There are good reasons for thinking that time travel is impossible, but when you first step on board La Dolce Vita Orient Express, can you really be sure you haven’t been transported back a century or more? Dressed head to toe in handsome, vintage-inspired regalia, conductors show no signs of having mobile phones in their pockets, and the impeccable cabins are a marvel of sophistication, where natural materials are aptly complemented by polished metals and space-enhancing mirrors. There is not a single TV in sight. 

Orient Express’s brand-new four-day Golf Journeys – two round-trip itineraries from Rome, one going north to Turin, the other circumnavigating central Italy – do eventually intersect with the 21st century, but only when absolutely necessary (the instant hot water in the shower, say). The highlights of life on the rails are the time-tested classics, led by the masterful cuisine conceived by Michelin-starred chef Heinz Beck that manages to be both sumptuous and surprising without feeling over-decadent after indulging several nights in a row.

(Photo: Oliver Astrologo)

The bar carriage is the social nexus for fellow passengers – and there does turn out to be a communal feeling, with such a small train (my trip numbered around 20 people) and so many rounds of golf and meals together. It’s a lovely aspect of the experience, made all the more intoxicating by the splendid, free-flowing cocktails. Pre-prandials are mandatory: information for the next day is shared, and seats for dinner are all taken together, as careful choreography and coordination are required for the ornate service to work to perfection, as it does every evening. After dinner, the bar carriage once again takes centre stage, this time, literally: a jazz band is the nightly entertainment, beginning as light background music and progressing to a more celebratory mood as the night wears on.

Few passengers party hard every night because the point of the trip, of course, is the golf. And these are championship tracks best tackled in top form. I travelled on the Italian Swing journey, starting just outside Rome at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, which hosted the Ryder Cup in 2023 and proved just as punishing to errant shots now as it was then. It was equally cinematic as well, with snow-capped mountains as backdrops amid Tiepolo clouds and amphitheatres of swooping trees.

(Photo: Mr. Tripper)

Every course is a highlight in its own way: I was especially taken with San Domenico in Puglia, where the sea breeze put up the stiffest resistance on the beautiful, sun-drenched course. At Argentario, host of the most recent Italian Open, I revisited my memories of the course 14 years earlier, appreciating its elegant curves even more amid the much-matured landscape. The round at Castiglion del Bosco is on a level of its own: a private club with extremely limited membership, the course is rarely accessible to the public and is truly spectacular, a winding track through prime Tuscan countryside, where you aim for the picturesque castello on a distant hill from more than one tee box.

Casual golfers can – and do – enjoy the train as well. There are options to take a lesson with the pro or hit balls on the range if a full 18 is not on the cards, and those who don’t play at all have a host of enticing daily activities, ranging from spa treatments to wine tastings and cooking courses.

The journey is best begun – and concluded – at the train’s sister property in Rome, the Orient Express La Minerva hotel. Here, the train-themed rooms are much bigger than their rolling counterparts but equally charming – making it hard not to spend that last evening reminiscing on the birdies, the near-misses and the old-fashioned magic of the rails.

(Photo: © San Domenico Golf)

Header: Castiglion del Bosco