Nothing epitomises the age of elegance like a classic train journey. Re-creating this bygone era isn’t cheap — the trip to Istanbul on the Orient Express costs more than four grand — but we’ve been trainspotting and have found bargain alternatives to the classic departures.

Our trains aren’t so luxurious on the inside — you won’t find mints on your pillow — but the scenery outside is exactly the same, and you’ll save a bundle.

PARIS TO ISTANBUL
The Orient Express versus the DIY option
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The closest you can get to the original Orient Express runs from Paris to Istanbul only once a year and costs a packet. Booked through Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (0845 077 2222, orient-express.com ) the one-way fare is a staggering £4,570pp. On this trip, the views come a poor second to the scenery inside, as ladies in long gowns and longer gloves waft fragrantly by portly chaps in bulging tuxedos, one ear tuned to the dinner gong. And no wonder — the food is as fine as you would expect for the money, with five-course feasts threatening murder on the waistline.

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The journey is broken by overnight stays in Budapest and Bucharest before the train rattles over the Danube and into Bulgaria. The next stop, in the Black Sea port of Varna, is pretty grim — imagine a Rolls-Royce lost in the backstreets of Barnsley — but it’s then a simple matter of crossing the Thracian Plain to Istanbul (not Constantinople).

Whether there’s an alternative to this costume drama depends on your requirements: for opulent, exclusive, spoilt-rotten indulgence, nothing touches the VSOE, but if it’s merely a train to Istanbul you require — and you relish a challenge — read on.

Leave London on the 12.29pm Eurostar to Paris (0870 518 6186, eurostar.com), arriving at the Gare du Nord at 3.50pm — cost £59. You’ve got plenty of time, so choose from (a) a late lunch, (b) a spin around the Louvre or (c) a bateau-mouche along the Seine.

You need to be at the Gare de l’Est in time to catch the 8.20pm City Night Line service to Munich. Booked with Deutsche Bahn (0871 880 8066, bahn.de), a double sleeper cabin for the 11-hour journey is £105. There’s no need to linger, so hop on the 9.27am RJ63 Railjet straight to Vienna. The fare is £70, again with Deutsche Bahn. You’ll have time for lunch — the Wiener schnitzel is reliable — before you board the 3.50pm EC965 service to Budapest.

Normally, the fare is upwards of £50, but if you book through Austrian Railways (00 43 51717, oebb.at) and request a Spar Schiene ticket, it will cost a mere £17. Dip into Budapest — the marvellous Szechenyi baths (£6), in the City Park, will wash away the railroad grit — before catching the 7.13pm EuroNight sleeper to Bucharest. A sleeper compartment costs just £78 (tickets can be bought at Budapest’s Keleti station) and you arrive in the Romanian capital at 10.28am.

Don’t hang around; buy a berth in a first-class compartment, sleeping two, on the 12.16pm Bosphor Express to Istanbul from the ticket office. The ticket will set you back £140, and there’s no dining car, so you’ll need to take food and drink. You’ll roll into Istanbul (not Constantinople) in time for breakfast. Total cost: £465.

One-way flights from Istanbul to London start at £28 with EasyJet (easyjet.com ).

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