Orient Express Route

Paris → Istanbul across Europe

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The Orient Express was the most famous long-distance train in history. It linked Paris with Constantinople (Istanbul), around 2,740 km across Europe, from 1883 until the name left the timetables in December 2009. Georges Nagelmackers' Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits created it, and it cut the trip from Paris to Istanbul from about two and a half months to roughly 80 hours. The map follows its classic route via Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest.

Poster of Paris to Istanbul — **On your wall**Paris to Istanbul on the Rhein 1928 map, as a 50 × 70 cm poster. The style, size and words are yours to change.

Route facts

Historical duration	67.5 h (3 nights) Paris–Constantinople once through-running began in 1889¹
Distance	≈ 2,740 km Paris–Istanbul²
First run	Express d'Orient, Paris Gare de l'Est, October 1883 (June 1883 to Vienna); renamed Orient Express in 1891¹
Last direct Paris–Istanbul train	19 May 1977, from Paris Gare de Lyon¹
Name retired	13 December 2009, after a final Strasbourg–Vienna overnight run¹
Riding it today	Belmond's Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (heritage, from ≈ £4,300/person); Accor's revival of the original name, using 17 restored 1920s–30s CIWL cars, is planned from late 2026³

Height along the route

The height of the track, from AWS Open Data terrain tiles along Trainmap's route. Through tunnels and over bridges, which come from OpenStreetMap, the line runs straight from one end to the other. The highest station is München Hbf, at 521 m.

Scenic highlights

The classic 1883 routing. Paris–Strasbourg–Munich–Vienna–Budapest–Bucharest, originally with a Danube crossing at Giurgiu and a Black Sea steamer to Constantinople.¹
Simplon Orient Express. From 1919 a southern sister route ran via the Simplon Tunnel, Milan, Venice and Trieste. This is the train in Agatha Christie's novel.³

Stations on this route

Paris Gare de Lyon
Stuttgart Hbf
München Hbf
Wien Hbf
Budapest-Keleti
Bucharest
Istanbul

Edward VII, Emperor Franz Joseph, T.E. Lawrence, Mata Hari, Marlene Dietrich, Maria Callas and Josephine Baker all rode it, according to National Geographic. Agatha Christie first took the Simplon-Orient Express in 1928. A train stranded in snow near Istanbul in 1929, and her own flood-delayed trip in 1931, both went into Murder on the Orient Express. The Pera Palace hotel in Istanbul was built in 1895 for the train's passengers.