Luxe train travel aboard the Orient Express is expanding, but expect this growth to be more about modern luxury and less about Agatha Christie and murder.
Accor’s La Dolce Vita Orient Express — not to be confused with Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient Express — is now open for reservations for its first journeys slated for spring 2025. The official booking window opening follows a presale in December 2022 that saw 400 cabins get booked, so move fast before this posh train leaves the station without you.
There has been some natural head-scratching over which Orient Express is the real Orient Express since Belmond — previously known as Orient-Express Hotels — has been running its train for years. Further, the two Orient Express operations grew closer over the summer after Belmond’s parent company, LVMH, announced a new partnership with Accor on future Orient Express growth. Prior to the partnership launch, Accor leaders have been touting their version of the historic, luxe train line as one that would offer more elegant, spacious cabins and suites rolling down the tracks.
The accommodations will provide modern luxury on the rails, but La Dolce Vita Orient Express also pays homage to 1960s and 1970s Italy, so brush up on your Federico Fellini films and consider packing some vintage Emilio Pucci before you board.
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The trains will feature 12 deluxe cabins, 18 suites and a La Dolce Vita suite — all with en suite bathrooms. La Dolce Vita Orient Express also has a restaurant, a lounge and a bar — and plenty of bragging rights to flaunt to your friends who think a half-bottle of red wine aboard Amtrak’s Acela is the pinnacle of luxury train travel.
“This endeavor embodies the essence of exquisite exploration, where sophistication meets adventure,” Gilda Perez-Alvarado, the newly named CEO of the Orient Express brand, said in a statement earlier this year. “As we embark on this journey together, we invite travellers to experience the pinnacle of elegance and excitement, immersed in the charm and splendour of Italy.”
The Italian train reservations arrive as Accor works on opening its first two Orient Express hotels: Orient Express La Minerva in Rome and Orient Express Palazzo Dona Giovannelli in Venice. A luxury superyacht for the brand is also expected to hit the seas in the coming years.
Where is Accor’s Orient Express heading?
Depending on the season, travelers will have the option of booking nine different routes in Italy aboard La Dolce Vita Orient Express:
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- A two-night coast-to-coast route from Rome to Venice to Portofino before returning to Rome
- A two-night triangle route from Rome to Venice and then to Siena before returning to the Eternal City
- A two-night route between Rome, Palena and Matera
- A one-night Italian wine-inspired journey between Rome and Montalcino (with a return trip to Rome)
- A one-night wine- and truffle-inspired journey from Rome to Nizza Monferrato (with a return trip to Rome)
- A one-night southern Italian journey from Rome to Maratea and then to Palermo
- A one-night coastal route from Palermo to Maratea and then to Rome
- An all-Sicily two-night journey from Palermo to Agrigento and Taormina before returning to Palermo
- A three-night journey from Palermo to Agrigento and then to Taormina before returning to Palermo with time for travelers to get out and explore; the train then heads to Messina for a ferry crossing to the Italian mainland before heading onward to Maratea and Rome
Once aboard, guests will be treated to Italian wine and gourmet cuisine. Additionally, the La Dolce Vita lounge at the Rome Ostiense train station will be available for travelers to unwind before their decadent train experience.
Rates for a one-night itinerary start at 3,500 euros (about $3,852) per person in a deluxe cabin and 4,700 euros (about $5,172) per person in a suite. It does not appear the terms “Agatha Christie” or “Hercule Poirot” are discount codes to use toward those hefty nightly rates.
A brand spokesperson told TPG this week that while the upcoming Orient Express hotels in Italy will participate in the Accor Live Limitless loyalty program, La Dolce Vita Orient Express will not.
Where to book
Travelers can book their journeys by visiting the La Dolce Vita Orient Express website. U.S. and Canadian travelers can also book over the phone by dialing 833-661-3080.
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