, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour
    5Belvedere Cannone
  6. Charterhouse of San Giacomo in Capri, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour
    6Charterhouse of San Giacomo
  7. Belvedere di Tragara in Capri, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour
    7Belvedere di Tragara
  8. Faraglioni in Capri, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour
    8Faraglioni
  9. Natural Arch in Capri, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour
    9Natural Arch
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Your Capri Walking Tour from Quay to Arch, Stop by Stop

  1. 1

    Marina Grande

    Marina Grande in Capri, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour

    You start where most visitors step off the boat: Marina Grande, Capri's main port on the north side of the island, at the foot of Monte Solaro. Look up from the quay at the small square overlooking the harbour and the houses around it, with their terraces, balconies, open galleries and multicoloured facades, many in the deep “Pompeian red” that runs along the Neapolitan coast. Behind them the slopes climb in terraces of Mediterranean plants.

    The harbour is older than it looks. The Romans used this ancient fishing port in the age of Augustus and built the Palazzo a Mare nearby, and Tiberius had it fortified. One reminder survives in plain sight: at the end of the western wharf a Corinthian capital stands on a high pedestal. Until 1928 boats simply anchored in the bay; only then was a proper port built, and Marina Grande grew into a seaside resort.

    Capri's patron saint belongs to this shore as well. Bishop Costanzo died near Marina Grande in the seventh century, and his church, San Costanzo, stands between here and Anacapri. If you are on the island in mid-September, the harbour holds its annual festival for the Madonna della Libera.

    From the quay the route climbs 870 m to the Piazzetta, about 18 minutes on foot. If you would rather save your legs for the cliff path later, the funicular links the harbour with the Piazzetta and you pick up the route at the top.

    Hours
    24/7
    Price
    Free
  2. 2

    Piazzetta

    Piazzetta in Capri, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour

    Officially it is Piazza Umberto I, but everyone calls it the Piazzetta, and locals simply say “chiazza”. The square once held the island's market. Today it is the centre of Capri's social life, often called the “living room of the world” and compared with Lisbon's Rossio or St Mark's Square in Venice. Give it a few minutes and watch the island pass through.

    Then walk to the terrace of the square. The heavy blocks you can see from there are what remains of the Greek defensive wall, built of squared and polygonal stone, which once ran from the slopes of the San Michele hill along today's Via Castello to the Castiglione height. The Piazzetta sat right on its line. Under the long Roman peace the wall became useless, even a nuisance for the growing town, and much of it was pulled down; only the sections that held buildings up survived, and later the Angevin walls were raised on top of them. More blocks show in neighbouring Via Longano and in Via Castiglione.

    In the late 14th century the town changed shape again. Count Giacomo Arcucci, adviser to Queen Joanna I of Naples, built his elegant residence on raised ground facing Via Longano, on a site once occupied by two religious buildings: the church of Santo Stefano, which later became the cathedral, and the little church of Santa Sofia, which was torn down. Keep his name in mind; you will meet him again at the Charterhouse.

    The Gardens of Augustus are 560 m away, about 8 minutes on foot.

    Local name
    Piazza Umberto I
    Hours
    24/7
    Price
    Free
  3. 3

    Gardens of Augustus

    Gardens of Augustus in Capri, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour

    Despite the name, these gardens have nothing to do with ancient Rome. They were begun by Friedrich Alfred Krupp, the German steel industrialist who bought property on Capri in the early 20th century, meaning to build a villa that never materialised. Until 1918 they were known as the Krupp Gardens; after the First World War the town council renamed them in honour of the first Roman emperor.

    Inside you walk through a true botanical garden of the island's flora, ornamental and otherwise, and then the view opens: a 180-degree sweep over Monte Solaro, the bay of Marina Piccola, the bends of Via Krupp and the Faraglioni. Much of what lies ahead on this walk is laid out in front of you here.

    Look for a stack of marble blocks about 5 metres high, with a face carved into the largest. It is Lenin, who lived on Capri in 1908 as a guest of the Russian writer Maxim Gorky. The sculptor Giacomo Manzù made the monument in 1968; the Soviet embassy in Rome commissioned it once the town council had given its approval.

    Entry costs a small fee, free for children, residents and disabled visitors, and the view alone justifies it; allow half an hour. Via Krupp is 510 m on, around 9 minutes.

    Local name
    Giardini di Augusto
    Hours
    May 1 – Sep 15: daily 09:00–20:00; Sep 16 – Sep 30: daily 09:30–19:30; Oct 1 – Oct 15: daily 09:30–19:00; Oct 16 – Nov 3: daily 09:30–18:30; Nov 4 – Dec 31: daily 09:30–16:30; Jan 1 – Jan 31: daily 09:30–16:30; Feb 1 – Mar 14: daily 10:00–17:00; Mar 15 – Mar 31: daily 09:30–18:30; Apr 1 – Apr 30: daily 09:30–19:30 (last entry 15 min before closing)
    Price
    2.50 EUR full (free for residents, children under 12, disabled visitors)
  4. 4

    Via Krupp

    Via Krupp in Capri, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour

    You have already seen it from the gardens: a footpath cut into the steep face of Monte Castiglione, folding into eight tight hairpin bends. It is 1,346.60 m long and 3 m wide, and it covers a height difference of about 100 m between the Gardens of Augustus and the sea, passing the Torre Saracena, part of an old fortification.

    Friedrich Alfred Krupp spent his winters on Capri around 1900 and wanted a quicker way from his rooms at the luxury Hotel Quisisana down to Marina Piccola. His research ship for marine biology lay at anchor there, and the bay also holds the Grotta di Fra Felice, one of his favourite spots. He paid most of the cost, 25,000 Italian lire. Work began in 1900 and finished in 1902, shortly before his death on 22 November that year. The island made him an honorary citizen in 1902, though the path was only named after him later.

    In 1976 the path was closed because of falling rock. Repairs dragged on and stopped several times while experts worked out how to secure the overhanging cliff; in the end about seven million euros went into steel nets against rockfall and landslides. It reopened on 28 June 2008 in the presence of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and the German ambassador Michael Steiner.

    The path is free to walk, though it is gated and not open around the clock. Walking the hairpins down to Marina Piccola is a detour beyond this route, and every metre down has to be climbed back up. Belvedere Cannone is only 120 m on, about 2 minutes.

    Hours
    Apr–Oct: 09:00–19:30 | Nov–Mar: 09:00–15:00
    Price
    Free
  5. 5

    Belvedere Cannone

    Belvedere Cannone in Capri, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour

    Two minutes on, a free public terrace looks out over Marina Piccola and the cliffs, open day and night. Think of it as the ticket-free counterpart to the gardens: the same coastline, no gate, no closing time.

    The bay beneath you is Capri's older harbour. Marina Piccola on the south shore came before Marina Grande, and Augustus and Tiberius both used it.

    Take your pause properly here. The next leg leads 910 m to the Charterhouse of San Giacomo, about 15 minutes, and the open sea views do not return until Tragara.

    Hours
    24/7
    Price
    Free
  6. 6

    Charterhouse of San Giacomo

    Charterhouse of San Giacomo in Capri, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour

    The Charterhouse of San Giacomo is the oldest monastery on Capri. Count Giacomo Arcucci, the man whose residence reshaped the Piazzetta, founded it in 1371 on land given by Queen Joanna I. The original layout followed Carthusian life: an enclosed area for the monks and another for services, in the late Romanesque style shared by the island's buildings of that time.

    The monks held on to the queen's privileges through centuries of upheaval in the Kingdom of Naples. Pirate raids hit the island and the Amalfi coast in the first half of the 16th century, and the monks rebuilt and enlarged the monastery, adding the 16th-century cloister. In 1808 Joachim Murat confiscated its property; it became a barracks in 1815, then a hospice, and from 1868 to 1898 a punishment station for soldiers and anarchists. A school briefly ran here in 1936, and during the Second World War the buildings fell into serious decay. Restoration of the whole complex only began in the early 2000s.

    Inside, a museum has been dedicated since 1975 to the German painter Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, who died on the island in 1913. Among the surviving works is a 14th-century fresco by the Florentine painter Niccolò di Tommaso, and since 2024 the Charterhouse also houses the new National Archaeological Museum of Capri.

    Go in if you have an hour and an interest in art or history. There is an admission fee, with reductions for young EU citizens and free entry for minors, and it is not open every day. If you came for sea and cliffs, admire the walls and walk on: Belvedere di Tragara is 920 m away, about 14 minutes, and you pass the Cerio Museum on the way.

    Local name
    Certosa di San Giacomo
    Hours
    Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30), Mon closed (Mar 1 – Oct 31); Tue–Sun 10:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30), Mon closed (Nov 1 – Feb 28/29)
    Price
    10 EUR full, 2 EUR reduced (EU citizens aged 18-25), free under 18
  7. 7

    Belvedere di Tragara

    Belvedere di Tragara in Capri, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour

    Via Tragara runs to its end and opens onto a terrace with a single job: putting the Faraglioni right in front of you. It is free and open at all hours, and after the Charterhouse's rooms it feels like the route breathing out. Stay as long as you like.

    Punta Tragara is also where the Pizzolungo path begins, the coastal trail that carries you on toward the Natural Arch. First come the Faraglioni themselves, 360 m and about 8 minutes ahead.

    Hours
    24/7
    Price
    Free
  8. 8

    Faraglioni

    Faraglioni in Capri, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour

    Three rocky stacks rise from the Gulf of Naples off Capri's shore, known in Neapolitan as “faragliune 'e Capri”. Their striking shapes are the work of erosion by wind, rain and waves. You have had them in view since the Gardens of Augustus; here they become the whole scene.

    They also mark the sea route around the island: boats travelling between Marina Piccola and Marina Grande pass by circling around the stacks.

    Now comes the longest leg of the walk, 1,470 m and about 31 minutes to the Natural Arch along the Pizzolungo Trail. Along the way you keep the Faraglioni in sight and pass Villa Malaparte and the Grotta di Matermania.

    Hours
    24/7
    Price
    Free
  9. 9

    Natural Arch

    Natural Arch in Capri, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour

    The Natural Arch is a limestone arch 12 metres wide and 18 metres above the ground, at the far eastern tip of the island. From here you look across to the Sorrento peninsula and the Li Galli islands, and down into the sheer drop the islanders call “o' funno”, the bottom, once a favourite place of theirs for bathing.

    What you see is the last fragment of a cave. Where the arch stands there was once a tall, deep underground cavity facing northwest. Landslides gradually broke it open, and weather wore away the front and middle of the vault until only this segment remained. It reached its present shape in Palaeolithic times, once the island was no longer shaken by the tectonic movements that could have brought it down.

    The arch can only be reached on foot, and the route ends here. A second footpath leads back via Via dell'Arco Naturale, Via Matermania and the Croce area to the Piazzetta, and the GPS navigation in your browser guides you back to the start whenever you want.

    Local name
    Arco Naturale
    Hours
    24/7
    Price
    Free
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AI Tour Guide

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Press start wherever you are, even hundreds of kilometres from Capri, and the guide begins telling its stories right away. In the city, pick any of the 9 stops to start from: it leads you there, then talks with you the whole route, asking, listening, remembering, and shaping the tour around your answers.

9stops 5.7km 1 h 44 minwalking 13languages
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Shorter Ways to Walk Capri

The route splits naturally into a town half with the two paid visits and a free coastal half along the cliffs.

Town and gardens: Marina Grande to the Charterhouse

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

For day trippers with a ferry to catch or anyone who prefers history to hiking. You climb from the harbour to the Piazzetta, take in the Gardens of Augustus, Via Krupp and Belvedere Cannone and finish in the Charterhouse of San Giacomo. Walking time is 52 minutes; the tickets are the Gardens and the Charterhouse.

Coast only: Tragara to the Natural Arch

Stops: 7, 8, 9

For walkers who came for cliffs and sea. From Belvedere di Tragara you go to the Faraglioni and then along the Pizzolungo path to the Natural Arch. Walking time is 39 minutes and there is no ticket anywhere.

How Long the Capri Tour Takes, with and without Museums

The pure walking time is 1 h 44 min over 5.7 km. Add about half an hour in the Gardens of Augustus, an hour in the Charterhouse of San Giacomo and short pauses at the other stops, and the whole walk takes around four and a half hours.

The order follows a simple arc: up from the harbour into town, out to the gardens and terraces over Marina Piccola, then the museum, then the cliffs. The longest leg comes last, when you are on the coastal path and in no hurry.

The town half takes a little over three hours with both visits. The coastal half from Tragara takes about an hour and a half with time to stand and look at each viewpoint.

Before You Set Off from Marina Grande

  • Start: Marina Grande, where the boats from Naples dock, is the recommended start. You can join the route at any stop and follow the order from there.
  • End: The Natural Arch on the island's eastern tip. The GPS navigation in your browser leads you back to the start on request.
  • Best day: Plan your day around the Charterhouse of San Giacomo if you want to see inside, since it does not open every day; a morning start from the harbour gets you there comfortably after opening.
  • Costs: Only the Gardens of Augustus and the Charterhouse charge admission; every other stop is free. The route, map and GPS navigation cost nothing.
Walking tour route map of Capri
AI Tour Guide

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Press start and a voice AI Tour Guide takes it from here: leading the route through Capri, telling the stories, and turning your walk into a real back-and-forth conversation. No app or download is needed; it runs in your browser.

9stops 5.7km 1 h 44 minwalking 13languages
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What the AI Tour Guide Adds on Capri

This route jumps from Greek walls to a steel magnate's hairpin path to a Soviet-commissioned monument, and the AI Tour Guide keeps those threads together. It greets you wherever you begin, tells each place's story as you arrive, asks what you want more of and remembers it, so the Charterhouse sounds different if you lingered over Krupp than if you kept asking about the Romans. Ask what Diefenbach's paintings are like before you buy the ticket, or cut in on the Pizzolungo path when Villa Malaparte comes into view. You start with 100 free credits; after that it is €19.99 for this tour all-inclusive with no time limit, or €5 per hour.

A Real Conversation A voice AI Tour Guide greets you, leads the whole route, and tells the stories and facts as you walk, asking what you want to see and keeping a real conversation going. Not a recording you press play on.
Map Navigation Follow the route on the map and walk at your own pace. You choose where to start and when to move to the next stop.
Ask Anything Curious about a building you pass? Ask your AI Tour Guide on the spot and the conversation carries on.
13 Languages Switch language anytime. No separate tour needed.
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Capri Walk: Common Questions

Does this walk include the Blue Grotto?

No, the Blue Grotto is reached by boat, not on foot. Excursion boats to it leave from Marina Grande, so you can book one at the harbour before or after the walk.

Where can I swim near the route?

Marina Grande, where the route starts, has the largest beach on the island. Marina Piccola on the south coast has been a bathing spot since 1934; Via Krupp leads down to it when the path is open, as an extra beyond this route.

Can I visit the Gardens of Augustus in winter?

Yes, they stay open through the winter, though with shorter hours than in summer, so plan to go earlier in the day.

Can I combine Capri with Naples or Sorrento?

Boats run between Marina Grande and Naples, so Capri pairs well with the Naples walking tour on another day. If you are based on the mainland coast, Sorrento has its own self-guided route too.

Is the tour really free?

Yes. The whole tour is free: the route, the interactive map and the navigation cost you nothing. Only the voice AI Tour Guide is optional and paid: you test it with 100 free credits, then you pay either €5 per hour or €19.99 for this whole tour, with no time limit. Admission to 2 of the 9 stops is not included: Gardens of Augustus and Charterhouse of San Giacomo charge their own entry fees.

Do I need to download an app?

No. Everything runs in your phone browser. Open the route and start walking, no download and no sign-up required.

Do I need to book the walking tour in advance?

No booking needed. This self-guided tour is available anytime. Open the route in your browser and start walking. The AI Tour Guide works instantly, no app, no reservation required.

What languages is the AI Tour Guide available in?

The AI Tour Guide speaks 13 languages, so you take the tour in your own language and can switch at any time.

Can I skip stops or change the route?

Yes. Skip any stop, spend extra time at places you like, or start the route from any point. It is your walk, you set the pace.
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