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Great British Mysteries
ENGLAND
ENGLAND
FRANCE
CUBA
AUSTRIA
Travel with Insight, Explore with Passion
CLOSE MENU
Lyceum Theater
Chavenage House
Elberry Cove
Agatha Christie's Home
St. Mary's Church
Starting at $6,995 per person
8 Days, 7 Nights, December 6-13, 2025
Join award-winning author and literary critic Maureen Corrigan on a captivating journey through the world of British mystery writing. We begin in Oxford, where the hallowed halls and historic colleges have seen more than their fair share of intellectual skullduggery and scholarly suspense. Here, you’ll trace the footsteps of Dorothy L. Sayers, whose Gaudy Night was based on her own experiences at Sommerville College, and where author Colin Dexter set the cerebral mysteries of Inspector Morse. Meander through South Oxfordshire, where the idyllic English countryside has inspired countless cozy mysteries. Venture into the wild and windswept Dartmoor, a landscape as mysterious as the tales it has inspired and, as Maureen Corrigan says, a place where Arthur Conan Doyle staged an epic battle between the forces of Reason (embodied in his immortal detective, Sherlock Holmes) and the Supernatural in his 1905 “stunner” of a novella, The Hound of the Baskervilles. The eerie beauty of the moors is the stuff of legend, steeped in atmospheric tension and intrigue.
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Great British Mysteries
with Maureen Corrigan
Enjoy a walking tour through Sherlock Holmes’s London, visiting iconic locations like the Lyceum Theatre, the Langham Hotel, and Baker Street, home to one of the most famous addresses in literature.
Discuss the effects of war on literary characters and the authors who created them during guided tours to the Imperial War Museum and the Churchill War Rooms, and learn how real-life medical technologies invented in wartime were expertly woven into the plotlines of beloved suspense and spy thrillers.
Explore Oxford through the eyes of Dorothy Sayers and discover how the collegiate town’s timeless beauty and intellectual rigor provided the perfect setting for her masterful storytelling.
Spend a day in Devon delving into the life and work of Agatha Christie, from her birthplace in Torquay and her favorite childhood beach to Greenway House, her former holiday home that is still set with her furniture and personal items.
Visit Mapledurham and Chavenage House, two stately British manor houses that have served as filming locations for many popular television mystery series.
Highlights
Maureen Corrigan
Maureen Corrigan is the Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism at Georgetown University. She received her PhD in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the book critic for the NPR program Fresh Air and has received multiple awards for her literary criticism. She also regularly writes for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal and is the author of the literary memoir Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading and So We Read On: How “The Great Gatsby” Came to Be and Why It Endures.
Journey Expert
Maureen Corrigan
University Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Arrive on individual flights into London (Heathrow Airport – LHR) and travel as a group to Oxford. Embark on an Oxford Literary Tour, which showcases notable sites connected to Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night and Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse, including Christ Church College, the Sheldonian Theatre, and the Ashmolean Museum. Gather at Morse Bar at the Randolph Hotel for a welcome beverage and opening remarks by your tour expert, Maureen Corrigan, followed by dinner in a local restaurant.
Included Meal: Dinner
Accommodations: Mercure Eastgate Hotel
Mapledurham House
Today, enjoy a full day excursion through the picturesque villages of South Oxfordshire to see film locations, fictional towns, and historic inspirations behind beloved mystery novels and television shows. In between stops, Ms. Corrigan will offer insights into the history of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, an era of classic murder mystery novels that reached its height in the 1920s and 1930s. Take a guided tour of Mapledurham , a stunning 17th century home with expansive grounds that has served as the backdrop for several episodes of British television mystery series, including Inspector Morse, Miss Marple, and Midsomer Murders. Return to Oxford, where dinner will be in a local restaurant.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Accommodations: Mercure Eastgate Hotel
Exeter City
Begin with a visit to Chavenage House, an historic Elizabethan manor house famously used as Styles Court in the Poirot episode, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles.” Continue to Dartmoor, pausing for a break in the medieval city of Exeter along the way. As you travel deeper into the misty moors that inspired Agatha Christie, enjoy a talk by Ms. Corrigan on why Christie is considered one of the most popular and successful novelists (and playwrights!) of all time. Check in to your hotel and after time to freshen up, gather for dinner in the hotel.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Accommodations: The Moorland Hotel Haytor
Torquay
Spend today exploring Devon and the surrounding countryside, focusing on the life and work of Agatha Christie and engaging in lively discussions with Ms. Corrigan that offer a better understanding of how the circumstances of Christie’s life shaped her work and vice versa. Together, ponder fascinating questions like, would her literary career have been different if she had not been a part of well-to-do British society? And why did Christie disappear at the height of her fame—and will we even know the whole truth about that fateful event? Begin in Torquay, Christie’s birthplace, then visit Elberry Cove, the picturesque beach where she swam during her early years. Continue to Greenway House, her former home steeped in history and personal anecdotes. Conclude the day with a stop at Bigbury on Sea, offering a view of Burgh Island, the inspiration for her novels Evil Under the Sun and And Then There Were None (weather permitting). Dinner this evening will be at your hotel.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Accommodations: The Moorland Hotel Haytor
St. Andrews Church
Depart Dartmoor for London, pausing midway in Nether Wallop, the charming village used as the fictional town of St. Mary Mead in the BBC’s Miss Marple series. Continue to London and, after checking in to your hotel, gather for dinner in a traditional English pub.
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Accommodations: The Mandeville Hotel
Baker Street Station
In the morning, delve into the historical intrigue of Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time during a guided tour of the Tower of London. Continue with a guided walking tour of Sherlock Holmes’s London, exploring iconic locations such as The Strand, the Lyceum Theatre, the Langham Hotel, and of course, Baker Street. Explore the elegant streets of Bloomsbury, celebrated in Dorothy Sayers’ Harriet Vane novels, and pause in Mecklenburg Square, where Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs began her career, a character who Ms. Corrigan believes embodies a class-conscious feminist fairy tale about a woman without advantages finding autonomy. Dinner and the rest of the evening will be yours to enjoy London at leisure.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Accommodations: The Mandeville Hotel
Imperial War Museum
Fast-forward to the modern era at the Imperial War Museum and learn about the impact of war on literary figures and the authors who created them, from Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, to Agatha Christie who gained an in depth knowledge of poisons while working at a dispensary during World War I. Discuss Lindsay Fitzharris’ The Facemaker and hear the story of Harold Gillies, considered the father of plastic surgery for his novel use of facial reconstruction techniques on thousands of soldiers. Embrace your inner spy and learn about the secretive world of the Special Operations Executive, the organization that conducted espionage in enemy-held territories during World War II. Continue to the Churchill War Rooms, the underground nerve center where WWII movements were directed by the British government and discuss some of Ms. Corrigan’s favorite classic suspense novels like Ken Follet’s Eye of the Needle, Graham Greene’s The Ministry of Fear, Daniel Silva’s An Unlikely Spy, and Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male. Afterwards, raise a toast to your fellow bibliophiles during a farewell dinner in a local restaurant.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Accommodations: The Mandeville Hotel
Bid farewell to London as you depart the hotel for individual flights home.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Mercure Oxford Eastgate Hotel – Oxford England
Located in the heart of the historic university city of Oxford and in a former 17th-century coaching inn, novelist J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to visit this hotel during their fellowships at Oxford University. The 64 charming rooms offer flat-screen televisions, high-speed Wi-Fi, rainfall showers, hari dryers, and tea and coffeemaking equipment. The onsite Eastgate Brasserie serves traditional British cuisine in a contemporary setting.
The Mandeville Hotel – London, England
Enjoy the ultimate London experience during a stay at this boutique hotel in a grand Victorian building in the heart of the chic Marylebone neighborhood. The hotel's 142 sophisticated and individually designed rooms feature marble bathrooms, flat-screen televisions with international cable channels, Wi-Fi, C.O. Bigelow Apothecary bath accessories, and a selection of fine teas alongside tea and coffeemaking equipment. The Reform Social & Grill takes its decor inspiration from class British gentlemen's clubs and serves signature coctails and classic British fare for breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea.
The Moorland Hotel Haytor – Dartmoor, England
Set on 11 acres of private grounds at the foot of Haytor in Dartmoor National Park, the stunning view of the moors and the famous Haytor Rocks here inspired Agatha Christie to finish her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Stylish rooms are outfitted with flat-screen televisions, luxury toiletries, and tea and coffeemaking facilities. Onsite amenities include a comfortable lounge, an outdoor terrace, and the Tin Pickle and Rhum brasserie, which serves traditional food alongside seasonal and locally sourced ales.
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