Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Whatever disruption you might be encountering this summer, August is so much better than it has been. In today's travel podcast, I look back at stories I wrote over this corresponding weekend over the past few years and let me tell you, things could be worse. Much worse. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here to have it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acas...

I've been in Dover talking with the port's chief executive, Doug Bannister, who says additional staffing and expanded facilities have proved effective in keeping a lid on delays. “The numbers are turning up as we expected they would,” he said. “And the ‘dwell times’ we have had before border controls have only once reached the maximum peak we had warned people might be the case.” It comes after so...

Five weeks from today, two of Florida’s biggest cities will be linked by express trains. Brightline is due to extend its existing Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach route to a station close to Orlando airport. The 240-mile journey will be covered in three-and-a-half hours for a one-way fare of $79 (£62). A vision of the possible resurrection of US railroad travel ... This podcast is free, as is...

British Airways passengers on an Airbus A380 from Johannesburg to London Heathrow went on a 10-hour “flight to nowhere” when Niger’s airspace was suddenly closed late on Sunday night. Other flights between the UK and South Africa have being re-routed or diverted to take on extra fuel or have returned to their starting points as a result of the closure. Airspace over Sudan and Libya is already clos...

And they're off (or at least they will be at 10 am on Saturday) on the great Race Across Europe from London to Istanbul, using only public transport. It's a brilliant endeavour, but I won't be one of the 100 contestants. Here's why... This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe  here  to have it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

I am in southern France, where three splendid new openings have taken place this summer, and I suggest you add them to your list. Specifically, I am on the verandah of the Hotel la Prison, perched on a high bluff next to the cathedral in Beziers. It has just opened as a boutique hotel, and beautifully done it is too. Stay here before it catches on and the prices rise. To the east, in the town of A...

Holidaymakers whose trips to Rhodes were cut short by wildfires have been offered a week’s free stay on the island by the Greek prime minister. After wildfires ravaged up to 15 percent of Rhodes, Kyriakos Mitsotakis told ITV Good Morning Britain: “The island is perfectly back to normal.” Around 20,000 tourists were evacuated from resorts in the southeast of the island when wildfires spread on 22 J...

Airports are like hospitals and prisons: you really don’t want to be there, and when you are in one you just want to get out as quickly as possible. But it’s important to keep travel etiquette in mind. With peak month for air travel beginning, here’s my essential guide. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...

France has some weirdly inexpensive train tickets, for example the AVANTAGIO' FUTÉ deal in southwestern France this summer that offers flat fares from €3 upwards, well below normal levels. no need to book in advance. There are some even more extreme deals, such as just €1 for a rail journey of almost two hours from Beziers to Millau. Many €1 buses run implausible long distances too. And with drivi...

To round off the week I have tracked down the centre of the universe – at least according to the great surrealist Salvador Dalí. It’s Perpignan railway station in southwest France. Not every cosmologist will agree with his conclusion, but the city is a most agreeable location. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up  here  to get the latest travel news every Friday. Hos...

Very glad to be the bearer of two pieces of good tidings for airline passengers. The Gatwick ground handlers' strikes are off this weekend and almost certainly next weekend too. And Wizz Air has been told to revisit claims for recompense from passengers who were turned down. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest travel news every Friday. Hosted on Acast....

Unusually today, I am playing the part of the Foreign Office – to justify the wise decision not to warn against travel to Rhodes and other parts of the Mediterranean despite the wildfires that are blazing. To do so would allow people booked to travel to cancel without penalty – but it would also mean holidaymakers who are enjoying trips would need to be flown home (and would cost the travel indust...

Calls are growing for the fire-hit Greek island of Rhodes to be placed on the Foreign Office "no go" list. That would compel travel firms to cancel all holidays for an indeterminate length of time – allowing families having second thoughts about going to a destination hit by such a calamity to get a full refund. But it's not as simple as that... This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter - s...

At the peak of the summer season, wildfires have raged in Rhodes – triggering the chaotic evacuation of thousands of holidaymakers amid distressing circumstances. What lessons will be learnt and what (limited) options are available for people who have yet to travel? This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here to receive every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

Many might remember the third Friday in July last year when the queues at Dover were huge for a range of reasons including Brexit. This morning I checked and the port of Dover said the queue for passport control was just twenty minutes long. However tomorrow morning travellers are predicted to be stuck waiting at the port for two and a half hours. So I'll keep my eyes on what happens next with the...

With extreme heat across much of southern Europe, travellers are looking for alternatives. I’ve been in western Germany’s Ruhr region, talking to Charles Wilson – travel industry veteran and outgoing Sales Manager UK & Ireland for the German National Tourist Office. This podcast is free, just like my newsletter. Subscribe here to have it delivered to your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. S...

I'm back with the pickets at London Euston station on the first day of the latest round of rail strikes. More than half of trains in England have been wiped out as up to 20,000 members of the RMT union walk out in the long and bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. How and when will it end? I wish I knew. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe now to get it delivered ev...

 As the busiest summer getaway since 2019 begins, travellers to southern Europe are experiencing extreme heat. An area of high pressure appears to have settled over the Med with little sign of abating. What are your rights if this looks too hot to handle – and will it change our travel habits? This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here to receive every Friday. Hosted on...

Could the package holiday be under threat? That's the claim from Paul Charles, travel industry veteran and chief executive of the PC Agency. He tells me travellers are worried about committing to package holidays with the cost-of-living crisis. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Get it delivered to your inbox every Friday by subscribing here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Rail industrial action resumes this week in England and here I am explaining what's happening. Monday-Saturday: The overtime ban by train drivers belonging to Aslef will have an impact on London commuter routes (inc Gatwick Express). While on Thursday, Saturday: RMT national strikes, with thousands of trains cancellations. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can get by subs...

I'm back at Gatwick Airport today to talk about the strikes that are being called for later this month, and in early August. Why are they happening? Could they be called off? Who's threatening to strike, and how could it affect my travel? All these questions are answered, so listen along to find out more. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here . Hosted on Acast. See acast...

I'm at lovely Gatwick airport, looking at the thorny subject of drop-off charges. Are they a drop-off rip-off? Gatwick and Heathrow both emerged from the Covid pandemic with charges for dropping passengers off at the terminals, and the RAC says that many airports have raised their charges by more than inflation this year. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here . Hosted on...

I have been contacted by some villains who are trying to extract some cash from desperate easyjet passengers and here's how it works at the moment. As you will know, 180,000 passengers journeys have been canceled by easyjet. And there's a great deal of pressure people trying to contact the airline and find out what their rights are, get compensation, rebook on sensible flights on other airlines, a...

Today I'm covering some of the fall-out from the easyJet decision to cancel 1,700 flights over the summer – and in particular stressing your rights if your flight is cancelled. For example, a listener called Jane found her Gatwick-Barcelona trip moved to a Luton-Barcelona departure – and lost a day of her holiday at the end. I advised her to demand easyJet buys perfectly good tickets on rival Vuel...

After weeks of last-minute cancellations to and from London Gatwick airport, easyJet has pre-emptively axed 1,700 further departures over the summer. Britain’s biggest budget airline has taken the drastic action in a bid to get its schedule back on track and to reduce the number of flights that get cancelled while passengers are waiting at the gate. The airline blames severe air-traffic control co...