Rome-Cinque Terre-Paris

Also, I will add that from what I read, the most time efficient option would be to take the night train from Rome to Cinque Terre. Has anyone done this? If so, it is recommended?

Which night train is that, Tyler? As far as I know there is only one train at night, the ICN 796 which leaves Roma Ostinese (NOT Termini) at 2 minutes to midnight and arrives at La Spezia Centrale at 4:23 in the morning. You might be able to catch the 04:28 Regionale from La Spezia into the 5T, arriving for example at Monterosso at 04:55, but because night trains don't always make their schedule you will probably prefer the 05:02 Intercity (mandatory reservations required) which only stops in Monterosso, or the 05:08 Regionale which calls all ststions. What will you do in the time before everybody else wakes up? Will 4 hours sleep (assuming you fall asleep instantly, wake up moments before you arrive all fresh and bushy-tailed, and can sleep through all the noise and bumping along the way - it stops at 4 stations along the way at Civitavecchia,
Grosseto, Livorno Centrale and Pisa Centrale) do the job for you? I used to take night trains, but I have taken my last one.

Okay I will be the first to ask. We need more details about your trip. Total number of days and etc. From your post I assume you have 7 days. Is day 1 in Rome the day your fly in from the states? And is Day 7 the day you fly home? See we need more details to give you a better answer. But from what you posted here is some input for you. If you only have 7 days people will advise to spend it 1. all in Rome 2. Half in Rome fly to Paris and spend the other half in Paris 3. Spend it all in Paris There probably isn't a true night train Rome to Cinque Terre ( it is only 4 - 5 hours at most)
Cinque Terre to Paris would be a long trip on the train eating up most or a good part of a day. Assume you will be back and to see the things you don't have time for on this trip. Just my opinions...other helpliners will probably respond with more thoughts.

The best way to plan a trip is to count the nights "on the ground", not the days. Once you know how many nights you have in Europe, then you allocate the nights at your destinations. 3 nights in Rome (which is really 2 full days) is the minimum you need in Rome. Likewise you need at least 3 or 4 nights in Paris (just to say you've been there). If you don't have 2 more nights (basically one full day) to spend at the Cinque Terre, I wouldn't bother, because the Cinque Terre are not easily accessible from either Rome or Paris. Basically you need 4-5 hours from Rome via train and from Paris you need to fly to either Pisa or Genoa, then travel 90-120 min from those airports to the Cinque Terre (via train). So the first question you should answer is: how many nights do you have "on the ground" in Europe?

Your itinerary is a stretch. Do count the nights. 3 full days in Rome is good (4 nights). 2 full days in Paris isn't much. 1 full day in 5 Terre is ok. Can you give up Paris and spend more time enjoying Italy? That is what I would recommend. You can also rent a car and drive around Italy. See more and more enjoyable than trains.

Tyler, As the others have said, a few more details on your trip would be helpful. I'd suggest allowing at least TWO nights in the Cinque Terre, as most of your time the first day will be spent in travel time. Have you allowed for your two travel days to and from Europe? You'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart the U.S. Regarding travel between each of the locations you'll be visiting..... > Rome to Cinque Terre - take one of the direct trains (no changes) from Roma Termini to La Spezia Centrale. Travel time is about 3H:45M. From La Spezia, it's as short as nine minutes to Riomaggiore, and a bit more to the other towns. There's a departure from Termini at 08:10 and another at 09:40 (and many other trains with one or more changes and longer travel times). > Cinque Terre to Paris - you have a couple of choices.... (1.) Take a night train (about 16 hours, with changes) or a day train (about 12 hours, with changes). (2.) Use a budget airline from Pisa (about 1H:40M flight time). Check EasyJet for one example. The cost will probably be cheaper also, but that will depend on when you book the flight. It will take 1-2 hours to get from the C.T. to the airport at Pisa (I didn't check the exact time). Of the two options, I'd use the budget flight even though it means going through the usual airport hassles (which I try to avoid whenever possible). Happy travels!

Sorry it took so long for me to get back; I was busy with work. But here is our 'rough' plan. We are looking to take the trip around 12 days. My wife and I have already been to both London and Paris, but are really looking to just spend a day or so at each relive some of the spots we enjoyed the most; but the main objective of the trip is to see the other spots that we have not visited. Here is the plan we have so far (with some estimate at dates for a timeline): Depart Tuesday June 17th (7pm)-Arrive in Reykjavik Iceland at 6:30am on Wednesday June 18th Spend one full day in Reykjavik Iceland doing a quick tour around the city Depart Thursday June 19th at 7:45am from Reykjavik to London (arrive 11:45) And now this is where we are stuck...we have about 8-9 days left remaining on our trip and these are the list of places we have on our list.. -Paris (1 day)see it already, really just looking to spend an afternoon and have easy access to make the trip to Normandy -Normandy (1 day) Then takes us down to about 6 days where we want to see the following: -Rome (2 days) -Cinque Terre (2 days) -Amsterdam (if time) So my initial thoughts are: Minneapolis to Reykjavik (flight, arrive early in the morning) Reykjavik to London (leave early in the morning) London to Rome (flight) Rome to Cinque Terre area (train) My question is...how do we get from Cinque Terre(Riomagiore) to Paris? Do we fly or take a train? If we fly, where is the nearest airport to the most northern part of Cinque Terre? Thanks for the help!

You are covering way too much ground in a short time for my taste. But if you don't mind, that is your trip. I'll answer your last question. Given your "extreme" travel plans in such short time, you should fly from the Cinque Terre to Paris, because the train trip would take a whole day with multiple train changes. You have the choice of two airports, both located approximately 90+ min from the Cinque Terre. The closest airport is Pisa (PSA), which has flights to Paris with Air France (to CDG), Easy Jet (to ORY) and Ryanair (to BVA). The other one, almost as close as Pisa, but in the opposite direction, is Genoa (GOA). From there you can fly to Paris CDG with HOP! (a regional airline part of AirFrance). The flight time, gate to gate, ranges approx. from 90 to 100 min. (GOA is slightly closer to Paris) While visiting the Louvre or the Vatican Museum don't forget to tell the taxi driver to wait outside with the engine on. You are on a roll!

I would do it this way... From London, take the Eurostar to Paris. From Paris, fly to Cinque Terre (Pisa or Genoa)- stay two nights and one day From CT, train to Rome Fly home from Rome
Skip Amsterdam...save it for another trip

Tyler, I am confused ( a very normal condition ). You have been to London & Paris, but this trip takes you back to both cities, when it seems that you want to see new places. Why not skip the UK & focus on mainland Europe this trip? Icelandair will take you to Luxenbourgh or Frankfurt, better hubs, imo.

You lose at least a half day traveling each time you move to a major destination. Why do you have so many? You can't really see Cinque Terre in 1 day it's 5 towns. I traveled from CT to Rome by train it was about 4.5 hours. Why are you adding Amsterdam? It seems like you are playing tag not really traveling for pleasure.

....easy access to make the trip to Normandy -Normandy (1 day)...
You do realize that Paris to Normandy and return will mean around 6 -7 hours of travel time ? Where in Normandy ? What did you plan to see ? How did you plan on getting around during your sojourn there ? My head is spinning even faster !!!