Nice to Cinque Terre by train?

hi = we are doing the opposite in March...from Manarola to Nice.....you can go to the trenitalia website where you can price out tickets and purchase some in advance for much cheaper than waiting. For instance, I have purchased our ticket from Genoa to Venitmigilia already but am waiting till we are there for the rest which would be regionale trains but you can do it all the way...I don't know what it costs or times for the Nice to Ventimiglia train is...have fun, Cheri

Don't even bother renting a car, that would be a waste of money because a car is useless at the Cinque Terre (and even more so in Venice). Also there are huge rental drop off fees if you rent in France and return the car in another country.
The answer is the train, and it's not quick (about 6 hrs), but it's easy.
First you will need to take a Regional Express train from Nice to Ventimiglia, which is just across the border in Italy. There are several of them throughout the day and the trip is less than 50 minutes.
At Ventimiglia you would switch trains. There are several trains departing from Ventimiglia and going along the Ligurian Riviera, some require changes (in Genoa for the most part), but some are direct with no change.
Those with no change (therefore more convenient) depart Ventimiglia at:
6:46, 7:48, 11:50, 13:57. Journey time is about 5 hours from Ventimiglia to Monterosso (the first and the largest of the CT).
Of course there are more if you are willing to change trains in Genoa or Savona etc.
To see all solutions from Ventimiglia consult:
www.trenitalia.com
(use the next 7 days to see the times, since regional trains schedules are shown only 7 days forward).
For trains going from Nice to Ventimiglia (your first leg) consult here:
http://www.ter-sncf.com/Regions/paca/Fr/Se_deplacer_en_TER/Avant_mon_voyage/Recherche_d_itineraires/Default.aspx
Enter from Nice-Ville to Ventimiglia Stazione, the date and approximate time.
There is basically 2 trains every hour at :22 and :52 after the hour for the most part. The journey is 48 min.
PS: I prefer Monterosso to all other towns. More restaurants, more hotels, and above all for me, the best beach at the Cinque Terre. You can still reach all other towns from there. They are all minutes away by train.

culpeps,

Roberto has provided a good summary of the train options. You can check all the possibilities by using the bahn.de website. I've never bothered buying tickets in advance, as it's very easy to just buy locally at the station. Note that your departure station will be Nice Ville. As I vaguely recall, they may only be able to sell tickets as far as Ventimiglia, and you'll have to buy tickets for Italy when you arrive there.

"From there, we'd like to go to Cinque Terre (which village is still under discussion... sounds like Vernazza is the most popular choice here!)"

Vernazza is not the most popular with everyone here. My preference is definitely Monterosso, for the reasons that Roberto also mentioned. As the largest of the five towns, it seems to "absorb" the crowds better so often doesn't feel as crowded. Vernazza tends to have smaller private rooms (some of which don't serve breakfasts) while Monterosso has more "conventional" hotels.

Happy travels!

Wow, thank you so much for your very thoughtful posts! I really appreciate all the advice!

So would you suggest that I wait and just buy tickets at the station instead of reserving them ahead of time? I was under the impression that advance reservations were required for some of these routes...

So Monterosso is the recommended village? Has anyone used AirBnB in CT, or have any recommended housing?

THANKS again for your input!!!

My preference goes to Monterosso for the reasons stated above (especially because I'm a beach rat), however all of them are beautiful villages and you'll enjoy all of them. I think you should go to wherever you find the accommodations that suit you and use that one as a base. There are trains going back and forth, so you can go to any town in minutes (and also walk to them through the paths). The only village I wouldn't care to stay is Corniglia. It's pretty, but it's higher up the hill, farther from the water and to get to the station it's a long walk through one of the longest staircases I've been (although they have a small shuttle bus going from the station to the town). If you don't mind the steps, you can stay there, but as a base to visit the other towns is not my favorite because of the inconvenience of the long walk (through the stairs) to the station.

culpeps,

Regarding buying tickets in advance, I wouldn't bother for that route. The trip from Nice Ville to Ventimiglia is short and I doubt that you'd save much money with pre-purchased tickets. Also, if the particular train you were using required compulsory reservations, you'd be locked into travelling at a specific time.

For the trip from Ventimiglia to the Cinque Terre, I had a brief look at the Trenitalia website. Using an arbitrary destination of Monterosso, it appears that many of the trains on that route are Regionale. It's difficult to buy tickets for those in advance and absolutely no price benefit for doing so. It would just as easy to buy the tickets at Ventimiglia, either from a Kiosk or the staffed ticket office (which may have a queue). Of course, this may vary depending on which train you connect with in Ventimiglia. You could also be using an Intercity on one leg, which requires compulsory reservations, but those will be provided with the ticket.

One important point to mention when travelling on Regionale trains. You MUST validate (time & date stamp) the ticket prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. Those found with unvalidated tickets are subject to hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot. The tickets have a "shelf life" once validated (about 6 hours, as I recall but that varies with the route), so don't validate until you're ready to board the train. That doesn't apply to trains with compulsory reservations, since the reservations are specific for a particular train, date and departure time. With tickets that require compulsory reservations, you MUST board ONLY the train specified on your ticket, or again hefty fines.

Regarding accommodations in Monterosso, I have no idea whether there are any AirBnB properties there as I always stay at Hotel Villa Steno (which is one of my favourites in all of Europe). Hopefully one of the others can provide information on AirBnB in that area. One other point to mention is that Monterosso is the only one of the five towns that has "conventional" hotels. Accommodations in the other towns consist of small rooms or apartments, some of which don't provide breakfasts (I like a nice breakfast, so that's important for me). I'm sure one of our regular posters will be along shortly to provide a recommendation for THIS facility in Vernazza.

Cheers!

Thank you so much, Ken, Roberto, and Cheri! Your tips are so helpful! I guess I'll check the train schedules and see how much of a price difference it would be to book ahead versus book at the stations... sounds like booking at the station would give us more flexibility (and less stress if the trains run late!).

I have Rick's "Best of Europe" guidebook, which has been fantastic, but it's nice to get tips from the online community experts. You guys are AMAZING!!! Thanks again!

PS, Cheri, we are also from Seattle. :)

You'll likely be traveling on Regional trains, therefore no discounts apply. The price is the same whether you purchase ahead online or purchase on the spot.
The cost of the ticket is only €16.60 from Ventimiglia to Monterosso on a Regional train. Even if you take an Intercity (which however would require a change in Genoa), that won't add more than 6 or 7 Euro.
Not sure about the cost of the 48 min trip from Nice to Ventimiglia, but the whole trip won't cost you more than €25 per person.