I’m standing on a quiet cobblestone street near the heart of Rome. Tall, apricot-hued buildings draped in ivy cast cooling shadows over me. This is Via Margutta, the street that was once home to the great Italian auteur Federico Fellini. His iconic 1960 film La Dolce Vita defined an era of glamour, indulgence and yearning. That’s what I’ve come to Italy to find.
Credit: Mr.Tripper/La Dolce Vita Orient Express
Credit: Charlotte Ames-Ettridge
Credit: Mr.Tripper/La Dolce Vita Orient Express
My journey begins here in Rome but will sweep me south to Sicily. What’s more, I’ll be travelling in impeccable style aboard the La Dolce Vita Orient Express . Launched last June by French luxury group Accor, this retro train is a dazzling homage to Italy’s Golden Age.
Of all the service’s itineraries, Rome to Sicily is the most elaborate, with stops in three distinctive cities: Maratea, Taormina and Palermo. “Our guests have seen all of Italy – often more than once,” says general manager Marco Girotto. “What they seek now is something rarer: the Italy that lies beyond the familiar.”
My last evening in Rome is spent at the serene La Minerva Orient Express hotel, a polished launchpad for both Rome and the train, with complimentary transfers making the experience seamless.
The next morning, a limo whisks me to Rome Ostiense station, where the train gleams on the platform. Inside, a playful 1960s aesthetic is expressed through terracotta-orange walls, curved cream sofas and mid-century booth tables. Guest cabins are not only beautiful but deceptively spacious, with plush furnishings that double as storage. Cabin corridors are decorated with photos by Marcello Geppetti, one real-life inspiration behind Fellini’s bulb-flashing Paparazzo.
Credit: Mr.Tripper/La Dolce Vita Orient Express
Credit: Vercingetorige/Getty Images
Credit: Charlotte Ames-Ettridge
From my cabin window, I watch the scenery shift from lush fields and undulating hills to rocky scrubland and jagged mountains. The incredible diversity of Italy’s landscapes is reflected in the food served on board; lavish, six-course meals showcase regional bounty. “Every texture, taste and touchpoint tells a distinctly Italian story,” Girotto says.
At Maratea, we disembark. The town sits high in the mountains and we reach its centre via a steep, winding road that affords stunning views of the zigzagging coastline below.
Nino, our guide for the afternoon, offers up entertaining tidbits as we tour Maratea’s postcard-perfect lanes and sample its speciality pastries.
Higher still, we reach a remote peak bearing a single structure: a soaring Christ the Redeemer that immediately calls to mind La Dolce Vita’s opening scene, in which a similar statue is flown by helicopter. It makes for an awesome sight amid the cloud-brushed peaks that surround us.
Back on board, there’s time to dress for another sumptuous dinner and the night’s live entertainment: a spirited tribute to the Italian American crooners of the ’60s. When I finally sink into my cabin’s crisp white sheets, I’m asleep in minutes.
Day two begins with a flurry of commotion as we prepare to cross the Strait of Messina. In a feat of engineering, the train is loaded segment by segment onto a private ferry. Afterwards, passengers climb up to the deck to watch Sicily emerge across a shimmering sea – a jumble of aged palazzos and church spires.
Our stop today is the fashionable resort town of Taormina. Our guide Francesco leads us through bustling, colourful streets to a secluded Greco-Roman odeon (building used for musical and poetic performances), peeling back the layers of history until it feels like time travel. “If you walk down the main streets of Taormina, you might see the designer shops and five-star hotels, but down each narrow side lane, there’s something more,” Francesco tells us.
Credit: Mr.Tripper/La Dolce Vita Orient Express
Credit: canbedone/Getty Images
Credit: florentina georgescu photography/Getty Images
Soon, we’re rolling dough in the leafy courtyard of local restaurant I Giardini di Babilonia during a private cannoli masterclass. We roll thin pieces of dough into cylinders and plunge them into a pan of sunflower oil, where they bubble and crisp. Our pastry chef selects one and pipes fresh ricotta mixed with sugar, cinnamon and orange zest into it then hands it to me. It’s the best cannolo I’ve ever tasted.
On the final morning, I savour the remaining hours by my cabin window. After exchanging a fond farewell with my fellow passengers at Palermo station, I spend the day savouring arancini and soaking up the city’s Norman and Moorish architecture, before a La Dolce Vita driver escorts me to the airport.
Slow travel, followed by fast: it’s just an hour’s flight to Rome and, before I know it, I’m back in the Eternal City. Strange to think I was just here, wandering down Via Margutta and musing over the meaning of la dolce vita. After my journey through some of Italy’s most staggering landscapes, where luxury and simplicity intertwine, I think I’m starting to understand.
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