Procida is 3.7 km² and you can walk across it in about forty minutes: on paper it is the perfect island for a family. In practice there is a problem nobody tells you about beforehand, and it is always the same one: the finest places on the island have no road. Marina Corricella is entirely pedestrian and you get there only by four stairways; you go down to the Chiaia beach by about 180 steps; Terra Murata is reached by a steep climb. With a pushchair, or with a child who tires, the shape of the day changes.
The good news is that the island offers real alternatives for almost everything, and the buses link them. This guide lines up what works with children — beaches, transport, accommodation, a boat trip — and also says what is better left until they are older. The two things it makes no sense to improvise are the choice of beach and the choice of where to sleep.
The beaches: which work and which do not
There are six, all free on the public stretch and almost all of dark volcanic sand, which gets hot before pale sand does: sandals really are needed. With children, the difference is made by two things only, the access and the sea bottom.
The two that work best
Chiaiolella is the simplest choice: direct road access, an L2 bus that drops you a few metres from the sand, shallow safe water, beach clubs, bars, pizzerias and restaurants behind the beach. If you have bags, a parasol, a car seat and a small child, this is the only beach on the island that does not ask you to carry anything downhill. The price is the crowd: between 11 and 16, in high season, it fills up.
Chiaia is the most sheltered on the island and the water stays shallow for a good many metres: it is the beach Procidans name for children. But no road reaches it. You go down a stairway of about 180 steps — sources say 182 or 186, so count on about 180 — and you climb back up them in the afternoon, with everything in your hands. There is an alternative and it is the boat service from Marina Corricella, which skips the steps: times and fares are asked for on the quay, they are not online. With small children, that ride is worth the cost.
The convenient and the inconvenient
Silurenza is five minutes on foot from the ferry quay, on Via Roma, and is described as suitable for families: it is the beach that solves the wait for the hydrofoil or the first half day. There is a beach club with a bar and restaurant and a rock the local kids dive off. It is small and in the middle of the day, in August, it is full.
Ciraccio also has a road and the L2 bus, and it is long: move away from the access points and you find space even in August. Two warnings: in the afternoon the maestrale comes in and the sand flies, and there is no natural shade.
Pozzo Vecchio, the Postino beach, has a short but steep descent, almost no shade and a single beach club: it works for two or three hours in the late afternoon, not for a day.
The Lingua beach, on the other hand, should be avoided with small children: the bottom drops away at once, the water is deep a few steps out — so much so that people spearfish there — there are no services at all and the port is working alongside. The full ranking, with the criteria, is in the best beaches of Procida.
Getting around: the bus lines that actually help
The EAV buses all leave from Marina Grande, from the terminus near the church of Santa Maria della Pietà. With children you will use three of them.
- L1: the trunk line, port–Chiaiolella–port. In summer it gets to one departure every fifteen minutes, with 110 departures a day.
- L2: port–Chiaiolella–Solchiaro–port. It is the one for the beaches with a road.
- C1: port–Pozzo Vecchio beach–port.
There is also the C2, which climbs to Terra Murata and Corricella, useful for saving yourself the ascent, and the L7, which serves the health centre. The ticket costs 1.20 EUR bought on land in a bar, tobacconist or newsagent and 1.40 EUR on board: buy a few extra at the start of the day. We are not giving you how long the ticket stays valid, because one source says 60 minutes and another 90.
Two warnings about the timetable. Even in summer the last departure from the port is 00:15: there is no night service. off season, from October to May, the last departure is around 21:00. And in high season the buses fill up: with a pushchair, waiting for the next one is often more comfortable than getting on squashed.
The local alternative is the micro-taxis, ape cars with a covered calessino for four to six people, suited to the alleys. One source gives a stated flat fare of 15 EUR per trip, with no meter; others say the price is agreed. The simplest rule applies: ask the price before you get in. Bookings are made on 081 896 8785. The full picture is in how to get around Procida.
The car, in high season, is not an option: from 30 March to 15 October 2026 non-residents’ vehicles may not land or drive around, and the decree has to be checked again every year in March. Vehicles belonging to people with disabilities are the exception, with a badge.
Where to stay with children
The area matters more than the property. The Chiaiolella, to the south-west, has the road, the bus, the widest beaches and the restaurants on the seafront: it is the most convenient base for a family. Marina Grande works if you arrive late or leave early. Corricella, on the other hand, should be chosen knowingly: it is beautiful and it has no vehicle access, and with luggage you go down and back up stairways.
The address most suited to families that we know of for certain is the Hotel Crescenzo, at the Chiaiolella: three stars, ten rooms, some with a view over the small harbour, and above all family rooms for up to four people with bunk beds, cots and bed rails available. It has an in-house restaurant and pizzeria that is well known on the island, with a wood-fired oven dating from the sixties, and it is pet-friendly; the stated indicative minimum price is from 70 EUR. Terra Murata and Corricella are twenty minutes or so on foot, and Vivara is close.
An alternative for long stays or off season is the Tirreno Residence, also at the Chiaiolella: studios and one-bedroom flats with a kitchenette, eighty metres from the sea, animals allowed, and stated opening all year round, which is rare here. Being able to cook, with small children, simplifies a great deal. The comparison between areas and types is in where to stay in Procida.
A boat trip, with the equipment for children
It is the best way to show children the whole island without making them climb a single stairway, and to reach the coves the road does not get to. Among the trips available, the one that explicitly states life-saving equipment for children is the island boat tour with swim stops: two hours, a full circuit with stops for a swim, a guide in Italian, English and French, and access to changing rooms and showers at the beach club. It leaves from the Lido La Lingua, at Marina Grande, and the indicative price starts from 42 EUR a person; the rating stated on the listing is 5.0/5 from 87 reviews.
If instead you are after the classic tour with mask and snorkel, there is the circuit of the island with swim stops and underwater photos, also two hours, in a small group of a maximum of eight people. With very small children, judge the sea: two hours’ sailing with a swell running is a long time.
For a whole day there is also the hire of a boat with no licence, six metres, up to four people, with a wide awning and a shower: from 170 EUR a group for eight hours. It is the solution that gives you the most freedom over timings, which with children is nearly everything.
What to put off, with small children
Not everything the island offers works at every age, and it is worth knowing that before you buy a ticket.
Vivara. The nature reserve is magnificent and the prices are designed with families in mind too: free under 7, 3.00 EUR between 8 and 12, 10.00 EUR for adults. But the visit is guided, lasts two and a half hours on average, is booked online, has slots of a maximum of 25 people and bans unsuitable footwear: you need walking boots, flip-flops will not get you up there. With children under six or seven it is a long walk; from eight upwards it becomes a fine day out.
Palazzo d’Avalos. The former prison can be visited only with a guide, booked two days in advance, for about an hour, at 13.00 EUR with free entry under 6. The hours are not verified and have to be confirmed before you climb. The content — cells, iron beds, prisoners’ effects, a surgical room — is strong: judge for yourself, but with very small children it is not the right stop.
Punta Pizzaco. The path towards the headland is unsurfaced and steep, with no railings and no lighting. With children who run, better avoided.
The pushchair at Corricella and Terra Murata. The village is entirely pedestrian, with four stairways, and the climb to Terra Murata is steep and not suited to wheelchairs. With the smallest children a baby carrier solves it; the pushchair does not.
Eating, and the services you need to know about
For eating without complications, the budget bracket is also the most convenient one with children: Fuego, on the Corricella quay, is in practice the only pizzeria with a view over the village, with a rating of 4.4/5 from about 1,070 reviews; from Monday to Friday it opens only for dinner. At the Chiaiolella, Da Mariano flags gluten-free options, and the Hotel Crescenzo has its own in-house pizzeria. For breakfast, the counters of Via Roma at Marina Grande: the lingua di Procida at Bar Dal Cavaliere or the Panamé bakery, open all year.
On health services, it is better to have the numbers in your pocket. On the island there is the ASL Napoli 2 Nord health centre "Gaetanina Scotto di Perrotolo", with radiological diagnostics and a CT scanner, an out-of-hours doctor and an air ambulance for transfers. The contacts: hospital 081 8101213, accident and emergency 081 8969058, out-of-hours doctor 081 8100418. A note of reality: in 2026 there was a public dispute over the temporary suspension of the radiology services for anti-seismic works, so the level of service is not stable over time. There are three pharmacies: Barone in Piazza dei Martiri, Schioppa at San Giacomo, Criscuolo at San Leonardo.
One last thing, obvious and decisive: shade and water. No beach on the island has guaranteed natural shade and there are no drinking fountains on the sand. A parasol, a water bottle and sun cream are brought from home or bought at the port, not at the beach.
