Wealthy travelers are increasingly booking holidays on luxury trains.
Luxury suites often include amenities such as unlimited champagne, a butler, and a private bathroom.
Nightly rates at Belmond’s iconic Venice Simplon Orient Express start from approximately $4,370 per person.
Vintage luxury is making a comeback. This is true not only for clothing, but also for a particularly beloved means of transportation: the train.
Italy’s La Dolce Vita Orient Express, set to debut in April, will feature a stylish lounge, Giovagnara champagne buckets (which can cost more than $500 a pop), and the chefs at Rome’s three-Michelin-starred La Pergola. We plan to provide guests with luxuries such as meals supervised by. .
For lunch, you can expect dishes such as calamari carpaccio and lamb with artichokes and truffle shavings.
The Orient Express La Dolce Vita train shown in the rendering will enter service in April 2025.Provided by Orient Express Italy
“It’s all a bit expensive, but we’re determined to equip this train with all the finest Italian products,” Sammy Gahem, general manager of the upcoming train, told Business Insider.
La Dolce Vita Orient Express is not to be confused with Belmond’s iconic Venice Simplon Orient Express, best known for its luxuriously restored 100-year-old carriages. Both trains are helping lay the tracks for a revitalized rail renaissance marked by soaring demand and increasingly upscale amenities.
Luxury train reservations now available on locomotives
Guests in Glacier Express’s Excellence Class enjoy amenities such as an upscale bar, five-course meals, and window seats.©Glacier Express
Railbookers, a travel agency specializing in rail, was experiencing 2x digital growth prior to 2020. But after the pandemic and the subsequent “slow travel” boom, popularity began to take off.
Frank Marini, president and CEO of Railbookers Group, told BI that 2023 and 2024 are the company’s best consecutive years, and there are no signs of slowing down. Luxury level bookings by rail bookers also surged by 68% during this period.
“It continues to snowball,” Marini said. “We see passengers on a lot of luxury trains who come back to travel with us, and they’re like, ‘Well, where else are there luxury trains?’
Travelers in Rocky Mountaineer’s GoldLeaf level can take advantage of upgrades such as a double-decker bus with a glass dome.rocky mountaineer
Unlike bus tours and airline tickets, your vacation experience doesn’t begin when you arrive at your destination. Instead, like a cruise, it begins when passengers board the ship.
Also, unlike maritime trains, trains are one of the most environmentally friendly means of transportation.
Furthermore, the amenities are as luxurious as a 5-star hotel. Canadian Via Rail’s Prestige Class passengers enjoy a host of amenities, including a butler and private bathroom with heated floors. Rocky Mountaineer Gold Level travelers in the U.S. and Canada have access to the dining room, outdoor observation deck, and glass dome lounge.
At Peru-based Belmond’s Andes Explorer, suite guests sleep in a 141-square-foot bedroom with a private bathroom and lounge.
The Andes Explorer’s suites feature a double bed, wardrobe and private bathroom.Courtesy of Belmond
Of course, these luxuries come at a price.
Although not top-of-the-line, a typical multi-day luxury train trip can cost about $3,000 per person per day, said Andrew Channell, senior vice president of products and operations at Railbookers Group. We estimate that.
And then there’s the iconic Venice Simplon Orient Express. An overnight trip from Venice, Italy to Paris starts at around $4,370 per person for a basic cabin with a shared bathroom.
The train’s most luxurious Grand Suite features a private toilet (plus upgrades like bottomless bubbles) and costs about four times as much.
After all, these are “once-in-a-lifetime items for the rich and famous,” Julie Durso, travel manager at agency Scott Dunn Private, told BI.
The six Grand Suites on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express are themed after the different cities along the route. Themed in Venice, Italy, the cabin incorporates elements of Italian Baroque and Renaissance design.belmond
Gary Franklin, senior vice president of rail and cruise at Belmond, told BI that bookings for the Venice Simplon Orient Express have jumped 10% from 2023 to 2024. Grand suites are often the first accommodation booked.
To adapt to this surge in demand, the trains, which carry just around 100 passengers, are now running longer seasons than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re seeing a resurgence in the popularity of rail travel,” Franklin said, adding that reservations for other trains on Belmond’s five (soon to be six) trains have also increased. This includes a 25% increase on the Royal Scotsman, which is nearly full until 2024 (a two-night trip to and from Edinburgh, Scotland, on a luxury locomotive starts from about $5,940 per person) .
Pursue luxury with all your might
Venice Simplon Orient Express’s Istanbul-themed Grand Suite features richly embroidered rugs and decor reminiscent of Turkey’s Grand Bazaar.Courtesy of Belmond
Popular commercial travel companies, such as airlines and cruise lines, often offer cheaper, lower-priced options to attract more guests. Think of the interior of a cruise ship cabin or a basic economy seat on an airline.
Belmond is taking the opposite approach, luring wealthy travelers by offering increasingly luxurious add-ons.
In 2024, the company introduced two grand suites to the 40-year-old Royal Scotsman. The addition was “really well received,” Franklin said. Belmond plans to add more in 2025.
The train was previously updated to a Dior-branded spa fleet in 2023 and is now also available on the recently renovated Eastern Express and Oriental Express.
“We all live very frenetic lives,” Franklin said. “This is an opportunity to sit back, take in the amazing views outside the window, and spend time with other travelers in a lovely luxury setting with great food and drink.”
Belmond relaunched Eastern & Oriental Express in Malaysia in 2024. This luxury train features amenities such as the Dior Spa.belmond
Not everyone can afford to spend thousands of dollars a night on Belmond trains. But financial barriers don’t have to stop travelers from dreaming of a luxury vacation.
According to Marni, all traditional train bookings on Railbooker now include small luxuries such as room upgrades, overnight stays in luxury hotels, and special excursions. This trend of what he calls “little luxuries” started just a few years ago.
Or, if you’re feeling extravagant, request one of Belmond’s new L’Observatoire suites. Lit by skylights, the mobile hotel rooms are spread throughout the vehicle and include a hidden tea room and marble bathroom with bathtub, all priced at approximately $101,515 per night.
It looks a lot like a train.
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