Paris to Florence - Train or Fly?

It's the time vs. money quandary you'll have to weigh for yourself. Turin is definitely worth visiting, and the train ride might be pretty, but it will eat up an extra night (at least), right? Can you fly into anywhere else close like Pisa for less money?

Most people flying into Florence actually fly into Pisa and take the 1 hour train ride over to Florence.

Getting to the CInque Terre is best done by taking a train from Pisa to LaSpezia. There you would connect to a local train that takes you the short distance to the C/T.

I’ve visited Turin twice in the last 4 years and really like the city and surrounding are. However, I would not bother visiting for just 1 night. I’d fly from Paris to Florence or Pisa.

Thankyou for your responses, I will focus on the Pisa option, much appreciated.

Flights to Pisa do tend to be cheaper, there's easyJet and I think Ryanair too (but Ryanair flies out of Beauvais so only worth considering if it is very, very cheap).
By the way, I'd rather spend 3 nights in Florence and 2 in Cinque Terre than the other way around. A full day is enough to see the CT, in my opinion.

I agree that two nights in Florence just isn't enough. Our first trip, we spent two and went back on another trip to spend four. To me, just how much time in CT depends upon what kind of vacation you are looking for. One trip, our itinerary was really city-intensive. In the middle of it, we spend four nights in CT in an Airbnb. We relaxed, recharged, did laundry and slept late. It worked and we came of it with plenty of energy to spend another week in cities. It was one of the few trips where we didn't come back with sore feet. If you want to "see" CT, two nights might be sufficient. If you need some time to vacation from your vacation and you find an appealing place, perhaps more is better. Flying to Pisa, going to CT and circling back to Florence might be nice. Where do you fly home from eventually?

Thankyou, all food for thought and good advice! We haven't been to CT before, and will be coming from a busy week in Paris. Interesting the general sentiment is 2 days is enough...
Am travelling with my 78 year old mum, so am conscious of not trying to overdo it!! Proving to be very difficult. Flying home from Milan to AUS.

I never seem to relax in the Cinque Terre. There is plenty to do to fill a week exploring the Italian Riviera - easy to get from town to town by train, even up to Genoa if you are so inclined. A 78 year old woman might not be up for some of the challenging hikes the area offers, though. If I were going there just to relax and not hike, I'd probably go instead of to the Cinque Terre to one of the other riviera towns like Camogli or Santa Margherita Ligure that won't be mobbed with tourists during the day in May. The Cinque Terre towns are beautiful but will be overrun with tour groups during the day. Much nicer at night.

Personally, I do not like Vueling at Florence as they look unreliable to me (I had a couple of horror stories with baggages) and the few times I had to do the trip I chose Air France instead. Still, the train (done also that) is so long that I would not question flying. Also flying to Pisa would not be a bad idea and you could also have your time first in CT, close to Pisa, before moving to Florence. If you have to go on to Milan, it works better this way.

Fly for God’s sake. A train is a pain for that distance.
Flights to Pisa may be cheaper thanks to the presence of EasyJet, a low cost airline. However it’s an extra 1.5 hours to Florence (by bus or train). If Cinque Terre is part of the equation and you are flying to Pisa, I would definitely go to the Cinque Terre after landing in Pisa. It’s much closer than from Florence.