Capri

Rising out of the Tyrrhenian Sea in a wall of rugged, bush-spattered cliffs, the island of Capri has long been the symbolic home of la dolce vita – where European jet setters, Greek thinkers and the totemic emperors of imperial Rome have all come to unwind in the Mediterranean breezes and cerulean swimming spots that abound between modern day Marina Piccola and the looming Faraglioni Rocks.

During Italy’s summer high season, the waters around Capri teem with day-trippers out of Naples and Amalfi, eager to traverse the pinhole entrance to the Island’s famous Grotta Azzurra, or to hit the high-fashion boutiques of Anacapri. Others come to seek out the historical sites of Jovis (the old home of the Emperor Tiberius) and San Michele; two very different villas that speak at once of Capri’s 20th century style boom and enthralling ancient past.

Elsewhere, Capri ticks over just like any other rustic province of Campania; its dramatic panoramas of Vesuvius and Sorrento in the distance framing the bustling seafood trattorias of La Piazzetta and the chic boutique hotels that pepper the cliff sides of Marina Piccola (the spot where Odysseus is said to have faced the sirens). And hikers won’t be disappointed either, because any Capri tour guide can point out the myriad trails that wind their way around the coast, or the soaring hilltop of Monte Solaro right at the island’s heart.