How much is a trip on the Orient Express?
One of the most common questions we are asked at LuxuryTrainTickets.com is ‘How much does it cost to go on the Orient Express?’ This is a question with a very complex answer and one we will explore throughout this guide.
When many think of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, they imagine a luxurious train famed by various novels and films, but how much of this perception is true and how much is simply fantasy?
In this guide, we explore what the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express was, and what it is today and answer one of our most frequently asked questions, 'How much does it cost to ride the Orient Express'.
Luxury train journey prices
- UK Day Trips start from £485/€575/$645 per person
- European Sleeper Trips start from £3,885/€4,600/$4,734 per person
- Scotland Sleeper Trips start from £4,800/€5,685/$5,849 per person
- Southeast Asian Sleeper Trips start from £3,400/€4,030/$4,150 per person
All that said, keep reading to find out why this only makes up a small portion of the answer.
Luxury Train Deals: Save off any luxury sleeper train journey
Exclusive to LuxuryTrainTickets.com blog readers, use code ‘ORIENT5’ for a discount on any luxury sleeper train journey. Not redeemable against day trips.
Luxury Train Day Trip Prices
A great way to get an Orient-Express-Style experience is with a trip on a vintage day-trip train in the UK. The lowest-priced luxury train journeys start from around £485 per person for a British Pullman scenic lunch journey. The price for a full-day trip on either the Northern Belle or the British Pullman starts at around £560 per passenger. These trips include brunch on the outward journey, time to spend in your chosen destination and dinner with wine on the way home.
Some of the more affordable Orient Express style journeys are available in the UK, the Golden Age of Travel, offers a lunch journey aboard the British Pullman at around £535 per passenger. Journeys like these are round trips, sometimes stopping at destinations, while others are simply a ride through the glorious British countryside, where you are treated to unrivalled levels of luxury and the finest cuisine.
Many of these journeys are dining journeys, such as Sunday lunches and Murder Mysteries, and take passengers on scenic round-trips cross-country while passengers enjoy glorious cuisine onboard. Other UK journeys include excursions visiting popular UK destinations or even events, for example Highclere Castle and the Goodwood Revival. Journeys like these are usually aboard beautifully restored 1920s and 1930s carriages, most hauled by diesel but occasionally hauled by steam for special journeys.
These luxury train journeys are ideal for treating someone special or for simply experiencing what the levels of opulence must have been like back in the early 1900s.
Examples of prices by cabin and route
To give you a realistic idea of what a luxury train journey actually costs, let’s look at one of our most popular routes: The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, travelling from Paris to Venice.
This one-night journey offers three distinct accommodation types, and the price jumps significantly depending on the level of luxury you choose.
Historic Twin Cabin. From £3,800/€4,600/$4,734 per person. For this cost, you get a beautifully restored 1920s cabin with banquette seating that converts into bunk beds, plus a private washbasin. All your dining and drinks with meals are included.
Twin/Double Suite. From £8,800/€10,445/$11,700 per person. Upgrading to a suite gets you a choice of double or twin beds (no bunks) and, crucially, a private bathroom with a shower.
Grand Suite. From £12,500/€14,600/$16,300 per person. The absolute pinnacle of luxury. Grand Suites feature a large double bed, a separate living area, options to dine in your cabin, an en-suite bathroom, and free-flowing champagne.
A budget of £3,800 per ticket allows you to experience a Venice Simplon-Orient-Express style sleeper train across some of the world’s most beautiful countries. Your choice of journeys really does start to open up with this budget and allows you to experience unrivalled levels of luxury, night and day. It’s important to remember everything is included for this price, such as accommodation, all meals aboard the train, most alcoholic drinks, 24-hour steward service and on-board entertainment.
Prices vary similarly on other trains. For example, a two-night Taste of the Highlands journey on the Royal Scotsman starts from about £6,000 per person for a cabin, while the price of a Grand Suite on the same journey typically starts at about £14,000 per person.
Key Factors That Affect Your Ticket Price
When budgeting for a luxury train journey, there are some things to consider.
- Cabin Tier. As shown above, your choice of accommodation is a prime factor. Upgrading from a cabin to a suite with a private bathroom can often double the price of the ticket
- Time of year and availability. Similar to luxury hotels, most of the train companies we work with have dynamic pricing, meaning that the less availability there is on a particular journey, the higher the price will be. When a schedule is first released, the prices tend to be the same, but when certain dates start to get booked up, the price starts to climb
- Journey Duration. A simple day-trip through the English countryside on the British Pullman starts around £485 per person. A one-night European journey sits around £3,800, while a multi-day epic - like the five-night Paris to Istanbul route - can exceed £18,000 per person for a historic cabin
Luxury Sleeper Train Journeys under £6,000/€6,900/$7,500
A healthy budget such as this opens up a world of options for a luxury sleeper train journey aboard one of the world's most beautiful trains. This budget opens up possibilities on board a luxury train that travels across the Highlands of Scotland (Royal Scotsman) or to the most beautiful locations in England and Wales (Britannic Explorer). These trains are so luxurious that they even includes their own onboard spa!
For this price, you are invited to explore some of Scotland’s famous stately homes, gardens & distilleries on your very own private tour, in between your two to seven nights aboard what can only be described as luxury on wheels.
The Britannic Explorer will take you to magical destinations such as the Lake District, where you will experience breathtaking scenery, local delicacies, and guided tours.
Everything is included in the ticket price - All excursions meals and even selected drinks from the bar. Prices for journeys like this tend to start from £5,800 per person.
Luxury Sleeper Train Journeys over £6,000/€6,900/$7,500
With a budget of £6,000, €6,900, $7,500 USD or more per ticket, the world really is your oyster. Choose from any luxury sleeper train in the world and head wherever your heart desires.
Alternatively, you could experience some of the longer journeys onboard the European Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train. For this budget, you could upgrade your cabin to something larger and even more luxurious. You could also embark on a return journey that even includes leisure time at a particular European city of interest.
If you really want to experience the best of the best, you could experience the original luxury sleeper train route from Paris to Istanbul. A five-night journey, three of which are onboard while two are spent in luxurious hotels, where you transverse Europe in unrivalled luxury and are treated to special VIP tours. Expect tickets for a journey such as this to start from around £18,000/€21,000/$26,000 per person.
How to get the best price on a luxury train
Because these journeys are so exclusive and run on limited schedules, tickets sell out incredibly fast. However, there are still ways to ensure you get the best possible value:
Book well in advance: Prices for luxury trains are dynamic, meaning they rise as availability drops. Booking 12 months in advance is the best way to secure the lowest possible fare.
Look for single supplement waivers: If you’re travelling solo, you are usually expected to pay a “single supplement” fee (often the same price as another ticket) to cover the cost of the unused space in a cabin. However, operators occasionally waive these fees on select dates, creating huge savings for solo travellers.
Our price-match guarantee: At LuxuryTrainTickets.com, we work directly with the train operators. This means that we offer a price-match guarantee. If you find a like-for-like journey advertised cheaper elsewhere, we will do our best to match it or even beat it.
Complimentary Concierge Service: We’re here to help
Our complimentary concierge service is always on hand to offer the best advice or to find you the perfect journey. Our experts can make the impossible possible and can work within budgets, dates, timeframes and destinations to get you the perfect luxury train journey. If you need anything at all, we are here. Unlike some operators, we don’t have a call centre, and instead pride ourselves on our small team of experts whose job is to simply advise customers on journeys and trains to ensure they have a memorable journey.
When looking for trips on a luxury train, we are the experts. At LuxuryTrainTickets.com, we do things differently from other ticket providers and offer trips on luxury trains at prices most can’t match. We work closely with the train operators, meaning we can usually offer a price that matches, if not beats the advertised price if you were to book directly. Plus, we usually have promotional codes available at certain times of the year meaning you’ll be getting an even better price on your luxury train ticket. Plus we’re always happy to take a deposit and let you pay the balance when you like, as long as the journey is paid in full 15 weeks before departure.
So should you need any help finding your perfect journey, have questions about any of the trains or routes featured here, or would just like to know more about luxury train travel, please contact us either by phone, email or live chat and we’ll be more than happy to help.
