Amalfi vs. Cinque Terre

I think my first comment will be most helpful for you since I think you would enjoy both:

If the trip is to multiple locations in Italy and one of these mentioned destinations is just a 2-4 night stop as part of that journey than go with the Cinque Terre
If the main focus of the trip is this destination and it is the sole spot or one of two spots in total, go with Amalfi Coast and plan a week for that region.

Amalfi Coast is a MUCH larger area with so much more to do and needs more time to see.
if you include Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii which many often do this is a region compared to Cinque Terre which is 5 tiny villages all next to each other, some will add not far places like Portovenere and Portofino but you are still talking about a small area.
It is also more grand and visually stunning IMO. More of a WOW place.

For a honeymoon it seems more the obvious choice to me, also the hotels are more resort like, many have pools, etc...
The Cinque Terre there are not really any hotels (a couple in Monterosso) but for the most part there are rooms for rent, basically Airbnb places and B&B's without the breakfast. No large hotels, no pools, etc...
Depending on time of the year, the Amalfi Coast area can have better weather in the shoulder seasons.

Cinque Terre can be more picturesque, cute since it is so small and walkable and also has great views especially from, the hiking trails. Since you like hiking I have doubt you would enjoy 3 nights spent here. It really is not a week long vacation spot though unless as mentioned you are combining it along with a big trip including other spots in Tuscany, Venice, etc.. For such trips it makes a great stop for a couple of nights.

Both get really crowded in the summer so neither are ideal mid summer times, I think Amalfi would become much worse but one could make the argument that it is large enough to spread out those crowds than tiny Cinque Terre which when crowded gets overrun. Not sure there is a perfect answer here other than to opt for May, June, Sept. for either place over July or August.

Amalfi Coast is large enough you could have multiple bases in the same area, maybe Sorrento and Positano or Positano and Capri for example. Cinque Terre having more than one base in the 5 towns would make no sense at all.

Neither one really have any cities and have resisted outside development which is really nice so unlike the French Riviera in terms of cities and how built up they are so as I mentioned I do think based on what you posted you would enjoy both.

I will give you my 2 cents, but it may not help you decide !

We hiked Cinque Terre - the blue trails - before the mudslides and after, and most recently in 2014. It was absolutely outstanding, from the paths - we did all of the blue trails connecting each village - to visiting and eating in each town. I never felt like there was an onslaught of people ! Has that really changed ?

We are hikers too from Boulder, so you don't have to stay on the Blue Trails - go up higher - there are SO many great trails that the usual crowd does not go to. So you could enjoy the scenery and hike for days and not complain about excess crowds !

On the Amalfi Coast, we hiked the Path of the Gods for 5 hours - we rode the bus from Albergo California in Positano up to Nocelle where we started the hike. We hiked down into Praiano - kind of forging our own path - you could see the town ! And that was spectacular too ! We loved Sorrento, the hikes on Capri, cooking classes in Ravello, riding the ferry up the coast....it was delightful.

They are both so different and you should visit both at some point !

When are you traveling? Seasons matter a great deal. Where else in Italy are you going and how many nights do you have in-country?

Thanks for the replies! When you hiked there, was the city of Amalfi your home base, or did you backpack from place to place (is the feasible)?

We like traveling on shoulder seasons--April or October/November. As far as where else we're going... it's all up in the air right now. I'd love to hit Florence, maybe Venice, I'd love to hit Pompeii. We're looking at 10-14 days (the more the better!!) My husband is willing to museum, if it's balanced with good food and hiking time.

April or October I would expect Amalfi Coast to have better weather. Not sure November is very good for either.
Especially given landslide concerns, you don't want rain when visiting the Cinque Terre trails will be closed and you will be stuck with nothing to do.

As far as best town in Amalfi Coast, opinions vary, nothing tops Positano for me.

For the Path of the Gods hike, most hike one way only so you need to combine with a bus therefore I don't know if it matters if you start or end in Positano and town you stay in doesn't matter much for that hike as long as it is connected to the bus system.

Downside to the AC is it doesn't combine as well with Florence, Venice, etc...
You could easily do Rome along with the AC and all points between within your timeframe, maybe even time to include a short time in Florence if more than 14 side than the 10

We like traveling on shoulder seasons--April or October/November. As far as where else we're going... it's all up in the air right now. I'd love to hit Florence, maybe Venice, I'd love to hit Pompeii. We're looking at 10-14 days (the more the better!!) My husband is willing to museum, if it's balanced with good food and hiking time.

I would lean more toward the Amalfi Coast given your interest in Pompeii, and there is good hiking but you need to allow time for the logistics of bus transportation. When I have researched doing the Path of the Gods, it seemed that without a car you need to consider staying in Atrani, from where you can take a bus to start the hike and also at the end get a bus back to Atrani. You might want to do a couple of nights in Napoli or Sorrento so you can see Pompeii, then 3 in Atrani or Amalfi for hiking.

If you only have 10 nights, add somewhere in Tuscany for 5 nights and call it done. If you have 12 to 14 nights, you can maybe add Venezia in too, I say "somewhere in Tuscany" because Florence = museums but the greater Tuscany will give you more of that small-town, rural experience. Maybe stay at an agriturismo. You would need a car for that.

OK- Great question! Were hikers from Seattle and have been to both during the shoulder season. In fact we just got back from Amalfi Coast this month. I prefer Amalfi. I loved CT but prefer AC. Path of the Gods is unbelievable. Hiking on Capri was great too... Everywhere on Amalfi feels like a hike. We stayed in this awesome BnB just outside of Positano that we had to hike up to which was also the base point of Path of the Gods- worked out perfect. We prefer the smaller towns over larger as well.

Which is better, gelato or tiramisu ?

There is no bad choice

Pick one for your 'belated honeymoon' and do the other as an 'anniversary' trip.

When we hiked the Path of the Gods, we stayed at Albergo California in Positano. It was steps from the Sponda bus stop so we took the bus from Sponda up to Nocelle. I know some people start in Bomerano, but this worked well for us.

After we hiked into Praiano, we took the bus to Amalfi, then the bus up to Ravello, and rode the ferry from Amalfi back to Positano.

I like the suggestion of one location for a belated honeymoon and one for an anniversary trip !

I love all these suggestions. And there will be return trips, I'm sure. I haven't been to Italy, and I'm already excited to return! I admit that I lean toward Amalfi, but I can't put my finger on why. Perhaps it's because of the suggestions of my fellow hikers.

When we were in Cinque Terre in 2015, some of the hiking trail connecting the town was closed off. Not sure if it has been opened back up again.

I spent 5 days on the AC this past February, so I can speak to "off season." It was gorgeous!! If I had a choice of April or October, I'd probably choose April because I'd expect the ubiquitous lemon trees to be in bloom and perfuming the air with their heady scent. And since Easter is April 1, I'd expect to find most of the seasonal tourist services open (hotels, B&Bs, ferries, restaurants). On the other hand, if you want beach time, October is better. The water will be too cold in spring.

For hiking, you'll want to stay in one of the AC towns but you could add a few nights in Sorrento (good restaurants, easy commuter train access to Pompeii, Herculaneum and even Naples (the archaeology museum is a wow), and ferry service to Capri. And/or you could add nights in Salerno - more interesting sights than Sorrento, definitely cheaper - to balance the expensive AC stay, good restaurants, and day trip by train to Pompeii (if you skip Sorrento) and train or bus to the Greek temples and archaeology museum in Paestum. Salerno is connected by fast train to Naples, Rome and points north.

One of our family trips to Italy was 10 days combined to Florence and Amalfi Coast. It was still relaxed, so feasible if you want. However, there is much to do on the Amalfi Coast, and Naples would provide the urban experience if you needed it. Naples fascinated me, but not my fellow travelers so I am still working on getting back there for a few days. Our visit was in February, so not your time of year, but tourists were down. It was colder than Florence. Florence was shirtsleeves mid-days. Sorrento, I recall Sorrento's weather as there I purchased a sweater; required a sweater under my light coat.

When I think honeymoon, I I think of the Amalfi Coast over the CT. Yes, we have been to both and I prefer the AC, hands down. Day trips to Capri, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Positano, etc are all fantastic choices. I know that many people here like to stay on the Bay of Naples (Sorrento), as opposed to the Amalfi Coast, but we prefer Ravello on the Amalfi side. It provides lots of opportunities to hike, if even only to go to dinner. And if you like cooking classes, try Mamma Agata.

Just got back from a 3 week trip to Italy and stayed in both Cinque Terre (Vernazza) and Amalfi (Positano). Loved them both for different reasons. If you like to hike I would agree with the other writers and say CT is spectacular although when we were there 2 of the trails were closed due to rain which made for slippery trails. CT towns are small and quaint and absolutely gorgeous especially Manarola. I'd recommend seeing the 5 towns both by train and by ferry. Add on Portovenere when buying your ferry ticket. It's well worth the time and the journey there is worth the money alone. We were there in September and the crowds were crazy during the day. By 5:00 it settled down and was lovely. I hear that the summer months are even more crowed although I can't imagine how they could fit anymore people in the small towns. I'd suggest Monterossa el Mare as place to stay if your'e looking for a hotel. Vernazza is mainly B&B's.

Positano is absolutely stunning and I would imagine an ideal place for a honeymoon. To us it was a place to relax and just take in the beauty especially since it was mid trip and we were pretty weary. The food is wonderful especially if you venture to the top of the town and get a seat overlooking the sea. Also, the beach is much better than any you will find in CT.

Happy travels!

Amalfi Coast DEFINITELY!
Hike the Path of the Gods from east to west - start in Bomerano and end in Nocelle. Lunch in Nocelle.
It says it's a 5-hour hike. No way. Did it in less than 3 hours, and I'm 71.

The hike is actually pretty easy - but so beautiful. Buy a public bus ticket in Amalfi at the bus ticket station. Very cheap.
Also, hike the trail from Ravello downward. Hit Ravello early in the morning to explore this lovely town.
I didn't do the high town above Ravello - would do that if I return.
I didn't like Sorrento/Positano. Touristy/expensive/definitely not a "back roads" area.
I stayed in Atrani. If you do - contact me and I'll look up the place I stayed for you. It had the world's most fantastic shower - worth millions after days of hiking.
Also, consider in the future: Procida island. Lovely. A ferry ride away from Naples.

WOW! This community is a wealth of information. Thank you all. I hadn't thought of cooking classes--that sounds fun. In smaller towns, would you anticipate difficulty with language barriers? My Spanish is passable, my French is laughable, and my Italian is non-existent. :)

We went to Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, and Capri last summer. We hiked the Path of the God's and Mount Vesuvius, as well as some trails around Amalfi.

We liked Naples and Amalfi the best. We found both Sorrento and Capri too Disneyesque for our tastes. Everyone talks Naples down but we enjoyed it. We stayed in a hotel by the "egg'" which is on a promenade that is closed for traffic. It is restful compared to the rest of Naples which is more hectic.

We hiked the Path of the God's while we stayed in Amalfi. I choose it because it seemed simpler with bus transportation. If you start in Nocelle and end up in Bromerano, the bus went back to Amalfi and then you still had to get to Positano. Amalfi is a pleasant town with a wonderful cathedral and medieval streets. You can take a bus to Ravelli and hike down which we did. We took another hike from Amalfi that was in the Rick Steve's book. I can't remember the town we ended up in but we had intended to take a bus back. It was Sunday. We could not find a bus so took steps (very many) back to Amalfi. So that would be my warning about small towns--the bigger tourists ones are open but not the smaller ones on Sunday.

We took the bus from Amalfi to Bromerano to hike the path of the Gods. There was a group of us hiking that day. We kept running into some of the same people. But really most of the time my husband and I were by ourselves. It is a gorgeous hike. It is about three hours and really not that difficult. We ended in Nocelle and I had read on a web site that the little convenience store sold bus tickets to Positano so that is what we did. The other choice was to take very many steps down to Positano. We took the bus as far as it would go and then bought ferry tickets back to Amalfi. Very lovely.

I would also recommend hiking up Mount Vesuvius. We had taken a ferry from Naples to Sorrento and then took the train. But really we ended up going back close to Naples so would have been better as a day trip from Naples. We bought tickets for a tour on Mt Vesuvius in Sorrento which basically was a van ride part way up Mount Vesuvius. Unless you have rented a car, you have to do that. Then we hiked to the top. It is loose gravel so make sure you have appropriate shoes. The views are spectacular all the way up.

The next day we went to Pompeii from Sorrento. It is totally amazing. We took a guided tour which I would recommend. Most of the "stuff" is in Naple's archeological museum which we had visited when we were in Naples. Not sure when you are going but the museum is not air conditioned! It was very hot the day we went.

I haven't been to the Cinque Terre but we were on the Amalfi Coast in July and I don't think think it still was as crowded as I understand the Cinque Terre can get. I have a colleague who hiked the Cinque Terre in October and loved it. So I think the time of year as something to do with what choice you make. There is more space on the Amalfi Coast than on the Cinque Terre. Also, there were several people we met at breakfast in the hotel we stayed in Amalfi who came back every year!!!

Beth

We're looking at 10-14 days (the more the better!!) My husband is
willing to museum, if it's balanced with good food and hiking time.

Count your time carefully as with some creative planning and cooperative flight schedules, you can stretch two weeks to the max by flying out on a Friday afternoon/evening, say, and flying home on a Sunday. That would give you nearly 15 days on the ground, and the ability to hike BOTH the CT and and Amalfi.

Overnight flight Friday
Sat - arrive in Venice, check in, explore until bedtime
Sunday -Venice
Monday - Venice
Tuesday - transfer to Florence and explore
Wed. - Florence
Thurs. - Florence, or could maybe take a nice day trip to Siena or Lucca, if in the mood
Friday - Transfer to the CT and explore
Sat. - Hike the CT
Sunday - Hike the CT
Monday - Transfer to the Sorrentine/Amalfi Coasts area
Tues. Amalfi Coast
Wed. - Amalfi Coast
Thurs. - Amalfi Coast
Friday - Amalfi Coast
Sat. - transfer to Naples or Rome for flight home
Sunday: fly home, depart and arrive same day (or we do, anyway)

Yep, I know you'd go to work on Monday with some jet lag but we always found that a small price to pay for an extra day of vacation. This schedule would give you no less than 3 nights in any one place, and a nice 5-night stay at the end to unwind before heading home. For weather reasons, I'd probably try to schedule your trip in Oct or later April. Also, things start closing up for the season in the CT in November, and the ferries stop running in the Amalfi area after Oct. 31 or so. Just a thought?

Editing to add: it's possible to do Pompeii on the way to the coast or on the way back to Naples or Rome. They have luggage storage at the site.