Italy is already a dream destination, but now there are plans to make the rail experience significantly dreamier, with plans being drawn up for a "Treno della Dolce Vita."
The "Dolce Vita train" is set to run 10 routes through Italy's most famous landscapes, in historic trains with retro luxury, Dolce Vita-era fittings. The itineraries will cover 14 of Italy's 20 regions, and reach 128 cities, covering 10,000 miles of tracks from north to south. Itineraries will range from one to three nights.
Passengers - who will sleep, eat and be entertained onboard, in the style of iconic services such as Belmond's Venice Simplon-Orient-Express - will be able to ride through Tuscany's famous hills, and around Sicily, in luxury trains that pay homage to Federico Fellini's 1960s film of the same name, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg.
The trains are due to debut in 2023, but were announced with a trial run from Rome to Civitavecchia, on the Lazio coast, in a vintage train kitted out especially for the occasion, and with celebrity chef Carlo Cracco conjuring his magic and giving a taste of what future guests will experience.
The Treno Dolce Vita is a joint project between Trenitalia, part of Italy's state railway company, and Arsenale S.p.A., a company specializing in luxury hospitality which is behind forthcoming luxury hotels including Soho House in Rome and the Rosewood in Venice.