The thing I love about Capri is the combination of incredibly dramatic cliffside topography and the unique atmosphere of the streetlife; one is as over the top as the other…

Any walk in Capri town is a breathtaking, sensory experience. You can smell the bitter, nutty smell of strong coffee and hot, buttery pastries as waiters in retro white jackets with black bow ties set up little round tables in the street cafes. These men, always armed with pens in their pockets, are an integral part of the town’s timewarp charm - they are career waiters, often 30 years into the job, who take their role seriously. This is food after all! The fragrance of fresh waffle fills the air as we pass by a gelateria. It is the essence of summer Italy.

There is an unmistakable aesthetic to the place. People dress with a real flair for smart casual: it’s relaxed yet really, really chic. Sheira loved the urban Italian tourists in their holiday wardrobes - a lot of the men are in sorbet-coloured linen shirts and soft flowing pants while the chic women walk or drift by in body conscious silk or linen dresses, their hips swaying like bells. 

I tend to favour the “cool Club look” of baggy jeans hanging low, a pair of Haviannas and a great T-shirt or Scotch and Soda shirt (see my STYLE PAGE) but this is not the common look in Capri - it is more a sophisticated and mature party town.  
  

While the streets on the summit are full of life, far down at the foot of the cliffside coastline are two naturally protected ports on either side of the island. MARINA GRANDE is the village where most people arrive on the north coast facing the Sorrento Peninsula on the mainland. Pretty, brightly painted wooden fishing boats are docked at the Pennello wharf and the island’s largest beach is open to the public. It is nice to stroll along the VIA CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, full of restaurants, bars and basic shops, although I always prefer to actually stay up top where the real action is.

The MARINA PICCOLO faces the open sea on the south coast. It’s where the sheer face of volcanic rock / granite meets a really charming, chi chi village atmosphere, with striped umbrellas and lovely arched villas interspersed with leafy trees all the way up the hill. There are views of the magnificent, very sculptural FARGLIONI SEA STACKS that we love just further along the coastline where the Fontelina Beach Club is (see WHERE TO EAT). 

It is a lively part of the island: sailboats and yachts with giant telecommunications domes and pods drift by, while women with coral and turquoise bikinis and silk scarves stretch out on the sand and luxuriate. When we arrived to catch our boat somewhere else we were almost battling to leave because it is the quintessential 1950’s seaside postcard. There are normally queues for buses or taxis at the foot of VIA MULO, the street that winds back up to the Piazzetta on top of the island.

Yes, Capri is a glamorous playground of the rich and famous but this is Europe, so I’m here to tell you that, yes, you can pack your bags and take the kids! We didn’t pay any attention to all the raised eyebrows that came our way from our friends and neither should you. Our kids loved it - you can’t fake those childlike grins. Back in 2003 we were invited to an un-missable celebration in Israel with 50 or so friends. It was during the height of the Intifada in Israel so we wanted to minimise our time in Jerusalem – spend 2 days there and find somewhere in Europe for the other 5 days. The Said’s were all dressed up in the northern hemisphere with nowhere to go! 

I thought, why not break the kids in and take them to Capri? We got the usual, “are you crazy, the kids are going to be bored, it is too expensive, it is for Jackie O, not young teens etc.” Everyone has a certain perception when they hear the name Capri. I have always wanted to stimulate my children with the wonders of the world, not dumb down to Barney rides and junk food. Of course I also hope that they will never be blasé about their travel experiences; I myself am as excited setting off on a new trip now as I ever was. Capri is also a safe destination. There is no where to go once you are on the island !!

This time we had a 13-yr old, 10-yr old and 2-yr old in tow and the QUISISANA staff were very child-friendly and kind: the hotel is gracious, but not snooty. There is a certain sense of adventure at that still-earnest age. They were wide-eyed at their surroundings. The hour and a bit  ferry ride from Naples and convertible cars at Marina Grande; the fairytale world of largely pedestrian streets and piazzas where it’s so much easier to run around… We drifted away from the luxury goods and discovered the more everyday local shops in the side streets where you buy snacks or toys. And what kid doesn’t love a gelato on every corner?

I am nostalgic for that period when the family does everything together and no-one wants to take off to do their own thing. Us parents are still the best thing going. Pool family fun is so easy too: Josh pretty much turned 13 in the water at the Quisisana. We celebrated there, where the waiters still wear that Capri classic, the bowtie. He was serenaded by live guitars and deep, Italian baritones. The boys also made use of the grass tennis courts.

There are many wonderful things you can do with your kids further afield too, like go on boat trips. The boys totally got how special and glamorous our favourite, La Fontelina is. We also discovered the more casual BAGNI DA GIOIA Beach Club by default one day when it was too windy and rough to go over to La Fontelina. This little pebbly area has its own charm and is a great, more laid back family alternative. The restaurant is literally on the sand, right by the waters of the Marina Piccola where we had an amazing, hearty Mediterranean lunch with gnocci, eggplant, artichoke, milky mozzarella and ripe tomatoes that taste nowhere on earth the way they do in Italy.

Another day we rented a boat arranged by the hotel, which was entirely covered in terry toweling daybeds and cushions. The kids loved gliding into all these grottos because it really pressed their Boys Own Adventure buttons - and they could do dive bombs right off the boat.

You can also get a bit more lazy about where you eat when you are en famille.  Kids like those busy, internationally popular restaurants with a more basic Italian menu. I usually try to flush out the unusual gem but with these guys in tow, a mainstream choice was always going to be just fine.