I'll be Poirot': the Orient Express is back but what is it like to ride?

"If anyone mysteriously vanishes, I can be Poirot, said the passenger from India, twirling his moustache. It felt as though the spirit of Agatha Christie's most famous character best known for solving the Murder on the Orient Express was lingering in the breeze at Palermo's sublime botanical garden, which had been transformed into a makeshift waiting room for the 40 or so travellers about to board an Italian replica of the fabled train."

"Sipping espresso and sampling cannoli, the classic Sicilian pastry, the curiosity and suspicion for which Poirot is famous was palpable as the passengers subtly sized each other up. But the only mystery waiting to be unravelled over the next couple of days was whether their Rome-bound journey on La Dolce Vita Orient Express would live up to their dreamy expectations."

"The sleeper rolled into service in April with the aim of reviving the glamour of the original train, as well as the romanticised notion of Italy's dolce vita, or sweet life, not to mention tapping into the resurgence in demand for slow luxury travel. Comprising refurbished carriages formerly in service on Italy's railway in the 1960s, the train has spent the last few months taking passengers on various journeys: through Tuscany's wine region, to Venice and along the Ligurian coast all of them sold out."

Passengers gathered in Palermo's botanical garden, transformed into a makeshift waiting room, where espresso, cannoli and Poirot impersonations mingled with curiosity and suspicion. La Dolce Vita Orient Express began sleeper service in April to revive the glamour of the original Orient Express and the romanticised notion of Italy's dolce vita while tapping into rising demand for slow luxury travel. The train uses refurbished 1960s Italian carriages and has run sold-out itineraries through Tuscany, to Venice and along the Ligurian coast. The debut southern voyage ran from Palermo to Rome. The original Orient Express began in 1883 and ended regular service in 2009, displaced by high-speed rail and low-cost flights; its legacy persists through luxury nostalgic journeys.

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