You Can Live La Dolce Vita on the Orient Express's Luxurious New Italy Routes

The iconic luxury rail experience is returning to Italy after 46 years

By
Astrid Taran
Astrid Taran
Astrid Taran
Senior Editor, Special Projects
Astrid is the Senior Special Projects Editor at TripSavvy and has been with the site since 2016.
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Published on 12/16/21
Fact checked by
Jillian Dara
Jillian Dara
Fact checked by Jillian Dara
Emerson College
Jillian Dara is a freelance journalist and fact-checker. Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, USA Today, Michelin Guides, Hemispheres, DuJour, and Forbes.
TripSavvy's fact-checking
Orient Express rendering

Courtesy of Dimorestudio

Travelers dreaming of an Italian getaway with an extra dose of glamour are in luck. After 46 years away, the iconic Orient Express is making a grand return to Italy, where it will launch six lavish new train routes in 2023.

Appropriately named "La Dolce Vita," the luxury rail service's new trains will cover 14 regions, primarily across Italy, offering scenic routes across postcard-worthy destinations such as Tuscany and the Alps. A stopover in Rome will be included in every journey, where passengers on select routes will be able to experience Minerva, the very first Orient Express-branded hotel, scheduled to open in 2024. Passengers in Rome will also get access to the Orient Express executive lounge at Roma Termini Station, where pre-boarding refreshments will await them.

"At Accor, we consider it an immense privilege to re-launch the historic Orient Express brand for passionate and discerning travelers," said Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of French hospitality group Accor, which helms the rail service. "These trains offer a new vision of luxury travel that is beyond our imagination."

Orient Express rendering 2

Courtesy of Dimorestudio

Milan-based design studio Dimorestudio designed the train's elegant interiors, which were inspired by the glamour of Italy in the 1960s and 1970s—a period in time Italians call "La Dolce Vita"—and by legendary Italian architects like Gio Ponti and Carlo Scarpa. The train boasts 12 deluxe cabins, 18 suites, a VIP 'Honour Suite,' and a fine dining restaurant featuring a lounge bar for live entertainment.

The Italian route will be the Orient Express' first since 1977, when operations in the country were shut down. Three additional international itineraries will include routes through Paris, Istanbul, and Split, Croatia. The service will also offer prioritize sustainability on its new routes, exploring innovative technologies like hydrogen power.

With space for only 63 passengers across the 11 cars on the train, the experience promises to be the epitome of exclusive. Full itinerary details are expected to be released next year.

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