Choosing an Italian Coast: Amalfi, Cinque Terre or Puglia

Amalfi Coast: the view, and the cost of it

Vertical, dramatic and expensive. Positano is the postcard and the most crowded. Ravello sits higher, is calmer, and has the best views on the coast from its villa gardens. Praiano and Atrani are the sensible middle.

Beaches are small, often pebbled and frequently paid. Getting around means buses on a narrow road, ferries in season, or a lot of steps. Mobility limits matter here more than anywhere else on this list.

Cinque Terre: walking between villages

Five villages on the Ligurian coast linked by a train that runs every 20 minutes and by footpaths that require a card in high season. The train is the key: it makes the whole area feel like one place.

It is small and it gets extremely busy between June and September. Staying overnight in one of the villages, or in Levanto just north, gives you the early mornings and evenings when it is lovely.

• Amalfi: best views, hardest logistics, highest prices
• Cinque Terre: easiest transport, smallest area, heaviest crowds
• Puglia: best value, needs a car, longest travel time to reach

Puglia: space and value

The heel of Italy has long sandy beaches, whitewashed towns such as Ostuni and Locorotondo, and food that is cheaper and simpler than anywhere further north. You will need a car.

It is also the least crowded of the three outside August, and accommodation in a masseria farmhouse costs a fraction of an Amalfi hotel with a similar level of comfort.

Which to choose

For a special occasion with a generous budget and no walking difficulties, the Amalfi Coast still wins on sheer drama. For a short add-on to a northern Italy trip with no car, the Cinque Terre is the practical answer.

For a week of relaxed beach and food travel at reasonable cost, Puglia, without much hesitation.