An unprecedented surge in demand for its European luxury rail experiences has prompted Golden Eagle Luxury Trains to add four new European departures for 2026.

An additional departure of the 11-day Grand Alpine Express will depart Budapest on 1 May 2026. The Paris to Istanbul journey – an eight-day voyage through six countries that was introduced in 2025 – now has additional September and October departures in both directions.

Meanwhile, the popular seven-day Castles of Transylvania tour has also been expanded with an additional departure meaning it is now scheduled in May, September, and October.

Australasian BDM Megan Bardsley said the expanded schedule responds directly to traveller demand. “We have seen many departures fully booked well in advance, so we are thrilled to add these new dates,” she said. “The expansion allows more travellers the opportunity to book these sought after journeys.”

All European itineraries are hosted aboard the Golden Eagle Danube Express, renowned for its “elegant style, service and comfort.” Guests are treated to an all-inclusive experience with private ensuite cabins, gourmet dining, fine wines, guided excursions and a dedicated cabin team — with a UK-registered doctor on board for complete peace of mind.

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Eurostar has announced a landmark €2 billion investment in up to 50 new double-decker trains, described by the company as the “next generation” of its fleet.

Built by Alstom Group, the order for 30 trains with an option for 20 more, marks “a significant step in Eurostar’s growth journey to 30 million annual passengers.”

“Placing this milestone order marks the concrete realisation of Eurostar’s ambitious growth strategy,” CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said. “This is a golden age for international sustainable travel – and Eurostar is leading the race.”

The new fleet will be named Eurostar Celestia, with the name Celestia selected by members of the Eurostar team. Derived from the Latin word caelestis, meaning “heavenly”, the name aims to evoke “the stars and the essence of travel, perfectly capturing the spirit of a company that links a constellation of cities across Europe”, Eurostar said.

Each 200-metre train will offer around 540 seats – a 20% increase in capacity – with the possibility of running in 400-metre formation, offering around 1,080 seats per service. The first trains are due to join the fleet in January 2031, with commercial services launching in May 2031 with six new trains.

Once delivered, the new fleet will operate alongside Eurostar’s existing 17 e320 trains, bringing the total fleet to 67 trains – a 30% increase. Maintenance will continue at the Temple Mills depot in London, which will be upgraded at a cost of around €80m.

Eurostar emphasises that sustainability and accessibility are at the heart of the project. The all-electric Celestia trains will feature 97% recyclable components, with 25% made from recycled materials, and deliver energy savings of 20–50% more than the current fleet.

“This new-generation train… embodies our vision of sustainable and competitive European mobility,” CEO of Alstom Henri Poupart-Lafarge said.

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Belmond has introduced a new series of journeys to Italy from Paris aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express for 2026. The “Villeggiatura by Train” itineraries all begin in Paris and will end in Venice, Florence or Portofino – culminating with a two-night stay at a Belmond hotel in each of those cities.

From Paris to the Amalfi Coast

Departing on May 4, 2026, the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, A Belmond Train, Europe will embark on a three-night journey, linking Paris with the Amalfi Coast. The iconic midnight blue carriages will travel south from Paris towards Pompeii and onward to the clifftop Caruso, A Belmond Hotel, Amalfi Coast.

The voyage begins with a Champagne welcome aboard as guests settle into one of three cabin categories: historic twin cabins, elegant Suites or Grand Suites. As evening falls, guests can enjoy a menu inspired by the regions along the route, followed by cocktails and live piano music in the train’s Bar Car ‘3674.’

On May 5, guests wake to views of Italian hills while enjoying breakfast served in their cabins. The train then continues south through Italy as lunch is served on board, before arriving in Pompeii. Here, guests disembark for a guided tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Grand Suite guests will also enjoy exclusive access to the rarely opened Casa del Larario Regio V. Alternatively, culinary enthusiasts may join an intimate cooking class at Caruso led by Executive Chef Armando Aristarco.

Guests will then settle in at Caruso, home to a newly restyled La Piscina infinity pool, perched 1,000 feet above the sea. Chef Aristarco will host a live cooking demonstration by the hotel’s wood-fired pizza oven beside the infinity pool overlooking the Mediterranean.

The following day invites exploration by land or sea. Guests can embark on a private boat tour to Positano, tracing the coastline and discovering hidden coves, with opportunities to swim and explore. Alternatively, guests can join a painting lesson with a local artist at Caruso’s Loggia terrace, capturing the views on canvas as a keepsake.

On the final evening, guests gather in Caruso’s Wagner Gardens for a gala dinner, beginning with an aperitivo and followed by a fine dining menu created by Chef Aristarco. Set against panoramic vistas of the Amalfi Coast and accompanied by live music, the evening provides a fitting finale to this three-night escape.

Additional 2026 Routes

Complementing this debut, the 2026 season also introduces new itineraries culminating in Venice and Florence. Each will comprise a three-night journey that begins in Paris and ends in a Belmond hotel.

For the train’s classic Venice route, guests will have the opportunity to stay at Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, Venice. Guests travelling to Florence, however, will conclude their journey with a stay in the Florentine hilltops at Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel, Florence, following its grand reopening in spring 2026.

Completing the collection, the train will also celebrate the return of its Paris-to-Portofino journey, connecting the French and Italian Rivieras and culminating with a stay at Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino, which made its grand reopening this summer, following a renovation by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio.

Good to know: All itineraries include an overnight journey on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (24h steward service; all meals with sommelier’s choice of wine and unlimited soft drinks), transfers, and excursions.

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Italy’s Arsenale Group—owners of numerous luxury trains, including La Dolce Vita Orient Express, as well as hospitality brands such as Orient Express and Soho House—announced that it has acquired U.K.-based Golden Eagle Luxury Trains.

“This acquisition establishes Arsenale Group as a global leader in luxury rail travel, accelerating expansion across Europe and Asia, and enriching its portfolio with an even broader range of unforgettable journeys inspired by innovation, excellence, and sustainable tourism,” the company said on a LinkedIn post sharing the news.

Golden Eagle Luxury Trains operates five private rail services:

• The Golden Eagle, taking guests through Central Asia via the Silk Road
• The Golden Eagle Danube Express, which travels across the entirety of Europe
• The Deccan Odyssey, located in India
• The Golden Eagle Silk Road Express, a fully en-suite train
• The Vietnam Express, touted as “Vietnam’s first luxury train”

Beyond La Dolce Vita Orient Express and, now, Golden Eagle Luxury Trains, Arsenale also owns Dream of the Desert, an upcoming luxury train project in Saudi Arabia; The Samarkand Express in Uzbekistan; Guardian of the Nile, taking guests through Egypt’s Valley of the Kings; and another upcoming project in the United Arab Emirates that has not yet been named.

The official announcement, according to Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore, came during the World Travel & Tourism Council’s Global Summit, taking place this week in Rome. Paolo Barletta, the company’s CEO (and majority owner of Arsenale), said the group will invest approximately €15 million in modernizing Golden Eagle’s fleet over the next five years.

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The perfect alignment between river and rail meant it made “complete sense” for Uniworld and Golden Eagle Luxury Trains, according to the rail company’s Australian Business Development Manager Megan Bardsley.

Expanding on the recently announced tie-up, Bardsley told LATTE that the new arrangement builds on the solid partnership established by the two companies over more than five years.

“While the Cruise & Rail packages on offer are new, Uniworld has been a key partner of Golden Eagle for many years,” she said.

“After meeting in the US in 2019, they have been chartering trains for their guests and booking independent guests onto our trains.”

With the synergies between the pair quickly becoming very clear, they decided to work together to create a “perfect package” that would provide guests with seamless connection between the cruise and rail elements.

The end result is a consistently high-end experience between 14 and 16 days in duration. “Both elements provide exceptional excursions, exquisite food and wine and attentive service while travelling gently through iconic and lesser-known regions,” Bardsley added. “Both forms of transport allow simplified travel and less unpacking with a slower style of exploring beautiful regions and immersing into cultures.”

The first of the five new itineraries for 2026 is the Grand Alpine train journey which combines the Highlights of Eastern Europe river cruise aboard the S.S. Beatrice. The 17-day journey will launch in April.

“At this time, there is a European focus, mostly around central Europe with Budapest, Vienna, Istanbul, Paris and Venice, all key highlights of the various journeys on offer,” Bardsley explained. “This is a specialty region for us travelling on the much-loved Golden Eagle Danube Express while Uniworld have many ships in the region to connect with our itineraries, adding more destinations by river. It’s the ultimate European luxury adventure.”

With luxury rail experiencing a resurgence in popularity, Bardsley hinted that other “unique combinations” may be on the cards down the track. 

“Golden Eagle has always been dedicated to providing itineraries and destinations not previously available,” she said. “Owner and Founder Tim Littler will always be looking to find and deliver exclusive trips and trains, building adventures that transport guests through time and place.”

Lead image: Alice Ager, Managing Director, ANZ, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (left) with Megan Bardsley, Australian Business Development Manager, Golden Eagle Luxury Trains.

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Canada’s iconic Rocky Mountaineer will potentially welcome new sister rail brands under its overarching parent company, Armstrong Collective, LATTE can reveal.

Rocky Mountaineer rebranded earlier this year to the Armstrong Collective (named after the Rocky

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From a Dream to Product

“We’re going from a dream, an idea, to pre-sales to, now, having an actual product, to having guests, to getting feedback, to reacting to the feedback,” Perez-Alvarado told LATTE this week at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas. “It’s everything happening all together.”

Pulling from its 140-plus-year-old history, the modern Orient Express is not just building trains, hotels and yachts to have a stake in each of these travel segments: it’s all part of creating a “grand voyage,” according to Perez-Alvarado. The idea is you can visit (as of now) Italy, staying at Orient Express hotels and travelling via Orient Express trains.

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