Instead of simply lounging on a beach immersed in a classic book this summer,
why not let the journey inside its covers inspire your next itinerary?PHOTOGRAPHS: NETFALLS REMY MUSSER/SHUTTERSTOCK, JUSTIN FOULKES, ETHAN DANIELS/SHUTTERSTOCK, MATT MUNRO
Sail the high seas in search
of your own ‘Treasure Island’
Having sent generations of kids scouring beaches for
buried loot, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is
one of Britain’s best-loved children’s books, forever fixing
pirates as rum-loving seafarers with peg-legs and
parrots. It follows Jim Hawkins, an innkeeper’s son, as he
sets out in search of a treasure hoard on a faraway isle.
Though Stevenson keeps the location of the island
deliberately vague, those who fancy a share of this
famous treasure (Stevenson ends the
novel suggesting some remains)
should hop aboard a dive boat for
Cocos Island off Costa Rica, the
reported inspiration, and a real-life
treasure hidey-hole. British trader
Captain William Thompson is said to
have buried treasure from Lima, Peru,
here during the early 19th century.
Stumbling upon gold is improbable,
but the island is a gem for experienced
divers, with abundant marine life,
including sharks, rays and dolphins.
The prologue: though Jim’s journey begins in Bristol,
it’s more practical to reach Cocos Island from the Costa
Rican mainland. Live-aboard dive boats depart from the
port of Puntarenas, with some excursions lasting for ten
days or more (aggressor.com/cocos.php).Ride the rails with Inspector Poirot
There’s much to like about long-distance train travel:
the restful sway of the carriage, the sense of adventure
as you roll through unknown landscapes, the shriek of
a murder victim at the centre of a tangled conspiracy.
One of Agatha Christie’s most famous works, Murder on
the Orient Express, revealed the glamour of European
train travel to the public, who lapped up Hercule Poirot’s
hunt for a killer aboard the luxury service of the title.
The original Orient Express is no more, but enthusiasts
can recreate most of the journey using a
patchwork of Europe’s remaining night
trains and long-distance services.
Starting in Istanbul (pictured above),
visit the Pera Palace hotel – where
Christie wrote much of the book – then
take the night train to Sofia, glimpsing
the city’s onion-domed churches
before boarding the morning train
to Belgrade. From here it’s a direct
line to Vienna, then a long-distance
service to Paris, with a stop for
breakfast in Zurich. Though more
taxing, the journey will cost a fraction of Poirot’s
fare – and might be less perilous.
The prologue: the express train to Sofia departs nightly
from Istanbul’s Halkali station, accessible from the city
centre by bus or taxi. For route info, check seat61.com.