Train from Nice to the Cinque Terre
 

I am wondering if anyone knows whether or not you can get a train from Nice to the Cinque Terre? Also, I need to work out a way from the Cinque Terre to Pisa, I am happy to hire a car but I don't know if you can hire a car anywhere in the Cinque Terre.
Any help would be much appreciated!

Yes, but you may end up changing a couple of times

you can check schedules using a variety of rail sites including the Bahn.de site...click on the English version and use Nice Ville as your departure station

Take a train from Nice to Ventimiglia, Italy - first station in Italy and where all French trains terminate - transfer to an Italian train to Genoa and then change again for a train to Monterosso, railhead when coming from the north for the Cinque Terre villages - a shuttle train goes constantly between all 5 villages. Travel time should take 6 hours or so all told.

From there simply hop on the train via La Spezia to Pisa - easy to do by train.

For schedules yes www.bahn.de - German Railways site for all European train schedules - easiest for me to use. For lots of great info on European trains check out these IMO superb sites - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Simply buy those tickets once there - in Ventimgilia you buy a ticket to whatever Cinque Terre village you are going to - via Genoa. You often has to validate these tickets yourself before getting on the train by sticking them in some cancelling machine.

according to www.bahn.de/en the quickest rail link between Nice-Ville and Monterosso, railhead for the 5 Lands when coming from Genoa, is 5 h 07 minutes - many train links take 6 hours or more.


An optimal train would leave Nice at 9:55am and changing in Ventimiglia and Genoa Principe Po (PP) arrives in Monterosso about 5pm - the scenery is nice much of way as the rails hug both the French and Italian rivieras much of the way - but by train that is the quickest you can get. For flying try to get a flight to Pisa's International Airport, a few hours by train to any 5 Land village.

Ok great, thanks. Do you think that it would be a better idea to go from Nice to the Cinque Terre by train than by car? My concern is that this will be around the 20th of August and it may take forever to drive with traffic.

excessive drop off charges for renting a car in France and returnin git in Italy may be a factor - you could rent one in Ventimiglia - but having ridden a bicycle along the Italian coastal road here in August shows that yes it can be very slow going - not sure there is an autostrada here if so that would probably be faster.

If you will be staying in the Cinque Terre for some days it would be a waste of car time since cars are useless there and you must pay to park them on edges of the towns - cannot go between them by car but only train, trails or in season boats.