A touch of old splendour: Orient Express stops in Belgium
Train spotters were delighted to welcome the famous Orient Express in Brussels yesterday evening. The Orient Express is the luxury train that used to link Paris to Istanbul, and which became extra famous after a novel by Agathie Christie in 1934 - at a later stage, a movie was made with the same title.
The Orient Express could exceptionally be admired in Belgian stations yesterday and today: once when it was bound for Amsterdam (yesterday evening), and a second time when it was returning to Venice, today.
The old carriages have been adapted to modern standards but still take you back in time. The luxury lines were an idea of the Belgian engineer Georges Nagelmackers. It was he who founded the 'Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits', the company behind the Orient Express, in 1876.
A ticket from Brussels or Essen to Venice will set you back almost 3,000 euros. The luxury experience on this "hotel on wheels" includes meals and (luxury) drinks on your two-day journey, as well as one night on the train and wonderful landscapes in France, Switzerland and Italy. This train was a complete sell-out.
