Trenitalia vs. Italo: Is Trenitalia better than Italo?

There are two major train companies in Italy, but which one is better?

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Headed away from Rome on Trenitalia.

When you're coming to Italy, or you're already here, you're probably thinking about public transportation as a way to get around. And, believe it or not, one of Italy's train services often rank in the top 5 in Europe (usually taking the first position), though I won't give away which one just yet, no thanks to Mussolini who did not, in fact, get the trains to run on time.

And if you were to start your search on an aggregate website like Omio*, you might notice two distinct companies: Trenitalia and Italo*.

Both look pretty fast, both go from Point A to Point B, so what's the difference?

What is Italo, and is Italo a legitimate company?

Yes, Italo is a legitimate company! Italo is a privately-owned company operating high-speed trains in Italy. While they're partnered with bus companies like ItaBus and ferry companies like SNAV, they don't own their own fleet of buses or ferries (unlike Trenitalia, which owns its own buses, but not ferries).

Is Italo good?

Absolutely! Their high-speed trains typically run on time, they're clean, and in my experience, they're used by more tourists than Trenitalia, possibly because Trenitalia has a number of offerings whereas Italo is much simpler, or maybe because it took forever for Trenitalia to publish an English-language website.

However, there are some drawbacks. Because Italo only runs high-speed trains, and usually between larger cities (like Rome to Milan, or Rome to Florence), they're limited by the established rail system. So if you're going to a small town or small city (like Siena, for example) you won't be able to take Italo the whole way, instead having to change in Florence for an ItaBus. This can be a slight hassle, having to disembark, get your luggage, and then embark on a bus instead.

That said, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that no fast train goes to Siena, so even the Trenitalia train forces you to switch, but it's to another train.

Italo's seat configuration is also different. Half the seats face the front with the other half facing the rear, with the seats in the middle facing each other. The reason I mention this is because, for those of you whose stomachs hate it when you look backwards while moving forward might not have a great time on Italo since there's no way to request a front-facing seat. Lastly, each of the seats has a little seatback table that you can use to place a laptop or snack.

So, what is Trenitalia?

TrenItalia is the national train company operating transportation on high-speed trains, regional trains, intercity trains, and buses (both inter- and intra-city) to either replace or connect travellers between trains.

Between cities, they offer the Regionale (which is essentially the "slow" train, but only because it stops at ever single stop along the way, however, it's dirt cheap and the trains themselves are clean and comfortable, there are no assigned seats or tables), the Intercity (faster than the Regionale, but still slower than a "fast" train. With the Intercity, you have an assigned seat and a shared table for a laptop or food), and the Freccia line (Frecciarossa, Frecciabianca, and Frecciaargento or, Red Arrow, White Arrow, and Silver Arrow, with Red being the fastest). See what I said about slightly confusing?

If this is your first time to Italy, I can help clarify it. You'll want anything that has "Frecciarossa" in the same. As I previously mentioned, that's not entirely possible with some routes, and you'll have to switch to an Intercity. However, in general, you'll want the fast train with assigned seats to make everything as easy as possible.

So, is Trenitalia better than Italo?

It depends!

Italo* and Trenitalia both have points programs with American Express, both offer discounts on groups (usually meaning 2 or more people) though Trenitalia tends to offer bigger and better discounts on more than just groups (like going there and back in a single day, or traveling on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday).

With a family, I'd recommend Trenitalia so you can look at one another around a table, rather than being scattered. That said, you might prefer that everyone has their own seating area for some alone time!

In general, Trenitalia offers more times and more routes, but if you're going from Milan to Rome, there's an Italo train every 20 minutes, so that's certainly a contender.

But if you wanted to know which train company often ranks among the Top 5 in Europe, if not the Top 1, it's Trenitalia! This is based on timeliness, cleanliness, and overall professionalism.

So, in truth, it's hard to know if Trenitalia is better than Italo. That said, I prefer Trenitalia simply because I usually use their buses, and they have more connections that suit my needs.