OK to be honest, I originally thought that the two were the same place. They look somewhat similar in travel photos (although I suspect some are misnamed). I have been to neither and would like to visit this summer. Can someone give me a summary of each? Are they similar? or What are their differences? Where does one stay while there (in which town?)
Thank you in advance.
The shows linked below are a great start and provide more of summary than I can provide in writing here. Enjoy.
http://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/italy-amalfi-coast
http://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/season-8/italys-riviera-cinque-terre
Thanks Matt, I'll watch them and maybe they answer all of my questions.
Whichever one you decide on, I would start to look for accommodation ASAP. Both get very busy in summer and more reasonably priced accommodation gets hard to find. For example, I put a random mid June Wednesday night into booking.com for Positano and it is showing as 73% of rooms are already booked out. I know that one website doesn't give a 100% picture of the accommodation available but it does give a good indication that things will get tight.
We've been to CT twice (2008/12) and Amalfi Coast last year.
CT is of course the 5 villages with the hiking trails between each (if they are all open - sometimes they are closed because of land slides)...nice little villages - not a whole lot to do other than to hike, lay on the beach or relax. If you don't want to hike between the villages, trains are plentiful...we stayed in Corniglia both times, because I like the more off the beaten track places. Most people recommend Vernazza or Monterosso.
Amalfi Coast is way more spread out. And a decided lack of trains (as in...none) - you need to use a bus (or rent a car - and the bus ride had my nerves on high alert - I personally would never drive it, but lots of people do - they are braver than me!). There are also ferries...we didn't use them so no comment. You can do hikes as well (we did a hike from Ravello - which was my favourite spot - to Atrani - the little village we stayed in just minutes away from Amalfi...and there are other hikes as well). I do want to go back someday and would be hard pressed to decide whether to stay in Ravello or Atrani. A lot of people recommend Positano or Amalfi (again - I like the off the beaten path places, hence Atrani). It is nice to stay right by the water, but Ravello - up in the hills - had breathtaking views. Other people like Sorrento - a lovely big city, not technically on the Amalfi coast, but well situated for day trips to Pompeii and Positano and beyond.
Either place will be crazy busy in the summer. (we did CT mid Sept, and Amalfi early Sept).
I am hard pressed to pick a favourite (OK, my fav is Venice but that doesn't count). It's like trying to decide if I liked the south of France better than the North of France. South was a little flashier, North had lovely quaint spots (my opinion). I will say after travelling to the CT twice (only 4 nights over the two trips) I think we've had our fill. We spent 3 nights on Amalfi Coast, and I could honestly see myself going back for a week as we really only scratched the surface.
I think a big part will be where else are you going to be...if you are going to do the Rome-Florence route, CT would be better, as Amalfi is going to be out of your way. And how many nights can you give to each - if you have only 3 nights to spare, (for me) that would be fine in the CT, but I would want to dedicate at least 4-5 nights to Amalfi - so much to see, way more spread out. Gun to my head, if someone could only see one, I'd say Amalfi...
mph--thanks, I have been checking and several are already booked. Hopefully, I didn't mis-plan this too much. I thought maybe I just needed a better site, but after reading your post, I think I may be hard pressed to get accommodations
Nicole-love your summaries, especially the "gun to my head" answer, since it was definitive.
I think--hotels are currently on the agenda. Thank you both so much!
We used airbnb for an apartment in Atrani, and arbaspaa.com to book our rooms both times in corniglia. Arbaspaa does everything from rooms to b&b to hotels, as well as arranging private and group tours by boat and air!...you may want to look into them as well (they have a storefront in Vernazza where they either sell or rent hiking gear I believe).
I love the Amalfi Coast, so no need for a gun to my head. If you are averse to being in traffic, go to Cinque Terre (unless you count lots of people on the hiking trails in peak times). Even with the sometimes chaotic main drive in the Amalfi Coast (especially around Positano), I go back every couple of years. I love Ravello, the views and the gardens are breathtaking. I also love Praiano (halfway between Amalfi and Positano, you can go in either direction and avoid half the traffic).
I like both places but if you can only choose one, I'd go with the CT. We've been there twice and really loved the 5 CT towns as well as some of the other Ligurian towns. The CT towns are smaller, more quaint and more picturesque in my opinion. My husband & I are amateur photographers and we loved exploring all the back lanes of the CT towns and the photo ops never seemed to end (including on the trails between towns). The CT towns are easier to navigate (as another poster said, you can't navigate along the Amalfi Coast towns by train whereas in the CT, the towns are an easy train ride apart). We also enjoyed using ferries to get from town to town as the views from the water were lovely. In the CT, we prefer staying in Monterosso as the largest of the towns (still not a large town though compared to the Amalfi Coast towns) and has the most restaurant options and a viable beach. It's the only town that's pretty flat which makes it easy to stroll.
All of this being said, I still enjoyed the Amalfi Coast and I don't think you can go wrong with either area. I enjoyed both places but in different ways. I can just see myself returning for a third time to the CT area whereas a return visit to the Amalfi Coast area would be lower on my list. Enjoy.
