The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express has never called at Monte Carlo. That changes on 10 May 2027, when Belmond launches a new annual Paris-to-Monaco route that turns the French Riviera approach into the main event — an overnight ride through wine-dark dinner carriages and into a morning of Mediterranean views along the Côte d'Azur.
The journey boards in Paris, with passengers settling into the train's midnight-blue Art Deco carriages for the night. Accommodation tiers run from Historic Cabins up to Suites and Grand Suites, and at the very top sits L'Observatoire, a private carriage designed with French artist JR that packs in a bedroom, a freestanding bathtub, a living area, a library and a hidden tearoom.
Evenings are taken up with dinner in one of two restaurant cars, Étoile du Nord or L'Oriental, followed by cocktails and live piano in the famous Bar Car 3674. The payoff comes the next morning: breakfast served in your cabin while the train rolls past the red cliffs of the Massif de l'Estérel, through Saint-Raphaël, and on past Cannes and Nice before pulling into Monaco-Monte-Carlo station. Monaco then becomes a new stop on the train's onward run to Venice.
There's a neat bit of history here too. Belmond credits Monte Carlo with a role in the train's very existence: in 1977, two original carriages were bought at an auction in the principality, seeding the project that became today's Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Belmond's Europe trains chief Pascal Deyrolle called the new stop a natural continuation, noting the pleasure of returning to a place that has always understood "the art of arrival."
The Monaco route joins Belmond's growing European rail portfolio, which includes the second year of Villeggiatura by Train, pairing the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express with the group's hotels in Italy.
As for cost: fares start at €4,870 per person, based on two sharing a Historic Cabin. That covers the overnight journey, all meals with sommelier-picked wines, unlimited soft drinks, transfers and round-the-clock steward service — so the only real budgeting decision is how far up the cabin ladder you want to climb. Bookings are open through Belmond.
For anyone who has sworn off cramped short-haul flights, this is the counter-argument: swap an hour in a boarding queue for dinner, piano and a sunrise over the Riviera. It's a splurge, clearly, but as an arrival into Monaco goes, few will match it. Story via Condé Nast Traveller UK.
