Rome to Cinque Terre

Take the Leonardo Express to Termini from FCO, or take a taxi if you want to cut some time. You can easily transfer at Termini station to a Freccia (high-speed train) to La Spezia, then catch the Regionale to the village of your choice.

Are you aware that in the Cinque Terre it is "off season" in January the 5 towns are virtually shut down?

I did this trip a year ago (but not round trip). We were already in Rome and so we took a taxi from our hotel to Termini station and from there took a high speed train to La Spezia and then switched to a regionale train the rest of the way, exactly as the other responder said. The trip is fairly easy to make, I'd be more concerned about the craziness that can be Termini (or any big train station), keep your wits about you, give yourself plenty of space and time and you'll be fine.

Hi Wayne, I agree with Laurel's suggestion except that it's often faster to take the Leonardo Express train from the airport to Termini station due to traffic (30 min. on the train, usually 45-60 in a taxi depending on traffic). Also, not all the trains to La Spezia are Freccia trains, most are InterCity trains, which are a bit slower, taking just under under 4 hours from Termini to La Spezia. It all depends on what time you arrive in Rome. I suggest using the Trenitalia site to look at schedules - www.trenitalia.com. January schedules are not loaded yet, but you can do a search on the same day of the week early next month to get an idea (they rarely change much). I would wait until I get to Rome to buy the tickets, as you never know if your flight will be on time or how long it will take you to get through customs, catch the Leonardo Express, etc.

Wayne, Jan is about the worst possible time to visit the CT area.

Agreed with the others. I'd look to visit another town and not the CT in January. Most of the rooms for rent will be closed as people are out of the area usually around this time.

wayne,

Unless you have a confirmed booking at a hotel in one of the five towns, you may not even be able to find accommodations there. As the others have noted, most of the hotels, restaurants and other tourist-related businesses are shut down at that time of year. Some will start to re-open in March, with the "official" season beginning April 1st.

In addition, the weather in mid-January will likely be cold, wet and gray so the Cinque Terre won't be the most pleasant place to visit. In bad weather, there's not a lot to do there.

If you still want to make the trip, the directions provided by the others will get you there.

OK. Plan B.
What is the most efficient way to round trip from Rome/FCO to Palermo in mid January?
I only have 4 days for the side trip.

For Rome-Palermo, I'd fly. There are some relatively inexpensive flights if you book them ahead. See www.skyscanner.com for details. Personally, I'd rather go to Taoromina or Syracusa myself. For either of these towns, you would want to fly from Rome to Catania. From Catania, you can take the bus or train to either town.