Cinque Terre or Amalfi?

Robert, Either area would be great, but which one to choose will depend on what type of "holiday experience" you're most interested in, and your budget. Destinations on the Amalfi Coast tend to be somewhat more "upscale" (ie: "pricey") than those on the Cinque Terre. In that region, Sorrento, Positano and Capri are very popular destinations. Sorrento is a great home base and also allows a look at Pompeii. The Cinque Terre tends to be somewhat more "informal", and only Monterosso (the most northerly village) has conventional Hotels. The lodgings in the other four villages are mostly comprised of small Pensions and B&B's. I wouldn't characterize the C.T. was being "less touristy" as that's not been the case in my experience. The most common activities in the C.T. are hiking the trails, relaxing and of course enjoying Pesto in the area where it was invented. Although there is some nightlife in Monterosso, the favourite activities in the C.T. include the evening Passeggiata or sitting by the harbour with a glass of wine. The trip to the Amalfi area is not as "direct" IMO. For example, for travel to Sorrento you'd need to take the ES / AV to Napoli Centrale and then transfer to the Circumvesuviana commuter train. For travel to the Cinque Terre, there are direct trains (no changes) from Roma Termini to La Spezia, with a travel time of ~3H:45M. The trip from La Spezia to each of the villages is very short (from there to Riomaggiore, the first village, is only ~8-minutes). Congratulations on your anniversary and Happy Travels!

"...perhaps CT might be more rewarding/ less touristy?" Not true at all! There is NOTHING less touristy about CT which is overrun with Rick-Steves-Guidebook-toting tourists. I've been to both and the Amalfi is much more dramatic and pleasing to our family.

We have not been to the Amalfi Coast but similar to you did a little research and ed CT as our choice. There are tourists for sure - but there aren't any cars and few regular hotels which we saw as a plus. My wife and I stayed in Monterosso - the more touristy village - at one of Rick S's spots - 126 steps up, toward the side and back of the town. Opened our door and looked over the top of the village at the Mediterranian - which of course was within 1000 feet. We hiked -the trails between the five towns, ate our way through the towns - took the train back to Monterosso and then had our evening meal - partway up the mountain - they pick up and deliver customers from the edge of town. We went back two years later and we are going again this year - as my wife has declared it the place she would like to visit every time - just for two days. We will go the Amalfi Coast - and who knows it might be her next favorite spot.

Thank you all very much. We'll let you know which way we go. We'd certainly still appreciate hearing from anyone else that cares to chime in. Thanks!

Hi Robert. I would opt for the Amalfi Coast from the standpoint that it's a much shorter distance from Rome and you won't spend as much time getting to/from the Amalfi Coast as you will the CT. The train ride from Rome to Monterosso/CT takes approximately 4.5 hours & since you only have 2 days to spare, it will eat up half a day just getting there and then another half day to get back to Rome. You will spend a lot of time on the train not to mention time checking out of your hotel in Rome, getting to the train station, waiting for the train, etc. If you are set on the CT, could you fly into Rome, stay there for 3 days, then take the train to the CT & fly out of Milan? It would take about 3 hrs to get from the CT to Milan but at least you won't be back-tracking like you would to get back to Rome from the CT. Just a thought.