Cinque Terre vs. Amalfi Coast: Which Italian Coastline Should You Actually Visit?
I've done both. Twice each. And every time someone asks me which one they should visit, I ask the same question back: "What kind of trip do you actually want?"
Because these two Italian coastal icons could not be more different in personality, even though they show up in the same travel listicles and get tagged with the same heart-eyes emojis.
Let me break it down.
The Vibe: Rugged Hiker vs. Glamorous Lounger
Cinque Terre is five tiny fishing villages clinging to cliffs. The population across all five is about 4,000 people. There's one real sand beach (in Monterosso). No cars allowed. You hike between villages or take a train that runs through tunnels blasted into the mountainside. It feels earned.
Amalfi Coast is a 50-km stretch of road carved into cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Positano has designer boutiques. Ravello has concert halls overlooking the water. It's polished. It's expensive. It's the coast that shows up in luxury travel magazines.
Neither is better. But they attract very different travelers.
Getting There
Cinque Terre: Fly into Genoa (1.5 hours by train) or Pisa (1 hour by train). No direct flights. The closest base is La Spezia — 5 minutes by train to the first village. Getting there is straightforward and cheap.
Amalfi Coast: Fly into Naples (then 1-1.5 hours by ferry to Positano, or drive the winding SS163). More flight options, but getting to the actual coast is slower and more chaotic.
Winner: Cinque Terre, by a comfortable margin. Train-based access beats the Amalfi's notoriously terrifying bus rides along cliff-edge roads.
Accommodation
Cinque Terre
Amalfi Coast
Budget hotel/B&B
€80-120/night (in villages)
€120-200/night
Mid-range
€150-250/night
€250-400/night
Smart hack
Stay in La Spezia: €70/night
Stay in Salerno: €60/night
Cinque Terre gets expensive fast if you insist on sleeping inside the villages. But the La Spezia hack is genuine — the train takes 5-8 minutes to the first village, and you save €80-150/night.
Amalfi Coast accommodation is another level entirely. Positano averages €300+ per night in summer. You can stay in Salerno or Minori and ferry in, but the logistics are heavier.
Winner: Cinque Terre — cheaper overall, with a much better budget hack.
Beaches
Let's be honest: neither coastline is a beach destination.
Cinque Terre has one sand beach (Monterosso's Fegina Beach — lounger rental ~€25/day) and a scattering of pebble coves. You swim off rocks or at tiny harbors. The water is crystal clear but access is limited.
Amalfi Coast has more beaches, but they're also small, crowded, and charge for loungers (€20-40/set). Positano's beach is the most famous and least relaxing. Furore Fjord is spectacular but requires stairs.
Winner: Draw. Both are more about views than beach days. If beaches are your thing, go to Sardinia or Puglia.
Hiking
Cinque Terre wins this category so decisively it's not even a conversation. The Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Trail) is 12 km connecting all five villages, with the Corniglia-to-Vernazza section being one of the most scenic coastal walks in Europe. You need a Cinque Terre Card (€16 trail only, €33 with train). Trail closures happen after landslides — always check parconazionale5terre.it the morning of.
Amalfi Coast has the Path of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei) from Agerola to Nocelle — which is genuinely world-class. But it's one trail, versus Cinque Terre's entire network.
Winner: Cinque Terre, hands down.
Food
This is where it gets interesting.
Cinque Terre is Ligurian cuisine: pesto genovese (the birthplace — it's made with a mortar and pestle, never a blender), focaccia al pesto, focaccia di Recco (stuffed with stracchino cheese), fresh seafood, and local white wine (Sciacchetrà). A filling focaccia from a bakery like Il Frantoio in Monterosso costs €3-5. Trofie al pesto at a trattoria runs €10-14.
Amalfi Coast is Campanian cuisine: pizza (you're near Naples, after all), limoncello, sfogliatella, fresh mozzarella, and seafood. The food is arguably richer and more varied.
Both are extraordinary. But Cinque Terre's pesto is a spiritual experience, and eating it in the place where it was invented — with basil grown on those steep terraces — adds a dimension that's hard to replicate.
Winner: Draw. Different cuisines, both outstanding. Cinque Terre wins on budget.
Crowds
Both get crushed in July-August. But the crowd dynamics differ.
Cinque Terre gets day-trippers from Florence, Milan, and cruise ships. The villages are tiny — Manarola has maybe 350 residents. When 5,000 tourists show up on a Tuesday, it feels like an invasion. The trains are packed. The trails are single-file.
Amalfi Coast has the SS163 road bottleneck. Buses take 45 minutes to travel 10 km. Positano's main beach is wall-to-wall bodies. But the coast is longer, so the crowds spread out more.
Winner: Neither — both are nightmarish in peak summer. Visit April-June or September-October.
Cost Comparison
Category
Cinque Terre (daily)
Amalfi Coast (daily)
Budget accommodation
€70-120
€100-200
Food
€30-50
€50-80
Transport
€33 (CT Card)
€20-40 (ferries/buses)
Activities
€15-55
€15-80
Daily total
€148-258
€185-400
Winner: Cinque Terre — meaningfully cheaper at every level.
So Which One?
Choose Cinque Terre if you:
Love hiking and active travel
Want a tighter, more walkable experience
Prefer budget-friendly Italy
Care about pesto more than pizza
Want to avoid driving entirely
Choose Amalfi Coast if you:
Want a more luxurious, resort-style trip
Love Campanian cuisine (pizza, mozzarella, limoncello)
Plan to combine with Pompeii, Capri, or Naples
Prefer larger beaches
Don't mind complex logistics
Choose both if you have 10+ days — start in Cinque Terre (La Spezia), train to Florence for a day, then train to Naples and ferry to the Amalfi Coast. It's a perfect combination. For more Italian coastal inspiration, Dubrovnik offers a similarly dramatic Adriatic experience.
My honest take? If you're going to Italy for the first time and can only pick one, Cinque Terre is the easier win. It's simpler, cheaper, and the hiking gives you something most coastal destinations don't. But the Amalfi Coast has a polish and grandeur that Cinque Terre's fishing villages intentionally lack.
Different coasts for different folks. Both will ruin you for beaches back home.
