Luxury travel specialists Black Tomato reimagines Agatha Christie’s Grand Tour ..
Precisely a century ago this year, Agatha Christie – the world’s bestselling novelist, and its most beloved author – began a ten-month odyssey around the globe. To celebrate that journey, luxury travel operator Black Tomato working with the Agatha Christie family have crafted a thoughtful series of customized journeys that follow the English author’s own real-life adventures.
Studying her letters and archives, Black Tomato have unveiled Agatha’s famous 1922 ‘grand tour’ into one monumental trip (plus, a scene-setting prelude in London) that has been designed to be taken either in three ‘chapters’ or as a 40-night whole.
Like all good adventure books, this journey begins with a prelude – of two nights spent in London, a city incredibly close to her heart. This is where your scene is set – the red thread that connects the globe-trotting journey she was about to take.
Highlights include:
Two nights at magisterial Brown’s Hotel, where Agatha was a regular visitor (she would write often in the hotel drawing room)
The chance to learn about her works and world with either James Prichard, Agatha’s great-grandson, or legendary British historian Lucy WorsleyThe London prelude serves as the perfect scene setter for whichever ‘chapter’ you choose to embark upon. Alternatively, we can organise a bespoke trip where this distinct Agatha Christie-inspired introduction will set the tone for a unique exploration of the United Kingdom itself.
Chapter One: A Grand Adventure in Africa
Agatha’s time in Africa was both resplendent and restless. Water diving in Bloemfontein, surfing near Cape Town (it would become an obsession), crossing the ‘neck’ of Table Mountain. This was one of the first times she’d set foot in a continent other than Europe, and it would go on to inspire her novel The Man in the Brown Suit.
Like Agatha, you’ll stay at the supremely glamorous Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel
Learn to surf near Cape Town, where Agatha first tried the sport
In Franschhoek, you’ll tour the wineries and vineyards of a region which Agatha herself explored
Follow Agatha around the bays, towns and communities of the Cape Peninsula, and over the ‘neck’ of Table Mountain
Take the legendary Blue Train, stopping off at the old diamond mines of Kimberley as Agatha did during her exhilarating 1922 trip
Chapter Two: A Grand Adventure in Australia and New Zealand
Here, Agatha continued to indulge her restless curiosity, with bush trams in Noojee, visiting the orange groves of Yanga, and taking in the sulphurous air of Rotorua.
Like Agatha, you’ll visit the Dandenong Ranges via a centuries-old, lovingly preserved steam train
Visit the cities where Agatha filled her senses – including Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart
Indulge your tastes on the Mornington Peninsula, inspired by the culinary highlights of Agatha’s journey
Follow Agatha’s footsteps to the ‘cobalt’ vistas of the magisterial Blue Mountains
See for yourself the wilderness landscapes of Rotorua, Nelson and Hokitika, which Agatha breathlessly explored
Chapter Three: A Grand Adventure in North America
Crossing the Pacific, Agatha would journey from the verdant island paradise of Hawaii to the thundering mantle of Niagara Falls (and after it, New York). It was a time of surfing, sunburn, and socialising – between metropolitan cities and exotic wilderness.
Stay where Agatha stayed, including the Fairmont Empress Fairmont Palliser
Surf the waves on the beaches where Agatha perfected the art
Like Agatha, you’ll explore the lakes, mountains and hot springs of British Columbia and Alberta
Take a private flight to the Niagara Falls, which Agatha herself visited
Wrap your trip in New York, the birthplace of her father
The Grand Tour is available to book as a complete 40-day trip or as individual legs From starting from £13,570 per person.
