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Blame it on global warming. Capri (pronounced Cab-pree, by the way) was at one time attached to the Italian mainland, but broke away some 10,000 years ago and became a giant rock off the Sorrento coast, then morphed into one of the world’s most glamorous honey pots.

But it would be wrong to dismiss it as a mere pleasure island. People live here. Its glamour is because it’s also scruffy, down to earth. Locals have to be tough in winter when the tourist tap is turned off, the wind howls and it’s dark by 4pm.

‘It’s not my kind of place,’ said Graham Greene, who went on to own a villa on Capri for 40 years. Lenin might have thought the same thing — but that didn’t stop him coming in the early 20th century and feeling immediately at home.

Blue bliss: Capri’s main port Marina Grande with Monte Solaro behind

Audrey Hepburn (pictured in Capri) was a huge devoteeof the Italian island

The ongoing procession of Capri-lovers is instructive by its diversity: Axel Munthe, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Gracie Fields, Ernest Hemingway, Sophia Loren, Giorgio Armani.

Perhaps most important of all were the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius, the latter ruling his entire empire from here like the ancient equivalent of a fat cat conducting business from the back of his super-yacht.

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Some magnificent villas were built in the Roman era. As a result, there’s an innate reverence for beauty. Even the taxis with their white leather seats and blue trims are outrageously pretty.

There’s some creative tension, too. The island’s two towns, Capri, and high above it, Anacapri, have their own mayors, their own rules and regulations.

When we popped in for a drink at J. K. Place, a boutique hotel overlooking the port, the manager said he would arrange for the hotel minibus to take us back to Anacapri, but we never made it because the driver said the police were about and he would be fined — apparently, to protect the local taxi trade.

If the swell is gentle, swim off the Faraglioni rocks (pictured) and lunch at Da Luigi

Deciding where to base yourself is crucial. Capri, where the main drag is Bond Street al mare, is heaving with day trippers, but by 7pm they’re all gone and the town settles into a different rhythm.

Meanwhile, Anacapri, reached by a winding road that hugs the coast, is more of a village.

Here, the shops are artisan. I bought three pairs of slip-on shoes for the price of one pair of shiny loafers in Capri.

Top of the bill in Anacapri is the Capri Palace Hotel. Privately owned with fabulous service and an outstanding two-Michelin-star restaurant (with a one-Michelin-star restaurant at its beach club), it looks towards the island of Ischia and beyond to Naples.

It’s big on art in the public areas, while the blue-and-white-themed rooms are uncluttered and utterly irresistible.

For those who take their spa treatments seriously, there’s a chance to sample the hotel’s Leg School — the first of its kind.

Don’t miss Villa San Michele - built by Tiberius and lovingly preserved by Axel Munthe, the Swedish physician who fell in love with Capri in the 1880s. Above, the loggia with antique Roman sculptures

It involves having your legs smeared in mud and covered in cold bandages. I’m not sure the earth moved for me, but then, feather-light legs are not my biggest priority.

Decent food and drink is. Capri is the home of insalata Caprese, made with fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. I had it at every opportunity — and it tasted different to Waitrose’s Essential Mozzarella.

In Anacapri, you must eat at Da Paolino, a delightful, family-run restaurant where you sit under a canopy of lemons, and at La Rondinella, a favourite of Greene’s (stopping on the way to marvel at Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo, with its stupendous maiolica floor depicting Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden).

There is no shortage of dining options in Capri town. We found our way to Mamma, a sister establishment to Punta Tragara, the Le Corbusier-designed hotel high above the Faraglioni rocks.

Opt for one of Mamma’s scintillating little pizzas as a starter and you’ll never want to eat a Domino’s thick-crust again.

Capri is the home of insalata Caprese, made with fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil

If the swell is gentle, swim off the Faraglioni rocks and lunch at Da Luigi, right on the water. It’s a long and steep walk down, and half-way through our seafood linguine we decided that walking back up into town was not a good idea.

So we paid £20 each for a ride in a little speedboat and felt fleetingly like the jet set.

Back in Anacapri, don’t miss Villa San Michele. Built by Tiberius and lovingly preserved by Axel Munthe, the Swedish physician who fell in love with Capri in the 1880s, the villa today has a charmingly refined atmosphere, helped by its formidable position perched high on a limestone ledge.

And then take the chair lift to the summit of Monte Solaro. The birdsong is exquisite as you rise higher and higher and then the whole island comes into view.

Dickens said: ‘There is no spot in the world with such delightful possibilities of repose as this little isle,’ and I can see no reason to disagree with him.

Travel Facts: Plan your own long weekend in Capri 

Capri Palace Hotel (capripalace.com, 039 081 9780111) has double rooms from £291 B&B. 

British Airways (ba.com, 0344 493 0122) flies from Gatwick to Naples from £84. 

Three days’ Meet & Greet airport parking with Airport Parking & Hotels (aph.com, 01342 859536) at Gatwick from £85.05. 

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