The luxury rail cruise project “Le Grand Tour” of Puy du Fou is getting closer to its launch

After several years of announcements and postponements, the Grand Tour seems to be getting closer to the start. Imagined by Puy du Fou as a French-style railway cruise, this six-day and five-night experience will take its passengers on a journey of nearly 4,000 kilometers. The concept is not limited to a luxury train: it promises a traveling story, between heritage, gastronomy and immersive theater.

The precise timetable for the first departures remains to be confirmed. But the recruitments published by the group, in particular for butlers whose position is scheduled to take up their duties in February 2027, as well as the content recently put forward by Puy du Fou, confirm a targeted launch next year.

A staged tour of France

The train is due to leave Paris for a large loop through the French regions. In the most recent version of the route, Puy du Fou cites in particular Reims, Beaune, Avignon, Carcassonne, Cahors, the Arcachon basin, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Chenonceau, Puy du Fou, Saint-Malo and Mont-Saint-Michel. A succession of stops which is more like a Grand Heritage Tour than a simple train journey.

Each stop must be part of a plot designed by the Vendée park teams. The group announces ten “high places of wonder” and around forty characters. The recipe is known: make the traveler a spectator and the landscape a setting. A way to distinguish yourself from the major European luxury trains, which focus primarily on service, panoramas and the slow pace of the journey.

Eighteen cabins and a starred chef

The Grand Tour borrows the codes of the Belle Époque, with cabins decorated in the spirit of the great trains of yesteryear, but equipped with contemporary comfort. The convoy will have 18 cabins of 10 to 25 m², equipped with a private bathroom and toilet. Each must have a designated butler.

The restoration will be entrusted to Alexandre Couillon, the three-star chef of La Marine, in Noirmoutier. Puy du Fou promises cuisine inspired by the terroirs crossed, served as one of the highlights of this rail cruise.

A launch postponed several times

Announced in 2021 for a first departure in the summer of 2023, the project was delayed, taking time to manufacture and approve the rolling stock. This rail cruise will be sold as an all-inclusive package, with accommodation, catering, entertainment, stopovers and transfers.

At what price? The price of 4,900 euros per person, announced during the initial presentation, should be revised upwards: the postponements and the very high-end positioning of the project suggest that the prices for 2027 will be significantly higher. For Puy du Fou, the challenge is high: transposing its narrative know-how to the scale of the country and making the train itself a spectacle.