I love the Omio app for the way it shows all 3 modes of travel (trains/Trenitalia, Italo, etc), buses, and airplanes.
The search engine is also simple and very user-friendly.
I'm about to start purchasing train tickets for the first week of our 2-week mother/daughter trip to Italy. Only 17 days left!! Yay
Any concerns about using Omio?
Thanks in advance!
Maria
Use the Trenitalia or Italo website/app.
Where do you intend to go? In many instances you can (should) buy on the spot.
No specific concerns with Omio - third party sites are often very helpful in comparing options and gather information. Some people have reported issues with things such as importing tickets purchased from third party sites into the Trenitalia app making juggling tickets more of an issue. But there are usually work arounds and paper printed versions of purchased tickets work as well.
Most people to use the official site of Trenitalia which is the state train company of Italy: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
They also have an app for use in country that also let's you track trains in realtime and validate tickets etc. Use the Italian city names for best results when searching on train sites: Roma for Rome, Venezia Firenze for Florence and get used to 24 hour times for train use.
.Italo is a private train company that runs only fast trains between big cities. https://www.italotreno.com/en
Local train tickets - called regionale - do not come with seat reservations, never sell out and always the same price so buy them when you need them. Tickets in the app need to be purchased a minimum of 5 minutes before the departure time and validated in the app a maximum of 1 minute before the departure time. Paper tickets are available from train machines and these should be validated in the stamping machines as you approach the tracks.
As always great information from the Man in Seat 61: https://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm
Hope that helps, have a great trip!
=Tod
Omio, like The Trainline, is contracted with Trenitalia and Italo to sell their train tickets. Because Omio may markup the ticket price, you may find it less expensive to buy the tickets directly from. Trenitalia or Italo
Thanks for the prompt reply, Roberto!
The first train trip would be from Roma Termini to Venice St. Lucia. (2 nights in Venice)
From Venice, we go to Florence/Sta Maria Novella station (3 nights in Florence)
Florence to Sorrento/Amalfi (4 nights in Sorrento)
Last train trip would be Sorrento to Roma Termini (via Napoli) I'm aware there is no direct train to Sorrento, and I'll need to take a regional train (Circumvesiana) for the Napoli/Sorrento leg of the trip.
Have you heard bad reviews about Omio? I noticed the Trenitalia app does NOT include Italo trains. The pro of using Omio would be having the ability to look at private as well as national lines.
The Trenìt app on IPads allows you to look at Italo and Trenitalia.
Useful to look there first for options.
Trenitalia and Italo are competitors (like Delta and United for airplanes), so they won't show in each other's app/website.
Omio or Italiarail are reseller agencies, like Expedia, so they show all, however, like all agencies, they will likely charge a commission fee and maybe they might show only the travel solutions they have available to sell.
Trainline is another reseller which sells both. I've never used it but I heard they add no commission fee. Try and compare by looking at it and also the Trenitalia/Italo site, to see if there are price differences. Trenit app is another one.
I like to buy directly from the horse's mouth (in this case the train operator Trenitalia or Italo) rather than a third party reseller agency. I do the same with airlines.
Wow, hiredman!!
LOVE the seat61 page!!
I'm a very visual-spatial learner and seeing the photos really helps understand the whole transit process.
Thanks a ton!
Thank you all!
I've done an app to app price comparison and it's almost the same (a few cents difference).
I've already installed all apps on my phone. Will likely use Omio for the sake of seeing an integrated listing of all options. Saves time. And end up buying tickets directly from the train company.
Wish me luck. ;-)
mllj2016, that's exactly what I was about to suggest. Some of us use Rome2Rio or Kayak to find out what's available, then buy our tickets directly from the airline, train or bus line.
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