Orient Express
 

I'm travelling on the VSOE Paris-Rome. Do people still dress formally on the train. And what's the typical demographic of those who travel on the Orient Express.

topper topper

please define "topper"

hi andrea,<BR><BR>he/she noticed that no one had answered your question yet and by "topping" it, brought your message back up into the 1st 50 messages so people could still see your message.<BR><BR>TTT or topping a message from what i can understand, means to the top. the way this board works it shows the most current message by the last reply date (not the original date).<BR><BR>

Topping for Ben Haines ... he is the best one to answer this question...

But my dear chap, I cannot afford the so-called Venice Simplon Orient Express (which these days doesn?t use the Simplon tunnel and doesn?t reach the Orient). I once used it for the first two hours, London, Folkestone, Boulogne, but of course that was by day.<BR><BR>The Orient Express proper still runs from Paris to Vienna, Thomas Cooks European Timetable table 32, and with just one change at Budaost you cn carry on to Istanbul. A better idea, on the route via Venice, may be a sleeper with bathroom en suite on the Marco Polo overnight train to Venice, transfer via Trieste and Villa Opicina to a sparkling modern Slovenian InterCity train, then a straight run from Ljubljana to Istanbul, night, day, night, with sleepers and with a restaurant car for the first breakfast. In either case, wear what you choose.<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London<BR>

Hi<BR><BR>I took the OE London to Venice some years ago.<BR><BR>Dinner Jackets were universal for the evening meal, smart casual at other times.<BR><BR>Passengers were varied. From wedding anniversary celebrations to overnight travelling businessmen to bored motor dealers on an incentive trip.<BR><BR>The Danieli is a great hotel to stay, next to the Doges palace.<BR><BR>Peter<BR>

Mr. Haines, you miss the entire point. One does not travel on the Orient Express to get somewhere. One does it for the pleasure of being able to tell one's friends that you did it. Yes, people do still dress for dinner. Some in full length evening gowns, some wear period costumes (If I had it to do over again, that's what I'd do), and many men wear dinner jackets or tuxedos. One man wore white tie and tails. Along with these people were a number in khakis and polo shirts or women in slacks and simple blouse. But if you dress that way be ready for the daggers as you enter the lounge before dinner and expect to find noses in the air.<BR>To be perfectly honest, I thought the crowd reeked of new money, not old money. Most were there to impress, not to enjoy a mode of travel. And to be perfectly honest, we fit right in, but I'm rather ashamed to admit it. It was my husband's idea and he loves telling people we went on the Orient Express. I would have been much more comfortable in a regular train and staying in hotels. It was a lot of money to pay for the privelege of bragging about how you travel.