Thinking of using Italo Treno instead of Trenitalia on our next trip (July2017). Schedules are good. Price slightly better than Trenitalia. Five traveling (3 adults and 2 teens - 15/16). We'll be using on 3 segments: 1) Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, 2) Napoli Centrale to Venezia S. Lucia, and 3) Venezia S. Lucia to Roma Termini. What is your experience? Reliable? On time?
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16232 posts
Both companies are good, with comfortable and reliable trains. Delays over 5 min are rare. Unlike airplanes, they aren't affected by weather conditions.
If there are delays, they are usually due to rare interruptions along the railway due to heavy snow conditions (not in July) or unexpected technical reasons, but both companies would be affected. The tracks they travel on are the same.
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
255 posts
Thank you Roberto!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17595 posts
We traveled around Italy in 2010, 2013, and 2015. The first two trips we used TrenitLia for all trips. In 2015, traveling with 3 others including my brother-in-law who likes "high end" travel, I booked our trip from Venice to Rome in first class on Italo. Although I have had no trouble booking tickets on Trenitalia, I still found Italo easier to use. My sister-in-law changed her mind about which train to take, and I was able to change our tickets to ann earlier train with a small fee and no difficulty.
The train itself was clean and comfortable, and the trip very pleasant. The five of us were assigned to a table for four, plus a single seat across the aisle, but Incould have selected another configuration. We were all happy with the journey and I would use them again on our next Italy trip.
Also, their prices are generally a bit lower. Yesterday I checked July prices for someone else on this forum, and Italo was definitely less, especially in First class.
Posted by
Phoenix AZ
635 posts
I agree with Lola's comments. Our experiences with Italo have been excellent, from the online booking process to the trips themselves. In addition, Italo has its own comfortable passenger lounges in some major stations.
In Rome, have you considered Tiburtina station instead of Termini? It's four Metro stops further east from Termini, but quieter, less crowded, and overall more pleasant.
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
255 posts
Lola and Jeff--thank you! Appreciate your guidance/experiences!!
Posted by
Indiana
524 posts
I also went with Italo in 2015 because I was reading all the nightmare stories using the Trenatalia website on Tripsdvisors. I also read that since it's privately owned, at least then, that the government strikes did not effect it. Don't know if that was true or not, but both those things convinced me to use Italo.
Posted by
Orlando, FL, USA
81 posts
Ok, I'm a bit confused... I looked at the Italo Treno site and there is currently a fare class for "Day Return." But the price of each of these two tickets combined (to and fro) is 2x that of the lowest "Smart" fare. So am I paying for flexibility?