My husband and I are going to Italy in July. Our itinerary includes Rome, Florence, Venice and we are trying to decide between Cinque Terre or the Almalfi Coast??? We have also heard some wonderful things about the small towns throughout Tuscany. Is it better just to take day trips to a few towns from Florence or to rent a car and spend a couple of days driving through Tuscany. We will be over there for 15 days.

it depends if you want to see Naples and Pompeii...IMO if you dont care then go to the CT beautifull area with hiking..Im going to the Amalfi this June and 'Im sure Ill enjoy it.Rome is way farther down from Florence and unless you are flying it will take a long time and I would not want to add another 2 hours to that...

Spent 10 days on the AC last May staying mostly in Ravello. It is beautiful and we also enjoyed Capri. We plan to go to the CT in about 10 days so if you still have not decided I will try to post and give my opinion then of which I liked best. You mention Tuscany towns. Is this instead of AC or CT? If not, I think you will need most of your time for your already planned trip. Happy travels!

Hi M,

With 15 days, the Big Three would be an excellent visit.

I suggest fly into Venice (4 days), train to Florence (5 days with a daytrip to Siena and one to Bologna) and 6 days in Rome (daytrip to Orvieto).

Alternatively, reduce Florence to 2 days, reduce Rome to 5 days and spend 4 days based in or near Siena and drive around Tuscany.

Save the AC for its own visit.

Enjoy your trip.

Hi marathon,
Just returned from CT and Portofino area. I had a great trip. In regard to which is better that is difficult to say. I loved both places. If you want to do some sight seeing (i.e. Pompeii, et al) than AC is great. Also I really liked Capri. CT is more just beautiful scenery but there are some things of interest (Byron, Shelley, etc. were in this area). Food and drink in CT was great. Whatever you decide I think you will be happy.

Hi Marathon,

Have you decided where you are going to go? If you go to Amalfi, you must go to Capri. There is an American woman there who provides great day tours and boat tours. Take a look at her site www.capritime.com. She can also hook you up with boats along the Amalfi Coast as well. We had great boat tours with her!

Hi. I recently visited both the Amalfi coast and the Cinque Terre in one trip. I loved both places. Some of the beautiful things I've ever seen. If I could go back to only one of the two, though, I'd pick the CT. I've got several reasons. First of all, it's a national park. This means both are both a wide variety of trails as well as bikes to rent tours, etc. Also, it keeps out some of the nastier tourist related development.

Hi. I recently visited both the Amalfi coast and the Cinque Terre in one trip. I loved both places. Some of the beautiful things I've ever seen. If I could go back to only one of the two, though, I'd pick the CT. I've got several reasons. It's a national park. This means both that a wide variety of trails as well as bikes to rent, tours, etc. Also, it keeps out some of the nastier tourist related development. The towns in the Amalfi coast, though beautiful, are more typical.

Hi. I recently visited both the Amalfi coast and the Cinque Terre in one trip. I loved both places. Some of the beautiful things I've ever seen. If I could go back to only one of the two, though, I'd pick the CT. I've got several reasons. It's a national park. This means both that a wide variety of trails as well as bikes to rent, tours, etc. Also, it keeps out some of the nastier tourist related development. The main reason I'd go to the CT though is because the experience is just so unique. I stayed in a guest house run by a little old Italian woman who spoke no English, hiked between the towns on trails overlooking the sea, and watched whales breach off the coast. Amalfi, though beautiful, is somewhat typical and touristy. Cinque Terre is another world. My favorite place in Europe.

sorry for multiple post. using a funky mouse/computer.