Nice to Cinque Terre

You cannot buy tickets on the train. You certainly can buy tickets for all your legs within Italy when you get to Ventimiglia. In fact, you might be able to buy all your tickets in Nice (but I don't know for sure). The Ventimiglia-Genova leg is on an InterCity train and those trains require seat reservations. With your railpass you'll have to buy a reservation for that leg. If you choose different departure times, you can make only one connection in Ventimiglia and travel all the way on regional trains. If you do that, you won't have to buy any seat reservations.

Thanks for your help! So would you say it is best to buy the Ventimiglia - Genova reservation in Nice (if possible) or Ventimiglia or would it be better to try to buy the passes on trenitalia so that we can get on the train that we want? Also, how long does it take to get a ticket between transfers? Are there automated kiosks in English or do I have to go up to a counter? What is the liklihood the person at the counter will speak English?

The Trenitalia Web site does not accept US credit cards.

I've been to Nice but not Ventimiglia so I don't know if the station there has self-service ticket machines nor do I know if the agents speak English. You can overcome that obstacle in both Nice and Ventimiglia by printing the timetables for the route of your choice. You know how to get detailed timetables at bahn.de. Choose a route and then click on "Print view" on the right-hand side. Print it and show it to the agent at the window.

I hope you can buy all your tickets and your seat reservation in Nice. If there are no ticket machines at Ventimiglia, dealing with five people takes a bit of time even if there are no lines at the window. You could miss your connection.

If you want to save yourself and your friends some money, take regional trains all the way. According to the Trenitalia site, the fare for the route you've chosen which includes a leg on an IC train is 19.40 EUR. If you take only regional trains, the fare is 11.70 EUR. And you won't have to buy a seat reservation.

Yes I see that I can take the regional train but it will get me to Levanto several hours later and we are on a tight schedule. I think we will check when we get to Nice if we can buy all the tickets there and if not maybe take an earlier train to Ventimiglia so that we don't run the risk of missing our connection. You have been quite helpful thanks a lot!!

Heather,

I was in Nice not too long ago, and took the train to Italy so have a few comments on the process. Further to Tim's comment about buying tickets in Nice, the agent was only able to provide a ticket to my first destination in Italy (Milano). She wouldn't (or couldn't) provide a ticket from Milano to Stresa (I used the ticket machines at Milano Centrale to buy a cheap P-P ticket for that).

I was travelling with a group that was going to the Cinque Terre, and I beleive they had to follow the same process (we parted company at Genova). The ticket they bought in Nice got them to Genova, and from there I believe they had to buy a ticket to the C.T.

I'd suggest stopping by Nice Ville a day or two before you'll be travelling, and buy tickets for your friends and also a reservation for yourself if required.

I checked some of the trips on that route, and the one I'd choose departs Nice Ville at 10:02, arriving Monterosso at 15:02 (time 5H:00M, 1 change at Genova Piazza Principe for 41M, reservations compulsory for both trains). Of course, as these are EC / IC trains, they will be slightly more expensive. You'll have to decide which is more important - cost or speed/ease of the trip.

I chose Monterosso to get some idea on the details, but it's not hard to get from there to the other C.T. villages via the local train (which has frequent departures). As I recall, there's a "full service" ticket office at Monterosso, so they'll be able to help with tickets for the local train, Park Passes, etc.

It's a good idea to get used to using the European names for stations / towns, as that's what the railway will be using. Also, ALWAYS use the 24-hour time system!

One final point, don't forget to tell your friends to validate their tickets before boarding the train.

You might want to have a look at a copy of Europe Through The Back Door, as it's a very informative pre-read if you've never been to Europe before.

Happy travels!

Ken,

Thanks for you input, it really helps. I read Europe through the Back Door a few months ago - hence the reason I know about Cinque Terre anyway - haha! So I guess I have to go back and re-read the rail pass section. I was planning on leaving out of Nice Ville so I will definitely take your advice and go there a day or 2 early and purchase my outbound tickets. (This would all be easier if I only had to worry about myself - each one of us is a novice at this.) I would like to leave Nice early in the AM around 7:00 so we can get to Cinque in the early afternoon. We only have one day there (not by my choice but by my friends time constraints) and I want to do the hike to the Cinque towns. Overall, I think I have a much better idea how this is all going to happen now. Thanks!

I'm glad Ken mentioned validating your tickets. You will have to do that at the station in Nice as well as at each station in Italy since you will have separate tickets for each leg.

You missed the earliest departure time from Nice--which happens to all be on regional trains. Leave Nice Ville at 06:46 and arrive at Ventimiglia at 07:35. Leave Ventimiglia at 07:50 and arrive at Levanto at 12:34. No seat reservation for you. Each of your friends will only have to buy one ticket at Ventimiglia. 15 minutes should be enough time to do that.

Heather,

I believe I mentioned in another of your posts that it might be helpful to download the free PDF Rail Guide from this website. A bit of an effort to print, but it might be a good travel resource.

As Tim mentioned, normally 15-minutes should be enough time to buy tickets. However, given the fact that you're all "novices at this" and with unfamiliarity with the stations, the language, unexpexted events, etc. I wouldn't count on it. On one trip to Italy, I had to wait a LONG time to get a ticket on one occasion due to some moron arguing with the station agent and keeping him occupied for an extended time.

Thanks for the clarification on your plans. Given that you want to get an early start, you might consider the train departing Nice Ville at 06:46 as Tim suggested, arriving Monterosso at 12:39 (time 5H:53M, one change in Ventimiglia, time for change 15 minutes, Regional trains).

There's also a train departing at 05:16, arriving Monterosso at 10:54 (time 5H:38M, 2 changes in Ventimiglia and La Spezia Centrale, reservations compulsory for two of the trains).

Good luck!

Ken has done me one better by checking for even earlier departures from Nice!

If you depart at 05:16, you'll arrive at Ventimiglia at 06:03. The IC train to Genova Brignole departs at 06:33, giving you 30 minutes to buy your reservation for that train and for your friends to buy tickets for Ventimiglia-Genova and Genova-Levanto. You would arrive in Levanto at 10:53. The only leg requiring a reservation would be Ventimiglia-Genova.

Or you can leave Nice at 05:46, make one change in Ventimiglia, and arrive in Levanto at 12:00. Both legs are on regional trains. However, the connection time at Ventimiglia in this case is only 13 minutes.

Heather,

Could you clarify why you specified Levanto as your end destination? It's "sort of" in the Cinque Terre, but not one of the classic five villages.

When I checked the timing for the trains, that's why I used Monterosso as the destination. If you want to hike the trails, that's the best place to start as the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza is the most strenous (best to get that out of the way at the beginning).

Also, since you're coming from Nice, your access to the C.T. will be from the north via Genova. Monterosso is the most northerly of the five villages.

Just curious.....

The reason I chose Levanto was because I figured if I could get there I could just take one of the local trains into CT. I figured they run pretty often so it wouldn't matter - planning wise. Maybe I was wrong to assume that. We are staying in Vernazza so will probably head directly there and hike to the other 3. Again - major time contraints! Does that make sense? Any advice?

Wow, you just blew my mind. I just went to bahn.de and put in that I wanted to go from Nice Ville to Vernazza and it turns out I can get there an hour earlier than I thought with only 1 connection in Ventimiglia. Wooo hooo thanks for the help!!

That local train starts in La Spezia and ends in Levanto. The five CT towns are between those two towns. So La Spezia and Levanto are considered "sort of CT" towns and I like both of them. La Spezia is good for last minute lodging, shopping, and walks to the harbor. Levanto's old town is very picturesque; the whole town is walkable and unlike the other six towns.