The Paris - Istanbul route of the Orient Express is one of the longer ones - in the game, it ran from Paris to Milan, Venice, and finally Istanbul. I'm not sure how realistic the route was, or if the Orient Express ever actually made that route. I did a little research and found that I can replicate the majority of the route via the existing Paris-Istanbul route. That train runs from Paris to Bucharest, Budapest, and ends at Istanbul.
I'm not entirely certain why the Orient Express has this appeal. It's certainly one of the world's iconic trains, and has an air of luxury and pampering. I think perhaps the more appealing aspects are the promise of the nostalgia for a bygone era when travel was more than just getting to where you were going, and a sense of Old World Europe.
The Orient Express
The Paris - Istanbul trip takes 6 days and 5 nights, and runs $9,000 per person as of this writing. That's a pretty hefty sum. I'd probably be willing to do shorter trips, but would want to at least experience a couple of nights on board the train. Another option is Venice to Brussels, which is 5 days and 4 nights. It also allows you to choose whether you want to go to Brussels via Budapest or Vienna, with only minor pricing differences, and a total cost of (at most) $3,560 per person - so a substantial discount to the Paris - Istanbul itinerary. Venice to London and Venice to Paris are similar itineraries and similar costs, so overall, for more than an overnight trip, it's anywhere from around $3,200 to $4,000 for the 5 day/4 night itinerary. While that's a bit of a splurge for me, I'm putting it down on my list anyway.
If you're interested in doing your own research into the Orient Express, you can find their website here:
http://www.vsoe.com/web/vsoe/venice_simplon_orient_express.jsp
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