I had the good fortune to run across a show on the National Geographic channel, two weeks before my recent trip to Italy, that featured the newest Italian train.  This train is  fast, stylish, and modern; so much so that they christened it with an appropriate masculine name: Italo.  Italo had me at “ciao!”, so  I immediately booked any routes that I could through the website.

I had been accustomed to traveling from Florence to Rome using the intercity trains (those making the fewest stops), a trip that  takes a little over 2 1/2 hours.  Although the Trenitalia has greatly improved over the past decade, I never looked forward to the trip on the spartan and old trains.  The frecciarossa (red arrow) and frecciabianca (white arrow) trains are a good choice, when available, also through Trenitalia.  They are faster, make fewer stops, and are newer and more modern than the classic Italian trains.  If, however, you are traveling one of the routes offered by Italo, you must book a trip aboard the red coaches.

 Italo is an ultra-modern train in Ferrari Red, designed for safety, comfort, and eco-sustainability. (Yes, the Italians have gone green!) It reaches speeds of 360 km/hour (223 miles/hour), shortening that Florence to Rome trip to 1 hour, 37 minutes.  The trains are well served by a snazzy-uniformed crew that greet you at your boarding platform, take food and beverage orders, and supply you with any destination information you need – all in perfect English, and with a smile!

I hate to take an entire paragraph to gush about the bathrooms, but when was the last time that you even dared to enter a bathroom on a train, much less “use” it?  I’ll sum it up:  clean; stainless steel; no-touch faucets; air dryers – impressive!

Best of all you can reserve your seats online, and unlike many other archaic reservation systems in Italy, there is no need to print your ticket; all you need is a screen shot of your reservation number and you are politely checked in soon after departure.  Free, good wifi is available aboard for your entire trip.

Italo travels 3 lines with the following stops:

*  Turin-Salerno, stops in: Milan, Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples

*  Turin-Ancona, stops in: Milan, Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Rimini, Pesaro

*  Venice-Naples, stops in:  Padova, Bologna, Florence, Rome

Tips:

Italo doesn’t use the main Termini station in Rome but stops at Ostiense and Tiburtina stations.  Check beforehand which station is most convenient for you.

Reserve as much in advance as you can, as, like airline tickets, Italo’s less expensive seats sell out first.  Three classes of travel are offered: Smart, Prima, and Club.  I’ve traveled Smart and Prima and can think of no reason to pay the extra for Club, but go ahead and let me know how wonderful it is.

For information and reservations: www.italotreno.it/en

 

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