Lindaloo

I am travelling to Italy in early October for 10 days. My plan is fly to Paris (stay 1 or 2 nights) and overnight train to Italy. I want to visit Rome, Florence and Cinque Terre. I will be flying back to the US out of Rome. I need suggestions on the best itinerary which would have me in Rome Tuesday night for Wednesday AM mass. I will be travelling entirely by train and Public trans. My confusion lies in the trains to and from Cinque Terre and the amount of time for train travel between all my destinations. It is plan overly ambitious? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

GeoffHamer

Check schedules for anywhere in Europe on www.bahn.de, or schedules and fares for Italy on www.trenitalia.com. Each of the five Cinque Terre villages has a railway station, so you need to specify which one you want.

Steve_James

Linda - You can find Italian rail journey times on:

www.trenitalia.com

Journey time between Cinque Terre and Florence is 2.5 to 3 hrs.

Florence-Rome takes 1.5 hrs by Eurostar.

Cinque Terre to Rome normally takes 4-5 hrs.

.....

You can take an overnight train from:

- Paris to Cinque Terre via Lyon/Turin, or

- Paris to Florence via Milan.

Again you can find journey times and timetables on:
www.trenitalia.com

.....

Alternatively you could fly Paris (Orly) to Pisa on Easyjet.

www.easyjet.com

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Lindaloo

Thank you! This is very helpful. Would you suggest a Eurail France-Italy pass?

PalQ

Pass? cheapest is $239 in 2nd class and $269 in first for 4 days of travel in a 2-month period., extra days $30 and $26/day respectively - this is per person for a saver pass - two names on one pass - single travelers pay about 12% more.
If take overnight Artesia trains Paris-Italy pass will save you about $120 in rail fare (to Florence) - you still pay for the sleeping accommodations, min about $30 for cheapest berth (T-6 couchette) or $45 for first class couchette (T-4) or about $90 per person for double.
I'd take overnight train to Florence and go to Cinque Terre from there go to Cinque Terre (about $25-30 in 2nd cl) then to Rome (about $50 in 2nd cl) so you can see pass doesn't quite add up (but i've only estimated fares - go to www.trenitalia to get exact current fares in euros) - especially since if you reserve online thru Trenitalia you can get some cheaper fares on the Artesia trains (can be hard to book however, act early). If you want to do it all in US then go the pass route and book night train thru RailEurope or their agents - i always recommend BETS (800-441-2387) for their expertise and they don't charge some of RailEurope's mailing fees. Artesoa trains can be hard to book on some days. Raileurope or agents can book up to 90 days in advance. Go to www.trenitalia.com (Italy railways) to see if there are any cheaper offers on Artesia and Italy tickets - if so you would not want a pass. Trenitalia site frustrates many folks - ask for help and Fodorites who have done it successfully will walk you thru it.
Florence-Cinque Terre takes about 2.5 hours, usually have to change in La Spezia; if coming from Milan you can get direct trains to Monterosso, taking about 3.5 hrs.
Note on overnight trains you use only one day of travel on a pass - if you board after 7pm, as is the case on the paris-florence train, you put the next day in as your unlimited travel day.
Artesia Night Train Accommodations:
T-6 six person couchette - three bunks on each side of aisle.
T-4 needs first class pass to use if having pass, 2 bunks on each side of aisle; coffee, croissant in a.m. included
And Sleeping Cars (in addition to above couchette cars)
T3- triple
T2- Double
Single
These 3 accommodation types include welcome drink, access to Club Eurostar lounges in Paris or Italian stations, coffee/croissant, and newspaper in a.m.
Seniors 60+ get about $25 discount on passholder accommodation fees as does youths under 26.
Without a pass, RailEurope will charge: (for rail fare including sleeping charges for Florence and Rome and Venice trains) T-6 $125; T-4 $150; T-3 $175; Double p.p. $200
and there are also Excelsior Doubles and Singles at much higher fees and cabins have toilet and shower;
T-6

ira

Hi L,

To see if a pass is worthwhile, eter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money".

PalQ

You will only use three days on a 4 day pass under your itinerary as i see it. Thus a factor would be where you could use the 4th day - to go to the airport in Rome (maybe about $15-20) on deluxe first class only airport trains ($5-10 on second-class only locals) or to come in from airport in Paris by train ($15) or to do a day trip from Paris to say Chartres (maybe $25-30 round trip) or from Rome somewhere.
for schedules i'd go to the German rail website: www.bahn.de and then click on int'l guests (or visitors) at the top to get an English page where you put in your destination and date and get all train times (i.e. Florence-Monterosso for Cinque Terre and then you'll see exactly how long it takes. You can do this on www.trenitalia.com as well but German site in my experience is easier to use (it has schedules for all of Europe). For prices go to Trenitalia