The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is still the most luxurious way to travel today. If you hear the words “Orient Express” they evoke thoughts of opulent carriages, glamour, luxury and a bygone, golden age. It captures the idea perfectly that “it is better to travel than to arrive”.
The legend began with the American George Mortimer Pullman, who we can thank for the concept of luxury train travel with his 1864 Pioneer that offered true comfort for rail passengers. His designs arrived in Britain in 1882 and from then on the word Pullman became a byword for luxury train travel in the UK. Around the same time the Belgian Georges Nagelmackers developed the Orient Express train, which was sumptuously decorated with rich furnishings and sparkling crystal, which ran originally between Paris and Romania.
In 1977, James B Sherwood, Chairman of Orient-Express Hotels, bought two of the original carriages at a Sotheby’s auction in Monte Carlo and set about meticulously restoring them. Over the next five years further Pullman and Wagons-Lit carriages were successfully found and the majestic new Venice Simplon-Orient-Express was launched on 25 May 1982. They consisted of a UK rake of umber and cream Pullman cars and a Continental rake of dark blue and gold Wagons-Lit carriages.
Travelling through some of Europe’s most spectacular scenery, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express quickly became a unique train like no other, and one of the most loved and coveted travel experiences in the world.
Georges Nagelmackers:
A young Belgian named Georges Nagelmackers was very impressed on his trip to the USA in 1867 by the Pullman night trains. He decided that on his return home he would establish such a network of trains in Europe, making them luxurious and able to travel across borders.
In 1874 Nagelmackers founded the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) the English translation is International Sleeping-Car Company; it is also known as just Wagons-Lits. It is an international hotel and travel logistics company specialising in catering and sleeping car services on board trains and is also the historical operator of the Orient Express.
At a time when travelling was still dangerous and uncomfortable, the Orient Express was a showcase in luxury and comfort and a network of luxury trains were soon expanded across Europe.
Then years later the et des Grands Express Europeens became part of the name and by 1886 his company was the main organiser for most European Heads of State. The symbol “WL” held by two lions became a well-known trade mark.
Orient Express A Brief History:
The first Express d’Orient left Paris for Vienna on 5 June, 1883, however, in 1891 the train was officially renamed Orient Express.
The original route was from Paris, Gare de I’Est to Giurgiu in Romania via Munich and Vienna. At Giurgiu the passengers were ferried across the Danube to Ruse, Bulgaria to pick up another train to Varna. The journey would then be completed to Istanbul by ferry. Two years later in 1885 another route opened up with passengers reaching Istanbul via rail from Vienna to Belgrade and Nis, carriage to Plovdiv and rail again to Istanbul. Then, four years later, the train’s eastern terminus became Varna in Bulgaria, where passengers could then sail onto Istanbul.
On 1 June, 1889 the first non-stop train to Istanbul left Paris and this remained its easternmost stop until 19 May, 1977. The eastern terminus was the Sirkeci Terminal by the Golden Horn. A ferry service would take passengers across the Bosphorus to Haydarpasa Terminal, the terminus of the Asian lines of the Ottoman Railways.
In 1914 WWI saw the Orient Express suspend its services but they were resumed at the end of the war in 1918. In 1919 the Simplon Tunnel was opened and this allowed the introduction of a more southerly route via Milan, Venice and Trieste. The service on this route was known as the Simplon Orient Express and it ran in addition to the old route. The Treaty of Saint-Germain contained a clause requiring Austria to accept this train. The Simplon Orient Express soon became the most important rail route between Paris and Istanbul.
It was during the 1930s that the Orient Express acquired its reputation for comfort and luxury, carrying sleeping cars and restaurant cars known for the quality of their service and cuisine. Royalty and the Upper Classes travelled on these trains with services including sleeping cars which ran from Calais to Paris, thus extending the service from one side of continental Europe to the other. There were three parallel services: the Orient Express, the Simplon Orient Express and the Arlberg Orient Express which ran via Zurich and Innsbruck to Budapest and had sleeper cars for the onward journey to Bucharest and Athens.
From 1939 until 1945 service was again interrupted as war raged across Europe once again with World War II. The German Mitropa company tried to run some services on the route through the Balkans but Yugoslav Partisans frequently sabotaged the tracks forcing this service to stop.
Normal services resumed following the end of the war except on the Athens route, where the closure of the border between Yugoslavia and Greece prevented services from running and there were other interruptions to services during this time. As the Iron Curtain fell across Europe the service did continue to run but the Communist countries increasingly replaced the Wagons-Lits cars with carriages run by their own railway services.
By 1962 the Orient Express and Arlberg Orient Express had stopped running, leaving only the Simplon Orient Express. This was replaced in 1962 by a slower service called the Direct Orient Express which ran daily cars from Paris to Belgrade and also twice weekly services from Paris to Istanbul and Athens.
The Wagons-Lits Company stopped running carriages itself in 1971 and making revenues from a ticket supplement. Instead it sold or leased all its carriages to the various national railway companies but continued to supply staff for the carriages. The direct service from Paris to Athens was withdrawn in 1976 and the last Paris – Istanbul Direct Orient Express ran for the last time on 19 May 1977.
A service under the name of the Orient Express continued to run from Paris to Budapest and Bucharest as before (via Strasbourg, Munich and Budapest). This continued until 2001 when the service was cut back to Paris to Vienna, the coaches for which were attached to the Paris-Strasbourg express. This service was continued with the timetables listing it under Orient Express until 8 June 2007. When the LGV Est Paris-Strasbourg high speed rail line opened on 10 June 2007 the Orient Express service was further cut back to Strasbourg – Vienna.
Orient Express further History and trivia:
The Orient Express made its debut in 1883 and was an instant success. The Ottoman Empire had been fashionable and interesting to the Upper Classes and Aristocracy across Europe for a long time and now there was a luxurious way of getting there.
In 1920 the President of France was Paul Deschanel and he found himself in an embarrassing situation when he stumbled off the train in his pyjamas and slippers. He reached the signal box and said to the two signal men “I am the President of France” to which one of them replied “And I am Emperor Napoleon”.
In 1929 there was a murder aboard the train while it was trapped in Turkey for six days in deep snow and this event inspired Agatha Christie’s famous book “Murder on the Orient Express”.
On another occasion the author herself was stuck on board for 24 hours due to floods.
Agatha Christie’s authorised biography quotes in full a letter to her husband detailing the event. The letter includes descriptions of some passengers on the train who influenced the plot of the book and in particular an American lady called Mrs Hilton, who was her inspiration for the character of Mrs Hubbard.
The book made the train service world famous but it acquired a different sort of fame during the Great War and WWII.
As the train went through so many different countries it became popular with spies as it allowed passengers to slip unnoticed across borders. Famous spies such as Mata Hari, who was executed in 1917 for her part in spying for the enemy were amongst its passengers and also the allied spy, Lord Robert Baden-Powell.
Lord Baden-Powell (better known to the world as the founder of the Boy Scouts) would travel on the train. He made sketches of butterflies but the intricate patterns in the wings of these insects were actually detailed drawings of the enemy fortifications that he had seen.
The actress Marlene Dietrich was a frequent traveller aboard the Orient Express. She would travel on board with Jean Gabin in particular, who was enlisted in the Free French Navy during the war. Afterwards they would travel together sharing a cabin on the Train Bleu.
Adolf Hitler took an interest in one of the carriages of the train, and that was because it had been used by the allies in 1918 as a conference room where the Germans had signed their surrender document on 11 November 1918.
After troops stormed Paris in 1940, Hitler ordered the same carriage to be brought to the place of the signing in 1918. Five years later, as his own defeat appeared inevitable the carriage was blown up to prevent it from becoming a symbol of Allied triumph.
The train has been associated with other writers and also the film industry. Graham Greene’s 1932 book “Stamboul Train” was based on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express and the novel was renamed “Orient Express” when it was published in the United States. Graeme Green wrote “in Stamboul Train for the first and last time in my life I deliberately set out to write a book to please, one which with luck might be made into a film. The devil looks after his own and I succeeded in both aims”. A film based on his book named Orient Express was made in 1934.
In 1963 the James Bond movie “From Russian With Love” sees Sean Connery strangle Donald “Red” Grant, played by Robert Shaw, with his own garrote aboard the Orient Express. The fight scene remains an all time classic with the famous quote from 007 “You won’t be needing this old man.”
The Spies Express:
The train earned the name “Spies’ Express” as secret agents seemed to love the train according to the historian Cookridge, writing “it made their jobs so much easier and their travels much more comfortable.” One of these secret agents was named Robert Baden-Powell and he made intricate sketches of the forms and colours of butterfly wings while posing as a lepidopterist in the Balkans. These sketches were actually coded representations of the fortifications he spotted along the Dalmation Coast, which were a great aid to the British and Italian Navy during The Great War.
Orient Express During The War:
The Orient Express service was severely limited during both World Wars, however, a single carriage played a fascinating symbolic role in both. On 11 November 1918 German Officers signed a surrender document in an Allied Commander’s Wagons-Lits car, which was used as a mobile conference room.
The French exhibited this carriage in Paris until June 1940 when Hitler ordered that it be moved to the exact place where the Germans had been forced to surrender 22 years before and there he dictated the terms of the French surrender. However, four years later when the war was not going well for Germany, Hitler ordered the carriage be blown up “lest it become a trophy of the Allies once more.”
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Great service, very helpful. Lee went to all the lengths to give us the Orient Express package that we wanted. Polite and knowledgeable.
We will be using them again.
Posted 2 weeks ago
Neil Dowlman
A very efficient, helpful and professional service. Particularly from Sasha who made our 25th Wedding Anniversary holiday very special with the care and attention to arranging excellent accommodation right down to logistics and some lovely touches on making it a holiday to remember - thank you
Posted 3 weeks ago
William Young
It is the first time we have used a travel agent to book a package holiday which included the travel, hotel and event as one booking so quite rightly your a little apprehensive that everything goes smoothly.
We were kept informed regularly before leaving and laterly presented with a very good presentation pack which included the itinerary in date order so we got off to a very good start.
The seating arrangements that were pre booked were in a prime position along with the quality of our hotel which Mulberry Travel recommended and could not be faulted due to its uninterrupted views overlooking the coast.
All in all this break represented very good value for money and took away a lot of the stress to organize something special whilst using the knowledge of Mulberry travel to good effect.
So 5 stars for value and quality from me.
Posted 3 months ago
Lizzie
Andrea Bocelli was absolutely sensational!! Probably the best experience of my life thus far! I'll definitely go again next year & the year after. Mulberry Travel did it all so well... every aspect, the hotel in the best location right by the Ponte Vecchio, the pick up from the airport, dinner before the concert was out of a dream... an absolute perfect dream plucked out of my mind 🥰
Thanks a million Lee at Mulberry Travel.... it was all perfectly seamless 😊😊
Posted 3 months ago
Vickie
Thank you to Lee and staff for a magical Trip to see Andrea Bocelli. The casa Del Nero was an amazing experience as well. We will definitely be working with you in the future. All the best.
Posted 3 months ago
Paul Lavelle
Mulberry Travel delivered an incredible bespoke travel experience, making all the arrangements for our trip to Florence combined with attending the Andrea Bocelli concert held in his home village in Tuscany.
All the travel arrangements were perfect, transfers etc were all on time and so professional. The hotel in Florence was fantastic, no complaints at all. The concert was fantastic and the location for the pre-concert dinner was stunning. An experience my wife and I will never forget! A big thanks to Sasha for making all the arrangements, first class customer service throughout.
Posted 4 months ago
Jim
We paid for five, star, we expected 5 star, and that's what we got! Superbly arranged by Mulberry travel, and I have no hesitation in recommending their services.
Posted 4 months ago
Eryl Drew
Really grateful to Sasha at Mulberry Travel for arranging our trip to Tuscany to see Andrea Boccelli.
Sasha arranged everything on my behalf and was an amazing experience.
We arrived at Pisa Airport where we we were collected by our own driver and taken to our hotel in Florence, a beautiful hotel that was ideally located.
The day of the concert we were driven through the Tuscan countryside for an alfresco 5 course meal......was something of a film set, afterwards we we were dropped off at the entrance to the venue.
Thanks to Mulberry Travel and Sasha for arranging everything on my behalf for an amazing experience.
We'll definitely be booking this trip again......thank you.
Posted 4 months ago
Angela Gledhill
Extremely well organised from start to finish. Had a wonderful trip!
Posted 7 months ago
Dave Box
A fantastic experience on the Belmond Pullman from London Victoria to Liverpool taking in the Grand National.
The food on board the train was sublime, I can say no more. Service from Tim, Andrew and Nigel was perfect within carriage Perseus.
The train was lovely and each carriage different.
Overall my party of four have applied for next year, hopefully we will be successful.
Posted 7 months ago
Glyn Farrar
As I had hoped it was a fabulous and unique experience from stepping out from the Clermont onto the concourse of Victoria Station and almost straight away being approached by Belmond staff to escort us to check in. The ratio of staff to guest on the whole journey was so high to ensure attentive service.
I know the British Pullman is denoted as the hors d’oeuvre with the VSOE the main positive course! For us however the Pullman was the ultimate experience. We feel it is our country Britain at its very best! Everything about it is so British with real quality and indulgence. I’m so so sorry and disappointed to hear that the British Pullman service is no longer going to be a feature of Orient Express journeys! I even took photos of the toilets with the mosaic tiles!
On the actual Orient Exoress, even though I had done all the research I thought I needed, we weren’t clear that certain wines and champagnes were complimentary Ian’s eyes popped out at the prices of some of the bottles! We enjoyed all our meals though the drinks for breakfast were served in cups and therefore were not hot
The transfer to the Ca Sagredo was really well organised and efficient. Though they didn’t say at reception as we checked in, it was clear on entering the room that it was not the Grand Canal Double and that we had been upgraded! We were shown to the Library Suite with balcony onto Grand Canal. Maybe it was through the membership of that hotel group that I have
The break in Florence was also lovely with attentive service and friendliness from staff at The Lungarno. That hotel has the best location in terms of proximity to Ponte Vecchio
Sasha we were also pleased with the efficiency of the agents you use for the transfers. The timings were so accurate and agsin service very attentive
The only slight snag we had was as we got off the water taxi at Venice Santa Lucia. We know now it was separate from that service. A porter was waiting with a barrow and started to load our luggage! It was a short distance to the station concourse yet we were charged 20 Euros as an official transaction with a machine issuing a receipt
Apart from that we enjoyed a truely memorable holiday which I can recommend as a unique treat for a special celebration.
Posted 7 months ago
Jeremy Willson
Our trip on the Orient Express can only be described as amazing.
From meeting the Pullman at Victoria and travelling through the English countryside the level of Service was impeccable.
Meeting the Orient Express in Calais was one of those Wow moments. We were met by the VSOE staff and escorted on to the train the champagne was opened and the Golden age of travel was revived.
Lakes and mountains as you travel through the countryside are simply breathtaking.
The cuisine on the train was amazing as was our steward that looked after us through out our trip.
Arriving in Venice the boat transfers were seamless, and another great experience arriving at our hotel.
We stayed at the Liassidi palace hotel, perfectly situated in the city.
Venice is just amazing.
Wonderful, faultless, brilliantly organised holiday.
Posted 1 year ago
Anonymous
My husband and I have recently returned from a trip on the Orient Express to Venice which was organised for us by Sasha at Mulberry Travel. The holiday was fabulous and went perfectly due to Sasha's excellent organisation. We were glad to have found Mulberry Travel as they made everything very efficient and easy. We would highly recommend them.
Vivien
Posted 1 year ago
Paul Gayford
So where do I begin? Firstly thanks to Sasha for arranging an amazing trip for us on the Orient Express and our stay in Venice. Also for holding the trip over from when we originally booked, pre-pandemic.
The trip and hotel exceeded our expectations. Attention to detail and seamless transfers throughout were without fault.
Many Thanks to Mulberry. We wil certainly approach them again for future trips.
Posted 1 year ago
Anonymous
Excellent travel company. Very professional from booking our holiday all the way through to the end, very well organised.
I would not hesitate to use Mulberry Travel in the future.
Posted 1 year ago
David Barker
Can't thank Sasha enough for organizing a fantastic trip to Venice for us. The highlight was an amazing Andrea Boccelli concert, but the L'Oroglio hotel was great, with really friendly and helpful staff. All our transfers worked like clockwork from the speedboat from the airport to the hotel and back, and the limousine to and from the concert. Overall a wonderful few days and we won't hesitate to use Mulberry again.
Posted 1 year ago
Susan Liston
We would like to thank Sasha for all her help in organising our recent trip to Florence and our wonderful
evening at the Andrea Bocelli concert in Lajatico. The attention to detail from our first contact through to
our detailed Itinerary package was second to none.
We hope to use Mulberry Travel again in the future and will certainly recommend them to our friends.
Posted 1 year ago
Robert Walters
Three years ago, pre -Covid we booked a package to see Andrea Bocelli in concert in Lajatico,Tuscany through Mulberry Travel. We returned yesterday from that trip having witnessed the Maestro singing at the Theatre of Silence, with the finale Nessum Dorma ringing in our ears and etched in our memories.
This was achieved by the patience and persistence of the team at Mulberry Travel, who were faced with changes of travel dates, cancelled flights, and different airports whilst bombarded by the twists and turns of Covid 19. As a result of their fortitude and determination and our patience, we eventually savoured 3 wonderful nights and days exploring Florence, followed by an equally captivating 4 days on a vineyard in the Chianti region, eating Italian food and drinking home-grown wines whilst relaxing in the sun. Sincere thanks to you all Rob,Lee and Sasha and the team at Mulberry. Bravissimo!!!
Posted 1 year ago
Mick Ferns
Thankyou sasha an mulberryvtravel amazing trip to Florence to see Andrea bochelli
Posted 1 year ago
Nicola Garrington
We had the most amazing trip to Italy to see Andrea bocelli in concert. The whole trip was booked through mulberry travel and it was really well organised from the moment we stepped off the plane to the moment we arrived back in the uk. I would definitely recommend mulberry travel. They kept us up todays with everything from the moment we booked.
Thank you for the most memorable holiday x
Posted 1 year ago
Colette Harding
Well what can I say, Mulberry Travel, especially Sasha are a fantastic company to book your holidays through. My friend & I have just returned back from Florence where we went to see Andrea Bocelli in concert. First class service from start to finish. Will definitely be using them again!!! Colette