Map of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Route — London to Istanbul via the Simplon Pass Loading interactive map…

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Route

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Route

London → Istanbul via the Simplon Pass

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The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is Belmond's luxury overnight train from Paris to Venice, running restored 1920s–40s carriages of the original Orient Express era on a roughly 24-hour journey through the Alps. Revived in 1982 from carriages bought at auction, it carries at most 187 guests — and is a private heritage train, not the historical scheduled service, whose route is mapped on our Orient Express page.

Route facts

Duration≈ 24 h; 2026 timetable: Paris dep 21:58, Venice arr 18:25 next day (London leg by Eurostar connection since 2024)1
OperatorBelmond (LVMH group since April 2019)2
The train18 carriages built 1926–1949; max 187 guests; three restaurant cars incl. the Lalique-panelled Côte d'Azur3
Fares (2026)Historic Twin Cabin from ≈ £4,300–4,500 per person incl. all meals; Suites from ≈ £9,700. Book at belmond.com1
Dress codeNo jeans or trainers; formal in the evening1
SeasonRoughly weekly, spring to late autumn; no winter service4
First run25 May 1982, London–Venice4

Terrain along the route

06001,200 London St Pancras International — 23 m, km 0Paris Gare de Lyon — 43 m, km 549Lausanne — 449 m, km 1029Brig — 675 m, km 1174Domodossola — 273 m, km 1214Milano Centrale — 131 m, km 1338Venezia Santa Lucia — 2 m, km 1605Ljubljana — 297 m, km 1946Zagreb — 115 m, km 2086Beograd — 95 m, km 2652Sofia — 541 m, km 3062Istanbul — 9 m, km 3703 1,728 m 0 km 3703 km
Terrain elevation sampled along the line — tunnels appear as the ridges they pass beneath. Highest station: Brig at 675 m. Computed from Trainmap's route geometry and AWS Open Data terrain tiles.

Scenic highlights

  • Swiss Alps via the Gotthard. Despite the name, the train no longer uses the Simplon route — since 2016 it primarily crosses via the Gotthard line; southbound passengers wake beyond Zurich to the Zürichsee or Walensee against a mountain backdrop.1
  • Arlberg Pass. Used on northbound and alternative routings through Austria — "wonderfully scenic" in Seat 61's description.1
  • Brenner Pass. On Arlberg-routed itineraries the train crosses into Italy over the Brenner.1

Stations on this route

  1. London St Pancras International
  2. Paris Gare de Lyon
  3. Lausanne
  4. Brig
  5. Domodossola
  6. Milano Centrale
  7. Venezia Santa Lucia
  8. Ljubljana
  9. Zagreb
  10. Beograd
  11. Sofia
  12. Istanbul

James Sherwood started the revival in 1977 with two original carriages bought at a Sotheby's auction in Monte Carlo, eventually spending $16 million on 35 vehicles. Sleeping car 3309 — marooned in a snowdrift for 10 days in 1929, the incident that helped inspire Murder on the Orient Express — is in today's train, per Belmond's official history. Extended itineraries to Vienna, Prague, Budapest and Istanbul run a few times a year.

“One beautifully-restored and truly historic train, superbly run and an utter pleasure to travel on.”

— Mark Smith, The Man in Seat 611

Related routes

Sources

  1. seat61.com
  2. globenewswire.com
  3. pdfs.belmond.com
  4. en.wikipedia.org

Facts last verified 2026-07-18 · About Trainmap · All iconic routes

Rail data: signal.eu.org/osm
Stations: Trainline, Nominatim
Maps: Carto, OpenStreetMap, Stamen, Stadia Maps
3D Terrain: AWS Terrain Tiles, Mapzen
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