Skip to Content
News

La Dolce Vita Orient Express, Luxury Italian Train Travel Debuts

Pasta on the Orient Express? Here’s what to know about the newly announced train experience, open for bookings now and launching in Spring 2025.

La Dolce Vita Orient Express

A dining car aboard La Dolce Vita Orient Express train (rendering).

La Dolce Vita Orient Express is exactly what it sounds like: a glamorous Italian train journey. The famed travel brand has just announced a new series of itineraries across Italy, launching in Spring 2025 and available for booking now at orient-express.com.

The eight all-inclusive round-trip excursions will depart from Rome and head off to destinations including Portofino, Abruzzo, Piedmont, Tuscany, Matera, and Venice. Famed chef Heinz Beck, a German who became one of Italy’s best-known culinary figures for his work at Rome’s 3-Michelin star La Pergula, will oversee the kitchens on the La Dolce Vita Orient Express trains.

The new travel venture is a partnership between Italian luxury hospitality group Arsenale S.p.A, Orient Express, and Trenitalia-Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato, Fondazione DFS and Treni Turistici Italian TTI. 

La Dolce Vita Orient Express Suite
La Dolce Vita Orient Express suite (rendering).

Besides great Italian cuisine on-board and memorable destinations, the trips center around a luxurious train experience. The interiors are the work of Milan-based Dimorestudio, meant to evoke the La Dolce Vita era of Italian glamor in the 1960s and ‘70s. There are 12 carriages and a limit of 62 passengers per trip, with accommodations including 12 deluxe cabins, 18 suites, and a special La Dolce Vita Suite.

Guests will start their journey in Rome and depart for their selected destination, with one- or two-night, and two- to three-day themed itineraries such as The Truffle Route (from Rome to Piedmont) and Tastes of Tuscan Vineyards. There are also one-way trips exploring Sicily by rail. Guests will also have access to the newly created La Dolce Vita Orient Express Executive Lounge at Roma Ostiense. 

This being Italy, food and drink is of course central to the experience. Besides Beck’s menus showcasing Italian regional cuisine, wines will be curated in partnership with Vinitaly, the organization behind an annual wine and spirits exhibition. 

Prices for the trips start at EUR 3,500 per person (about $3,800 US) for a one-night itinerary in a deluxe cabin, or EUR 4,700 per person (about $5,150 US) in a suite.

The new train experience is being announced in advance of two new Orient Express hotels coming to Italy: Orient Express La Minerva in Rome, and Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice. Details on those openings will be revealed later this year.

See more renderings below.

La Dolce Vita Orient Express
La Dolce Vita Orient Express suite (rendering).
Deluxe room La Dolce Vita Orient Express
A deluxe room on the La Dolce Vita Orient Express (rendering).

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Appetito

Chef Domingo Schingaro of Due Camini in Puglia

Chef Domingo Schingaro of Due Camini shares his approach to seasonal cooking in Puglia.

March 20, 2026

Pappa al Pomodoro Recipe from Danimade Kitchen

A rustic Tuscan tomato and bread stew that transforms simple ingredients into something deeply flavorful.

March 20, 2026

Make St. Joseph’s Day Pasta the Brooklyn Roots Way

Chef Thomas Perone of Brooklyn Roots shares his recipe for St. Joseph's Day Pasta featuring marinated fish and robust aromatics.

March 19, 2026

Old School and Modern: Eating Italian in Los Angeles

A historic Beverly Hills red sauce institution with Sinatra-era roots offers a rare glimpse into old school Italian dining in Los Angeles, balanced by the city’s modern Italian evolution.

March 19, 2026

Gudrun Cuillo: The Woman Who Revived a Tuscan Hamlet and Winery

Twenty-one questions with Gudrun Cuillo, owner of Casalvento and Livernano in Chianti Classico.

March 19, 2026

Domenica Marchetti on Her New Cookbook: Italian Cookies

Italian cookbook author Domenica Marchetti shares the details of her forthcoming title dedicated to Italian cookies.

March 18, 2026
See all posts