Venice Simplon-Orient-Express: Vienna to London

Flying out to Vienna, make your way to to your choice of accommodation. Whichever you choose, you’ll be perfectly located in the city centre, with all of the Austrian capital’s delights on your doorstep. Wander along Baroque streetscapes to take in the city’s imperial grandeur – the six-century-long legacy of the Habsburg monarchy evident across palaces, chapels and treasure-trove museums. But, there’s also plenty looking towards the future. To match its innovative culinary, arts and music scenes, there’s everything from lively cafés to craft beer houses.

Stay: NH Wien Belvedere (Superior), Palais Hansen Kempinski, Vienna (Deluxe)

After breakfast today and a leisurely morning exploring Vienna further, make your way the short distance to the station. Here, you’ll be met by a personal steward who, dressed in the train’s iconic blue, will show you to your private cabin. You’ll be welcomed to its polished-wood grandeur by a glass of sparkling wine as the train pulls off into the Austrian countryside. It’s then time for lunch in one of the restaurant cars; expect gourmet menus to span multiple courses, served up among Lalique glasswork and delicate marquetry. Then, it’s back to your cabin to change for dinner – a four-course extravaganza with Brittany lobsters and Mont Saint-Michel lamb among the highlights. Then, perhaps cap it all off with a piano-accompanied drink in the champagne bar.

You’ll wake this morning to pretty views of rural France and a Continental breakfast, served by your attendant in your cabin. After sweeping through Paris, it’s then time for an indulgent lunch before you arrive into Calais where a channel-tunnel hop will see you onto Folkestone. Here, you’ll board the Belmond British Pullman, settling in to plush armchairs in 1920s carriages that have hosted everyone from Churchill to the Queen Mother. It’s the evocative setting for afternoon tea and a glass of sparkling wine, taken before you roll into London Victoria – journey’s end.