Travel from Nice to Italy

Although Nice looks "right next to Italy" on the map, connections between Nice and Italy aren't great. You take a local train from Nice to Ventimiglia (the first town Italian town over the border), then change to another train (and, for many destinations, you'll have another change). So, your idea of a two-day trip is much better. A quick look at The invaluable Bahn website shows that Nice to Venice is 8-9 hours with 2-3 changes, and even Turin is 5 hours with 2 changes (I though it would be a much shorter and easier trip). Console yourself with the fact that Nice has a flotilla of day trip possibilities. In addition to Ventimiglia, there's Monaco, Menton, Villa Ephrussi, Cap Ferrat, Eze Village, La Turbie, Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, Haut de Cagnes, Grasse, Vence, St. Paul de Vence...all within an hour, by train or bus, from Nice. If you want a large city, Marseille is 3 hours away.

Don't have guidebooks in front of me, but I think Cinque Terre and Lake Como/Varrenna are doable for a two day trip.

Linda, Due to the travel times involved, it's not really practical to do a "day trip" to many of the popular destinations in Italy. It would be better to plan for a one-night stop somewhere. The Cinque Terre is a definite possibility. Travel time from Nice Ville to Monterosso is about five hours, which includes changes at Ventimiglia and perhaps Genova Piazza Principe. You could leave early one morning and return late the following evening (or you could stay two nights?). Travel to Lago di Como (Varenna) is also possible, but the trip will be longer as you'll have to travel through Milano Centrale (I haven't checked the travel times). If you're staying at least one (or two) nights, that's another possibility. A third location you could consider would be Stresa on Lago Maggiore. If you spend two nights there, you could take a day trip to Locarno (CH) on the scenic Cento Valli Railway, returning to Stresa in the later afternoon by boat. It's a very pleasant trip. In Stresa you could also tour the Borromeo Islands or take the Gondola to Mt. Mottarone. Happy travels!

Thanks for the great info and suggestions! How easy is it for a non Italian speaker to navigate a trip to Italy?