Cinque Terre or Capri

Rather than do just Capri, you might want to stay in Sorrento and see the entire Amalfi Coast region. Capri is tiny and can easily be done as a day trip. Sorrento is an excellent base and transportation hub for seeing this area.

Been to CT and can't really think of anything I disliked. Doing the Amalfi thing in a couple of weeks for the first time so can't really say but looks like more to do there than CT. I would say it depends on how much time you have. Shorter - CT, longer - Amalfi.

I say Cinque Terre, at least IMO. I mean Amalfi and Capri and Sorrento (a good base for the other two) are grand, but I believe there's an air of "the rich and famous" about them that, despite the beauty, I can live without. I find Cinque Terre more real, down-to-earth. Angelo, who does boat tours with his wife from San Fran in Monterosso al Mare, is a 10th generation Monterosso fisherman. The eastern European guy who runs the laundrymat in Monterosso remembers you from one year to the next, and leaves your clothes wrapped neatly at your hotel door, anywhere in town, with a smile. The old timers play bocce at night, and the kids football, right along the beach. As Midwesterner with blue collar roots, I just feel more at home in Liguria than on Capri or in Amalfi, where luxury yachts abound. Just my two cents. Finally, I'd add it depends on the rest of your itinerary. Cinque Terre is sure do-able on a trip that includes Florence or Milan or Venice...Capri is way down south, better matched with Naples and Rome.

Capri is a half-day deal, at best, and pretty much of a tourist trap. The CT towns are much alike, (a lot of essentially the same stuff), but can occupy a couple or three days. If I had a week or so, I'd split it between CT and Amalfi and skip Capri.

Wow, my wife and I spent five days in CT last summer and could have stayed for a month. Suppose it depends what you want out of it. On our itinerary, CT was our slow down, relax, break-from-museums-and-art-and-history stop...and if you expect that from it, don't short-change yourself on time. On a two-week trip, I'd spend a minimum of 3 nights there, maybe 4. And stay awfully busy around it.

We like both areas a lot, it depends on what you are a looking for from your stay and where else you'll be visiting. Both are easy for downtime and both lend themselves to doing things, just different things. We like visiting Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples, Paestum and the AC towns, have never made it to Capri as it doesn't really call to us. The CT is more the villages and the hike between them with day trips to Portovenere, Portofino and then further day trips depending on your interests. Depending on where else you may be visiting, ease of getting to the two different areas may be a factor.

I'm familiar with both places and I agree 100% with Scott's advice. CT is picturesque and beautiful but there is more to see and do in the Amalfi coast area (including a day trip to Capri) than at CT.

Of course the best thing would be to see both places, if you have the time.

Thanks for the input! I'm leaning more toward CT!