Planning Help: Stuck in Cinque Terre

I just got the sense that he wanted to avoid complicated travel... if easy trains connections isn't too daunting, then I stand by my first suggestion: Nice.

My suggestion: Head to Nice. Lots of train options (although not direct). Most importantly, during a very busy time, Nice has enough lodging options that you may be able to find a place to stay at this late date.

If you want to leave Italy after the CT, I think you just have to suck it up and take a long train ride. I'd probably prefer the Alps, or Provence, to the Cote d'Azure that time of year. Long-shot ideas: If you can get a cheap flight to Bordeaux or Toulouse, rent a car and visit the Dordogne. Ir, if you can get a cheap flight to Amsterdam or Brussels, visit there (including Brugges) before Paris. Other idea: Rejigger your whole itinerary so that you fly home from Italy, avoiding the long train ride.

This is confusing. You want to end in Paris and spend4 days there? So you have 3 days on the way and want to include either Switzerland or south of France. That is not hard. You can go right through Switzerland: Ct to Milan (about 3 hours), train to Brig in Switzerland, head to either Lake Geneva or Bernese Oberland. There are fast TGV trains to Paris from several Swiss cities, around 4.5 hours.

Thanks for the ideas so far. Thought maybe the rough itinerary might help. Maybe we made a logistic mistake. Flying into and out of Amsterdam.  (flights already booked and saved about $1200 flying out of Amsterdam) Then: Bacharach and St Goar Germany Rothenburg Germany Bavaria Germany Munich Germany (quick stop and flight to Prague) Prague Czech Rep Vienna Austria Venice Italy Florence Italy Rome Italy Cinque Terre Italy either switzerland or south France
Paris

OK - got the big picture. Look into cheap flights either from Pisa or Milan to Paris. Go someplace easily accessible from Paris by train for a couple of days. OR - add Brussels to your itinerary, between Paris and Amsterdam, if you can shuffle your Paris dates a bit. You can also look at doing Pisa - Dublin - Paris, using cheap flights.

It doesn't make sense to fly to Paris if you want to spend a few days in either Switzerland or the south of France. Just take the train through. I already described the Swiss option. For south of France, you would take the train from CT as far as Genoa, and turn left for the train along the coast into France (Nice and/or the French Riviera). I don't see where you have made a logistical mistake. This is pretty straightforward but you will have a couple of half-days on the train. Which would you rather see, Switzerland or south of France?

Todd, The latest Itinerary that you posted really helps a lot! For six days, you could consider heading to Nice for a few days. The trip from Monterosso is about 5-6 hours, always with at least one change at Ventimiglia. From there it's an easy trip to Paris via TGV, and from Paris relatively easy to get to Amsterdam for your flight home. Although the travel times would be a bit longer, an alternative would be to head for the Berner Oberland region for a few days (travel time ~7H) and then head to Paris. Have you booked accommodations in Bacharach yet? Which of the five C.T. towns will you be staying in? Where else in "Bavaria" (besides Munich) are you planning to visit? Are you travelling mainly by train? During your stay in Prague, you might consider taking a Segway tour. I did that last year and it was a LOT of fun. Sure beats walking up the hill to Prague Castle! Happy travels!

So many helpers, very nice. First off, LOL @ Bets post about our difficult problems. If only all decisions were like that :) Try to answer as many questions as I remember. Think we would rather see the Alps but the long transportation time is the problem. Don't think I saw an overnight train and I was trying to limit train rides to 3-4 hours or else fly or grab an overnight train. Really like the Berner Oberland idea, would it make sense at all to fly into Zurich and then travel south to Bern Ober? Or fly to Milan and then continue North into Switzerland? Thank you for the Pisa suggestion. Missed that Airport on the map. We were considering Nice but understand that it is terribly crowded and pricy this time of year. No hotels booked yet...that is next on the list. We are very last minute but tend to eventually get very organized. Would like to spend to time in all the CT towns. Have set aside 4 days for Cinque Terre. Realize I just put Bavaria, fussen more specifically. Think we will go mainly by train but will book flights for longer journeys. How much were the Segway tours Ken? Sounds cool. One more question, is a better idea to book hotels now or isn't it a big problem to get them on the fly?

Todd, Regarding travel to the Berner Oberland, according to the order you had listed in your last Itinerary, I assumed you'd be heading from the C.T. to either south of France or Switzerland. If that's the case, flying is not a real good option. As I mentioned in my previous reply, travel time by rail from Monterosso would be about 7 hours. That's not an unreasonable time, and I doubt that flying would be much (if any) faster on that particular route. Regarding your stay in the C.T., it's VERY IMPORTANT to get some accommodations booked NOW, considering the fact that you'll be there in PEAK tourist season. It may already be too late to find something? You can easily visit all five of the towns, but you need to get a "home base" established SOON! You can start by checking the Hotel listings at www.rebuildmonterosso.com/p/visitors-information.html If you haven't booked ANY accommodations, that could be an issue at all of your stops. I'd have to check my trip records to find the exact cost of the Segway tour. A "ballpark figure" would be about $70 PP. Which side of the Charles Bridge are you staying in? The tours are located in the T.I. on the Castle side of the bridge. If you're not already, I would highly recommend using the Guidebooks to plan sightseeing and transportation especially. At that time of year, it's going to be hot and crowded. Unless you don't mind wasting time by standing in lengthy queues at major tourist sites (ie: Colosseum in Rome, Museums in Florence), it would be a really good idea to have good information at hand. Cheers!

I'd say start working on your accommodations NOW and adjust your rough your itinerary accordingly... you may find some difficulty in booking decent, budget lodgings for your exact dates - especially in the CT... You can always swap your Florence and Rome dates if it gets you a place to stay in the CT. Plus, getting to your next point for the last week may actually be logistically easier to plan out of these two bigger cities (i.e. more transportation options). Cities like Paris, Florence, Rome (and Nice) may not be as booked up as smaller towns for the same period. Also, don't short-change Amsterdam either, time-wise.

fly home from Geneva, less hassel. Rewrite your itineray. Rent a car in Cinque Terre and drive to Florence (preferably the airport lot not downtown) really easy to do. Or go to Geneva on train fromCT and transfer to switzerland.

Advise taking train through the Alps if you want to see that area. Milan to Lucerne or Zurich is spectacular - done parts of it three times! Flying Pisa to Zurich misses out on the best scenary unless time is of the essence.