German steel magnate Friedrich Alfred Krupp bought these terraces in the early 1900s to give Capri a botanical belvedere: the Gardens of Augustus form a small amphitheatre of flowers suspended over the cliff, framing what may be the most photographed view in the Mediterranean — the Faraglioni on one side, Marina Piccola on the other.
What to see
The three Faraglioni stacks have names and characters: di Terra joined to the coast, di Mezzo pierced by the tunnel boats sail through, di Fuori home to the blue lizard, an endemism existing nowhere else on earth. Below the gardens snakes Via Krupp, a masterpiece of engineering carved into the rock face: its hairpin bends are admired from above even when the path itself is closed.
Visiting
The gardens are small — half an hour suffices — with a token entrance fee in the main season. The right moment is late afternoon, when raking light ignites the Faraglioni and the day-trip groups have already drained back toward the port.
Getting there
Ten minutes on foot from Capri's Piazzetta, along Via Vittorio Emanuele and past the Charterhouse of San Giacomo. No transport needed: on Capri, distances are measured in steps and shop windows.
Our editors' tip
Pair the gardens with the often-ignored Charterhouse next door: a fourteenth-century cloister and silence two steps from the crowds. Then complete the rite down at Marina Piccola, touching the water by the Sirens' Rock: the Faraglioni seen from below are another story entirely.