Paris to Portofino, Aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
Signature Journey · Limited availability
4 days | October 15–18, 2026 | From £9,550 per cabin
Image courtesy of Belmond
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express was not designed to compete with modern travel. It exists as an alternative—one that places value on continuity, atmosphere, and the experience between departure and arrival. Boarding in Paris feels less like leaving and more like settling in: champagne poured, cabins revealed, time recalibrated.
Once the train pulls away, the outside world softens. Art Deco interiors glow under lamplight. Lunch stretches longer than planned. Conversation drifts from table to table in the bar car, carried by piano notes and the easy confidence of a space shaped by decades of remarkable travelers.
As evening settles in, dinner becomes an event rather than a necessity—seasonal ingredients, thoughtful wine pairings, service that feels intuitive rather than performative. Later, your cabin is quietly transformed while you’re away, and sleep arrives to the steady cadence of the rails moving south through France.
Morning brings a shift in palette. The light changes. The air warms. By the time the train curves along the Mediterranean—past Cannes, Nice, and into Italy—you’re already moving at a different pace.
From Santa Margherita Ligure, the journey continues to Portofino, where the former monastery of Splendido sits high above the harbour. This is Riviera living at its most composed: sea-view breakfasts, afternoons that invite you to choose between a coastal walk, a tennis court, or doing very little at all.
Experiences here are intentionally unhurried. A guided hike to the lighthouse. A culinary session with local producers. Evenings shaped by aperitivo, music, and Ligurian cuisine, served against a backdrop that has not needed improvement for centuries.
This Paris-to-Portofino journey is not about accumulating destinations. It’s about continuity—moving from one icon to another without breaking the spell in between. Travel as a single, considered narrative rather than a collection of stops.
If you’re planning something special and this journey feels like the right fit, get in touch.
