There are those who dream of the northern lights, others of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. And then there’s that a somewhat cinematic wish to board a vintage train. An image that for many remains confined to the “one day” list.
However, Belmond, the giant of luxury hospitality and custodian of icons like the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, is pushing beyond. Not a simple refresh, but an operation with a nearly theatrical flavor. To do it, they enlisted Baz Luhrmann, the Australian director known for his visionary style, and Catherine Martin, his partner and Oscar winner for costumes and production design. The idea: transform a carriage into something unrepeatable.
The result is named Celia. It is a private carriage that will debut next summer aboard the British Pullman. More than a carriage, a traveling set where the taste for detail meets nostalgia and a deliberately spectacular aesthetic. Belmond, in short, raises the bar. And it does so by leaning on the imagination, before the journey.
Belmond’s Celia Carriage
Don’t expect a simple, refurbished dining carriage. Celia is a world unto itself, capable of hosting up to 12 passengers in a space that includes a bar, a lounge, a dining area and even a small kitchen. All inside an authentic 1932 Pullman coach, restored and transformed into something that would be reductive to call just spectacular.
But who exactly is Celia? She’s a completely invented muse by Luhrmann: in his imagination, a West End diva from 1930s London who received this carriage after performing Titania, the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A narrative gimmick, certainly, but it permeates every inch of the interiors.
The call to the Shakespearean masterpiece is everywhere. Floral motifs inspired by the British countryside decorate the oak wood panels crafted with the marquetry technique. Thick velvets in green, red, yellow and purple cover the furnishings. Heavy theatrical curtains divide the spaces, creating that sensation of stepping across thresholds toward worlds always new. In the bathroom, then, a hand-painted ceiling with mosaics and mystical motifs completes the dreamlike atmosphere.
Catherine Martin, for her part, has personally selected every supplier and craftsman. The names are those of British excellence. A painstaking job, lasting months, to recreate an atmosphere that blends nostalgia and opulence without appearing garish.
The Routes
The carriage will depart from London’s Victoria Station and will be available on all the British Pullman routes: daily excursions to Bath, Oxford, Blenheim Palace and other destinations across the United Kingdom.
Those who book will have dedicated stewards and the possibility to customize menus and entertainment. A private chef can be requested, but there’s also the opportunity to turn the space into a small theater or a dance floor: anything is possible.
The Price
How much does all this cost? Prices start at around €17,250 for exclusive use of the carriage. Not exactly within everyone’s reach, but after all no one ever said dreams come cheap.
For those who love this kind of experience, it’s worth recalling that the British Pullman already hosts the Cygnus carriage, designed in 2021 by Wes Anderson with his unmistakable symmetrical style and swan-inspired details. Two completely different cinematic visions, but united by the same philosophy: travel as a show, the train as the set of a film in which you are the protagonists.
