Summer 2025 sees the return of a train route fit to tempt even the most reluctant rail passengers: the Expresso Riviera linking Rome and Marseille along one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world.
Having proved popular in 2024, the overnight service, run by FS Treni Turistici, will again operate between 4 July and 30 August 2025, only on weekends. The schedule offers Friday evening departures from the Italian capital, arriving on Saturday morning in France’s second city, Marseille. Going in the other direction, services leave Marseille on Saturday evening, reaching Rome by the small hours of Sunday.
Route and facilities
The route takes in Genoa, Savona, Alassia, Imperia, Sanremo, and Ventimiglia in Italy, and, on the Gallic side of the border, visits “Pearl of France” and lemon mecca Menton, as well as touching the glamour of Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Saint-Raphaël–Valescure, Toulon and Marseille.
On-board night-time accommodation includes single or double sleeping cars with the option to book exclusive private compartments and budget-friendly 4-seater couchettes, which the rail firm describes as “ideal for families or small groups.”
In daylight hours the layout adapts into lounges and first and second class seating. And as one would expect on a train serving two of the world’s most renowned culinary nations, there is no shortage of refreshments on board, with dinner, breakfast and a bar service throughout the journey.
While the overnight service might give passengers limited opportunities for window gazing and Mediterranean views, daytime departures from Genoa and a proposed service from Milan into Northern France present alternative options.
Comfortable and competitive with air travel
Luigi Cantamessa, CEO of FS Treni Turistici Italiani, said the train serves “tourist flows towards western Liguria, finally offering a service without changes from Genoa to Ventimiglia and France.” He hailed the service’s reincarnation of “the comfort of the great international trains that have now disappeared.”
While tickets supposedly came online on 24 May 2025 and FS Treni Turistici is promoting 25% reductions right now, attempts by this writer to explore booking possibilities and prices were thwarted on the company’s website, which on 30 May still stated “dates, times, and tickets” for the 2025 itinerary are “coming soon.”
However, prices are reported to start at just over €40 euros according to Time Out, with prices for the full journey reported in The Local at €71, while Ryanair flights between the two termini start at around €60, making tickets for what promises to be a romantic city-to-city rail experience very competitive with air travel.
