May, June or September
The local sources say it plainly: summer is for long stays and the beaches, spring and autumn for weekends of two or three days without the summer influx.
Itinerario
A weekend in Procida
Two nights on an island of 3.7 km² sound like too many. They are not: they are exactly what it takes to stop visiting it and start being there.
Written by
Chiara Scotto di CarloWrites about Procida's villages and monuments starting from the people who live in them, and re-checks opening hours and closures before every update.
UpdatedProcida is the weekend island, and the local sources say so without going round the houses: summer is for long stays and for the beaches, while spring and autumn are for weekends of two or three days without the summer influx. The months that work best are May, June and September.
The advantage of two nights on a small island is not seeing more. It is taking the hurry out: you can climb to Terra Murata when the light is right rather than when it suits the ferry, you can go back twice to the same quay, you can accept that one afternoon it rains. And you can afford the thing the day trippers do not have: two evenings.
Before you go
- Arrive on Friday evening if you can. From 1 June to 30 September there is the 21:05 Caremar hydrofoil from Naples; outside that period the last crossing is the 21:55 ferry.
- Book Palazzo d’Avalos at least two days ahead: guided visits only, 13.00 EUR, a minimum of two people.
- Book Vivara online if it interests you: a maximum of 25 people per slot, closed on Monday, walking boots compulsory.
- Choose the area according to your luggage. Corricella is the finest but has no road access: you go down by stairways. The comparison is in where to stay in Procida.
- Buy the tickets on the company’s website: 12.70 EUR on the ferry from Naples, 9.50 EUR from Pozzuoli.
- The car stays on land from 30 March to 15 October 2026, and over seven days Pozzuoli costs half what the Beverello does.
Friday evening
Arrival and a first look round
Marina Grande, with no plans
- 21:45
Landing at Marina Grande
Arriving in the evening changes the first impression: the harbour is working, the bars on via Roma are open, and there is no queue of day trippers. If you are sleeping up high or at Corricella and you have luggage, the micro-taxi — a three-wheeler with a little carriage, four to six seats — is waiting for you on the quay. The harbour village - 22:15
A walk along via Roma
The harbour front is the street where the civic life of the island actually happens: ten thousand inhabitants on 3.7 km², one of the highest densities in Europe for an island. It is not a tourist village that switches off, it is a town. A counter on via Roma
Saturday
The two villages, the sea, the evening on the quay
The full day: go up early, come down for lunch
- 09:00
Terra Murata
Ten minutes uphill from the harbour, or the C2 line. At ninety-one metres, the highest inhabited point: walls and towers attributed to Cardinal Innico d’Avalos, Porta di Ferro, Porta di Mezz’Omo, and at the belvedere two cannon of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799. The fortified village - 09:45
Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo
Free, a donation if you wish, a guided explanation included. Monastic presence from 1026 — 2026 is the Year of the Millennium — sixteenth-century architecture, a bellows organ of 1770, a library of about eight thousand volumes with an atlas of 1570. The underground rooms cannot be visited at present. Hours and what you see - 11:00
Palazzo d’Avalos
The former prison, if you have booked. Sixteenth-century, of the d’Avalos family, then a Bourbon military school, then a prison from 1830 to 1988. It is not a single building: palace, courtyard, guards’ barracks, cell wing, infirmary. An hour, 13.00 EUR, guided only. How to book - 12:30
Down to Corricella
Ten minutes downhill from the ridge. The oldest fishing village on the island, with its seventeenth-century harbour, the arches, the domes, the loggias and the vefi. You get there only on foot by four stairways or by sea: the Gradinata del Pennino, the Gradinata Scura and two from the ends of the harbour. The village with no cars - 13:00
Lunch with your feet over the water
On the quay: La Lampara, Caracalè, Il Pescatore, and Fuego in the cheaper band. Order the insalata di limoni with a plate of fried fish. The limone pane, with its white pith sweet instead of bitter, is the one thing that is gastronomically exclusive to the island. The dish to order - 15:30
Chiaia beach
The most sheltered bay, dark volcanic sand, shallow water. You go down about a hundred and eighty steps — the sources vary between 182 and 186 — or else take the boat service from Corricella, which saves you the climb back up in the afternoon. The secluded bay - 18:30
Aperitivo on a boat, or Punta Pizzaco
Two ways of taking the sunset. The sunset tour lasts two hours and shows you the island from the water. Or Punta Pizzaco on foot from Piazza Olmo: an unsurfaced, exposed path, with no railings and no lighting, so get back before dark. The sunset tour - 20:30
Dinner at Corricella
After the last crossing, the quayside changes owner. This is the evening the day trippers do not see and that on its own justifies the two nights. A table on the quay
Sunday
The proper sea, or Vivara
The morning on the L2, the return without rushing
- 09:30
Vivara, if you have booked
A State Nature Reserve of about 36 hectares, a crescent-shaped volcanic islet linked by a footbridge that also carries the water main for Ischia. A Bronze Age settlement with Aegean pottery from between the 17th and the 14th century BC. Adults 10.00 EUR, a visit of about two and a half hours, closed on Monday. Prices and booking - 12:00
Chiaiolella and Ciraccio
The two big beaches, the only ones with direct road access and the L2 bus from the harbour. The Chiaiolella is the better served, with beach clubs and restaurants on the seafront and sun all day; the Ciraccio is longer and in the afternoon it catches the mistral. The long stretch of sand - 13:30
Lunch on the marina
Da Mariano and Da Girone are here. The lemon pesto on linguine with clams is the dish the house is known by: ask for it, it is not always on the printed menu. On the southern marina - 16:30
Silurenza, the last swim
Go back to the harbour on the L1 and use the handiest beach on the island: immediately west of the quay, on via Roma, with a bar and restaurant. There is a rock called the cannon that everybody dives off. It is the beach for people waiting for the hydrofoil. The harbour beach - 18:30
Going back
With a margin, always. The evening crossings are partly seasonal and in rough seas the hydrofoils are the first to be cancelled. If you have a train or a flight, do not take the last available crossing: take the one before. Timetables and fares
When it is worth doing
May, June and September. These are the three months in which the weekend works best: the season is under way, everything is open, and the crowds of the peak months are not there. In May the sea is still cool, so the programme leans towards the villages; in September the water is still warm and the light is the best of the year. The month-by-month details are in May, June and September.
Out of season, the weekend is still possible but it gets shorter: from October to May the last bus is around 21:00 and the evening ferry crossings disappear. Take out the beaches, keep the villages, and check the abbey, which opens to visitors from Holy Week to All Saints.
One date to note in any case: from 25 September Vivara can be visited on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only, with a single departure at 09:30. Which, for a weekend, is good news.
How to change it according to who you are
With children: take out the Chiaia, which takes about a hundred and eighty steps down and as many back up, and go straight to Chiaiolella, which has road access, shallow water and facilities. Sleep in that area and not in the upper villages.
If you have come to photograph: the good hour for Corricella from above is the morning, from the ridge at Santa Margherita Nuova; for the village from the water, the afternoon with a boat. They are two different photographs and you need both.
If you are here for the cinema: the Pozzo Vecchio beach is where Massimo Troisi recites Neruda’s poems to Beatrice in Il Postino, and the little square at Corricella carries his name. C1 bus from the harbour or twenty minutes on foot. The full route is in the locations of Il Postino.
If you have only one night: compress the lot into the two-day itinerary. If you have none at all, there is the one-day itinerary.
Adjusting the length of your stay
Procida in 2 days
The format the island carries best: one day for the upper villages, one for the former prison and the sea, with the evening left to the people who sleep here.
Procida in 1 day
The two upper villages in the morning, the quay at Corricella for lunch and the sea in the afternoon: the right order for an island you cross in forty minutes.
Procida from Naples in a day
The trip from Naples with the real numbers: 25.40 EUR of ferry there and back, the full itinerary, and an honest comparison with the organised package from 85 EUR.
Summary
2Nights
3Full half-days
2Evenings on the quay
3.7 km²The whole island
Reporter notebook
Insider tips
Two bookings, both in advance
Palazzo d’Avalos wants two days’ notice and a minimum of two people; Vivara wants an online booking and takes 25 visitors per slot. Neither can be sorted out by turning up.
Arrive on Friday evening, not Saturday morning
You gain a whole evening and you wake up already on the island. In summer there is the 21:05 hydrofoil from Naples; out of season the 21:55 ferry.
Skip the queues — book your Procida tours
Procida: sunset aperitivo by boat
The circuit of the island at sunset, with music on board and an aperitivo of home-made snacks. The swim stop is optional.
2 hoursFrom €50
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Procida island boat tour with swim stops
A full circuit of the island with swim stops and a guide on board in Italian, English and French. Changing rooms and showers are available at the lido you leave from.
2 hoursFrom €42
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Frequently asked questions
How many nights do you need for a weekend in Procida?
Two. With a single night the Saturday turns into a race; with two you have three full half-days and above all two evenings, which are when the island is at its best, after the day trippers have left.
When is the best time for a weekend in Procida?
May, June and September. The local sources point to spring and autumn as the season for weekends of two or three days, while summer is for long stays and the beaches.
Can you see the whole of Procida in a weekend?
Yes. The island measures 3.7 km² and you cross it on foot in about forty minutes: two nights hold the four villages, the abbey, the former prison, two beaches and, if you have booked, Vivara.
Is it worth arriving on Friday evening?
Very much so. You gain a whole evening and you avoid the Saturday morning queue. In summer there is the 21:05 Caremar hydrofoil from Naples, running from 1 June to 30 September; outside that period the last crossing is the 21:55 ferry.
Is a weekend in Procida suitable for families?
Yes, but sleeping at Chiaiolella and taking the Chiaia out of the programme: that beach takes about a hundred and eighty steps on the way down and as many on the way back. Chiaiolella has road access, shallow water and facilities on the seafront.
Further reading
Official sources
- Caremar — Timetables, seasonal crossings and fares read on 09/09/2026
- Riserva Naturale Statale Isola di Vivara — 2026 calendar and the reduction from 25 September