The Orient Express Amalfi Coast route in 2026 marks the arrival of one of the world’s most celebrated trains on the southern Italian coast.
Beginning in the spring of 2026, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will connect Paris with the Amalfi Coast on a three-night journey that hugs both the French and Italian Rivieras before arriving in the clifftop town of Ravello.
It marks the first time in the train’s history that it has run directly to the southern Italian shoreline — a region that has long been accessible primarily by road or ferry from Naples.
The Orient Express name is more than 140 years old, and it still turns heads. The train was born in 1883 to link Paris with Istanbul, and from the outset, it was synonymous with luxury and elegance.
Kings, diplomats, spies, and writers passed through its carriages. Its legend was cemented in 1934, when Agatha Christie set her most famous novel, Murder on the Orient Express, on board the train. Today it runs under the name Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, operated by Belmond, with original 1920s and ’30s carriages lovingly restored to transport passengers to another era.
The New Route: Paris to the Amalfi Coast in Three Nights
The new itinerary is part of Belmond’s “Villeggiatura by Train” series, combining rail travel with stays at Belmond properties along the way. The inaugural departure is set for May 4, 2026, from the Gare de l’Est in Paris.
One of the journey’s highlights is a stop at Pompeii, where passengers get exclusive access to sections of the site rarely open to the public.
From there, the journey continues by road to Ravello, where guests settle into the Caruso, A Belmond Hotel — an 11th-century palazzo converted into a luxury property with views over the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Aboard the train, chef Jean Imbert serves a multi-course lunch as the French countryside rolls past the windows. By evening, passengers gather in the Bar Car 3674, where piano music mingles with the clink of glasses. Dinner remains a formal affair — not an affectation, but part of what makes this journey what it is.
Accommodations range from traditional cabin compartments to Grand Suites with private marble bathrooms and a dedicated butler. For 2026, the train also introduces L’Observatoire, a new sleeping suite designed as a moving work of art, complete with its own library and tea salon.
Prices start at around $11,500 per person and include world-class dining, excursions, and a stay at the Hotel Caruso.
The Train as a Symbol of a Different Way to Travel
The new route launches amid a broader resurgence of rail tourism in Italy, where a growing number of travelers are choosing to slow down and watch the landscape unfold. Flying is faster. For these travelers, that’s exactly the point.
The Paris–Amalfi Coast route is part of what CNN Travel analysts have called the most ambitious European rail calendar in years, with at least 13 new routes confirmed for 2026.
The Orient Express did not invent luxury travel. But it was the first to prove that the journey itself could be worth as much as the destination. That idea is as old as the train itself — and it’s still why people book a ticket.
