The Vintage Train Renaissance Is Here — And It’s Fabulous

31.03.2024 - 00:51 / forbes.com / Vita La-Dolce / Federico Fellini

The romance of pan-European train travel is nothing new. But a few high-profile redesigns in Italy have captured the imaginations of the globetrotting glitterati. Vintage slow trains are now the most elegant way to travel through Italy.

La Dolce Vita. The phrase conjures many things, not least the iconic black and white images of vintage convertible cars, shiny black sunglasses, glamorous starlets and hustling cads named Marcello — all unforgettably captured in Federico Fellini's iconic Italian film evoking a special time and place.

The years from 1958 to 1963 were known as Italy's ‘economic miracle,’ an era characterized by vibrant artistic expression (the films! the fashion!) and industrial innovation (the cars! the typewriters!). At that time, the country enjoyed practically full employment, and investment reached 27% of GDP. It was very short, but very sweet. And state railways became a vehicle to valorise it.

Even now, it’s impossible to look at Italy’s throwback trains in a non-cinematic way. The new class of slow trains is ushering in a (relatively) sustainable travel revival, cosseting passengers in sumptuous cabins, celebrating 1960s décor and the Italian design legends of that time, like Gio Ponti, Giulio Minoletti and Gae Aulenti.

La Dolce Vita Orient Express just announced its opening dates at the Duco travel summit in Milan in March, complete with an unveiling of a mock cabin of the long-awaited train designed by Milanese masters Dimore studio. The project is a joint venture of French hotel giant Accor and real-estate investment company Arsenale. This being Italy, they also had to obtain support from the non-profit Fondazione FS Italiane and Trenitalia, a subsidiary of Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato, Italy's state-owned railway holding company.

The result is an inspired mash-up of high-end hospitality, design, mobility and travel. And it’s already going gangbusters. Since pre-sales opened in December 2022, 400 cabins have been booked. Offering nine separate multi-night journeys, including such glamorous locales as Venice, Portofino, Siena, and Sicily, the train comprises 12 deluxe cabins and 18 suites, with prices starting at $3,800 per person for a deluxe cabin and at $5,100 per person for a suite. Itineraries are available to book starting in April.

Notably, Accor’s swanky new train comes years after the hotel company Belmond, acquired by LVMH in 2019, unveiled its Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) service from London to Venice. With its own resident bar car pianist and East-meets-West soirées, the Venice Simplon has been the talk of travel town since it launched in 2021.

Beginning in June, Belmond is offering a new coastal journey from Paris to the Italian Riviera with the last stop in