train travel from Nice, France to Cinque Terre

Since you'll be coming from the north, you'll go through Genova but not La Spezia. For detailed timetables, go to www.bahn.de and click on "Internat. Guests" for English. Enter Nice Ville as your departure point and a Cinque Terre town (Vernazza, for example) as your arrival point. After you get summary timetables, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points. Then, if you wish, click on "Show intermediate stops" for any route you choose.

If you are buying a ticket in France, just ask for "Nice to La Spezia" or "Nice to Monterosso." Some French trains end at Ventimiglia, the first town in Italy, and then you change trains. You may get a train that stops in Genoa, but goes on through to Rome or. In some cases a train change in Genoa is needed. I change trains as little as possible when making the trip, except sometimes I stop overnight in Ventimiglia.

There is a Eurocity (EC) train from Nice Ville to Monterosso that goes straight through to Genova without changing trains. You change at Genova and journey on to the CT. Total travel time is about 5.0hrs. Look at the the 10:05 train on this SAMPLE SCHEDULE. You can also get this same type EC train run at 2:05pm and 6:05pm. You can even get a Euro Night (EN) (sleeper train) leaving at 9:05 that goes straight through to Rome with no train changes. This is a 7.0hr. journey that drops you off in Monterosso about 4:00am. A bit early I would think. But, you have choices.

Thanks for all of your suggestions! Although I have been to Europe before, it's been a while and I think the only part about planning the trip that is intimidating to me is the train schedules/planning. This information helps, though.