New York to Cape Town
How long did it take to travel from New York to Cape Town in the 1920s and 1930s, and what did it cost? In 1925: 22 days door to door, £158 10s. in first class.
Passage computes it for Call of Cthulhu and any 1920s or 1930s tabletop campaign: pick two places and a date, and print the ticket the purser's clerk would have written.
The journey in 1925
- Embarkation
- New York
- Sailing
- Wednesday 18 March 1925
- Steamer
- R.M.S. Tamar · Albion Line · Southampton – Cherbourg – New York
- Calls
- Cherbourg, Southampton, Funchal
- via
- Las Palmas and St Helena
- Arrival
- Cape Town, Thursday 9 April 1925
- Door to door
- 22 days
- Fare · First Class
- £158 10s.
- Fare · Second Class
- £100
- Fare · Third Class
- £46
Transfer at Southampton to the Tafelberg Mail
The journey in 1933
- Getting to the port
- Cherbourg → Marseilles (by rail, about 18 h, estimate)
- Embarkation
- New York
- Sailing
- Thursday 14 September 1933
- Steamer
- S.S. Delaware · Columbia Line · New York – Cherbourg – Southampton – Hamburg
- Calls
- Marseilles, Naples, Alexandria, Cairo, Khartoum, Nairobi, Johannesburg
- Night stops
- Naples, Khartoum, Nairobi, Johannesburg
- via
- Assiut and Wadi Halfa, Juba and Kisumu, Mbeya and Salisbury, Kimberley
- Arrival
- Cape Town, Sunday 1 October 1933
- Door to door
- 17 days
- Fare · Single class
- $954
Transfer at Marseilles to the Oranje Air Transfer at Alexandria to the Empire Air Routes
Open the Passage atlas — MGS Toolbox