Capri taxi vs Uber vs private car: which to use, and when

On Capri, the taxi is the only door-to-door car you can hire. Visitors' vehicles are not allowed on the island, there is no Uber listing for Capri, and a private chauffeur from the mainland stops at the ferry port. Capri's taxis, many of them open-air, work on a tariff with fixed fares on the main routes: €15 for up to four people with one bag each between the port at Marina Grande and Capri town, and €20 from the port to Anacapri, on the sheet linked by the island's tourism site.

So the real comparison on Capri is between the taxi, the bus and funicular at €2.40 a ride, your own feet, and the porters who carry luggage to hotels. A private car matters on either side of the water: from Naples Airport or your coast hotel to the boat, and back again. This guide sets out the island's official fares, how each option works, and how we plan a Capri day or a Capri stay around them.

How much is a taxi on Capri?

The sheet was approved by the Anacapri council under resolution 26 of 2008 and is the one the island's tourism site links as Capri's taxi fees, so treat it as the official reference and confirm the price with the driver before you set off.

See Amalfi Coast prices and reserve

Capri's official taxi fares

Source: the Comune di Anacapri taxi tariff sheet, linked from the island's getting around page.

On the meter. For any other ride, the same sheet sets a starting fare of €5.50, €0.20 for every 70 metres and €0.20 for every 20 seconds stopped, with a minimum fare of €8.

Supplements of €2 each apply for every passenger beyond the fourth, for rides at night from 22:00 to 6:00, for a phone booking, for each piece of luggage larger than 40 x 30 x 20 cm, and for each pet. There is no Sunday or holiday supplement. Guide dogs and wheelchairs travel free.

Two practical notes. Many of Capri's taxis are open-air cars, and the fare for five or six passengers includes only two bags, so a group of six with six suitcases is better off sending the luggage with the porters. And the tourism site itself notes that taxi fares can be relatively expensive, especially in high season.

Uber and app rides on Capri

Uber's list of Italian cities includes Napoli, but not Capri, Anacapri, Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast towns. On the island itself, plan on taxis, buses and the funicular. On the mainland, in Naples, app rides come from licensed professionals, either premium hire cars or taxis requested through the app, priced at the time of request.

Why a private car stops at the port

Capri's own tourism site is clear that non-resident vehicles are not allowed on the island (how to get to Capri). That rule covers rental cars and chauffeured cars alike, so no mainland car service, ours included, drives you around Capri. What a chauffeur does well is the part either side of the boat:

• Naples Airport to the port of Naples, with your luggage, to catch a hydrofoil to the island.
• Your Amalfi Coast or Sorrento hotel to Sorrento's harbour for the short crossing, and back in the evening.
• Capri back to the mainland, with the car waiting at the port to drive you on to Positano, Amalfi or the airport.

The same tourism site gives the crossing times: around 40 to 50 minutes by hydrofoil from Naples and 20 minutes from Sorrento, or about 1 to 1.5 hours by slower ferry from Naples and 40 minutes from Sorrento. Book the boat with the ferry operator; give the desk the departure time.

Buses, the funicular and walking

The funicular links Marina Grande, where the boats arrive, with Capri town and the Piazzetta. The buses connect the port, Capri town, Anacapri, Marina Piccola, the Blue Grotto and the Punta Carena lighthouse. The island's published bus and funicular timetable lists a ticket at €2.40 per ride (Capri bus and funicular schedule), and the funicular charges the same €2.40 for an oversized suitcase.

Buses are cheap and frequent, but small and often full in summer. Many parts of Capri town are pedestrian-only, so walking is how you get around the centre in any case.

Luggage: the porters

Capri's town centre is hard on suitcases: narrow lanes, steps and steep climbs. The island has an official luggage service, the Cooperativa Portuali Capresi, whose porters meet arriving boats and take bags to hotels. The tourism site quotes about €25 per piece for door-to-door delivery from Marina Grande to your hotel, depending on distance, or about €15 per piece from the Piazzetta taxi stand. Many hotels arrange this for you, with a porter holding a sign with the hotel's name as you step off the boat.

The practical sequence for an overnight stay is: hand the bags to the porter at the port, take the funicular up to the Piazzetta, walk to the hotel, and find the luggage waiting. For hotels in Anacapri, which are mostly reachable by road, a taxi from the port is usually simpler.

Which option for which trip

The mainland legs: what a pre-booked car costs

On the mainland, Elly8.net quotes fixed prices in US dollars before you travel. Our published Naples Airport fare runs to Positano: US$280 in a Business Sedan, US$365 in a Business SUV, US$450 in a First Class SUV, US$490 in a First Class Sedan and US$730 in an Executive Sprinter, per vehicle. Port drops, such as Naples Airport to the port of Naples or a coast hotel to Sorrento's harbour, are quoted in the web booker before you pay.

For a day trip to Capri from the coast, the car is often booked by the hour: US$90 an hour in a business sedan, US$115 in a business SUV and US$180 in a Sprinter, with a 3-hour minimum. If the chauffeur only drops you at the harbour in the morning and collects you in the evening, two short transfers are usually the better buy than an hourly booking that sits idle while you are on the island. The desk will suggest the cheaper structure. See hourly chauffeur.

Fairly compared: Naples' official taxi fare from the airport to the port at Molo Beverello is €24 per car, on the city's published taxi tariff sheet. For two travellers with light bags heading straight to a hydrofoil, that taxi is the sensible choice. A pre-booked car earns its place for families, groups, late connecting flights and anyone who wants to be met inside arrivals with a name board.

Rides on the Amalfi Coast and in Naples are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk.

Groups, weddings and cruise passengers

Capri is a favourite for wedding parties staying on the coast, incentive groups and cruise passengers with a day in Naples, and each of them meets the same rule: the cars stop at the water. For a group, the plan is to move everyone to the boat together and to have the island's side arranged before you land, with taxis booked through the hotel or a group ticket on the funicular and buses.

On the mainland, an Executive Sprinter carries twelve passengers and twelve bags for one fixed price, so a wedding party moving from a Positano hotel to Sorrento's harbour travels together and arrives at the same time; see group transportation and wedding transportation. Cruise passengers docking at Naples who want Capri, Sorrento or Pompeii in a day should look at cruise port transfers and give the desk the ship's all-aboard time, which sets the whole schedule.

A Capri plan that works

Here is the shape of a Capri visit we arrange often, for travellers staying on the coast:

1. Morning. The chauffeur collects you at your Positano or Sorrento hotel and drives to Sorrento's harbour. From Positano that is about 18 km (11 mi), roughly 25 minutes on a clear road.
2. The crossing. Twenty minutes or so by hydrofoil from Sorrento to Marina Grande.
3. On the island. Funicular to the Piazzetta, a bus or taxi to Anacapri, lunch, and back down to the port.
4. Evening. The boat back to Sorrento, where the chauffeur meets the boat you name and drives you home.

For a few nights on Capri as part of a longer trip, a common route is Naples Airport to the port of Naples, a hydrofoil to the island, then a boat to Sorrento at the end and a car along the coast to Positano. Ask the desk to quote each leg in one booking. Our guide to the taxi from Naples to Sorrento covers that mainland leg in detail.

One more practical point: the boats depend on the sea. If the crossing you planned is delayed or cancelled, tell the desk the new boat time and the chauffeur adjusts the pickup at the harbour; waiting beyond the included time is billed at cost, and the desk tells you before that applies.

How to book the mainland legs

1. Pickup and drop-off. Enter Naples Airport with your flight number, or your hotel, and the port with your boat time.
2. Vehicle. Choose by passengers and bags: a Business Sedan takes three passengers and two large bags, a Business SUV or First Class SUV six and six, an Executive Sprinter twelve and twelve.
3. Reserve. Reserve the published airport fare on the Amalfi Coast prices, or use the web booker for port transfers. Confirmation comes by email.

Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup, 10% at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less, and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, with refunds to the original card.

Book any address

For the coast itself, see our Amalfi Coast car service, meet and greet for airport arrivals, and the Amalfi Coast taxi vs Uber vs private car comparison. The general case is on chauffeur vs taxi. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory.