Trains from Nice to Florence
 

There are 4 of us traveling to France & Italy in a few weeks. Since it is the 1st time abroad for 3 of us, we do not choose to drive, so looked into Eurail train for getting from Nice to Florence. The only route they show is via Milan - which takes about 8 hrs, and is expensive. We would prefer to travel the coastal route, ie: Nice to Genoa, Cinque Terra, and then to Florence. Does anyone have info on train connections to do that for us. I pulled up "italia rail", which is great from Genoa to Florence (only about 3 1/2 hrs) but my question is from Nice to that point. Is anyone well versed in the train system that would take us via that route?

Lv Nice 10:05am daily ar Genoa 13:06
Lv Genoa 14:52 ar Pisa 16:57
Lv Pisa via twice hourly trains for Florence taking one hour from Pisa.
Note: this takes the coastal route

if you took the Milano route you'd leave Nice at 10:05 ar Milano 14:50, lv Milano 16:00 ar Florence 18:45 - a bit longer than the Genoa, coastal route.

You can also leave Nice at 14:05 and change only once, in Genoa and arrive in Florence at 22:00

Hi J,

www.trenitalia.com shows trains from Nice to Genoa (click "International"); Genoa to Monterosso (click National); Monterosso to Florence.

((I))

Thank you Ira & PalQ - I will "get on it" & look these up. To: PalQ, please tell me which rail lines you are referring to? Which one do we pick up in Nice? And thank you, Ira - as Italia Rail seems to have frequent trips - as we will also need them a few days later - from Florence to Venice.

Well i'm not sure of your question as to which rail lines - there are no "Eurail trains" but Eurailpasses are honored on all trains - you are not traveling nearly enough to make a pass pay off - just buy point-point tickets - try www.trenitalia.com for discounted advance fares or just buy the Nice-Genoa-coastal route-Pisa-Florence ticket (one ticket) in Nice for not much more probably as trains in Italy are very cheap compared to other countres.
No matter which way you go, via Milano or Genoa and Pisa you'd leave the main station in Nice ("Nice-Ville") on the same train and get off in Genoa instead of continuing on to Milano.
The trains are all run by Trenitalia, the Italian state railways on either routes.
Not sure i've answered your question so rephrase again if not.

Thank you for your response - I guess I have to get my "train lingo" correct. It sounds like you know the area well - For us 1st timers to Italy, which route do you think is more worthwhile? As I mentioned, our trip takes in Nice, Florence, Venice and then Paris. So do you have a suggestion re: Nice to Firenze via Milan? - see the countryside? Or - Nice to Firenze via the coast, as you discussed above. One prettier than the other? Also - 1st class vs 2nd class? Grazi!

There's nothing dramatically scenic about the via Milano route to Florence - the coastal route hugs the coast most of the way so you get views of the sea but it does go thru innumerable tunnels so there is often no view a'tall - but it's definitely more scenic that the inland route and changing at Milano can be a nightmare for novice travelers -a huge huge station with dozens of tracks - changing in Genoa or Pisa is a snap as there are few tracks. I'd take the coastal route as it seems quicker.
With a railpass the Milano route would also cost more as even with a pass you have to pay about $15 supplement to ride the Eurostar Italia trains on that route and must have reservations - these are not required on the IC trains on the coastal route but i'd advise you to make reservations at the Nice train station for a few euros on that route - no supplement and you can just board the train if you want.
If you buy the France-Italy pass the difference between first and second class is not much in price so go for the first class - lots more empty seats, more room for luggage, etc., really quite a difference for the little difference in prices between a first and second class pass. When you buy your pass you could also reserve any trains you want though you'd pay more for this in the US than in Nice or italy. You do need reservations on florence-Venice eurostar trains which run the bulk of services on that route so for seemless travel you may want to reserve ahead. Whoever sells you the pass can make the reservations so you just need show up for the train. Of course you lose flexibility but you can stand in long lines in Italy to make reservations - with a pass i believe you must go to the ticket window to do so. In the US BETS (above) are experts at reserving and can answer all your questions.
Note that the coastal route goes thru the fabled Cinque Terre - the five old fishing villages but the train is all in tunnels there so you see none of them. But an ideal place to break your journey and overnight.
I think your itinerary is fine the way you have it going.
Caio Caio

Sorry about mixing your post up with another one - you do not say you're getting the France-Italy pass like the other one did. Still you could buy point-point tickets on www.trenitalia.com or thru RailEurope agents in US (like BETS) at a bit more cost. The pass could be useful however and may not be too far off walk up fares.

Hi J,

>1st class vs 2nd class?

My rules are:

A: 2 cl under 4 hr.

For longer than 4 hr

B: 2cl if you are under 35
1 cl if you are over 50

:)

((I))