The Orient Express stopped this morning for a few hours in Sinaia mountain resort, with passengers visiting the Peleș Castle. The train headed to Bucharest after that. Overnight travelers stay in the capital where they will visit architectural monuments, have dinner and stay in the famous hotels, as in the glory days of the luxury setting. On Tuesday, the train leaves for Giurgiu as usual, and will return on its way to Paris on September 3.
A trip with Orient Express costs between 3,000 and 10,000 euros, on one road segment.
The Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits put into circulation the luxury trainset, on the model existing in the United States, operated by the Pullman Company. The Orient Express became legendary through the celebrities who traveled with this train and after the novel “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie, thus the name of this train became synonymous with luxurious travel.
The first Orient Express train was put into circulation on June 5, 1883 and connected Paris to Constantinople via Nancy – Strasbourg – Munich – Vienna – Budapest – Szeged – Jimbolia – Timișoara – Caransebeș – Craiova – Pitesti – Bucharest – Giurgiu on a route of 2,627 km. From here, the passengers were transported by ferry across the Danube to Ruse, in Bulgaria, to take another train to Varna, where there was another transshipment, on a parcel boat of the Austrian company Lloyd, with which the passengers arrived, after a journey totaling 83 of hours and 30 minutes, to Constantinople, today’s Istanbul.
After the opening of the bridges over the Danube, from Fetești and Cernavodă built by the Romanian engineer Anghel Saligny, the train route was extended to Constanța from where passengers were picked up by ships of the Romanian Maritime Service. Istanbul was the easternmost point until May 19, 1977. The 1930s were the heyday of the Orient Express, with three parallel services operating: the Orient Express (the classic route), the Simplon Orient Express (via Italy) and the Arlberg Orient Express, which ran via Zürich and Innsbruck to Budapest, with sleeping cars running from there to Bucharest and Athens. During this period, the Orient Express gained a reputation for its comfort and luxury, featuring sleeping cars and dining cars, known for the quality of their kitchens. The main customers were royalty, diplomats, nobles and businessmen.