As fireworks crowds grow larger and city-centre celebrations more frenetic, Europe’s most exclusive railways are quietly offering an alternative way to ring in the New Year: with Tuscan Brunello in hand, Alpine peaks outside the window and white-linen tables swaying gently to the rhythm of the tracks. From Italy’s brand-new La Dolce Vita Orient Express to Swiss Alpine rail odysseys and glamorous British dinner trains, a wave of high-end itineraries is repositioning New Year’s Eve as a multi-day journey rather than a single midnight moment.

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Italy’s La Dolce Vita turns New Year’s Eve into a three-day moving celebration

At the heart of this new rail renaissance is La Dolce Vita Orient Express, a five-star “hotel on wheels” that launched its New Year’s Eve itinerary, “Whispers at Midnight,” for the 2025–26 season.

Departing Rome’s Ostiense station at midday on 30 December, the three-day, two-night journey loops through Tuscany and Venice before returning to the Italian capital on 1 January, transforming the transition to 2026 into a roaming, all-inclusive celebration. The price underlines the trip’s exclusivity: fares start at €11,280 per passenger, roughly $12,000 at current exchange rates.

Unlike fixed-location parties or hotel galas, the idea is to free guests from having to choose a single city or venue. The journey is structured to feel like a curated sequence of scenes: wine-soaked hill towns by day, canals and palazzi in Venice, and finally a candlelit countdown in the train’s bar car.

Developed by Orient Express and the Accor hospitality group, La Dolce Vita is positioned as an ultra-luxury complement to the better-known Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, but with itineraries that stay entirely within Italy and lean heavily into food, wine and cultural immersion.

Tuscan vineyards, Brunello tastings and a fortress above the vines

The New Year’s loop from Rome begins with a detour into classic wine country. After leaving the capital, La Dolce Vita heads north into the hills of southern Tuscany, stopping at Montalcino, the medieval town that has become synonymous with Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy’s most prestigious red wines.

Guests are offered guided walks through the stone lanes and private access to the town’s 14th‑century fortress, where expert-led tastings showcase Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino in a setting that towers above the surrounding vineyards.

The programme also extends beyond town walls and tasting rooms. The itinerary includes a visit to Antinori’s Pian delle Vigne estate, one of the region’s benchmark Brunello producers, where passengers sample vintages on-site and learn how the area’s clay and limestone soils contribute to the wine’s structure and longevity. It is a deliberate framing of Tuscany as a place to savour slowly, with the train functioning less as transport and more as a luxurious base camp for in-depth culinary excursions.

Venice, Michelin-starred menus and a countdown on the rails

From Tuscany, the train continues to Venice, trading vineyards for lagoons and bell towers. Here, the La Dolce Vita team leans into the city’s cachet as a festive stage set. Guests cruise along quiet canals by private boat, tour artisan workshops and attend intimate performances, including concerts in deconsecrated churches and private glassblowing demonstrations.

These experiences are designed to be difficult to replicate independently, relying on restricted-access venues and partnerships that open usually closed doors in palazzi and noble residences for lunches and tastings.

The main event, however, happens back on board. As the train begins its return run towards Rome on 31 December, the carriages shift into gala mode. All meals across the journey are conceived by Heinz Beck, the German-born, Rome-based chef whose La Pergola restaurant holds three Michelin stars.

For New Year’s Eve itself he creates a multi-course feast served in the dining cars, followed by live performances, a DJ and late-night service in the bar car as midnight approaches. For travellers wary of overcrowded squares or logistically complex party-hopping, the promise is simple: one glamorous space, one ticket, and no need to step outside into the cold until breakfast is served on 1 January.

A five-star train for just 62 passengers

La Dolce Vita’s pricing is underpinned by its deliberately limited capacity and high-end design. The train is made up of 12 refurbished carriages dating from the 1960s, reimagined by Milan-based design firm Dimorestudio in a palette of brass, lacquer and velvet that nods to mid‑century Italian glamour.

There are just 31 cabins on board, accommodating a maximum of 62 guests, including a single La Dolce Vita Suite with larger living space and a private ensuite bathroom. Public areas include a lounge bar and restaurant car that together evoke the heyday of grand European rail travel, down to the lamps on the tables and the uniforms of the stewards.

Beyond the New Year’s special, the train operates a portfolio of one- to three-night itineraries linking destinations such as Venice, Portofino, Matera, Sicily and Italy’s lesser-known interior regions. Some departures are themed around events or seasons, including a truffle route in autumn, vineyard-focused circuits and a Palio itinerary timed to Siena’s famed horse race.

Prices vary accordingly, with certain new golf-themed journeys surpassing €12,000 per person and a two-day Carnival-in-Venice trip in February 2026 starting at €3,720 per passenger. For operators, the early sell-out of inaugural runs has validated a bet that there is pent-up demand among affluent travellers for rail experiences that rival, and sometimes outprice, luxury cruises.

Alpine climbs and Interlaken fireworks: Switzerland’s slower New Year by rail

Italy is not alone in reimagining New Year’s Eve on the tracks. In Switzerland, tour operator Vacations By Rail is selling a six-day itinerary that strings together some of the country’s most scenic winter journeys with a multi-night stay in Interlaken.

Rather than sleeping on board, travellers use the lakeside resort town as a base, combining daytime rail excursions into the Bernese Oberland with mountain ascents and a formal gala dinner on 31 December. A trip to Grindelwald, framed by soaring peaks, sets the stage for the celebrations, while New Year’s Day features a ride up to Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest railway station, perched above glaciers and snowfields.

The package, highlighted alongside La Dolce Vita in recent European media coverage, taps into the same desire to pair winter landscapes with curated festivities, but at a more measured pace. With five hotel nights included, guests can unpack once and explore the surrounding region by cog railway and cable car before returning to Interlaken for spa time or lakeside walks.

For travellers wary of the confined quarters of sleepers or the dizzying price tags of ultra-luxury trains, this hybrid model presents a bridge between independent Swiss rail travel and full-service New Year’s escapes.

Glamour in motion from London: Belmond’s British Pullman

Across the Channel, the United Kingdom offers its own take on rail-borne revelry. Belmond’s British Pullman, a day train composed of painstakingly restored 1920s and 1930s Pullman carriages, runs a New Year’s Eve dinner journey that departs and returns to London Victoria.

Marketed as a black-tie event, the circular trip lasts around five and a half hours and features a welcome champagne reception followed by a five-course dinner with wine, coffee and petits fours. Prices for the 31 December 2025 departure start from around £685 per person, placing it firmly in the “special-occasion splurge” bracket rather than the ultra-elite tier occupied by La Dolce Vita.

Passengers never disembark during the British Pullman’s New Year outing; the appeal lies entirely in the atmosphere within its wood-panelled, art deco interiors, where liveried stewards serve at tables laid with crisp linens and cut glass. Depending on the route and timing, some riders may glimpse fireworks en route, though the operator stops short of guaranteeing pyrotechnic views.

For London-based travellers or visitors who prefer to sleep in their own beds, it is an opportunity to sample period luxury and ring in the New Year without leaving the city—or navigating hotel surcharges and late-night transport.

A boom time for luxury rail as travelers seek slower, smaller celebrations

Taken together, these itineraries reflect a broader pivot toward rail among high-end travellers who are weary of crowded city squares and long-haul flights. Rail-focused tour companies and train operators report strong demand for immersive, multi-day journeys that bundle small-group excursions, fine dining and comfortable cabins into a single, high-priced package.

Railbookers, for example, has rolled out a slate of extended luxury-train expeditions for 2026, including a 60-day “Around the World by Luxury Train” programme starting at $125,000 per person—a sign of how far the market has moved from overnight sleepers as a budget choice.

In Europe specifically, the latest New Year offerings arrive as operators invest heavily in new or reimagined rolling stock, from Belmond’s Britannic Explorer sleeper in Britain to Italy’s La Dolce Vita fleet. With space constrained to a few dozen cabins and staff-to-guest ratios far higher than on commercial airlines, these trains allow travellers to mark the turn of the year in a controlled, almost private environment where Champagne is never far from reach and the scenery is constantly changing. For those willing to pay, celebrating New Year’s Eve is becoming less about where you wake up and more about how you get there.

FAQ

Q1. What makes La Dolce Vita’s New Year journey different from a regular city break?
Instead of staying in one hotel and one city, guests move between Rome, Tuscany and Venice while keeping the same cabin, staff and festive environment, turning the whole three days into a single, continuous celebration.

Q2. How much does the La Dolce Vita New Year itinerary cost and what is included?
Fares start at €11,280 per passenger and include accommodation on the train, all meals by a Michelin-starred chef, selected drinks, curated off-train excursions and the on-board New Year’s Eve party.

Q3. Do passengers sleep on La Dolce Vita every night of the trip?Yes. The New Year’s departure is a full sleeper experience: guests board in Rome on 30 December, sleep on the train for two nights and disembark back in Rome on 1 January.

Q4. Is the Swiss New Year rail package a luxury train like La Dolce Vita?
It is a premium escorted tour built around scenic Swiss trains rather than a single branded luxury train. Travellers stay in a quality hotel in Interlaken and take day trips by railway and cable car.

Q5. How formal is the dress code on these New Year train journeys?Belmond’s British Pullman markets its New Year’s Eve departures as black-tie, while La Dolce Vita leans toward elegant cocktail or formal evening wear, reflecting its fine-dining, special-occasion atmosphere.

Q6. Are children allowed on Europe’s luxury New Year trains?
Policies vary by operator. Some luxury trains discourage or restrict younger children due to cabin size, late-night events and pricing, so families should check age rules carefully before booking.

Q7. How far in advance do these New Year’s Eve rail journeys sell out?Demand is strong and cabin numbers are limited, so New Year departures often book out many months ahead. For marquee trains like La Dolce Vita, planning close to a year in advance is advisable.

Q8. How do these train trips compare in price with luxury hotels over New Year’s?
Nightly costs are typically higher than even top-tier city hotels. Travellers are paying not just for a room, but for transport, fine dining, private excursions and the exclusivity of a small group.

Q9. Are these luxury trains a more sustainable way to celebrate than flying to a city party?
Rail generally has a lower carbon footprint per passenger than short-haul flying, but these trains are still high-consumption products. Operators increasingly highlight rail’s relative efficiency and slower pace as part of the appeal.

Q10. Can travellers combine a New Year train journey with a longer European holiday?
Yes. Many guests tack on nights in Rome, London or Swiss resorts before or after their rail trip, using the train experience as the centrepiece of a wider winter itinerary across Europe.