nice to Pisa

Your route with the fewest connections is Nice Ville-Monaco-Ventimiglia-Genova-Pisa Centrale. Use the German Rail site for timetables. After you get summary timetables for Nice Ville-Pisa Centrale, click on the arrow to the left of the departure time(s) of your choice to see the connecting points.

Nice Ville to Pisa will take just under 8.0hrs and will require at least 2 train changes. There are several trains that make this run each day.

CLICK HERE to see the early morning train schedule from the Italian train website. You can easily buy the tickets at Nice Ville. The departing trains are all local Regionale trains. No seat reservations permitted. Buy your ticket, validate your ticket in the little yellow machine in the station and get on. You find your own seat just like the MTA.

Note that these train runs will whiz right through the five CT towns. When you board your last train in Genoa, get a seat on the right side heading south. You'll get some good views of the water and villages on the way to Pisa.

Not all the trains for Nice-Pisa are Regionale trains. For any leg you take on an IC train a seat reservation is required. It comes with the ticket, is included in the price of the ticket, and you can buy the ticket at the last minute.

Yep, Tim is correct. Most runs start out on Regionale trains but on most runs, you will transfer to either an IC train or an EScity train where you do need the seat reservation. You can still buy the tickets for the entire journey in Nice Ville. Note that you will receive one ticket for each train you are on.