So, my husband and I are planning our 14 day trip to Italy for next October. I have a few places that are absolute must sees, and there are two places (Amalfi or CT), that I have to decide between, due to time issues... Here is the proposed itinerary, and if you have any suggestions, please let me know... For reference on my travel tastes, my personal favorite places to visit have been Paris, Barcelona, Key West, and my husband and I are both interested in seeing the true local flavor of wherever we travel... FYI, we have never been to Italy, and are very excited!

October 2011

5th- Land in Rome- stay three days
8th- Train to La Spezia and onto Cinque Terre- stay 3 days - my birthday falls in here
11th- to Florence stay 3 days
14th- to Venice stay 3 days
17th- Back to Rome overnight
18th- Fly home

I am willing to change this entire itinerary around if a case is made that the Amalfi coast is superior to Cinque Terre in climate, ambience, friendliness, interest, etc etc... I am very interested to hear anyones opinion! Thank you for reading this.

If you're into hiking the CT all the way, you can take a train between the towns but it's not the same.

No reason to stay in Rome twice---fly " open jaw" into Venice and home from Rome--and it is not more expensive.I like your destinations and totally agree that the CT is your better option.

I agree with the open jaw idea, i did it once, flew into Milan and made my way down to Amalfi over a 2-wk period and flew home from Rome. The "plus" of CT is that the towns are connected by train and it is easy to visit them all on foot with just a 10-min train ride btwn them. With Amalfi, we took the bus to travel between Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello and while the bus ride is breathtaking, it is very slow along a cliffside windy road and takes longer than you would think.
I recommend going back to Italy another time for Amalfi, it is equally fabulous to CT.
I also highly recommend the B&B I stayed at in CT. Il Parco B&B in Monterroso al Mare was excellent.

We have been to both-I would probably go back to CT rather than Amalfi coast. Loved the hiking and the towns north of CT are also really worth visiting. We stayed at La Toretta in Manarola 2 years ago and loved it. Last year we stayed at Villa Rosmarino in Camogli. CT is probably easier to navigate but we loved the whole coast of Northern Italy. We stayed in Positano in early June and maybe we just hit more of tourist season.

CT is logistically much simpler while I thought Amalfi Coast/Gulf of Naples offered different ambiance and more intense experiences than the other places you are visiting.

An itinerary including Venice is best to start with Venice. The arrival into Venice is just as convenient as Rome, but departing from Venice is often inconvenient especially those returning to the U.S.

I am curious why an open-jaw is an often overlooked option. I have traveled open-jaw as soon as I was old enough to travel on my own. A simple time computation should show going back to the originating city is usually inefficient unless you can find a round-trip fare at a deep discount.

We spent 3 days in Cinque Terre toward the end of October a few years ago. Keep in mind that it may not be exactly beach weather at that time of year. Also is at the tail end of the main tourist season-- rates may be cheaper, a few things were closed, but not too many, UNCROWDED!. Excellent hiking between the towns, with magnificent views, hovering over the sea. Olives were being harvested in the hills, and the trails traversed the hillsides with olive orchards and terraced vineyards. There are also some very nice walks higher up to monastaries in small towns. All very doable, combining hikes with the excellent, frequent trains between the 5 towns that ran into the evening. We stayed right on the tiny sheltered fishing harbor in Vernaza, where there were many excellent places to eat. For breakfast or snack, do not miss Il Pirate di Cinque Terre, up the road at the back end of town--fantastic espresso and pastries (say hi to Massemo). We also loved Manarola- you must see the town lit up at dusk from the walkway on the adjacent rocks nearby. Corniglia is very scenic, be forewarned though that it is a stiff uphill stair walk from the train station to the town. Wonderful markets everywhere for food, picnic items for a hike, ceramics (see Manarola). Have not been to Amalfi, but CT was a fun and gorgeous and colorful place to visit, and very convenient.

We have been to both, and preferred CT over Amalfi. In fact, we are going back to the CT next month! CT was more visually stunning to me. The villages perched high on the cliffs with the vibrant colors made a bigger impact to me than the more subdued colors of Amalfi. I found the Amalfi area much dirtier with garbage, too. CT was just more quaint with more "pinch me, we are in Italy" moments.

It is also much more convenient to explore with the train system.

If you do chose Amalfi though, I can recommend an AMAZING agriturismo:

Villa Maria in Minori.

We actually preferred CT over Amalfi as well. CT is easier to navigate especially if you are a hiker. October is the rainiest month in CT so you should be prepared for that. Three days is about right but if the weather isn't great, you could spend less time in CT and perhaps stop in Pisa on your way to Florence. On balance, since it is the off season in both places, I would choose CT.

Hi eva,

I agree, fly into Venice and out of Rome.

Since you are up North, go to CT.

Visit the Amalfi Coast and Naples another time.

Enjoy your visit.

Just in case you have bad weather, make sure you research places to visit in the vicinity of CT--just one example, the marble quarries of Carrara might be of interest to some. There are plenty of places reachable on the train if you are not able to hike in CT.

CT vs Amalfi cost is a matter of what you want to see/do.

The former is a group of small coastal towns and the major activity is hiking the trails between them and relaxing in a tranquil atmosphere.

The Amalfi Cost area, IMHO has much more to see and do. Pompeii is unforgettable and the archeo museum in Naples is great. You have a choice of towns along the coast to stay in - or Sorrento - a larger town on the Bay of Naples. Plus you have the chance to visit Capri - with more roman ruins, the Blue Grotto and a host of other sites/cute towns.

Really apples and oranges.