Cinque Terre to Rome???

You'll have to go through La Spezia from any of the CT towns. You'll either transfer there or Pisa. You can look at schedules from La Spezia on www.trenitialia.it.

You don't need to make reservations.

HK,

There are two "gateways" to the Cinque Terre, Genova on the north and La Spezia on the south. Your best bet to travel to Rome (IMO) would be via La Spezia (you'll have to change trains there).

You MAY have to make reservations, depending on which train you choose from La Spezia to Rome. If it's a "fast" train, reservations will most likely be required. Check bahn.de for specifics on the train you plan on taking - if there's a small "R" next to that trip, then a reservation is mandatory (don't be caught without one)!

It won't be a problem for you to get reservations. As you'll be in Monterosso al Mare for a few days, go to the station on your first day and make the reservations for your outgoing journey. AFAIK, the station in Monterosso is the only one of the five villages where reservations can be made. Be sure to book a train with no changes.

The trip between Rome and La Spezia is about 4 hours from what I recall (partly along the ocean).

Happy travels!

Some trains do require seat reservations and these can be purchased with your ticket.

Doug,

Yes, I should have clarified that. I usually assume travellers have a Rail Pass, and in that case reservations have to be purchased separately. However, as you stated when purchasing a P-P ticket the reservation fee is included.

Cheers!

Just take the regional train from Monterosso to LaSpezia. The IC trains run from there into Rome. We traveled in the summer so we booked the LaSpezia into Rome through ItaliaRail.com, but the regional trains need no early booking.