4 weeks in Paris, Cinque Terre and. Venice
 

My sister and I are traveling to France and Italy this September, flying into Paris and flying out of Venice. We will be traveling everywhere by train. Preliminary itinerary is 4 or 5 nights in Paris, train to Avignon (2-3 nights?), on to Nice (3 nights?), then Cinque Terre for 4-5 nights. We will spend 3-4 nights in Venice. The only places set in stone are Paris, Cinque Terre and Venice. So, are there places in France we should be substituting for Nice and/or Avignon? Less time in Cinque Terre? Bologna or Verona or someplace else on the way to Venice? Is Florence the only way to get to Venice by train? We like a mix of activities (beautiful scenery, food, wine, music, art, walking) but like to travel at a relaxed pace. This is our first time in France and my second time in Italy.

Adding up the number of nights you show, it looks like you want to fill an additional week to ten days. What an opportunity! Here are some ideas:
Spend more time in Paris - 3 days
While in Paris hit the Loire valley - 1 day
En route to Avignon detour to Lyon for a few days - 2 days
After Nice go to Milan and Lake Como - 4 days
After the Cinque Terre add some time in Florence or San Marino - 2 days

That all adds up to 12 additional days. Why don't you think about your activities and how many days you really want in each place. Then put together an itinerary and ask us for opinions?

I recommend that you don’t stay in the Cinque Terre more than three nights. It is a small area and quite crowded.
We spent two days hiking and that was enough. If you want to add the extra days to more of Liguria, head north to beautiful Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli.

I agree.
We stayed in Santa Margherita Ligure, and took the train to Cinque Terre one day. We also took the bus to Portofino one day. I think you can take a ferry, also.
We liked this little hotel in SML. It was my daughter and I, and we had a large room on the top floor: https://hotel-nuova-riviera-santa-ma...010.1652558851

In Nice, we liked the Le Grimaldi hotel: https://le-grimaldi.com/en/gallery.html

Thanks for the suggestions and advice! So far, we’ve booked 4 nights in Paris, 5 nights in CT, with 6 nights between. We were planning to divide that time between Avignon and Nice before moving on to CT. We like an unhurried pace and days just to relax, hence the 5 nights in CT. However, our bookings are all flexible, so we can add and subtract days from the various destinations. So, the itinerary thus far is:

Paris - 4 nights
Avignon and Nice - 6 nights (3 and 3?)
CT - 5 nights
Parma - 2 nights
Bologna -7 nights (as a base for day trips)
Venice - 4 nights

We are traveling everywhere by train and have been to Florence before. Appreciate everyone’s input on refining our itinerary!

Thanks for the hotel info!