Italy’s first luxury train – La Dolce Vita Orient Express

Posted in News on 4 July, 2024

Italy’s first luxury train, La Dolce Vita Orient Express, will commence its journeys in Spring of 2025, with bookings now open at orient-express.com  

Taking luxury rail travel to unparalleled heights, with a ‘Made in Italy’ experience, this exquisite new travel offering will feature eight one-to-two-night itineraries with immersive explorations from the north to the south of the country.

This venture, expertly guided by new General Manager Samy Ghachem (formerly Managing Director at Sereno Hotels and Frosch) marks a partnership between Italian luxury hospitality group Arsenale S.p.A., Orient Express, and Trenitalia-Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato, Fondazione FS and Treni Turistici Italiani TTI. The arrival of La Dolce Vita Orient Express comes close to the arrival of the first two Orient Express hotels: Orient Express La Minerva in Rome, followed by Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice.

The journeys will include access to the newly established La Dolce Vita Orient Express Executive Lounge at Roma Ostiense. The train’s design and décor conceived by Italian Dimorestudio have been masterfully curated to communicate the art of Italian living, with the sumptuous interior celebrating the design and craftmanship of 1960’s and 1970’s La Dolce Vita period in Italy.

The project takes inspiration from masters of Italian design, including Carlo Scarpa, Gio Ponti and Ignazio Gardella through to the great artists of the Spatialism movement that put space and time at the centre of its compositions, such as Lucio Fontana, Agostino Bonalumi and Enrico Castellani. La Dolce Vita Orient Express train marries the golden age of Italian design with a more contemporary spirit of travel. The design project was conceived to embody a flawless and understated balance between the historic and contemporary, while still maintaining its authenticity. The spaces are thoughtfully designed and always well-curated and subtle details complement each other graciously.

La Dolce Vita Orient Express with 12 carriages per train (only 62 passengers per train), 12 deluxe cabins, 18 suites and one La Dolce Vita Suite combines romance, style, the art of encounters and relaxation, with a cruising model for round-trip experiences.

Samy Ghachem comments: “It is a privilege to join La Dolce Vita Orient Express at this key period in the revival of the iconic Orient Express brand and the launch of Italy’s first foray into luxury rail hospitality. La Dolce Vita Orient Express is set to offer an inimitable take on luxury rail travel, reigniting a bygone era through a contemporary lens, Italian style.”

www.orient-express.com/la-dolce-vita