Looking for a place to visit similar to Cinque Terre / Amalfi Coast

I haven't been to the Cinque Terre or the Amalfi Coast - yet. But from your description, I would bet that the Costa Brava in Spain might be similar, particularly the stretch from Palamos to the Cadaques. The coastline there is breathtaking. There are a few big ugly touristy places, but there are also great small towns. As for hiking, there is the Cami de Ronda which you can hike and it goes right along the coastline. I'm not a wine drinker, but the food there was wonderful!

Maybe Cassis in Southern France with hiking on or near the Calanques? Here's some additional info: Calanques National Park: The Calanques are destined to become the Parc National des Calanques in 2011. It will be France's 8th national park, and the first national park of Europe in a pre-urban zone at the edge of Marseille. The entire park area will encompass 2200 ha of marine area and 6500 ha of land area, include the communes of Aubagne, Camoux-en-Provence, Cassis , Ceyreste, La Ciotat, Cuges-les-Pins, exterior Marseille (outside the central area), La Penne-sur-Huveaune, roquefort-la-Bédoule, Bandol, Saint Cyr-sur-Mer, La Cadière-d'Azur, Le Castellet.

Villefranche-Sur-Mer near Nice comes to mind. But if you like the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre, have you considered returning there?

Mary, You might have a look at Croatia and locations in the Adriatic as well. Many of them have an "Italian ambience".

Take a look at Taormina, Sicily. You can hike on the slopes of Mt. Etna & it is a beautiful seaside town.

Hallstatt, Austria! Stunningly beautiful lake, mountains, quaint small town life, hiking, salt mines, chill boating...it's actually the only place we've found thus far outside of Italia that has the same vibe, the same 'slow down and really do nothing' feel of CT and Amalfi...and not at all crowded, usually. We were there last month and could have stayed for a month!

Wow! Thank you all so much for your informative replies! For those of you who have not been to CT or AC, I definitely recommend this area. In June we made our second trip to tour all of Italy with our daughter. Hands down CT was everyone's favorite. My favorite pastime is travel research. You have all given me many exciting places to look into. I have purchased the RS travel books for France and Spain. I am excited about the new locations I had not thought of. We could plan a repeat trip to AC and continue onto Taormina, Sicily. I had never thought of Croatia and locations in the Adriatic area, or Hallstatt, Austria. I knew you guys would pull thru for me! Thanks again! Mary

The towns/cities around the Bay of Biscay I've never had the chance to visit (yet) but a lot of the Amalfi Coast locals told us that Sicily is very similar to the AC but with a lot less tourists

I know it is not by the sea, but Lugano is on a lake and the villages around the lake remind me of CT. It is surrounded by mountains and the houses tumble down to the water. Being in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, it has an Itallian feel if that is important to you.

CT & Amalfi are quite unique IMO. You might enjoy the south of france off season and in a small town like Antibes. Or venture to S. Portugal for the Algarve.

Mary, just a thought - Rick's book doesn't really cover the Costa Brava. If you find you're interested in that, I would recommend the Rough Guide to Costa Brava. It has alot of information in the various towns and some great maps.

How about Greece? Many of the islands have beautiful harbors, lots of hiking with breathtaking views, great food. You could choose a couple that look especially appealing and do some island-hopping. If this sounds good, do your research first (I like the Lonely Planet guidebook, and Matt Barrett's Greek Travel.com website) and then post specific questions on the "To the East" message board. For a small town atmosphere, you might want to avoid Santorini and Mykonos and stick to the less-known islands (Naxos, Paros, Symi, Patmos). And you would likely want to travel in May or September.