Venice Simplon Orient Express . . .

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What is the Venice Simplon Orient Express..?

The Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) is a privately-run train of beautifully restored 1920s, 30s & 50s coaches, providing a luxury train experience from London and Paris to Innsbruck, Verona and Venice.  It runs once a week between March and November.  The train also occasionally runs tours to Rome, Krakow, Budapest and (once a year) Istanbul.  It is run by Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) Limited, a subsidiary of Sea Containers, Inc.  The complete London-Venice journey takes 24 hours and costs around £1,200 per person one way, including all meals (but drinks are extra).  It should not be confused with a similar operation, the 'Nostalgic Orient Express', or the real Orient Express, a regular scheduled train between Strasbourg and Vienna which as it happens is the true descendant of the original Orient Express.  However, if you can afford it, the Venice Simplon Orient Express is the most wonderfully romantic and luxurious way to reach Venice, and its vintage carriages are a piece of history in themselves.  It is highly recommended, and actually does live up to its reputation..!  What's the journey like?  History of the Orient Express.

Orient Express schedule & departure dates...

Departure dates from London & Paris  2007:  October 11, 18, 28 November 1, 8, 15.   Departure dates 2008:  March 13, 27 April 3, 10, 17, 24 May 1, 11, 15, 18, 25, 29 June 8, 12, 15, 22, 26 July 3, 17, 24, 31 August 7, 14, 21 September 14, 21, 25, 28 October 2, 12, 16, 19, 26, 30 November 6, 13.

Departure dates from Venice, Verona & Innsbruck  2007: October 10, 17, 31 November 7, 14.  Departure dates 2008:  April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, May 14, 17, 28, June 11, 25, July 2, 23, 30, August 6, 13, 20 September 13, 24, 27 October 1, 15, 18, 29 November 5, 12.#

Other destinations:  There are also occasional departures to Krakow, Budapest, Rome and even (in August 2008) Istanbul, see www.orient-expresstrains.com.

Pullman day trips...

If you can't afford to take the Orient Express all the way from London to Venice, but still want a very special and luxurious day out, VSOE operates a range of Pullman day trips within the UK for £150-£260 per person.  See www.orient-expresstrains.com.

Book online:  www.orient-expresstrains.com

Travel agencies fall over themselves to sell you tickets for the V-S Orient Express, but it's easiest and cheapest to check availability and book online at the official Venice Simplon Orient Express website, www.orient-expresstrains.com.  This way, you pay no commission.

What's the journey like..?

The Venice Simplon Orient Express is actually two separate trains, a British Pullman train from London to Folkestone and a Continental sleeping-car train from Calais to Venice.  After checking in an hour before departure at the Orient Express lounge on platform 2 at Victoria Station, you board the train of restored British Pullman cars dating from the late 1920s, 30s and 50s bound for Folkestone.  The Pullman cars consist of plush armchairs in open saloons, though there is one private 4-seat compartment at the end of most cars which can be requested.  The train leaves around 11:00 on most Thursdays March to November, and champagne is served, followed by an excellent early lunch with wine served by the steward in charge of each car (meal and drinks included in the fare).  The train follows one of the original 'boat train' routes (there were in fact several!) through the Kent countryside to Folkestone.  www.orient-expresstrains.com features a brief history of the career of each individual VSOE Pullman Car.

The Pullman train from London to Folkestone.		Inside Pullman car 'Minerva'

Crossing the Channel...

The Pullman train terminates at Folkestone West (a small station just west of Folkestone Central), where passengers transfer to a waiting fleet of executive road coaches.  Until 2007 the VSOE went down to Folkestone Harbour to meet the buses, reaching the Harbour station via a slow descent of the steep 1 in 30 gradient on the weed-strewn branch line to the seafront, a historic line once used by regular boat trains.  The coaches cross the Channel somewhat unauthentically on board a vehicle-carrying shuttle train though the Channel Tunnel.  At Calais, the coaches drive off the shuttle train at the Eurotunnel terminal and head for Calais Ville station.  Calais Maritime station, where the ferries originally arrived to connect with the trains to Paris and beyond, was closed and tarmacked over in 1994 following the start of Eurostar services via the Channel Tunnel.

The Venice Simplon Orient Express continental train...

At Calais Ville, the continental train of restored Wagons-Lits sleeping-cars is waiting to take you onwards to Paris, Innsbruck, Verona and Venice.  The sleeping-cars, almost all superb 1929-vintage 'LX' series cars, have 1- & 2-bed compartments that convert to private sitting rooms with sofa and coffee table for daytime use.  There are not one but two or three dining cars, each with individual design and decoration.  One features Lalique crystal decor, another Chinese motifs.  Different meal sittings are served in each - you can experience all of them!  There's also a bar car, complete with armchairs and a grand piano - though neither bar nor piano were historically a feature of the Orient Express..!  Meals and afternoon tea are included in the fare, but drinks are extra on the Continental train.  Reckon on over £11 for a (very good!) half bottle of wine.  www.orient-expresstrains.com features a brief history of the career of each individual sleeping-car.

Above:  The Orient Express continental train at Calais.  Each sleeper has its own sleeper attendant.		Above:  Dinner in one of the continental train's three elegant restaurant cars.

Near right:  A 2-berth compartment in one of the Orient Express's 1929-vintage LX-series sleeping-cars, in daytime mode with sofa folded out... Far right:  The same compartment in night-time mode with the two beds folded out, blind down and ladder in place... Compare these pictures with the 'day' and 'night' pictures of the 'LX' sleepers' direct replacement, the 1964-1974 'MU' sleepers, at the top of the sleeper page.

Above:  There are two or three restaurant cars on the Orient Express continental train, each with very different decor.  Try to get a meal in each one!		Each sleeper compartment has a washstand - no showers on a 1920s train..!		A suit is essential, though most passengers bring a dinner jacket...

The scenery you'll see on the way...

In spite of its name, the Venice Simplon Orient express no longer uses the Simplon Tunnel between Switzerland and Italy, but is routed overnight from Paris via Basel to Zurich, then Innsbruck, Verona and Venice.  You'll probably wake up after Zurich, with Swiss lakes outside your window when you put up the blind, as fresh croissant, fruit juice and excellent coffee are delivered to your compartment.  The train cuts across a few miles of Lichtenstein before crossing into Austria via the spectacularly scenic Arlberg Pass (see the photos below).  The railway hugs the valley wall, snaking along the mountain sides.  After Innsbruck the train turns south through the equally scenic Brenner Pass from Austria into Italy to reach Verona.  Turning east again, the train reaches Venice Mestre on the mainland, then rumbles slowly over the causeway with anticipation building, finally arriving at Venice Santa Lucia terminus on the very shores of the Grand Canal in central Venice, walking distance from the Rialto Bridge and St Mark's Square...

Above:  Mountains seen from the train...		...as breakfast is served in your compartment.

Above and above right:  The Venice Simplon Orient Express snakes through  the Arlberg pass between Zurich and Innsbruck...

One-way by Venice Simplon Orient Express, return by regular trains..?

If you're only taking the Orient Express one way, don't fly the other way, as flights are unnecessary.  Just take the regular overnight sleeper train from Venice to Paris, called the 'Stendhal', then Eurostar from Paris to London.  See the London to Italy by train page for all you need to know.  Advice on one-way Eurostar tickets.

Is the Venice Simplon Orient Express the 'original' Orient Express..?

No.  Not least because there was no 'original' Orient Express.  The Orient Express was a service, not a physical train of coaches, and it used different rolling stock at different times in its history, and in any case it required several sets of coaches to operate, not just one (think about it:  You can't run a daily service from Calais to Istanbul taking 3 nights with just one set of coaches!).  In addition, most of the VSOE's sleeping-cars are 1929-built 'LX' series cars that were not generally used on services to Istanbul on the Orient Express at all, but as the Wagons-Lits Company's premier cars they were used on trains such as the Train Bleu from Paris to Nice & Monte Carlo, the Nord Express from Paris to Berlin, Warsaw & Riga, and the Rome Express from Paris to Rome.  However, VSOE also own a couple of 'S' class sleepers dating from 1927 that were used on the original Orient Express services to Istanbul & Athens, at least before WW2 (after WW2 they were replaced on the Orient Express routes by the more modern Z class).  The 'S' class sleepers are less glamorous than the LX's, with slightly smaller compartments than the LX cars, and they lack the intricate wood marquetry decoration that distinguishes the LX.  There is, in fact, a real Orient Express, the true descendant of the first 1883 departure, now a regular scheduled train overnight between Strasbourg and Vienna - all is revealed on the Orient Express page.

History of the Orient Express:  See the Orient Express page...

The Venice Simplon Orient Express was started in 1982 by James Sherwood of Sea Containers Inc., who acquired the first batch of 'LX' series sleeping-cars for the VSOE at auction in Monte Carlo in 1977.  For a history of the (real) Orient Express from 1883 to the present day, see the Orient Express page

UK Pullman day trips, Orient Express trips to Rome, Krakow, Budapest, Prague...

In addition to its London-Folkestone duties in connection with the continental train to Venice, the VSOE's British Pullman cars are also used for a programme of day-trips and excursions around the British Isles.  Venice Simplon Orient Express Ltd also owns a set of more modern cars dating from the 1970s which is used on excursions in the north of England.  The continental train also runs occasional services to Vienna and Rome, and even (once a year or so) to Istanbul.

Gifts & Souvenirs...

The Venice Simplon Orient Express has an online gift shop, with posters, travel accessories, luggage and more - click here...

Books about the Orient Express...

If you want to learn more about the Orient Express, you can click the pictures to buy these books online at Amazon.  The book on the left has more about the history of the Orient Express, the book on the right concentrates on the restored Venice Simplon Orient Express.

Also recommended is 'The Orient Express - The life and times of the world's most famous train' by E H Cookridge.  Although out of print, you can buy it second hand through Amazon - click here for details.

The Orient Express also features heavily in fiction...  

Murder on the Orient Express (book)

Murder on the Orient Express (DVD)

Stamboul Train by Graham Greene (book)