The Gardens of Augustus above the Faraglioni

The Gardens of Augustus are a set of planted terraces on the southern cliff of Capri town, five minutes on foot from the Piazzetta. They are small and entirely about the two views they command: eastwards to the Faraglioni rising out of the sea, and westwards straight down onto Via Krupp, the switchback path cut into the rock face below.

Both are strong photographs and they need different treatment. The Faraglioni side is a landscape frame: put your subjects on the lower terrace with the stacks over their shoulder and the sea filling the background. The Via Krupp side is graphic — the white zigzag against grey rock and green scrub — and works best from directly above with the couple small in the corner. Between the two, the beds of bougainvillea, agapanthus and plumbago give close-up colour that carries a whole set of portraits.

The gardens are ticketed, cheap, and have fixed hours that close before sunset; check them, because the last admission is earlier than the closing time. They are busy from mid-morning through the afternoon, and the terraces are narrow — the first hour after opening is the only genuinely calm slot. Via Krupp itself is frequently closed for rockfall risk, so treat it as a view rather than a walk unless you have confirmed it is open.