Rome by morning, Venice by evening, Sicily two days later — aboard a train whose interiors were drawn straight from the Italy of the 1960s. Walnut and velvet cabins, Michelin-level cooking at 60 miles an hour, and a country that keeps changing outside the window. Every La Dolce Vita journey below is quoted, tailored, and booked by a dedicated rail specialist at no cost to you.
Begin Your Journey
Tell us which La Dolce Vita journey caught your eye and a specialist will call within one business day — no pressure, no obligation.
A senior specialist will personally call you within one business day. If you'd like to talk now, call (479) 485-9000.
By appointment only. Every journey begins with a short consultation with your rail specialist — we call you, usually within hours. Or call or text us directly: (479) 485-9000. Zero spam.
Prices shown are "from" rates in US dollars per person, based on double occupancy and the lowest available cabin category and season, converted from the operator's published euro fares. Schedules, routes, and availability are subject to change; your final quote depends on travel dates, cabin category, and availability at time of booking.
Orient Express built these trains to look and feel like Italy at its most glamorous — the era of Fellini, Cinecitta, and the Via Veneto — and then routed them through the parts of the country most travelers never reach by road.
Warm woods, curved brass, deep colour, and geometric marquetry — the interiors are a deliberate return to the Italian design language of the dolce vita years, rebuilt inside historic carriages rather than imitated on a new one.
Onboard dining is overseen by three-Michelin-starred chef Heinz Beck, and the menus change with the region outside — Tuscan on the vineyard routes, Sicilian once the train is south of Naples.
Almost every itinerary is a loop from Rome, so there is no repositioning flight at either end. Board in the morning, and the country comes to you until the train sets you down where you started.
Fifteen itineraries across five collections, one specialist to shape whichever one fits you. Prices are the operator's published "from" rates converted to US dollars per person — the same figure you would pay booking direct.
Collection One · The Long Way Round
The two longest itineraries in the fleet: a five-day loop that reaches from the Venetian lagoon to Palermo, and a one-way crossing that leaves Italy altogether and keeps going east until it reaches Istanbul. Both run four nights aboard.
The Flagship
Rome → Venice → Matera → Taormina → Palermo → Rome
The full length of Italy in a single loop, from the canals of Venice to the cave dwellings of Matera and on across the water into Sicily. Book this one when you want the train itself to be the whole holiday rather than the way into one region.
Cross-Continent
Rome → Venice → Budapest → Transylvania → Istanbul
The one itinerary that leaves Italy behind, running east through Central Europe and the Carpathians before arriving at the Bosphorus. Available in either direction, and the rarest departure on the calendar.
Collection Two · Lagoons, Vineyards, and Hill Towns
Five three-day loops out of Rome into the country's most photographed north — Venice, the Tuscan hills, the Ligurian coast, Piedmont truffle country, and the vineyards of Montalcino and Verona. Two nights aboard on each.
Most Requested
Rome → Venice → Siena → Rome
The two images most people carry of Italy — a Venetian canal and a Tuscan hill town — joined by a single train and two nights in a cabin. The shortest itinerary that still feels like a complete journey rather than a taste of one.
Seasonal
Rome → Bolgheri → Venice → Florence → Rome
The same north-country loop rerouted for the cold months, adding the wine estates of Bolgheri and a stop in Florence. Venice out of season is the argument for this one: fog on the water, and the city almost to yourself.
Coast & Lagoon
Rome → Portofino → Venice → Florence and Tuscany → Rome
Two very different waterfronts in one loop: the pastel harbour of Portofino on the Ligurian coast, then the Venetian lagoon two nights later, with Florence and the Tuscan hills on the way home. The most varied of the three-day itineraries.
Food & Wine
Rome → Montalcino → Verona → Rome
Brunello country in Tuscany and the Valpolicella hills above Verona, tasted at the source and then continued over dinner as the train moves between them. Built for travellers who plan holidays around a cellar list.
Seasonal
Rome → Nizza Monferrato → Rome
North into Piedmont in the weeks when the white truffle is out of the ground and every kitchen in the region is built around it. A narrow window each autumn, and the menus aboard are written to match it.
Collection Three · The Sicily Crossing
The south is where this train earns its reputation. Two of these three itineraries put the carriages aboard a ferry to cross the Strait of Messina — the last railway in Europe that still does it — and the third goes inland to the cave city of Matera instead.
UNESCO
Rome → Matera → Pescocostanzo → Rome
Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth, a whole town cut into the rock, and this loop is built around a proper stay in it rather than a photograph of it. The mountain village of Pescocostanzo breaks the run home.
Signature Moment
Rome → Naples and Maratea → Taormina → Palermo
South along the Tyrrhenian coast to the cliffs of Maratea, then the ferry crossing of the Strait of Messina with the carriages loaded aboard and you still inside them. Taormina and Palermo close the journey on the Sicilian side.
Northbound
Palermo → Taormina → Maratea → Rome
The same route read backwards, starting in Palermo and finishing at Rome Ostiense. Worth choosing if you would rather spend your extra nights on the island beforehand and let the train carry you home.
Collection Four · One Night Aboard
The shortest format in the fleet: two days, one night in a cabin, and a single stop in between. These are the entry point to La Dolce Vita, and the easiest to attach to a week you are already spending in Italy.
Entry Price
Rome → Bolgheri → Venice
Rome in the morning, the coastal wine estates of Bolgheri by afternoon, Venice the following day. The least expensive way onto this train, and the one most guests use to find out whether they want four nights next time.
Southbound
Venice → Siena → Rome
Board in Venice, wake in Tuscany, and come into Rome with a day in Siena behind you. The natural pairing for anyone already flying into Venice and out of Rome.
Coast & Lagoon
Rome → Portofino → Venice
A single night that still takes in both Italian coasts, stopping on the Ligurian riviera before running east to the lagoon. The most scenic of the express journeys, and the one that sells out first in summer.
Collection Five · A Few Dates Only
Two itineraries that exist for one reason each — a run of northern golf courses, and the Venice Carnival. Both are calendar-locked and released as limited departures, so dates matter more here than on any other route.
Golf Collection
Rome → Turin → Brescia → Tuscany → Rome
Four days of northern Italian courses with the train as the clubhouse between them, moving overnight so each morning starts at a different first tee. Clubs travel with you and nobody has to drive.
Carnevale Only
Rome → Venice, Carnevale season
A costumed run north timed to arrive in Venice while the Carnival is on, with the party starting aboard rather than at the station. One of the few nights of the year the city looks the way the posters promise.
Every journey is customizable — dates, direction of travel, cabin category, and pre- or post-trip stays tailored to you.
Booking Orient Express through us costs exactly what booking Orient Express costs. Our commission is wholesale margin paid by the operator, not a markup added to you — so the specialist, the planning, and the support are free.
Every figure on this page is the operator's own published "from" rate, converted to dollars. We do not mark journeys up, and we do not charge a planning fee. Compare us to the brand's site line for line.
One person who knows which direction of travel suits which season, which cabin category is worth the upgrade on a two-night route, and which of these fifteen itineraries actually matches the trip you are describing.
A delayed flight into Fiumicino, a shifted departure date, a dietary note the day before you board. You call one number and it gets handled — not a queue, not a chatbot, not a form.
Travel advisors are paid a commission by the operator out of the fare you were already going to pay. That is why the price is identical whether you book direct or book with us — the only difference is whether you have someone in your corner when something changes.
La Dolce Vita journeys are sold as complete experiences rather than train tickets. Your cabin, your meals, your excursions ashore, and the logistics in between are all inside the fare quoted to you.
Inclusions vary by itinerary and cabin category. Your specialist confirms exactly what is covered, in writing, before anything is booked.
You won't be passed between agents, talked over by a call center, or asked to fill out a 40-field intake. One specialist. One conversation. One trip you'll talk about for the rest of your life.
Tell us which La Dolce Vita itinerary caught your eye and roughly when you'd like to travel. A short form, then a 20-minute call.
An all-in price at the operator's published rate, plus a specialist's notes on cabin category, direction of travel, and which departures hold the best value.
Add nights in Rome or Venice, move up a cabin category, reverse the direction, extend into Sicily. Adjust freely — we don't move on until you say yes.
Every booking, every transfer, every little ask while you're away. A direct line to your specialist, 24/7.
La Dolce Vita carries a limited number of cabins per departure, and several of these itineraries only exist for a few weeks a year — the truffle route in autumn, the winter loop in the cold months, the Carnival run for Carnevale itself. The Grand Tour and the Istanbul crossing release fewest departures of all. If you have a season in mind, ask now rather than next quarter.
Share a few details below. A senior specialist will personally call you within one business day to discuss first-pass ideas — at no cost, with zero obligation. Prefer to talk now? Call (479) 485-9000.
A senior specialist will personally call you within one business day to discuss your trip. If you'd like to talk now, call (479) 485-9000.