Beyond Capri: Procida, the Gulf of Naples Island That Won Without Even Trying

Capri is a myth, but also a place where reality struggles to keep up with the image: astronomical prices, an insufferable Piazzetta in summer, beaches reachable only by private boat at prohibitive cost. Thirty minutes away by hydrofoil, Procida offers an alternative that makes no attempt to imitate Capri — it simply tries to be itself.

Marina Corricella is Procida's photographic heart: an amphitheatre of pastel houses — pink, yellow, pale blue, orange — cascading down to the fishing harbour. Hand-painted boats are reflected in the water, nets are spread to dry on the walls, and the restaurants on the quayside serve linguine all'astice as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Massimo Troisi filmed Il Postino here, and the Corricella of the film is identical to the one you see today.

Terra Murata — the island's upper section, the medieval fortified borgo — offers a view that sweeps the entire Gulf of Naples: Ischia, Capri, Vesuvius, the Sorrento peninsula. The Abbazia di San Michele Arcangelo, with its gilded wooden ceiling, is the island's most important monument.

Procida's beaches are small and volcanic: the Chiaia, reached by a staircase cut into the tufa, is a crescent of grey sand sheltered by cliffs; Pozzo Vecchio — the beach from Il Postino — is a natural amphitheatre of yellow tufa; Ciraccio and Ciracciello are the longest and most swimmable.

Procida was Italy's Capital of Culture in 2022, a recognition that brought attention without transforming the island. The Procidans welcomed visitors with the ease of people who have lived on an island for generations: no theme park, no commercial gimmicks, just the same old life with a few more exhibitions and concerts.

Eating on Procida is a pure Neapolitan experience: lingua di bue (the local pastry, a cream puff filled with custard and lemon), Procida lemon salad (made with the island's famous enormous lemons), spaghetti with mussels from the port, and coniglio alla procidana.

Procida is reachable from Naples Molo Beverello in forty minutes by hydrofoil or an hour by ferry. From Pozzuoli the journey is even shorter. Accommodation costs a third of Capri: sea-view B&Bs, apartments in the borgo, small hotels with panoramic terraces.

Practical guides

• How to Get to Procida: Ferries, Hydrofoils and Everything You Need to Know
• Two Days on Procida: The Island That Refuses to Be Consumed
• Where to Stay in Procida: A Guide to Sleeping Among Pastel Houses and Sea Terraces on Naples' Most Authentic Island
• Where to Eat in Procida: Flavours of an Island That Feeds the Soul