With its wave-worn cliffs, smugglers’ coves, and wild moors, the county of Devon on the United Kingdom’s south coast has long inspired writers, none more famous than crime novelist Agatha Christie.
Born in the seaside town of Torquay in 1890, Christie returned to the county throughout her life, drawing on its isolated country manors and sleepy fishing villages as inspiration for her 66 novels and 14 short-story collections.
With the 50th anniversary of her death falling in 2026 and a major new exhibition, Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery, opening at the British Library in London from October 30, 2026, this summer is a fitting time to explore the landscapes that shaped her fiction.
Christie’s Devon
Agatha Christie’s fictional detective, Hercule Poirot, rode the Dartmouth Steam Railway in two of the celebrated crime writer’s novels.
Photo by Ceri Breeze/Shutterstock
The self-guided “Agatha Christie Mile” walk in Torquay links 10 significant places associated with the author’s life—although seeing them all means walking closer to 3.5 miles. The sheltered shingle beach of Beacon Cove is where Christie learned to swim and, in later years, had to be rescued after venturing into the sea with her nephew on her shoulders.
The Grand Hotel, still open today, hosted her honeymoon with first husband Archie Christie, and the Imperial Hotel was featured in her novels Peril at End House, The Body in the Library, and Sleeping Murder. From September 2026, visitors will also be able to access a digital version of the Agatha Christie Mile.
For the keenest sense of the author’s presence, head to Greenway, the riverside house Christie bought with her second husband in 1938. It’s now cared for by U.K. conservation charity the National Trust and remains remarkably evocative.
“It still contains many of her personal belongings, including clothes, books she read, furniture she collected, and mementos gathered through her life,” says Collections and House manager Laura Murray.
To follow in the fictional footsteps of Christie’s crime-solving, moustachioed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, board the vintage Dartmouth Steam Railway, which chugs along the coastline between Paignton and Kingswear from February to the end of October, with several services daily from April.
The coastal region around Torquay is often referred to as the English Riviera thanks to its warm microclimate and sandy beaches.
Photo by jennyt/Shutterstock
From Torquay, a scenic walk along the South West Coast Path, part of the King Charles III England Coast Path, leads through the village of Babbacombe to Anstey’s Cove, a favorite spot of Matt Newbury, creative director of the annual Torquay Agatha Christie Festival (September 12 to September 20, 2026).
“It takes a little effort to reach, but the climb down is rewarded with wonderful views across the bay,” he says. Christie visited the cove with a fellow cast member, Amyas Borton, from a play they were appearing in together. “They sat in the moonlight holding hands. The date was not a success. She later used the name Amyas for a murder victim in Five Little Pigs.”
Nearby, Kents Cavern, a Stone Age site with a network of stalactite-strung caves, also found its way into Christie’s fiction, appearing in her 1924 novel The Man in the Brown Suit.
Where to eat: Devon
At the Pig at Combe, ingredients are sourced from within 25 miles of the hotel and restaurant, while a folly in the hotel grounds serves relaxed, wood-fired dishes. For fine dining, Lympstone Manor combines Michelin-starred cuisine with wines from its own vineyard.
Where to stay: Devon
Burgh Island Hotel has been used as a filming location for a number of Agatha Christie television adaptations over the years.
Photo by Steve Fothergill/Shutterstock
Burgh Island Hotel, cut off from the mainland at high tide, feels worlds away. Walk across the sands at low tide or ride the island’s famous sea tractor, an elevated platform on large wheels that carries hotel guests through the water.
The art deco hotel retains a glass-domed ceiling in the bar dating to the 1920s and ’30s, when guests included Noël Coward and Agatha Christie. The island and the hotel inspired both Evil Under the Sun and And Then There Were None.
If you’re traveling to Devon via London, consider a night at Brown’s Hotel, where Christie was a regular guest and whose atmosphere may have inspired At Bertram’s Hotel—although Flemings Mayfair is also a candidate.
Related: Celebrate “Wuthering Heights” Fever With a Literary-Inspired Tour of Brontë Country
