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Society of IRT Clients: ‘We Love the Belmond Grand Hibernian!’

19 Nov
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Belmond Grand Hibernian Train Manager Wolfgang Eipeldauer and crew member Mark O’Doherty pose outside Ireland’s first luxury train.  Mark prepares to serve drinks to passengers returning from a “shore excursion.” IRT Photo by Eleanor Flagler Hardy

Soon after we returned from the “maiden voyage” of Ireland’s Belmond Grand Hibernian, the reviews began arriving.

“The Belmond Grand Hibernian Railway Tour was an outstanding experience,” wrote one IRT guest on Rachel Hardy’s Virtuoso “review page.” “It was luxury rail travel with a broad sampling of the history and heart of Ireland.”  (Click here for more reviews.)

“Just wonderful!” wrote another of the IRT trip — our first-ever charter of an entire train.

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Marus Vera prepares to “launch” her raptor during a falconry outing at Ireland’s gorgeous Ashford Castle, one of the favorite stops on the Belmond Grand Hibernian tour. IRT Photo by Eleanor Flagler Hardy

“This was my seventh trip with the Society of International Railway Travelers,” wrote yet another, extolling IRT’s insistence on excellence.

Summing up, a veteran traveler wrote: “I would heartily recommend the trip to anyone interested in Ireland or train travel or both.”

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Our guide at Ashford Castle was a retired schoolteacher, and wonderful storyteller. In the background, IRT Society tour guest Julia Cordukes looks on. IRT Photo by Eleanor Flagler Hardy

These reactions — coupled with our own experience — prompt us to offer the same journey, at the same time of year, in 2017: Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2017.

We’re happy to book you on any Belmond Grand Hibernian trip next year — there are 22 departures of the 7-day tour from April through October, 2017.

But we think you’ll especially like our group tour. Why? Let one of the Belmond Grand Hibernian crew members explain:

Finally, this, from a long-time Society of IRT traveler:

“When they called it the ‘Grand’ Hibernian, they really knew what they were doing. It was a grand trip.”

To see a photo album of the trip, please click here.  And if you want to talk with one of us who has been on board, please call us: 800-478-4881 or 502-897-1725.

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Society of IRT President Eleanor Flagler Hardy poses with Belmond Grand Hibernian staff at Dublin’s Heuston Station just before the luxury train’s first-ever trip. IRT Photo by Owen Hardy

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Evolution of a Classic: the VSOE Stays Ahead of the Curve

7 Oct

Lucy Clark, Belmond’s Director of Sales, Trains & Cruises, made a special trip to IRT’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky this week to give us a full report on everything new in the world of Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.  Over lunch and chocolate-pecan pie, we discussed:

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IRT CEO Owen Hardy with Lucy Clark, Belmond’s Director of Sales for the VSOE.

Air Conditioning: Beginning in 2017, all cabins on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will have air-conditioning. Ms. Clark gave us the inside scoop: “the VSOE’s actually already begun experimenting with A/C during the 2016 season — but we wanted to keep it subtle and make sure our passengers didn’t hate it.”

As it turns out, “they” — the 1920s purists — didn’t hate it, when they noticed it at all. The A/C in the bar and dining cars was greatly appreciated by those traveling in July & August — the hottest months of the season, she said. And those traveling to Turkey liked it as well.

And purists take note: the windows in your cabin will still open, so you can drink in the smell of Alpine meadows – one of our favorite pasttimes.

Berlin: The journeys to/from Berlin have been a huge success, and they will be repeated in 2017. The VSOE hugs the Rhine Gorge — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — for 100 miles. She hopes the rollicking jazz combo that traveled on the train this year will be back — they’re working on it.

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Verona: O Romeo, Romeo — wherefore art thou, Romeo? Did you know that you can get on — or off — the VSOE in Verona as well as Venice? Click here to read more about this option.

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Cinema:  A new Murder on the Orient Express film is in the works, starring Judi Dench and Johnny Depp, and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Look for it in theaters next November. IRT expects it to make departures on the VSOE sell out earlier than ever next year.

Special Offers: Book Venice to Paris or Venice to London by Oct. 30, and get 2 complimentary nights at the fabulous Belmond Cipriani Hotel in Venice. Applicable dates are: March 22 & 29 and April 5, 8, 19 & 26. Email us for details.

Or book Venice-Paris or Venice-London by Oct. 30, and receive a free cabin suite upgrade for travel through April 30, 2017. (A VSOE cabin suite is two double cabins linked by a private, interior door. It gives a couple double the space, with two windows, two wash basins and two lower bunks.)

Offers are not combinable; other restrictions apply.

Istanbul – Venice Annual Journey: Space still remains for this once-a-year trip: dates are Sept. 1-6, 2017. IRT guests who did the trip this year said it was magical. Don’t let them have all the fun! Call or email us to book your cabin.

Ready to Book — But Which Direction? Can’t decide between Venice-Paris-London or London-Paris-Venice? The routes between Paris and Venice (or Verona) are decidedly different. So do both!

The northbound route takes the VSOE through the Brenner pass. Southbound, the VSOE plies the Gotthard Pass between Basel and Airolo. Both routes are beautiful in their own way.

For information about our great journeys, email us at tourdesk@irtsociety.com or call: 800-478-4881 or 502-897-1725.  Find us on the web at IrtSociety.com.

 

 

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