Rome2Rio travel app - a must have!

You are right, it's slipped off our radars because it wasn't being kept up-to-date. We used to recommend it all the time, then it was abandoned by the owner and woefully useless, but is it accurate again?

Edit: I just tested from my city to London. The first screen said 6.5 hours by train, but the search engine came up with 12+ hours by train. Neither is accurate. Same discrepancy for bus and plane and not all providers are in the results. I use Google and of course transit providers for accuracy with better luck.

I'm so sad Rome2Rio is not accurate anymore or being kept up. It was my go to app when planning a trip.

Rome2Rio is anything but accurate. Gives you a ballpark, but do not use it to plan eg train trips or public transit.

If you want to know what modes of transportation are available between two places, and who operates those options, then Rome2Rio is okay.

But for anything else it's usually wrong or useless.

I agree with the comments above. You are much better off using Google Maps with the public transportation option to get a general idea of times and carriers. I've never had success getting an accurate response from Rome2Rio.

And keep in mind that if you book through Rome2Rio, you are probably paying a higher price, and if something goes wrong, you will have to deal with R2R as a third-party seller, which can cause some problems in itself.

Nope. Sorry, OP, but I agree with the rest of the posters. R2R is OK to see what the various options are for getting from A to B. But anything else I've found to be inaccurate or incomplete. I use Google Maps for driving or public transportation info, and then do any bookings on the provider's website. Flights get checked on Google Flights and bookings on the airline's website. And I only book with a 3rd party if I have no other choice.

I used to use Rome2Rio for my independent trips I planned for my husband & me back 20 years ago. It was really helpful for figuring out which train station we wanted in a city, or if I needed to use a bus in some smaller cities.

But even then, I couldn’t trust the time lengths. Sometimes I was using them to get a ballpark for an itinerary, but then I had to modify it - sometimes a lot!

The other issue is that it will say one small city to another is 30 minutes by bus. Sounds great until the details show that is only once a day - mainly as a school or work transportation option.

I do still pull it up to find out the name of a bus company that covers a route. Then I can google the bus company separately.

A lot of you have had issues with it that I haven't encountered (yet.). I wasn't aware that it had changed in recent years, either. But I just went in there and tested a couple of routes I am personally familiar with and they all came up accurate (routes I'm not familiar with I have no way of knowing how accurate they are.) So while I can't say if it is always accurate, so far I haven't found it to be wrong.

And while it may give links to booking trains or planes, I don't necessarily book through the links (nor do I ever book through any third party site) but it shows me the options and then I can book directly.

I guess I would amend my post to say use this as a guideline, but verify and confirm before you book anything.

Has anyone tried omio.com or their app? I ran across this one somewhere and was checking routes for our extra travel after the RS Southern Italy tour this fall. It seemed to connect Italy to France better than rom2rio. But I'm still checking routes so I'm not sure whether to recommend it or not.

Omio is just a 3rd party reseller. Use the official train websites.

This is the MUST HAVE app for traveling in Europe...

I'm curious what makes this, or any app a must have?

Stella, I occasionally use Rome2Rio as a first step in my planning process. I do see limitations and errors with it, but it provides information. After Rome2Rio, I move on to other sources, like country specific train sites, etc. I usually find google maps to be fairly accurate though frequently the smaller/more local modes of transportation may not be included. Its all kind of a process.

I will report an extremely positive experience with Rome2Rio. My daughter had just started graduate school in Honolulu and she was coming home for Christmas holiday. It was during COVID and things were already crazy with transportation. Her flight was at night. She needed to take a bus and that day, the Honolulu bus service' system went down. The buses were still running, but if you didn't know a route and times you were rather out of luck. Google maps didn't work because they rely on the Honolulu bus system website. I decided to give Rome2RIO a try, and low and behold, they had the route and bus numbers and connecting information. And it even turned out to be correct.

I think its great to have a handful of apps for navigation and related. While there are a few I use more than others, its nice to have options. It is also nice to know about any limitations.

I gave up on it a few years ago when it was giving totally incorrect information. Maybe user error. I haven't tried it lately. I've found my workarounds.

I just checked for a known road journey in Britain. It directed me to use non dual highways to get from start to finish location whilst I know full well that you can motorways (like interstates) to get between my start & finish points. Of course, Rome2Rio have never driven any of these routes, they are just using a computer to connect the two places via the shortest route - even though this is on worse highways.

Then I tested it for a train journey and when I selected it I was sent through to book via OMIO = a German company - rather than with any of the British train booking sites - many of which tell you to split the ticket to get lower prices. Needless to say the OMIO site came in with the highest price. Presumably Rome2Rio get a good commission from OMIO for the click throughs!

The only thing I use it for is just to see what options there are on a route. And I find it’s pretty good about telling me there’s a train there’s a bus, etc..

And then I go dig around and find what I want on the web. I’m not sure I would ever need the app because I’ve generally planned all that out before I go on vacation.

Then I tested it for a train journey and when I selected it I was sent through to book via OMIO = a German company...

That's my biggest problem with it. It gives you no options for going straight to the source, but instead sends you to a 3rd party agency (Omio). When I checked out transport just now from Oxford to Heathrow airport, Rome2Rio sent me to Omio, where it was $40.12 to book a ticket. The regular price for the Airline bus is £25 and after conversion, that comes to a little over $33. So you are paying $7 more than you would if you booked directly.

I think it's much easier and less risky to use Google Maps, which shows the times, mode of transportation, and details. It lets you know which railway company or bus company you need to use if you're looking for public transportation. And if you are at your destination when you search, it will give you ride-share options as well, such as Bolt, Uber, and Gett as well as approximate costs for that. But most importantly, it gives you direct links to the transportation provider, so you do not have to pay a booking fee.

And yes, I agree you don't have to book with Rome2Rio—you can use it for information only. But there are a lot of people out there who are new to travel and don't realize that.

And yes, I agree you don't have to book with Rome2Rio—you can use it for information only. But there are a lot of people out there who are new to travel and don't realize that.

And that's what they're hoping for.

I've found that Rome2Rio is good for getting a general idea of transportation options from one point to another, but I don't rely on it for completely accurate information. I always double check routes and times with the service that actually operates the transportation.

I'm using Rome2Rio a lot right now - I'm trying to plan a trip to either Germany and France, or just Germany. I can compare relative distances and travel times between my base and whatever place strikes my interest. I look at a lot websites and apps when I'm planning a trip - no one source has everything I need.

I wouldn't book anything through Rome2Rio anymore than I would book through TripAdvisor, or booking.com for that matter