First timers, thoughts on trip?

Jeremy, Are you really "trying to see as much as possible, without being able to enjoy each place." That said, your route seems a little indirect. You're doubling back to CT.
Is the train from CT a direct shot to Nice?

Your trip looks pretty good but Pat has an excellent point. Take a look at travel times if you go to Cinque Terre from Florence, then to Venice, then to Nice. It might be faster. any trip that includes both Venice and Cinque Terre will likely involve some backtracking; the trick is to minimize it.

OK I think you meant to say you were trying to see as much as possible WHILE being able to enjoy each place. Soooo....
Rome (4 or 5 nights), train to Florence (3 or 4 nights) buying tickets to the Uffuzi on line ahead of time (given the time of year you are going), Florence to Venice (2 or 3 nights), Venice to Milan (1 night - kind of a transit thing with great history thrown in) then to Turin (1 night). 0830 train Turin to Paris I love Cinque Terre but getting there by train while not difficult seems a waste of time for a first time traveler (crowded as hell in July - ditto for Venice). Check out RailEurope for point to point tickets which I suspect may be cheaper than a saverpass. Make sure any train is you choose is not a local train. ICE (Inter City) Eurostar etc are fast and not all that much more and you can reserve a seat. I think a first class ticket from Turin to Paris is o/a $120. I choose Turin coming out of Italy to Paris because it has a day time 5.40 hour trip vs. an overnight (which wipes me out). PM me for train info if you care to.

"Check out RailEurope for point to point tickets...." Be aware you may not see all options. The German DB Bahn is a better place to search. I would consider cutting Nice and CT, give yourself a few more days in Rome/Florence/Venice then head for Paris. If you are leaving Sea on Sat, you will arrive in Rome Sunday morning. That is what I call zombie day. So, that really only leaves two full days for the Eternal City. You'll get just one full day in Florence. Alternately, if you have your heart set on CT, add some time to Rome and Florence, cut Venice and proceed to Nice and Paris from there.

Yes, I did mean "while being able to enjoy each place as much as possible" instead of "without". Thanks for catching that. I didn't think about going from Venice to Nice instead of Cinque Terre to Nice. I will look into going to Cinque Terre earlier and then heading to Nice. We were planning to go to Cinque Terre because everyone we talk to says to go there. Plus, we do like the idea of having some "beach time" in addition to Nice. We are trying to buy airfare right now, and then finish the exact details later when we think about railpass or point to point tickets.

Jeremy, The Itinerary posted above looks fairly well organized, although I'd try to squeeze in extra time in Rome as there's LOTS to see there. As I read it, this is your plan (I've added a few comments): > Sat. - Depart Seattle > Sun. - Arrive Rome (as someone else noted, you'll be suffering jet lag so probably won't get muchy touring done). > Mon. & Tue - Rome, touring > Wed. - Travel from Rome to Florence via fast train is only about 1.5 hours, so you could still do a bit of touring in Rome in the morning and head for Florence in the afternoon. > Thu. - Florence, touring (If you're planning to visit the Uffizi or Accademia, reservations would be highly advisable) > Fri. - Travel to Venice (again, travel time is short so you could leave for Venice in the early afternoon) > Sat. - Venice, touring > Sun. - Travel to the Cinque Terre (this trip is about 5-hours from Venice, depending on which train is chosen) > Mon. & Tue. - C.T., touring > Wed. - Travel to Nice (trip is just over 5-hours, usually with two changes - I used Monterosso as the departure point) > Thu. - Travel to Paris (~5H:40M via TGV) > Fri. & Sat. - Paris, touring (you might consider the 2-day version of the Paris Museum Pass) > Sun. - flight to Seattle from CDG (are you going to use a Shuttle or RER to the airport?) As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend pre-reading Europe Through The Back Door, especially the "Rail Skills" chapter. You can read it in the free Library at ETBD in Edmonds (during office hours). Have a look at the Italy & France Guidebooks also, as there's LOTS of information there for touring in the places you'll be visiting. Happy travels!

I'd drop one night from the Cinque Terre and add another to Venice. The CT are beautiful, but they aren't a destination.

That Jeremy remark about "beach time" caught my attention, because if you're thinking beaches as in Florida, Oregon, Mexico or the Caribbean you're not going to find any where you're going in Europe. Nothing big or sandy, anyway. In the CT the only beach is in Monterosso, westernmost of the 5. In the rest of the CT you will be jumping in the water from a rock! In Venice the only beach is on the Lido, and is sandier, but requires extra transportation. In Nice the beach is big enough along the promenade but is mostly gravelly. And in your June-July time frame, they will all be absolutely packed!

The comment about beach time also caught my attention, and I'd like to add that applied to the Cinque Terre is stretching it. Like Guy said above, the only beach is in Monterosso, the first town from the north. All the others are on rocks with cliffs, there are small ports but no beaches. Cinque Terre is no longer off the beaten track and when I went in April 2009 it was crowded!! I can't imagine what it looks like in late June/July. Also keep in mind that there are no trees in the towns (at least I don't remember any), the hillsides are covered in vineyards and the hiking trails are along the coastline and have no shade whatsoever. We did the whole trail from Monterosso down to Riomaggiore. So as long as you keep this in mind, the Cinque Terre are a beautiful sight and I'd certainly recommend you visit. I'd also recommend stopping there between Florence and Venice so that you don't have to backtrack as much.

Hi, Jeremy - You will be spending far too much time in transit and not enough time enjoying your trip. AND you will be doing it at the height of the tourist season and hot weather. I'd suggest cutting back on the number of places and hit no more than 3 stops/cities. You will enjoy yourselves and not be spending all your time going from train to train, to city to city, hotel to hotel. And you won't be frustrated and tired doing it all. Go and enjoy - have time to sit in cafes and watch the world go by. You will go back!
Happy Trails.

Hi, Jeremy - You will be spending far too much time in transit and not enough time enjoying your trip. AND you will be doing it at the height of the tourist season and hot weather. I'd suggest cutting back on the number of places and hit no more than 3 stops/cities. You will enjoy yourselves and not be spending all your time going from train to train, to city to city, hotel to hotel. And you won't be frustrated and tired doing it all. Go and enjoy - have time to sit in cafes and watch the world go by. You will go back!
Happy Trails.

Keep in mind too that for the nicer spots on the beaches you'll end up paying for a seat/umbrella. There's usually stretches that are public and you can plunk down but they are usually the less desirable spots. Monterrosso is also pretty pebbly...bring some swim shoes with you.

Technically, Vernazza has a sandy beach, small though it may be.

Jeremy, your itinerary sounds fine to me and is probably the way I would "do" Italy. If you are traveling by train, you can save time and energy (and money) by sleeping near train stations. If you can walk to/from the train in 10 min or less, you'll have more time for touring. The beach at Monterosso is large and sandy, but mostly not free in the summer time. Be prepared to rent a space with umbrella and table for the day.

I agree with Michael & Doug. You're spending too much time in CT. Personally, I'd cut my time there and add it to any of your other destinations, all of which have far more to see and do.