Before you get to this list, make sure you have covered the universal apps that belong on your phone for any international trip. CityMapper, Google Maps offline, Google Translate camera mode, Apple Translate for conversation, WhatsApp, Wanderlog, and a few others are all covered in Apps I Never Travel Without. Those are the foundation. This list is what Italy specifically adds on top of them.
FreeNow: Getting a Taxi Without the Guesswork
Uber exists in Italy, but only as a premium black car service. Think Uber Black pricing rather than the everyday ride you are used to at home. FreeNow is the practical alternative. It works like Uber, books licensed local taxis, and covers Rome, Naples, Palermo, and Catania. You can pay through the app, which means no cash negotiation, no meter anxiety, no language barrier at the end of a long day. Download it and set up your account before you leave so it is ready to go when you need it.
Trenitalia and Italo: Intercity Rail
If you are moving between cities, Rome to Naples, Florence to Rome, anywhere along the main lines, you will almost certainly be on a train. Trenitalia and Italo are the two main intercity rail operators, and they run the same routes at different prices at different times. Download both. Having both lets you compare fares before you commit. Neither is obviously better; it depends on the route and the day.
One thing worth knowing before you board any train in Italy: validate your ticket at the yellow or green machine on the platform before you get on. Buying a ticket is not the same as validating it. Inspectors fine passengers on the spot for unvalidated tickets, and there are no exceptions made for tourists who did not know. Validate before you board, every time.
Moovit: Getting Around Cities on Transit
Rome has a metro, but it only has two lines and it misses most of the historic center. In practice, you will be on buses more than you expect. Naples has its own metro as well. Moovit handles all of it, metro, bus, and local rail across Italian cities, and it gives you step-by-step directions including an alert when your stop is coming up. That matters when street signs are in Italian, the bus is crowded, and you are not entirely sure which neighborhood you are in.
Download Moovit before you leave. Set your hotel as a saved location when you arrive. No matter how far you wander, getting back is one tap.
Rick Steves Audio Europe: Build Your Italy Playlist Before You Leave
The Rick Steves Audio Europe app is covered in the parent article. What is worth adding here is this: the app downloads and stores audio tracks directly on your device. Once downloaded, you do not need wifi or cell service to listen. That matters in Italy, where you will find yourself in museums, ancient ruins, and underground sites where your signal disappears.
The mistake people make is waiting until they are standing in front of the Colosseum to open the app and try to download the tour. Download your Italy playlist at home, on wifi, before you leave. It takes ten minutes and you will have everything you need for the whole trip.
Here is a playlist to start with for Rome and Naples. Open the app, find Italy, and download these before you go:
- Heart of Rome Walk: a walking tour that covers Campo de’ Fiori, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and the Trevi Fountain. Do this one your first full day.
- Roman Forum: essential if you are going to the Forum and Palatine Hill. Brings the ruins to life in a way the signs cannot.
- Colosseum: worth having even if you book a guided tour. You can go at your own pace.
- Naples City Walk: Rick describes Naples as Italy in the extreme. This walk takes you through the city’s chaotic, living medieval core. Download it before you make the mistake of writing Naples off as somewhere to pass through.
- Naples Archaeological Museum: one of the world’s great ancient collections, and most of it came from Pompeii. Listen to this before or after Pompeii and both visits get better.
- Pompeii: one of the most extraordinary sites in the world. Download this one even if you are not sure you are going. You will want it.
For Sicily, Palermo and Catania, Rick Steves’ content is more limited. Open the app, check what is available for Sicily before you leave, and download anything you find. It may be thin, but whatever is there is worth having offline.