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Hi everyone! I’ll be a first-timer on trains in the spring, and have a few questions. 

I’m flying into Rome, am there for 3 nights, and then going up to the Cinque Terre for 4 nights, and then to Paris. I hope to stop in Florence for the day between Rome and 5T, and then again in Milan between 5T and Paris. I then plan to take 3 or 4 day trips from Paris. It seems to me from my research that the price of a 7-days within 1 month pass is similar (minorly more expensive) than buying tickets individually. 

My questions are these:

  1. Will the Eurail pass include getting directly into 5T? I’m staying in Riomaggiore. 
  2. The day trips I plan to take from Paris include Giverney, Reims, Mont St Michel, and maybe one other smaller town/city/village (Colmar, Orleans, …. any recommendations?) Are these places included? 
  3. Is there a special schedule we need to book from? I’ve been scouring train sites directly, as well as sites like Rome2Rio, and have an idea of what times I want to catch my trains at, but I wondered if I might not have those choices…

Thank you everyone! SO excited to get back to the beautiful continent that is Europe and explore it in a new (to me) way!

Hey!

  1. yes, it is included. Depending on what kind of train(s) you are going to take from Rome, you’ll need a reservation to get to La Spezia (for InterCity and high-speed trains). Local trains in Cinque Terre run very frequently, but you don’t see a lot when taking them as the railway line runs mostly through tunnels. Best to hike the whole Cinque Terre.
  2. For most of your daytrips you’ll need to take at least a bus (Giverny, Mont St MIchel) and for that you need to pay extra. If you wanna go to Mont St Michel, you should take a bus from Rennes. By train only you won’t be able to do it in a day. The bus costs 25 euro return. 20 euro if you are under <26. Leaves Rennes at 10.15, returns to Rennes at 19.xx. This doesn’t work on Sundays (at least when I was there - as first TGV from Paris would arrive at 10.25). 
  3. French reservations you should book at the station or at the ticket machine. Via internet not anymore possible (on SNCF website). Maybe via rail planner app it is possible but they charge extra fees.

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