Orient Express

The original Orient Express started running in 1881 from Paris to Istanbul via the northern, Romanian route, or Paris-München-Wien-Budapest-București-Istanbul. After World War I, the southern route, via Belgrade and Sofia instead of București, became popular. Today, either service is long gone, but you can retrace the route with individual sleeper trains booked along the way.

We are currently taking still another variant of the original route, starting in Bruxelles and changing in Koln for Wien. With a few days off in Romania to go searching for Vlad the Impaler, this means six days of travel with four nights on a train. Each country manages its own leg, and the service runs from Spartan cleanliness (Germany-Austria) to decrepit elegance (Hungary-Romania). Our favorite has been the Romanian train, the Ister, even though you need to bring your own toilet paper and food, in case they forget to hitch up the saloon car.

Don’t even think about taking this journey without consulting The Man in Seat 61. There are simply too many variables and mishaps awaiting you, and he does a beautiful job of covering them all.

Filed under: Travels Tagged: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Travel, Turkey