Best way to get from Paris to Cinque Terre?

Use this link
http://www.skyscanner.com/
and see what kind of airfares you can get.
I forget what the nearest airport is to CT.
But read the small print, intra-European airlines tend to strictly enforce their baggage rules, that's how they make money.
You can take trains to CT, Florence, and Venice.

Here are some options you may want to consider:

• Fly to Pisa then train to Cinque Terre ( CT)
• Fly to Florence then train to CT, after visiting Florence.
• Fly to Venice then train to Florence (after visiting Venice) then train to CT
• Fly to Milan then train to Venice or CT or Florence

What airport will you be flying home out of?

Check this website for checking bargain flights: http://www.skyscanner.com

• Pisa Airport (PSA) is closest to CT. you can easily get to Pisa Centrale (central train station) via train (5 minutes travel time). Then take train from Pisa Centrale to whatever village in CT you choose.
• If you choose to fly into Florence Airport (FLR), you can take a bus into the city center.
• If you choose to fly into Venice (Marco Polo Airport), you can take a water bus ( Alilaguna) from airport to Venice.
• If you choose to fly into Milan Malpensa Airport or Linate Airport you can take a train to Milano Centrale ( Milan's Central train station) from Malpensa or a bus from Linate to Milano Centrale. From Milano Centrale, you can take train to Venice, CT or Florence.

Once you decide which option will work for you, come back & post more questions :-)

EDIT: You can check train schedules on this website:http://www.trenitalia.com

Whatever you do, remember, Ryanair flies from Paris Beuvais, way outside Paris.

Use Easyjet, Paris Orly>Pisa. Fares now show as low as $55 1H40m

Orly is actually closer to Paris than CDG.

Take the bus to Pisa Centrale, then Train to CT villge of your choice.

Anthony,

Travel by train is going to be at least ~12 hours, so that won't be a pleasant journey. A much faster method would be.....

• Take the RER "B" and then OrlyVal People Mover to Orly (there are other methods to reach the airport as well including Taxi).
• easyJet flight from ORY to Pisa (~1H:40M).
• Take the airport shuttle bus from PSA to Pisa Centrale (new People Mover being constructed there, but it's not in operation yet).
• Train to the Cinque Terre. The travel time will vary a bit depending on which of the five towns you're going to, but it will be about 1H:40M, with one change at La Spezia Centrale. At least one of the trains will most likely be a Regionale, so DON'T forget to validate prior to boarding the train or you may face a hefty fine.

As mentioned in another post, it wouldn't be a good idea to use RyanAir as Beauvais is a considerable distance from Paris. If you decide to book with easyJet, be sure to read the Terms & Conditions carefully, especially regarding luggage. Note that they only allow ONE carry-on item per passenger. Also, early booking generally gets the best prices, but the cheaper tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable.

Awesome, thanks everyone for the replies! I will look into these. I have flown RyanAir and EasyJet before and am aware of their baggage fees :( as well as the remoteness of some of their airports (I did fly into Beauvais on RyanAir once -- wow that is remote).

I've pretty much given up on the overnight train as romantic/cool as that seems. It just takes too much time.

In terms of my itinerary, I want to be in a big city the night before we fly back to the states (so Florence or Venice).

Anthony,

If you can find easy flights from Florence back to the U.S., I'd highly recommend using that as your "big city" location. Two of the benefits of Florence vs. Venice....

• The airport is very close to the city. It's a short trip via Taxi (which have a flat rate to the airport) or Shuttle Bus.
• Many of the flights departing Venice for the U.S. leave in the early morning, which means an early start. Also, it will take longer to get to the airport via AliLaguna or whatever.

we also live in Kirkland (!) and had the same question! Will follow your advice to Anthony!