Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

The Great West Way is a marketing enterprise for the corridor from London to Bristol – taking in Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Blenheim Palace, and the Roman Baths in Bath. Next year promises to be busy, with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen. I heard more from Fiona Errington, head of marketing, and Florence Wallace, head of travel trade for the GWW. This podcast is free, like the I...

Ahead of the weekend, where's best to be a wine tourist around the globe? I'm talking to the doyenne of wine experts, Jilly Goolden – who has great things to say about English wine, and visiting vineyards in Sussex and the Cotswolds. But don't offer her a glass of prosecco ... This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter.  Get it delivered every Friday  to your inbox. Hos...

Finnair is an intriguing airline. The national carrier of Finland carved a Nordic niche offering great connections through its Helsinki hub between western Europe, including London Heathrow and Manchester, and east Asia – thanks to a fast track across Siberia. The closure of Russian airspace means it has had to rethink its strategy. I've been talking to Turkka Kuusisto, the new chief executive of...

Cruise lines are often condemned for the environmental impact they have on the planet. But Ponant, the upmarket French small-ship expedition line, has a head of sustainability, Wassim Daoud, who is focused on cutting emissions – and the impact on nature and communities. He also talks about "training" tourists – we could do with more of that. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

In a new feature, Travel Desk Tuesday, I talk to one of my excellent colleagues at The Independent about their recent journeys. First up: Natalie Wilson, who flew to Mallorca with some trepidation after a summer of writing about over tourism – but her worst experience was having to dine on KFC in her hotel room because all the restaurants had closed. Sign up for the Travel newsletter by The Indepe...

I'm at the British Museum in London where a blockbuster exhibition called Silk Roads has just opened – exploring the tangle of connections that linked communities as far apart as Scotland, Ireland, Ethiopia and Japan, as well as the more familiar lands of China, and central Asia. My guest is the world's foremost expert on the Silk Roads, and guiding mind for the new exhibition, Professor Peter Fra...

I'm at London Waterloo, home of Network Rail. But I am not using the public WiFi – the system has been taken down since the landing page was replaced by a strange message about terrorist acts in Europe. It appears this was not a hack, but the act of someone working for the company that provides the landing page. Hopefully the system will be up and running by the weekend. Meanwhile, if you are usin...

Anna Hughes, the distinguished director of FlightFree UK, has been telling me about how she believes a frequent-flyer levy could and should work to reduce the amount of flights we take. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's travel podcast: How far would you fly in no-frills (dis-) comfort? Natalie Wilson, travel writer for The Independent, says she would gladly go all the way to Australia if it saved her cash. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The all-knowing Rob Burgess, formidable founder of the Head for Points frequent-flyer website, explains the intricacies of business class flying within Europe; how you can sample long-haul comfort on a short-haul flight; and why you don't want to be further back than row 12 on a British Airways A320. This podcast is free, as is the Independent Travel weekly newsletter. Get up-to-date deals and new...

It's all about booking horizons. How long in advance are people committing to holidays – and what "new" destination are in sight? Questions for Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, representing 750 travel agents. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

I have the good fortune to be on the Greek island of Poros in the company of Melanie and Andy McCreddie – Londoners who are in love with this place. Andy was first here, under less-than-optimal circumstances, but now they both love the island and its people. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

Commuting can be no fun if you happen to use the morning rush-hour trains from Bedford to London. Here's the top 10 most crowded trains in England and Wales, just published. But the most concerning point of the new Department for Transport (DfT) figures is the degree of undercrowding, with barely half of seats filled on the average peak-hour service. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Most UK airports now charge for drop-offs and pick-ups at the terminal. They enforce the rule by imposing heavy penalties on motorists who breach the rules. But the leading consumer lawyer, Gary Rycroft, believes many of the "fines" imposed by airports – or the firms to which they have outsourced – may not have followed the correct procedure and may not be enforcible. This podcast is free, like th...

Wizz Air says it will fly the narrow-bodied Airbus A321XLR from London Gatwick to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. What's the future for "long, thin" routes flown by, well, long, thin aircraft? I've been talking to long, thin Rhys Jones from the frequent-flyer website Head for Points. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast....

My guest is Hazel McGuire of Intrepid Travel, who has just unveiled the Not Hot List 2025 – countries off the beaten tourist track. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you really enjoy life without a car? I'm talking to the transport guru Thomas Ableman, who also happens to be co-author – with his wife, Helen – of the Carefree Car-free blog. Helen has a unique claim to fame: she passed her driving test first time aged 17, and has not driven since then. Thomas has never learnt, and tells me he's very happy like that. This podcast is free, like the Independent...

The new ETA for visitors to the UK could cost Northern Ireland tourism £250m a year. I've been hearing why from Dr Joanne Stuart, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Heathrow, Manchester, and Stansted airports announce record passenger numbers, I'm talking to Anna Hughes – director of Flight Free UK, who has a different perspective on travel. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm in Durres, Albania, the most historic city in the nation – finding out about life under communism with former student revolutionary, now tour guide, Arjana Isaku. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's travel podcast is from the top of the 148 bus in west London. Four years after Boris Johnson promised to “level up across the country” with “beautiful, British-built buses that are cleaner, greener, quieter, safer and more frequent”, the new transport secretary, Louise Haigh, has vowed to start a "bus revolution". But will it work? This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newslett...

I'm in Hyères in southern France, at my usual breakfast spot, the Café Regence, but picking up news of dozens of flight cancellations on British Airways to and from London Heathrow. Is there a chronic problem with BA at the UK's busiest airport? Do passengers have any hope of compensation? And will events like this lead people to book on more resilient airlines? This podcast is free, like the Inde...

Do you have to be barking mad to take a dog from the UK to Continental Europe these days? I'm talking to Dr Julia Ferguson, who is in the south of France with her lovely dog Bonnie. This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm talking to Jane West who represents Fiji, the South Pacific archipelago that's hard to reach but loads of fun when you get there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a railway pub different? Wetherspoon's The Lion & The Unicorn pub in London Waterloo is the company's biggest so far. I've visited on the pub's opening morning and talked to Barry Brewster of JD Wetherspoon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.