The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will reach Monte Carlo for the first time in 2027, folding Monaco into one of the world’s most exclusive overnight rail journeys, and charging luxury prices to match.
On May 10, 2027, the midnight-blue train will leave Paris on a new Côte d’Azur run and glide into Monaco, Monte-Carlo station, the operator’s first arrival in the principality.
Daily Mail travel reporting describes the stop as a planned annual addition after that launch date, not a one-off stunt.
Passengers will trace the French Riviera past the red cliffs of the Massif de l’Estérel, then on through Saint-Raphaël, Cannes, and Nice before the final call in Monte Carlo, called the beating heart of Monaco in the announcement.
This is classic private luxury rail, not mass tourism. Historic cabins, suites, and grand suites sit in restored carriages. Restaurant cars Étoile du Nord and L’Oriental handle the dining. Bar Car ‘3674’ and the L’Observatoire carriage round out the rolling stock passengers are sold.
An overnight stay is built into the voyage, along with 24-hour steward service, all meals, a sommelier’s choice of wine, unlimited soft drinks, and transfers. Prices for the Paris-to-Monte Carlo, Monaco route start from €4,870 (£4,114) per person, based on two guests sharing a historic cabin.
Pascal Deyrolle, area managing director for Trains, Continental Europe, cast the new stop as more than a pretty postcard add-on.
He tied Monaco to a long European travel habit of style, culture, and occasion.
"Monaco has long held a special place in the story of European travel, with generations drawn to the Côte d'Azur by its distinctive sense of style, culture, and occasion."
Deyrolle also framed the Riviera arrival as a natural fit for a brand that sells romance and ceremony, not bare transport.
"Introducing the destination feels like a natural continuation for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, bringing the romance of luxury rail travel to a locale that has always understood the art of arrival."
The history cut is sharper. In 1977, two original carriages were acquired at auction in Monte Carlo, a purchase Deyrolle said set in motion the service travelers know today.
"There's also something rather special about coming back to Monte Carlo, given the role it played in the train's history. In 1977, two original carriages were acquired here at auction, setting in motion the journey that would become the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express we know today."
So the 2027 timetable is new. The Monte Carlo link is not. The company is returning to the place that helped restart the whole project nearly fifty years earlier.
No ticket on-sale date, booking window, or capacity limit appears in the launch detail. The public facts stop at the May 10, 2027 Paris departure, the Riviera routing, the first Monte Carlo call, the cabin starting price, and the promise of an annual repeat.
What is clear is the product: overnight luxury, full service, heritage hardware, and a stop in a principality that still markets polish and arrival as virtues worth paying for.
Old-world standards still sell when someone bothers to keep them. The buyers, not the critics, set that price.