I am wondering if anyone knows the best way to get from Nice to Cinque Terre via train? I am making this trip in mid-September, and would really appreciate some guidance!

The journey normally involves changing at Ventimiglia and Genova. All five Cinque Terre villages have stations. Some fast trains stop at Monterosso; slower trains stop at all five. See ww.bahn.de for schedules.

Geoff,

Thank you for the response. I have tried www.bahn.de and plugged in Nice Ville to Riomaggiore, but once the results pop-up, it states that it is not bookable via the internet. Have you experienced this?

Since some of the train segments are local R trains, those segments can not be booked online.

Thank you Ellen. So my best bet is to just book the train once I am in Nice?

The trains to Riomaggiore are local trains and cannot be booked: there are no reserved seats and tickets are not limited to availability.
You can book the journey from Nice to Genova, but that needs to be done on the French system, www.voyages-sncf.com. Trains from Nice via Monte Carlo to Ventimiglia ("Vintimille" in French) are regional trains with no seat reserations. Some of the trains from Ventimiglia to Genova are Intercity trains (shown as "Corail" by the SNCF) on which seat reservations are needed, but others are regional trains with no limitations of availability.
At Genova Piazza Principe, you can buy tickets onward to Riomaggiore. You can check schedules and fares on www.trenitalia.com.

Thanks Geoff. Although the French system does not seem to have anything from Nice to Genova...

We went the other direction (CT to Nice), and just bought our tickets the day before at the train station.

Thanks Ninkette. If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of that trip via train?

Unfortunately I don't remember, sorry, but I want to say it was like 30 euros a person? I could be completely off though.

You can price the Italian portion, Ventimiglia to Monterosso, at this site:

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

The price can vary dramatically based on if it is a faster or slower train and what class you purchase.

Awesome, thanks guys. I will report back upon return from our trip!