Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

What's the best strategy for booking your travel to attend the FIFA World Cup next summer in the US, Canada, and Mexico? As soon as the draw is made, prices for flights and accommodation will skyrocket. My hack? Well, you'll have to listen to today's episode to find out that! This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted...

"AI and the internet will be a huge part of the future of travel." So says Andy Headington, CEO of digital travel marketing specialists Adido. LLMs – large language models, also known as AI – are also auditing podcasts, perhaps even this one, for travel content. So if you're a bot, not a person; "Hi from humanity" This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to...

Continuing the theme of looking ahead to 2026: I have been talking to an old travel pal of mine, Brian Young. He is now EMEA managing director for G Adventures, but has enjoyed a lifetime of travelling. So he is just the man to talk about a hidden beach in Mallorca and the trials and rewards of climbing Kilimanjaro – with a certain fear of heights. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's...

Subtract Amsterdam from the Netherlands and what's left would comprise a beautiful, diverse and cultured nation. I've been singing the praises of second city Rotterdam for many years. Sandra Ishmael, Director UK at the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions, has been telling me about the opportunities in 2026. I can't wait to explore more of North Brabant, which confusingly is in the south...

My first guest of the month is Rachel O’Reilly Director of Communications for Dertour UK – a company that includes Kuoni, Journey Latin America, Inghams, Kirker, Carrier and CV Villas, She says solo travellers who are  not  single are the fastest growing demographic. We talked about the impact of the BBC's Race Across the World in stimulating bookings – and how ski resorts are reinventin...

Wizz Air's UK Managing Director, Yvonne Moynihan, has been telling me about the year so far; Wizz Air's new "Class" product that will emulate British Airways' Club Europe on some routes from Luton; and plans for being the first airline back into Ukraine. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...

Exploring the Arctic is one of the greatest experiences open to tourists – visiting remote locations such as Svalbard and Greenland – but there are concerns about the environmental impact of such voyages. Now Heather Thorkelson, founder of Minimal Impact Expeditions, is working on the launch of a new vessel, Captain Arctic – "powered entirely by nature". This podcast is free, as is Independent Tra...

In the 1970s, air fares were so high that the best way to reach India from the UK was on public transport – which Butterfield's Overland Tours was happy to organise, via Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Now one of the perpetrators, Richard Loosley, has written a book about his experiences – and has shared secrets of the road with me. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter....

I first visited Cambodia in 1993, as the south east Asian country was recovering from the genocide of the appalling Khmer Rouge regime under the dictatorship of Pol Pot. In 2025, Global Travel Editor Annabel Grossman has just returned from Cambodia and describes a nation transformed – except for the warm welcome that visitors enjoy. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newslette...

Claire Jones is chief executive of Polar Steps, a travel planning up that takes you worldwide (not just the Arctic and Antarctic). The idea is that all your plans and photos are in one place, so a close group of friends and family can follow your journey. As you go along, it generates a diary for you. And at the end of the trip, you can create a book of your experiences. This podcast is free, as i...

In the second part of my conversation with Martin Rolfe, chief executive of NATS – formerly National Air Traffic Services – we discuss the need to modernise the skies, why aircraft holding to land at London Heathrow are necessary and how air-traffic controllers will handle extra runways at Gatwick and Heathrow. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get...

Today and tomorrow I'm talking to Martin Rolfe, chief executive of NATS – formerly National Air Traffic Services – about the work air-traffic controllers do to keep the skies safe for passengers and crew. He also tackles the systems failure on Bank Holiday Monday, and warns that technical issues are an inevitability in an industry as complex as aviation. This podcast is free, as is Independent Tra...

Great Western Railway has just unveiled "Formula 1" high-speed internet connectivity on one of its intercity express trains, connecting London Paddington with the West of England and South Wales. It uses technology from the world of motorsport to harness satellite and phone mast signals to maximum effect. I have been on a train from Paddington to Newbury in Berkshire and back, sounding out the vie...

Travel Desk Tuesday, and The Independent's Deputy Travel Editor has top tips on travelling around by rail and road. Sophie's highlight: the Golden Temple at Amritsar. And, she adds:"The food was the best thing about the trip." This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

Katherine Moloney is founder of Elevate(her) Aviation. She started flying at 18, and is licensed to fly both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Katherine has been telling me: "Aviation as a whole is actually 30% female, but less than 5% in key roles such as engineering, pilot roles, and air traffic control." And she intends to change that ... This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's week...

Heilbronn is a small city in western Germany. It is notable for being selected as European Green Capital for 2027. But what I find rather more amazing is that there are two medieval towers that you can climb, on your own, having picked up the key from the tourist office. Wild and wonderful: I hope you will try it too. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here...

I'm finding out about how to survive in jungles and other wildernesses with Dr Joshua Allison, Medical Director at Unique Expeditions. All you need to know about them is that they are, quote, “experts in the extreme.” This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That's the plan being discussed at COP30, the UN climate summit in Belem, Brazil. France, Spain and Kenya want to see business class, first class and private jet passengers taxed much more heavily, with the money going to help less developed countries. The International Air Transport Association (Iata), representing the world's airlines, does not agree. I'm talking today to Thomas Reynaert, senior...

(* Though, as Dara Brady, Chief Marketing Officer of Europe’s biggest budget airline has been telling me, if you need a boarding pass printed out at the airport staff will do that for free, so long as you have already checked in online.) This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

Five years ago, Cat Jones created a start-up to use smart tech solutions (coupled, often, with Interrail passes) to deliver tailor-made journey by rail, sea and bus across Europe. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am at London Gatwick airport, location of easyJet's biggest base, to celebrated the 30th birthday – on Monday – of Britain's biggest budget airline. Since 10 November 1995, aviation has been democratised, giving us wider horizons than ever. I've been talking to Bill Rivett, captain of the first historic flight from Luton to Glasgow. Turns out he was on secondment from British Airways to GB Airwa...

Today I'm at World Travel Market, the UK's biggest travel trade event, and talking to Lara Paxton of New Scientist Discovery Tours about the prospects for a new kind of adventure: whether searching for dinosaur traces in the Gobi Desert, or visit the Large Hadron Collider at CERN outside Geneva. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to...

Four weeks ago the MP for Barnsley South took over the tourism brief: a real challenge, in my view, with visitor numbers and spend last year lower than pre-Covid. I've been hearing about her vision for boosting business, and in particular broadening the appeal of the UK beyond London. To places such as Yorkshire ... This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here t...

The Caledonian Sleeper has long linked London Euston with Fort William in the West Highlands of Scotland, as well as Inverness and Aberdeen. From 15 January 2026, the overnight train will call at Birmingham International, serving the city's airport. I've been hearing more from two Caledonian Sleeper executives: Interim Managing Director Graham Kelly and Head of Sales & Marketing, Steven Marsha...

Everyone's heart must go to the injured and their families, as well as passengers and train crew, after the appalling knife attack on an LNER train south of Peterborough on Saturday night. The horrifying incident was handled with great professionalism and heroism by LNER staff and the police. But it raises wider questions about security on trains. I have also heard an account from Adam Gill, who w...