Make room on your travel bucket list: France’s legendary Orient Express train is coming back in 2024.
The famously lavish train service originally debuted in October of 1883 and operated until 1977. Now, the French hospitality group Accor is refurbishing the train and resuming its service from the City of Light just in time for the Paris Olympics.
Though few details about the itinerary are available, it’s likely that the route will end in Istanbul just as the original Orient Express did. The luxury train has seventeen cars including 12 sleeping cars, one restaurant, and three lounges.
Many have unsuccessfully attempted to resurrect the Orient Express but this go-around is different. France’s national train service, the SNCF, tasked history researcher Arthur Mettetal to recover as much of the original Orient Express inventory as possible. After months of research, he was able to locate the carts in Warsaw and negotiate to have them escorted back to France.
Now, a team will work to restore and update the carts while maintaining the opulent Art Deco charm they originally donned. Guillaume de Saint Lager, the vice president of the Orient Express, says “The idea is to present a fantasy: a train that could have been made today or 100 years ago—with the addition of all the contemporary comforts, of course.”
Tickets will go on sale in 2023.
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