Rome and regional Italy

La Dolce Vita Orient ExpressA lounge in Rome, then a night in a 1960s carriage

La Dolce Vita Orient Express leaves from Rome on themed routes into Tuscany, Venice, Matera, Sicily and Puglia. The carriages take their interiors from twentieth-century Italian art, architecture and film, with wood, mirrors and geometric pattern around the dining room and the cabins. Trips are short, a night or two.

Every journey gathers at the dedicated La Dolce Vita Lounge at Roma Ostiense before boarding. Routes and the number of nights change with the destination, and some itineraries finish in a different city from the one they leave.

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PlaceRome and regional Italy

TypeLuxury sleeper train

SuitsItalian design and food

Stay1–2 nights

Design, dinner and a regional route in one night

Rome and regional Italy — Luxury sleeper train.

The interiors come out of Italian living and design rather than a generic luxury brief: wood, mirrors and geometric pattern, carried from the lounge car into the cabins. Meals and sleep happen inside that setting, and by morning you step into a different region. The setting is the trip.

Tuscany, Venice, Matera and Sicily each have their own product, so the route is a choice rather than a loop. If you already know the main cities, this is a way to arrange regional stays around a rail theme instead of another hotel-to-hotel drive. Which one you take decides the rest.

It suits travellers drawn to Italian design, food and rail, and anyone wanting to work outward from Rome. The operation is new, post-2025, so schedules and routes are still moving; confirm the final itinerary and the cabin, and treat any earlier version as out of date.

A cabin with red and gold patterned walls, a cushioned bench under the window and a small table fixed beside it — A red and gold cabin with a seat by the window

A luxury dining car with place settings laid out, crystal glasses catching lamp light and curved seats along the sides — Cutlery and glass set for the evening service

A lounge car upholstered in orange and red, low armchairs around small tables with mirrors on the wall behind

The lounge at Roma Ostiense

Boarding begins in a dedicated lounge at Ostiense, which turns the platform into a staged start rather than a scramble with bags. Arrive early enough to use it properly, and put the Rome nights before the train rather than after. The meeting point is fixed; the hotel is not.

A deep blue carriage with gold-framed windows standing at a platform, its polished side reflecting the station roof

Cabins drawn from Italian modernism

Wood panelling, mirrors and geometric pattern run through the cabins and the public rooms, taken from twentieth-century Italian art, architecture and film. Two nights onboard means the dining car and the lounge get used rather than photographed on the way through. A single night barely unpacks the idea.

A large pane of glass catching the reflection of a wood-panelled carriage interior and the blue train body outside

Tuscany, Matera, Venice, Sicily

Each region is sold as its own journey, with wine country, coast and old towns feeding the days off the train. Read where a route actually ends before you book, because a product that finishes away from Rome changes how you get home. Not every journey comes back.

Passengers seated at a white-clothed table beside a window, plates in front of them and daylight on the glass

Route

One or two nights inside a longer Italian trip

Give Rome two or three nights first, board for a night or two, then carry on from the arrival city into Venice, Puglia or Sicily. Treat the train as one segment of a longer Italian route, so the cities and the countryside at either end get real days of their own.

Rome first, then the train, then the region

The rail product is one or two nights. Build Rome and the destination around it so the boarding morning stays calm.

Stay

The rail products run one or two nights. Keep two nights in Rome before boarding and two in the destination region afterwards, so the train is not a rushed transfer.

Getting there

You gather at the dedicated lounge at Roma Ostiense. Some journeys end in another city, so check the finish point before booking the return.

Season

The train runs all year, split by route and season. Spring and autumn suit the days off the train better than high summer.

Watch out

This is a new operation from 2025 onward, and schedules and routes are still being adjusted. Verify the final itinerary and the cabin category.

Plan this into a journey

One or two nights on the train is the easy part. The Rome stay before it and the region after it are where the trip is actually built.

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