The newest Orient Express is open for pre-bookings from December 6
(Picture: Orient Express)Toot toot! There’s a new Orient Express on the way, and boy, is it glamorous. The Orient Express ‘La Dolce Vita’, run by Accor, has finally been revealed.
You can live like Agatha Christie, who previously hailed the Orient Express as “the train of my dreams” and selected its coaches as the setting for her iconic murder mystery novel, or like James Bond in From Russia With Love, though hopefully with less murder than either of those inspirations.
La Dolce Vita is taking passengers across Italy, with the support of Trenitalia, through a variation of routes. You can see the Alps, the Amalfi Coast or the historic cities of Rome, Venice or Palermo — Italy is your oyster.
With pre-reservations open from December 6, passengers can book in for a taste of the suite life from 2024 onwards, when the Express will welcome its first cohort of guests.
Not only that, but the Orient Express brand is launching two of its own hotels as well, Orient Express La Minerva in Rome and Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice, also set to open in 2024 for the launch of OE La Dolce Vita.
Not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, owned by Belmond, and by extension LVMH, which has been around since the 1800s. The Orient Express La Dolce Vita is brand new, and the 2024 opening of La Dolce Vita will be its first route.
But we have a sneak peak ahead of time inside the carriages that will run this route, and they’re just as luxe as the historic Orient Express ever was.
Composed of 11 cars, the OE La Dolce Vita is a tribute to the glamour, joie de vivre and artistic fervor of Italy in the 1960s. Its both 60s and sneakily modern, the type of decor that would make for prime Instagram story fodder. Take the lounge, with its oscillating stacked benches and mirror tables woven throughout, all in a retro palette of ochre and sapphire.
The high-gloss bedrooms are equal parts gleaming and velour-laden, with enough light and well-utlised space that you could almost forget you were on a train.
Its food offering is also quintessentially Italian, with a promise of “the best international chefs and sommeliers” serving up goodies in the geometric, vintage decor-clad dining car. Expect the highest quality olive oil, sea urchin coral, truffles.
Prices start from €2,000 per person per night in a deluxe cabin, and if you want to double down on your chances of a stay Orient Express advises pre-booking as a “priority traveller”, which will require a deposit of €500. It might feel a way away now, but the Orient Express truly looks like La Dolce Vita on wheels.
