Agatha Christie’s travel adventures from the Nile to Spain
The Queen of Crime travelled widely and the exotic destinations she visited inspired her writing.
Egypt, the setting for Death on the Nile, newly adapted for the big screen by Kenneth Branagh, is by no means the only exotic location featured in Agatha Christie’s novels. For somebody primarily known for her very English storytelling, she ventured far and wide, particularly after her messy divorce from Archie Christie in 1928.
Her travels provided her with many of the characters and compelling settings for her books. They also furnished her with a second husband, Max Mallowan. The pair met on an archeological dig in southern Iraq, which she reached via a combination of luxury trains that sadly no longer exist today. Thanks to Mallowan, she became a regular on those trains, spending many a season in what is now northern Syria, doing her shopping in Aleppo.
Many of her favourite locations, in Britain and overseas, from Devon to Tenerife and Barbados, still cherish her memory, even though in several cases she was going there to avoid the attentions of the press. To follow in her footsteps is to unravel the story of her life.
Burgh Island, Devon
It’s an archetypal setting for a Christie murder: a property on an island cut off from the mainland by the tide. And the art deco Burgh Island Hotel, with immaculate 1920s and ’30s detail, is ideal for anyone looking for total immersion in a Christie world. So many dramas and documentaries have been made here there’s a good chance you’ll meet a film crew coming down the corridor. Christie was a regular guest, writing And Then There Were None and Evil Under the Sun in a hotel to which she gave the rather less-dignified name, the Jolly Roger.
Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate
The big mystery in Christie’s own life took place in 1926, when her marriage to Archie fell apart and she disappeared for 11 days. By then she was already a celebrity, so the event made front-page news, especially when her car was found abandoned by a lake. Eventually she was recognised by a maid working in a genteel spa hotel in Harrogate, where Christie had checked in using the surname of Archie’s mistress. The hotel, now renamed the Old Swan, retains its traditional gentility; a film about Christie’s disappearance, Agatha, starring Vanessa Redgrave, was made here in 1979.
Brown’s Hotel, London
Upmarket hotels and their closed communities made ideal settings for Christie, especially when she herself was a regular customer, as she was at Brown’s, the Mayfair inspiration for At Bertram’s Hotel. When she wasn’t staying, she would drop in for tea. She had a weakness for drinking cream, and kept her own mug at Brown’s, decorated with the words “Don’t Be Greedy”. Given that she was also largely teetotal, the hotel has devised a “Don’t Be Greedy” mocktail in her honour. One of London’s oldest hotels, Brown’s was founded by James Brown, Lord Byron’s butler, using money the poet bequeathed to him. Book the London leg of the itineraries Black Tomato has created to replicate Christie’s 1922 grand tour, and you’ll stay two nights at Brown’s.
blacktomato.com; roccofortehotels.com
Belmond British, Pullman
Not everyone can afford the time or the prices of the Orient Express, so Belmond’s British Pullman makes an excellent substitute. Sumptuous on-board decor recalls the era of luxury rail travel, much enjoyed by Christie – expect brocade curtains, marquetry panelling and a repertoire of day trips around Britain (including murder mystery specials) with the finest wine, cuisine and scenery. It’s a chance to dress up and savour the tinkling of crystal glassware as the train gets under way, and the crescendo of excited conversation as the champagne kicks in.
Greenway, Devon
Christie described the holiday home she bought with her second husband, Max, as “the loveliest place on earth”. This Georgian mansion stands high up on the eastern shoulder of the River Dart, with its own woodlands, jetty, walled garden and commanding views. Now run by the National Trust, with accommodation in the main house and lodges in the grounds, it has a big archive of everything Christie, from her books to her handbags, and her slightly creepy favourite doll. Road access is narrow and can be tricky, so a better choice is to arrive by the ferry from Dartmouth.
The Grand, Torquay
Agatha Miller was born into a well-to-do family in Torquay and after her wedding to first husband, Archie Christie, she spent her wedding night at what was the resort’s signature hotel. The Grand, which has an Agatha Christie suite, still dominates the esplanade and is part of the Agatha Christie Mile, along with the graceful art nouveau seaside pavilion where she went to dances with Archie. The hotel was rocked 25 years ago by the mystery of an unidentified guest who committed suicide using cyanide, one of the author’s favourite poisons.
Moorland Hotel, Dartmoor
Christie wrote much of her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, during a two-week stay in the Moorland Hotel on Dartmoor. The hotel has extensive gardens and a great location on the moor by Haytor, but it doesn’t make much of a song and dance about its Christie connections. It is popular with overnighting walkers, as is its brasserie, the Tinpickle & Rhum, so called because a tin of pickle and a bottle of rum were all that was found on the premises before its recent refurbishment.
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
Murder on the Orient Express takes place on the Istanbul-Paris train, stuck in a snowdrift in eastern Croatia. Christie was a frequent traveller on this iconic train, particularly after she met her second husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan, out on a Mesopotamian dig in modern-day Iraq. Today’s train may not do the original routes, but the glamour and the authenticity of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express makes it very special. Its itineraries crisscross spectacular parts of Europe, with the 34-hour journey from London to Venice its signature route.
Kingswear paddle steamer, Devon
During her regular holidays at Greenway, Christie and her guests were inevitably passengers on the paddle steamer that provided a regular river service connecting Totnes with Dartmouth, and points in between, including the Greenway jetty. These days, the 98-year-old Kingswear Castle is Britain’s only coal-fired paddler, and still works the Dart, pistons gleaming and wheel thumping, but mostly on sightseeing cruises. The decks quiver, the captain banters and the Paignton-to-Kingswear steam railway chunters along the far bank, tooting companionably.
Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
Shortly after the breakdown of her first marriage and her disappearance to Harrogate, Christie escaped the press by booking a holiday to Tenerife, arriving by steamer with her daughter, Rosalind. They stayed in the Gran Hotel Taoro, where she wrote part of The Mystery of the Blue Train. The Taoro has since closed, but a similar heritage property, the Hotel Botanico, stands by Puerto’s botanical gardens.
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Dissatisfied with the sea swimming in Puerto de la Cruz, Christie and her daughter crossed to Gran Canaria. The island capital, Las Palmas, has its own city beach, Playa de las Canteras, which was far more to her liking. Las Palmas recently named a city square after Christie to commemorate her visit. The story she set here, The Companion, features two mysterious drownings. The Metropole, where she stayed, has closed, but the Santa Catalina, another five-star property, also claims her as a guest.
Hotel Illa d’Or, Mallorca
After her Canary Island experiences, Christie tried Mallorca, but when she arrived in Palma the best hotels were full. The taxi to Hotel Formentor, supposedly the next best thing, took her through Pollensa. She was immediately enchanted by the bay, and decided to stay instead at the shoreline Illa d’Or, surrounded by pine and tamarisk trees. She would walk out to the lighthouse at Cap Formentor, dropping in on the Mar i Cel (now apartments) en route. She used both hotels, renamed the Pino d’Oro and Mariposa, in Problem at Pollensa Bay.
Pera Palace, Istanbul
Christie would regularly join Mallowan on his archeological digs, which were mostly in Syria. En route, she would change trains where Europe ends and Asia begins, breaking the journey with a stay in room 411 of the colonial-style Pera Palace in Istanbul. There was a persistent rumour she’d hidden in that room a secret diary relating to her 11-day disappearance, so fans regularly booked it and pulled up the floorboards. Agatha Restaurant, which serves Turkish, French and Italian cuisine, is the hotel’s main eatery.
Classic Nile cruise, Egypt
In 1933, Christie travelled the Nile on the SS Sudan, launched as a passenger ship in 1920 at the behest of Thomas Cook. The journey inspired her to write Death on the Nile, renaming the ship the SS Karnak. The paddle steamer is still plying its trade on the river. Its 23 cabins are wood-panelled, its service is refined, and it has Hercule Poirot and Agatha Christie suites. In Aswan, drop in for tea at another of her favourite properties, the dowager Old Cataract Hotel, in a fabulous location on the riverbank, where many scenes were shot for the 1978 film starring Peter Ustinov.
Mena House, Egypt
For much of the early 20th century, this luxury lodge out by the Pyramids was the hotel of choice for heads of state and wealthy socialites visiting Egypt, which at that time was a very fashionable destination. The hotel was away from Cairo’s noisy scrum and it was the first in Egypt to have a swimming pool. Churchill, Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek met here in 1943, while in 1979 it was the turn of presidents Sadat and Carter and the Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. Poirot spends some time here in The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb.
Coral Reef Club, Barbados
Christie discovered Barbados late in life, when air travel allowed. She used to stay at the Coral Reef Club, which she renamed the Golden Palm and used as a setting for A Caribbean Mystery. The hotel, set in 5ha of beautifully landscaped gardens, is still run by the O’Hara family and still has one foot in an era of old-world elegance. Generations of the well-to-do have holidayed here.
Bohinj, Slovenia
Christie disliked the press, so in 1967 she and her husband chose to holiday on Lake Bohinj in the hope she wouldn’t be recognised. They stayed at the Bellevue, which had a view of the lake, but their presence had been noted. An ambitious young journalist, Janez Cucek, booked the room next door and climbed across from his balcony to theirs. Mallowan was outraged but Christie was gracious enough. When Cucek asked what she was writing, Christie replied that Bohinj was “too beautiful for murder”.
THE TIMES