Who owns vsoe

The British Pullman train from London to Folkestone. Crossing the Channel. The sleeping-cars. The bar car. The restaurant cars. Dinner in the diner. Time for bed Passengers check in at least an hour before departure at the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express office on platform 2 at London Victoria Station.

Check-in opens a couple of hours before departure. You can check your large bags through to your final destination but remember you'll need overnight gear for the train , or they can be checked through to Calais to be waiting for you in your sleeper compartment when you board the continental train.

There are lounge seats and toilets in the VSOE office, and complimentary tea, coffee, water and juice is provided. Each car features plush armchairs in open-plan saloons, arranged as intimate tables for two each side of the aisle. It's strange how 80 years of ergonomics haven't produced anything as luxuriously comfortable as a s Pullman seat. You'll find a booklet about the history of the Pullman cars at your seat on board the train which you can keep. If one car particularly interests you, by all means request it!

The British Pullman train leaves Victoria station, rumbles slowly across the Thames past Battersea Power Station, then takes one of several possible routes to Folkestone. Indeed it sometimes goes the long way round via Canterbury and Dover, dropping off day-trippers at Canterbury and doubling back along the coast to Folkestone.

A 3-course brunch is served on the way to Folkestone with sparkling Bellinis, all included in the fare. Boarding the British Pullman train at London Victoria platform 2. You can request this for privacy if you like. Pullman car Perseus at London Victoria. Each Pullman car has unique decor, and a unique history. Built in , Perseus formed part of Winston Churchill's funeral train in Table for two in Pullman car Phoenix. Built in , it burnt out in , but rose from the ashes when rebuilt in Larger image.

Pullman car Ibis. Built in , making it the oldest car on the train, but with one of the nicest interiors. Even the toilets are works of art. This is the floor mosaic in the toilet in Pullman car Perseus. A 3-course brunch with a sparkling Bellini is served on the way to Folkestone. Mrs Seat 61 lunches in Phoenix On this trip, a fresh fruit salad was followed by smoked salmon with caviar, scrambled egg and crumpet A band plays as the train arrives All change at Folkestone West At Folkestone West, passengers transfer to a fleet of executive road coaches which drive from Folkestone West to the nearby Channel Tunnel terminal.

After a brief rest stop in the terminal they cross the Channel somewhat un-authentically on board a car-carrying Eurotunnel shuttle train though the Channel Tunnel. But it's quick and an interesting experience in its own right. Water and juice are served on board the coaches and if you need to charge your phone or camera there are UK-style power sockets under the tables. At Calais, the coaches drive off the shuttle train at the Eurotunnel terminal and head for Calais Ville station.

Calais Maritime station, where the ferries originally arrived to connect with the trains to Paris and beyond, was closed and tarmacked over in following the start of Eurostar services via the Channel Tunnel. Inside one of the executive coaches The coach on the Eurotunnel shuttle train If the British Pullman train was the hors d'ouevre, now for the main course You've half an hour to take photos, the train normally leaves around French time.

A line-up of train staff greets passengers at Calais Blue and gold Wagons-Lits sleeping-cars Your sleeper attendant greets you at the door and shows you to your compartment. The VSOE's sleeping-cars are almost all classic vintage LX-series cars with ten 2-berth compartments that convert to private sitting rooms with sofa and small table for daytime use. Sleeper facilities : Each compartment has a large sofa convertible to an upper and lower berth at night, a footstool, small folding table.

There's a broad luggage rack towards the ceiling capable of taking fairly large items. Authentic s sleeping-cars don't have showers or air-conditioning, but you can wind the window as far down as you like, great for reflection-free photos of the scenery.

The correct term on a train is 'Compartment', not 'Cabin': Trains don't have bows or sterns or port or starboard. They also don't have cabins as that is what you have on ships. The correct term for an enclosed space on a train is a compartment. LX sleeper corridor. Sleeper compartment. Venice Simplon Orient Express at Calais Sleeper, corridor side, washstand closed. Cabin Suites LX sleeping-cars have ten 2-berth compartments, with an inter-connecting door between each pair of adjacent compartments which is normally kept locked.

For a significantly higher price Belmond offer what they call a cabin suite, which is simply two adjacent compartments with the connecting door opened. Both of you can then have a lower berth, or you can have one compartment permanently set up as a sitting room the other permanently set up as a bedroom. But it's the same as a regular sleeper compartment, you just get two of them.

Check prices online at www. There are just 3 grand suites on the whole train, very expensive of course, just remember they are a modern creation for the 21st century tourist market, they are not authentic - the real Orient Express of the s and s would have no such thing.

Check prices for the grand suites online at www. The place to go before or after dinner is the VSOE's lively bar car, with lounge area, cocktail bar and piano.

Instead, seatings are staggered. This allows the staff to properly welcome and serve each diner. You can book on board. The lounge car is decorated in the Art Nouveau style. Fresh flowers adorn the tables, and a pianist entertains in the evening. The lounge car can get very crowded, too, but the staggered dining helps with this issue. This once-a-year luxury rail voyage from Paris to Istanbul on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is a true 'trip of a lifetime'.

Spend two nights exploring Vienna at your leisure before rejoining the train for the overnight journey to Paris or London. Journey combines two nights on the world's most famous luxury train and two nights in fabulous Budapest, with time to explore on your own.

Take a step back in time on this overnight trip from London or Paris to Venice and luxuriate in the train's ambience, gourmet meals, and superior service while taking in Europe's beautiful and historic scenery.

Try this for Romance: two nights in Florence, two nights in Venice and two days and a night on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, capped off by afternoon tea on the British Pullman into London.

From the cobbles of fashionable Carnaby Street to the romantic arches of Piazza dei Signori, travel between two historic cities aboard the luxurious Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Tour is also available between Paris-Verona and Verona-Paris.

This fabulous journey includes two nights on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, and two nights Prague independently , plus a glorious afternoon on the Belmond British Pullman luxury day train. From the cobbles of fashionable Carnaby Street to the romantic arches of Piazza dei Signori, travel between two historic cities aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

The carriages which now make up the world renowned, luxury train - the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, have each acquired their own history and special character developed over years of travelling the original Orient Express route, which was simply a normal international railway service across Europe. In , George Mortimer Pullman, a creative railway constructor, built a train in Great Britain that featured all the up-to-date technology of the time. His train employed more advanced technology and was far more luxurious than anything else that existed in Europe at the time.

From the 's parlour cars and sleeping carriages were put in service in Britain and passengers of those trains were the first to enjoy the novelty of having their meals served on board a train. In the Pullman Limited Express began operating an all Pullman service between London and Brighton and George Mortimer Pullman progressed by connecting train services to ferry services to offer luxury train travel between London and Paris. Around the same time, a Belgian railway entrepreneur named George Nagelmackers started building luxury rail carriages and in started the first Orient-Express service from Paris to Giurgi in Romania.

The Belmond Northern Belle is a more extensive day service operating throughout the country, as far north as Inverness and south to Plymouth. It is composed of more modern British Rail Mark 2 coaches, with British Rail Mark 1 kitchen cars, liveried and named to resemble the older Pullman coaches.

Both services have their own dedicated sets of carriages, and are hauled by Direct Rail Services locomotives, usually two Class 57s. Selected services are also hauled by preserved steam locomotives.

See Belmond British Pullman. Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Dresden station.