Belmond has announced a new route for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express: Paris to Monte Carlo, with the first departure scheduled for May 10, 2027 and set to run annually after that, as Robb Report reported. If you are weighing a rail journey against another night in a hotel, start with how much of the trip you want to spend in transit.
The itinerary is an overnight journey, not a day trip. Guests board the 1920s and '30s midnight-blue carriages at Paris Gare d'Austerlitz, settle into accommodation ranging from Historic Cabins to Grand Suites to a private carriage called L'Observatoire (bedroom, en suite, living area, library and a secret tea room), then head to dinner in one of two restaurant cars, Étoile du Nord or L'Oriental, followed by cocktails and live music in the Bar Car 3674. The route runs along the Côte d'Azur past the red cliffs of the Massif de l'Estérel, through Saint-Raphaël toward Cannes and Nice, arriving at Monaco-Monte-Carlo station the next morning with breakfast served cabin-side against the coastline.
That arrival point matters beyond scenery. The Monte Carlo Casino and the Circuit de Monaco sit a short distance from the station, which makes the route a plausible anchor for a longer Riviera stay rather than a self-contained excursion.
The Price and the Fine Print
Fares start at $5,461 per person, based on two guests sharing a Historic Cabin, which is the entry-level room category. That rate covers the overnight stay, 24-hour steward service, all meals with a sommelier's choice of wine, unlimited soft drinks, and transfers, according to the report. The first departure is scheduled for May 10, 2027, and booking details are available through the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express website.
There's a historical hook here worth knowing before you book, since it's the reason Belmond is framing this as more than a new line on a map. James Sherwood, the businessman who revived the Orient-Express, bought two of the original 1920s carriages at auction in Monte Carlo in 1977, then combined them with more than 20 others to launch the restored train in 1982. "There's something rather special about coming back to Monte Carlo, given the role it played in the train's history," Pascal Deyrolle, the train's general manager, said in a statement reported by Robb Report.
A Practical Way to Decide
If an overnight rail journey with specified inclusions and a documented itinerary appeals more than piecing together flights and hotels, this route gives you a single date and a single number to plan around: May 10, 2027, from $5,461 per person. If you're weighing it against other Orient-Express routes to Venice, which also stop in Monte Carlo, the comparison worth making is overnight experience versus destination, since this new route is built specifically around the Riviera arrival rather than Venice itself.
Would you rather build a Riviera trip around the train itself, or treat the journey as a scenic prelude to time in Monaco proper?
Image credit: Belmond, via Robb Report.