Railway from Paris to Cinque Terre

Lisa, My first comment is that a rail trip from Paris to Le Cinque Terre will be a LONG travel day, at least 12 hours. My suggestion would be an EasyJet flight from ORY to PSA or CDG to MXP, and then train to whichever C.T. town you'll be staying in. The flight will likely be cheaper as well (currently flights listed at €30.99 plus "fees"), although of course you'll have to put up with the usual "airport hassles". Cheers!

Wow, agree with Ken, take a flight then a train .Flights can be so cheap. Train travel can be fun, but even in best circumstances the fun factor wears thin on trips longer then 5-6 hours. Plus there is no direct train, so journey could be a bit longer then need be, waiting for another train etc.

That will be a L-O-N-G train ride. But it is also not exactly across the street from Milan either. The thing about the CT is that it is remote. That is part of the charm. It mean that it is very difficult to get to though. Florence to CT , a long ride. Milan to CT, a long ride. Paris to CT, bring a tent. You might do better to do other things in Italy and then go to the CT, if you want to.

Fly non-stop from Paris Orly to Pisa on easyJet. There is a train station at the Pisa airport. You can travel Pisa Aeroporto-Pisa Centrale-La Spezia Centrale-any Cinque Terre town in around two hours. If you fly to Milan, you'll need to allow 1 hour to get from the airport to Milano Centrale and another 3-4 hours to get to the Cinque Terre.

I agree. Flying into Pisa is the best option, since it's the closest airport to the Cinque Terre (about 90 km to the south of CT). Besides EasyJet from Paris Orly (ORY), you also have the option of Ryanair from Paris Beuvais (BVA), about one hour from Paris. Of course Air France also flies 3 dailies to PSA from CDG. I bet AF is more expensive though. Genoa (GOA) is another option, almost as close to CT as Pisa on the west side, however only AF from CDG flies there, so I bet the cost is more.

Thank you for all of the great information!

I agree with others, Pisa from Paris would be closest regarding an affordable flight and saving time. But......how about easy Jet to Nice, spend a few days, take a train to CT, and then Train to Varenna/Lake Como and get back to us and tell us which impressed you the most. When I say CT, I'm referring to Vernazza.

Lisa, Jim's suggestion in the previous reply would be a good one to consider, if you have the time and if it fits with your other plans. However, I'd suggest travel by TGV from Paris to Nice Ville. Travel time is a relatively easy 5H:40M. I doubt whether a flight will be any faster and it will for sure be a lot more of a hassle rather than a relaxing trip. For stays in the Cinque Terre, my recommendation would be Monterosso. Each of us here has our "favourites". Cheers!