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The red Bernina Express crossing the Alps between Switzerland and ItalyThe red Bernina Express crossing the Alps between Switzerland and Italy
Home/Luxury Train Journeys in Italy

Rail ยท Italy

Luxury train journeys in Italy.

Art Deco sleepers into Venice, a new Italian legend on the rails, and travel where the journey outranks the destination.

The Brief

The train is the last truly romantic machine.

A luxury sleeper reverses the modern equation, the hours in transit become the holiday itself, dinner in a lacquered dining car, landscapes performing at the window, a nightcap as the Alps go past in the dark. Italy now sits at the center of this revival, as terminus of the great classic and home of its new rival.

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express remains the benchmark, London and Paris into Venice aboard 1920s carriages. La Dolce Vita Orient Express answers with contemporary Italian design and itineraries that stay inside the country, Rome to Venice, Tuscany, Sicily.

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The Journeys

Five departures worth planning around.

VSOE, Paris to VeniceThe classic overnight, one night, the full ritual
VSOE Grand SuitesPrivate marble bathrooms and cabin dining on the same rails
La Dolce Vita, Rome to VeniceThe new Italian train, contemporary cabins, two days
La Dolce Vita, Sicilian routesThe island by rail, Taormina and the baroque south
VSOE seasonal specialsAlpine winter departures and the Prague and Vienna extensions

Insider Notes

Build the trip around the arrival city.

The train is act one, so script act two properly, stepping off the VSOE at Santa Lucia deserves a Grand Canal palazzo waiting, covered on our Venice page, while the Dolce Vita's southern routes open into a Sicily week. Cabins, especially the suites, release roughly a year ahead and anniversary dates go first.

Dress the part on the classic, black tie at dinner is willingly observed and half the theater. Couples celebrating tend to book the suite category once, and every one of them reports the same verdict, worth it.

The Luxury.it Perspective

Flying sells the absence of time. The great trains sell its return, twenty four hours you actually feel.

Concierge

Suites on the great trains sell out a season ahead.

Route, date and the occasion. We hold cabin availability, pair the arrival hotel and script the whole sequence.

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Questions

Good to know

How much does the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express cost
Paris to Venice starts around 3,500 to 4,500 euros per person in a historic cabin, with suites from roughly 7,500 and the Grand Suites well beyond, meals and wines aboard included. Book six to twelve months ahead.
What is La Dolce Vita Orient Express
The new Italian luxury sleeper, launched in 2025 with contemporary design, running one and two night itineraries within Italy from a Rome hub, including Venice, Tuscany and Sicilian routes, with dining built around Italian chefs.
Are luxury train journeys worth it for one night
Yes, treated as an event rather than transport. The classic Paris to Venice overnight functions as a moving gala plus a hotel night, and works best marking an occasion, with the arrival city planned as the second act.