British Pullman Murder Mystery March 2022

The train departs from Victoria and is part of the Belmond brand, the Pullman is the sister train of the Orient Express and heads through the English Medway towns, past Faversham and down to Margate, then comes back via Canterbury, Maidstone and Otford with some other stops along the way. I believe the route can change but that was our journey that day.

The morning started with a casual check in at London Victoria Station with a band singing 1940’s music and it was great to see some people dressing up in their finery. As it was a Murder Mystery afternoon we had decided that Sherlock Holmes and Poirot was our theme, so we had moustaches, deerstalker hats, magnifying glasses and pipes. As we were 4 females, this seemed to go down well with the staff and passengers alike!

Before we were shown to our seats, the plot was already unfolding with some of the actors on the platform laying down the story, there was a nice buzz to the day and it only got better.

We were shown to our private booth for 4, which was a nice surprise and if you can request this (and you are a foursome), this really added to the day, we certainly could not have been as carefree in the open carriage.

The train itself was immaculate, very clean, timeless decor, even the toilet had mosaics and nice touches. I can only imagine what the Orient Express must look like. We sat in big armchairs around our table and it was really comfortable.

As it was a celebration, we had a bottle of champagne waiting in our booth which again was a nice extra touch. There were canapes on the table and all the china and crockery were laid out ready.

On the table were a couple of Pullman pens (nice!) plus the background story for the murder with some useful information. Then the actors come round and introduce themselves throughout the journey and you can get to interrogate them to try and solve the murder.

All this is going on while you are served a 5-course menu and other treats. The food is as you would expect, very tasty, some of it is inventive, especially the dessert. I am not a fan of Rhubarb and Custard but it was delicious and not served in a traditional way, I didn’t really know it was Rhubarb and Custard, it was just a very tasty sweet treat.

The menu changes regularly but having given our dietary requirements in a few weeks beforehand, they double check everyone is ok with the menu and make any changes where they can if you prefer something else, which they did for us.

As part of the price, we had up to £60 for the 4 of us to spend on other drinks, so you can order wine, cocktails, mocktails or other soft drinks. The cocktails were £15 each and mocktails at £5 each.

You cannot fault the staff, they are friendly, accommodating, happy in their work. We had some very attentive hosts who made sure we were looked after and even told us a few jokes and stories along the way.

We managed to solve the murder, with a few clues along the way from the actors, and ended up winning the prize, which was an amazing end to the train journey.

It was a fantastic experience, you can’t fault it, for a celebration, just to have day off from the norm, to go as a group. Its just not something you do every day and it felt like a real treat.

I would highly recommend it and with the fantastic relationship I have with the Belmond brand I would love to organise this for you.

We finished the day by popping along to a West End Musical, called Six, which is a modern day take on Henry VIII's wives, would highly recommend that also.

You can also check out my video of the day on my website.