See full version: You can actually still (kind of) travel on the Orient Express
VSOE certainly doesn't play down the pop culture references either, ensuring their travelers a safe passage with a 0% chance of murder. However, the ambiance is set and the luxury stands up to scrutiny, with impeccable service and plush surroundings.
Touting an experience on its line as a throwback to the Golden Age of travel, a journey on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express might offer more kitsch than authenticity. After all, this is not the original Orient Express, but it doesn't need to be. here
First establishing its famous route in 1883, travel between Paris and Istanbul – combined with the luxury and opulence that have become synonymous with "Orient Express"– made it an instant success. It wasn't long before the train was being frequented by royalty and heads of state – and especially spies. Hopping from continent to continent had never been easier or more comfortable. In fact, it was often referred to as the "Spies' Express," so it's no wonder that the train was rife with fodder for a mystery novel.
Grand suite guests also receive preferential seating for meals, bottomless champagne and private transport to and from train stations making this well worth the splurge.
These days, the Orient Express of our collective memory has become known as the Venice-Simplon Orient Express (confusing, we know), a private train established in 1982, consisting of restored cars from the 1920s and '30s. It runs routes for London-Paris-Venice and London-Paris-Verona, but once a year, it brings back the most special route: Paris-Istanbul. here
In 2018, this train departs on August 24th and you could be on it for £6,660, placing you in a double cabin where you'll enjoy two Pullman-style beds and a scenic view. If you prefer a bit more privacy, spring for a cabin suite, which is two connected double cabins, at £10,656. [links]
Following the classic route between London and Venice, this is a truly opulent take on an already luxurious rail journey. As you depart Victoria Station aboard the Belmond British Pullman, cocktail in hand, you’ll look forward to experiencing the butler-served indulgences of Venice Simplon-Orient-Express’s new Grand Suites. With just three to choose from – Istanbul, Paris and Venice – this is rail travel at its most exclusive, and stylish. Indeed, each suite takes design notes from its country namesake, so expect the likes of Moorish-inspired headboards, Venetian floral patterning and original 1930s Lalique lamps sourced from a Parisian market and lovingly restored. What’s more, each of the suites has its own bathroom, complete with shower – a first for this most iconic of journeys – where Murano glass basins, mosaic flooring and heated marble walls add an extra layer of luxury. It’s all complemented by gourmet dining and free-flowing champagne. Then, at journey’s end, you’ll enjoy a five-star stay at the iconic Belmond Hotel Cipriani, perfectly located in heart of Italy’s floating city, and a private walking tour with priority entry to the Doge’s Palace. [links]
Your journey begins in suitable style, as your chauffer driver collects you from home address to bring you to London’s Victoria Station for the start of your journey. The excitement builds as you sip champagne at a private reception before stepping aboard the Belmond British Pullman for a gourmet food- and wine-paired journey across Kent to Folkestone. more
The British Airways Sale is now on, with superb savings across all cabins. Also, find out more about our Flexibility Promise, available on holidays booked by 30th September 2021.
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Then, after a cross-channel dash, you’ll step aboard those famous blue-and-gold carriages, checking into the oak-panelled fineries of your Grand Suite for the trip south to Paris. Unlike in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express’s standard cabins, Grand Suites have plenty of clever storage – so you’ll keep your luggage with you throughout – as well as an en-suite bathroom with shower, immaculately decked out in mosaicked marble and Murano glass. [links]
Everything you touch, see or sense in the Istanbul Grand Suite is of the very highest quality. Completely hand-made and built to the very highest specification, this suite is the definition of luxury and is chosen by those who want to enjoy the very finest rail travel has to offer, anywhere in the world. here
Featuring it's own en-suite very much like the other Grand Suites as well as free-flowing champagne and it's very own dedicated steward, the Vienna Grand Suite is ideal way to see the world in style. [links]
We are pleased to work directly with the operator of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and offer preferential pricing to our customers. As well as a price you won’t find anywhere else, you’ll also receive our complimentary concierge service, meaning one point of contact direct with a personal assistant who will be more than happy to arrange anything you could possibly require.
As with the other Grand Suites, the Prague Grand Suite is incredibly spacious with a separate sleeping and sitting area. With plenty of space to move around the cabin in comfort, this is yet another incredible Grand Suite making up the unrivalled luxury of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.
True to the routes of the original, the Istanbul Grand Suite offers a sense of Turkish romance embodied in a truly lavish setting. What can only be described as an ‘exotic suite’, the Istanbul Grand Suite is full of bespoke details, such as beautifully decorated wooden wall panels, the very finest of silks and fabrics and a truly lavish marble en-suite. here
The correct term on a train is 'Compartment', not 'Cabin': Trains don't have bows or sterns or port or starboard. They also don't have cabins as that is what you have on ships. The correct term for an enclosed space on a train is a compartment. Travellers in the 1920s & 1930s would have known this perfectly well, travellers unused to trains & ships seem to use 'cabin' for everything these days and even Belmond themselves don't seem to know the correct term. more
Either is great, but in my opinion the southbound has the edge. Although the northbound journey tends to be less popular, so often has better availability and sometimes better rates. But personally, the British Pullman train is the hors d'oeuvre, the Continental Wagons-Lits train is the main course, and I feel the journey works best this way round. And the arrival in Venice over the causeway is a fitting climax. You'll also see more of the Arlberg Pass in daylight in the morning from a southbound train than (depending on the time of year) in the evening from a northbound train.
COVID-19: VSOE departures were suspended in 2020, but resumed in August 2021.
If the British Pullman train was the hors d'ouevre, now for the main course. At Calais Ville you board the VSOE's continental train of restored blue-and-gold 1920s Wagons-Lits sleeping-cars for Paris, Innsbruck, Verona & Venice. You've half an hour to take photos, the train normally leaves around 17:20 French time. The VSOE travels to Paris via Vimy, Arras & Longeau as this route is fully electrified, rather than the more traditional 'boat train' route via Boulogne and Amiens. more