Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
The Experience
Step aboard the world's most legendary train and into a bygone era of unparalleled elegance. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express glides through Europe's most storied landscapes in meticulously restored 1920s Art Deco carriages, where white-gloved stewards serve four-course dinners, a resident pianist fills the Bar Car with melody, and every polished brass fitting whispers of the golden age of travel.
No train in history has captured the imagination quite like the Orient Express. Since 1883, when the first carriages departed Paris bound for Constantinople, this name has been synonymous with intrigue, romance, and the art of travelling well. Today, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express continues that legacy aboard a collection of original 1920s and 1930s carriages, each painstakingly restored to their Art Deco grandeur and assembled into what is arguably the most beautiful train in the world.
The experience begins the moment you step onto the platform. Blue and gold livery gleams under station lights as stewards in immaculate uniforms welcome you to your cabin—a private sanctuary of marquetry panels, polished mahogany, and crisp white linens. As the train pulls away, champagne arrives, and Europe begins to unfold beyond your window: the suburbs of Paris giving way to Alpine passes, Venetian lagoons, Hungarian plains, or the ancient route to Istanbul itself. Each carriage tells its own story—from 3309, believed to have inspired Agatha Christie's famous novel, to 3544, which served far more colourful purposes during World War II.
Dining aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is theatre unto itself. French chefs conjure extraordinary menus from impossibly compact galley kitchens, serving courses on Limoges porcelain beneath Lalique glass panels in three exquisite restaurant cars. Dress codes are observed with enthusiasm: black tie for gentlemen, elegant gowns for ladies, transforming each evening into an occasion worthy of the train's illustrious history. Between courses, retire to the legendary Bar Car, where cocktails flow and a pianist plays late into the night as fellow travellers swap stories of adventures past and present.
Highlights
What Awaits You
- Travel in restored 1920s/1930s Art Deco carriages
- Four-course dinners by French chefs in historic restaurant cars
- Evenings in the legendary Bar Car with resident pianist
- Routes spanning Paris, Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Istanbul
- Six individually themed Grand Suites with private butler and champagne