Orient Express Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
international long-distance passenger train service
About Orient Express
The original Orient Express service was inaugurated by la Compagnie Internationale de Wagons-Lits (CIWL) in June 1883 fromParistoViennaand was extendedParistoIstanbulin October 1883. Departures originated fromGare de l'Estin Paris. This route contained steamship or ferry crossings until at least 1889; these were eliminated once the journey could be completed entirely by rail. From 1889 to 1962, the main route was largely unchanged: fromParisthroughStrasbourg,Munich,Vienna,BudapestandBucharesttoIstanbul(Constantinople) inTurkey. It connected many of the great empires of its time:Britain,France, Germany,Austria-Hungary, and theOttoman Empire. This route survived through much ofthe Cold War, an era in which it passed behind the Iron Curtain then back into Western-controlled territory. One iso
Orient Express Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 6 sections including: