Dreamy new night train to connect Rome and Marseille this summer
With languid summer days around the corner, a long, leisurely train journey between two dreamy destinations is just the ticket.
The good news for travellers is that Italy is about to restart a rail route that fulfils that desire to a tee.
The blissfully named Espresso Riviera is returning to the rails after a successful summer season last year, with a slight change in route.
The night train will link Rome to Marseille, offering passengers a slow, scenic connection between Italy's culture-rich capital and the French Riviera.
The Espresso Riviera is part of Italy's tourist train initiative, which sees a relaunched vintage fleet ferrying visitors to some of the most picturesque spots within the country's borders and beyond.
The service, operated by FS Treni Turistici, will run on weekends between 4 July and 30 August, with tickets already on sale.
Passengers can choose to travel in a sleeping car with private compartments or a more affordable couchette.
Trains depart from Roma Termini station on Friday evening, arriving in Marseille on Saturday morning. The return train leaves from Marseille on Saturday and arrives in the Italian capital on Sunday morning.
The service travels along one of the most spectacular coastal routes in the Mediterranean - a good reason to wake up early in the morning to admire the view.
There is also a daytime alternative from Genoa, with private lounges and seats in first class and second class, if you want a bit longer to gaze out at the sea.
The company says it is planning a departure from Milan, too, that will run straight to Genoa and link northern Italy to France directly.
There will be catering available on board for the entire route, offering dinner, breakfast and a bar service.
The aim is to facilitate "not only holidaymakers departing from the capital, increasingly looking for a varied offer of service levels on board the train, but also tourist flows towards western Liguria, finally offering a service without changes from Genoa to Ventimiglia and France," said Luigi Cantamessa, CEO of FS Treni Turistici Italiani.
On the way, the Espresso Riviera will stop at several tempting destinations.
Sanremo is a smart coastal resort on Italy's Ligurian coast with a famous casino, while just over the border into France is Menton, a medieval town jutting out into the sea renowned for its prized lemons.
After that, the train pulls in at the glamorous seaside resort towns of Monaco-Monte Carlo and Cannes.
After departing from Rome, the full route will stop at Genoa, Savona, Alassia, Imperia, Sanremo, and Ventimiglia in Italy, and Menton, Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Saint-Raphaël–Valescure, Toulon and Marseille in France.
While last year the route terminated in Nice, this year the extension to Marseille gives travellers the chance to explore a vibrant port city that has come under the spotlight in recent years.
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