Nice to Rome

Go here to see the train schedules: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en You use this site to view the schedules, times, etc - not to buy tickets. To see schedules, input Nice Ville and Roma Termini as starting and ending stations (from/to).
Input a time such as 0600 to see all trains that day. The date you input isn't important for viewing schedules, just go to next week; if you happen to know the exact day you're traveling, you could input it but it doesn't matter; if you know you're traveling on a Sat. or Sun. then pick any Sat. or Sun. The train schedules you see will tell you how many train changes, where, etc - just click for the detail. This will get you started.

hi Kent, thanks for the help. So, i can see that it's about an 9 hour ride. however, it's not bookable on line. We don't like the idea of just showing up in Nice and hoping to get a train to Rome (we fly out of Rome 2 days later). Do you know how to go about booking these tickets? Thanks,
Casie

Can someone help Casie with the question she asked in her 2nd post? It's been a few years since I took the train from Nice to Italy. I think I just bought a ticket at the Nice train station, a day or two ahead. But Casie wants to book online.

If you go to www.trenitalia.com and try to buy a ticket from Nice Ville to Rome - you can't. However, if you put in Ventimiglia to Rome, you can. Here's a link. http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/nppPriceTravelSolutions.do?car=0&stazin=ventimiglia&stazout=rome&datag=10&datam=08&dataa=2011&timsh=04&stazin_r=Staz_DA&stazout_r=Staz_A&timsm=40&timsm_r=40&lang=en&nreq=5&channel=tcom&npag=1&lang_r=en&nreq_r=5&channel_r=tcom&npag_r=1&x=31&y=7 The run from Nice Ville to Ventimiglia is a frequent regionale train (twice and hour). You can't buy the regionale train tickets in advance and seat reservations are not permitted. You buy your ticket and get on. If there are seats - you sit. If there are not - you can stand. The journey to Ventifmiglia takes about 50 minutes. You can easily buy the ticket as you enter the area. You will change trains in Ventimiglia anyway as I believe the track guage changes. Just lock in your Ventimiglia/Rome tickets and this will work.

Casie, The suggestion in the last reply should work well. You shouldn't have any problems getting a ticket from Nice to Ventimiglia. I'd suggest purchasing the ticket at least the day prior to travel. That's going to be a LONG travel day, as the trip from Ventimiglia to Rome is at least 9-hours, plus the time from Nice to Ventimiglia. Travel by budget air (EasyJet) would be a much more efficient option, as the flight is only 1H:10M. The luggage may not be as much of a problem as you anticipate (although of course I don't know how you usually pack). If you each travel with one item of checked luggage and one carry-on (of the approved size), you might be fine. Note that EasyJet doesn't normally have weight limits on carry-on items (within reason - you have to be able to lift the item into the overhead bin - the size IS important though). If you pay for extra weight for the checked luggage at the time of booking, the charges will be more reasonable than doing it at the airport on the day of travel. With the budget airlines, best prices are obtained by booking early, and there may be extra charges. Happy travels!

Larry, both the French and Italians, including at Ventimiglia, use standard gauge, 4ft 8.5 in, and there is no gauge change there. I too would encourage reconsidering the EasyJet option. 26 stops and 9 hours and 2 changes of train is a long day.