The Golf Train 2025 – Orient Express, La Dolce Vita

In 2025, the Orient Express revives a magic once thought confined to novels: that of a journey where the point of departure fades away, allowing the traveler to savor the present in motion. On board La Dolce Vita, Italian landscapes unfurl like the shop windows of a Parisian night glimpsed from a taxi—except here, it is rolling hills, vineyards, and legendary golf courses that pass by, offered to the eye as fleeting tableaux.

The carriages, restored with the splendor of the 1960s, blend velvet, polished wood, and soft lighting. Cabins transform into refined suites, true cocoons in motion. Travel becomes a ritual of gastronomy orchestrated by three-star chef Heinz Beck, who reinterprets the flavors of the regions crossed. In the morning, delicate treats echo the first light of day; by evening, the Italian aperitivo becomes a joyful ceremony, where wine and cocktails mingle with music.

But the Golf Train is a world first: a four-day, three-night itinerary designed for golf enthusiasts. The Northern Greensdeparts in October 2025. The journey begins in Rome, at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, host of the 2023 Ryder Cup. Next comes Franciacorta, with its 27 holes and Pete Dye’s signature championship course, set in one of the world’s most celebrated wine regions. The route continues to Turin and the Royal Park I Roveri, nestled within La Mandria National Park and home to Edoardo Molinari’s academy. Finally, depending on the chosen path, travelers set down their clubs either in Umbria, at the demanding Antognolla designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., or in Tuscany, at Terme di Saturnia, where fairways lie beside ancient hot springs.

From November 2025, The Italian Swing heads south. Again, the journey begins at Marco Simone before moving on to Puglia and the windswept San Domenico, a seaside links along the Adriatic where every shot is a battle with the elements. Tuscany then returns in grandeur with the exclusive Castiglion del Bosco, crafted by Tom Weiskopf and envisioned by Massimo Ferragamo amid his Brunello vineyards. Here, golf and wine converse in a rare harmony.

Each stop is punctuated by warm welcomes, cultural discoveries, and local tastings. Professionals accompany the voyage, offering masterclasses and conversations that turn the journey into both a sporting and an initiatory experience.

Beyond golf, La Dolce Vita Orient Express offers eight other itineraries across Italy: Venice and Portofino, Matera and its eternal stones, luminous Sicily, the rolling hills of Piedmont, and the vineyards of Tuscany. More than 130 cities are rediscovered in the elegance of a train that pays homage to Italy’s golden age—the era of Fellini, Sophia Loren, and Marcello Mastroianni.

This journey is more than a string of destinations: it is a reinvention of time itself. The rhythm of the rails invites slowness, like a round of golf savored shot by shot. Between passing landscapes, awaiting greens, and glasses of Brunello shared at dusk, the Orient Express offers far more than transport: a celebration of the senses, a way of life in motion, an adventure where Italy reveals itself with the elegance of yesterday and the pleasures of today.