ABOVE TOP: The Grand Suites are the pinnacle of the VSOE by Belmond experience. They come with a seperate bedroom and living area, and each has its own marbled en-suite bathroom. BOTTOM LEFT: Go for a stroll or head to one of three dining cars to allow your butler to make your bed and prep the room. BOTTOM RIGHT: Traditional Venetian mirror detailing.

You’ve probably heard of slow food. Slow fashion too. But, while there’s no recognised subculture for slow travel, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express certainly fits the bill. Of course, the VSOE is not slow per se, but a ‘Slow Philosophy’ is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace anyway, rather it’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed, and it has been dominating its niche market for over 40 years. Mind you, if that doesn’t seem long enough it’s because this latest incarnation of the Orient Express only began in 1982, when James Sherwood, an American shipping-container magnate and owner of the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, decided to resurrect it to re-conjure the golden age of travel as a more romantic means of ferrying in customers to his iconic hotel. The original service dates back to 1883 when Georges Nagelmackers, a Belgian entrepreneur, had the idea of bringing the American Pullman-sleeping car concept to Europe. Sadly, despite the train’s initial popularity (and the fact that Agatha Christie forever immortalised it in her 1934 novel ‘Murder on the Orient Express’) it was axed in the 1970s; a victim of cheap air travel.

Nonetheless, thanks to Sherwood, more than 35 of the original carriages including sleepers, restaurants and Pullmans were acquired, painstakingly restored, and put back into service. The price today for such luxury? It begins at 4,000 USD per person, per night, and rises to 12,000 USD a night for one of the six ultra-luxurious en-suite carriages called Grand Suites. We’re informed that the majority of VSOE travellers only do a single night to one of a list of various European cities. Of course, some do longer loops starting and ending in Paris. But those who want to put the Orient in the Orient Express, have only one opportunity a year to do so on the five-night Paris-to-Istanbul ride because, as VSOE puts it, they’d rather “preserve its rarity and mystique.”

“Arriving on the platform and seeing our almost 100-year-old refurbished carriages waiting for the guests to board is just one of the many special moments,” VSOE General Manager Pascal Deyrolle tells us. “There is something magical about it; it marks the start of our guests’ emotional journey through space and time.”

We were invited to try a new category of intermediate suite, which was introduced in June, starting at 8,000 USD a night and found the atmosphere, as Deyrolle puts it, to be one of gleeful excitement as we stood alongside our fellow travellers, all dressed up, awaiting our chance to board at Paris’s Gare de l’Est station.

The new Suites are surprisingly spacious for a private cabin on a train, encompassing private marble en-suite bathrooms and a lounge that transforms into a double or twin beds. They’re opulently furnished and crammed with incredible craftsmanship including brilliantly detailed pearl inlay marquetry by master-artisan Philippe Allemand that’s designed to evoke the legendary styles of pioneering Art Deco designers like Lalique and Dufrene.

“As the demand for greater privacy continues to grow, we decided to add these eight larger new Suites to our train, as a place where our guests can spend time with their loved ones and create new memories together as they journey through Europe,” Deyrolle explains. “Two original carriages have been restored by expert French craftsmen and designers, who have reimagined the spaces on board the train whilst maintaining their ‘Golden Era of Travel’ look and feel.”

ABOVE LEFT: The VSOE has three elegant dining carriages, ‘L’Oriental’ with Chinese lacquered walls, here, as well as ‘Étoile du Nord’ with marquetry and ‘Côte d’Azur’ with Lalique crystal insets. ABOVE RIGHT: Making memories as the world flies by. The VSOE cabins have a great benefit that’s not often mentioned: the windows can be opened, providing fresh air and unobstructed views. Plus, one can literally smell the countryside – a significant advantage over hermetically sealed vehicles.

With an overall design aesthetic that was overseen by Wimberly Interiors – renowned for their work in the hospitality industry – the new Suites are split between four equally gorgeous styles that draw from the sublime landscapes the VSOE journeys through. For example, La Forêt’s warm, earthy tones recall the golden and crimson foliage of Germany’s Black Forest in autumn. La Campagne’s pastel greens and intricate flower designs invoke the lush pastures and vineyards of Northern Italy in spring. Les Lacs reflects the many iconic lakes along the VSOE’s route, from Italy’s Lake Como to Lake Lugano in Switzerland, with its deep blue hues and silvery detailing. And Les Montagnes – our own refuge on this incredible train – boldly embodies the Alps and Austria’s Arlberg Massif with its wintery white fabrics, dark mahogany panels, and frosted glass fittings.

“The joy of working on these Suites was our ability to access some of the best craftsmanship across Europe,” explained Rachel Johnson, Senior Director at Wimberly Interiors. “The challenge was the consistency. We had to ensure that every last detail is considered and incorporated in the design with authentic provenance. Each carriage was stripped back to the shell and rebuilt to incorporate the technical requirements – the air conditioning, electrics and so on – so that they were concealed and seamlessly integrated into the final designs.”

ABOVE: The Suites are a new category, between the Grand Suites and the Historic Cabins with their Pullman beds. They come in two formats with either a sofa that converts into a double bed, or two loungers that convert into twins.

Still, good looks will only get you so far and luckily the VSOE experience is just as much about service, and to that end we must say their legendary culinary team does not disappoint. Once settled and underway, we got the chance to tuck into a sumptuous fourcourse dinner that began with a lobster bisque, continued to a fresh turbot with stuffed zucchini flowers followed by a refreshing raspberry sorbet, and ended with a rich brioche perdu served with honey ice cream and stewed cherries. It was sublime.

The rest of our night was spent in the entertainment car, which legend has it never closes. There we got to enjoy delightful refreshments and the chance to mingle with other guests to the backdrop of a live piano performance until we eventually had to tear ourselves away and turn in for the night.

The next morning, we awoke to see the train was passing through the Swiss Alps. Unlike dinner, breakfast was delivered to our cabin, replete with fantastically flaky pastries, fresh fruit juices, jams, coffee, tea, and even a cheese board. It was a great way to kick off our second day aboard, and we happily wiled away the rest of the morning watching the world go by our carriage window.

Come lunchtime – following a brief stop on the Swiss-Italian border at Chiasso to take on a new engine and driver – the food was once again superlative, this time with a brilliant selection of bluefin tuna tartare, a main course of either seabream or devil roasted chicken, and a wellbalanced strawberry tiramisu that cleansed the palette.

As we finally pulled into Venice, signalling the end of our journey, there was a sorrowful sense that we were leaving behind something special aboard the most famous train in the world. A single night just isn’t enough. The VSOE is like a time capsule, filled with style, flare and an irreplaceable sophistication. It’s a travel experience that proves it’s not where you’re going but how you get there that truly matters.

Photography: Ludovic Balay