The Travel Diaries

Today, I’m joined by Gyles Brandreth. Summing up the life and career of Gyles is no easy feat. He’s a prolific broadcaster, actor, journalist, novelist, biographer and podcaster, and he was formerly an MP and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. You'll have seen him on Celebrity Googlebox; Countdown's Dictionary Corner hundreds of times, as well as on numerous TV panel shows. He's even the Pres...

Today I’m joined by James Lohan, the co-founder - and the Mr - of Mr & Mrs Smith, the much-loved boutique and luxury hotel booking service and travel club.  It all began when James and his wife Tamara (aka Mrs Smith) decided to go about creating their own boutique hotel guidebook, travelling the UK to dine the best spots for a luxurious weekend break. The book was a huge success, and the...

Singer-songwriter Ella Eyre burst onto the music scene back in 2013 when she featured on the number one single, Waiting All Night, with Rudimental - which went on to win the BRIT award for best British single. She’s since toured the world, releasing hits like If I Go, Gravity, Came Here for Love and Just Got Paid and is now back with new material, most of which was written and recorded in Jamaica....

Today I’m joined by Levison Wood, the British explorer, photographer, best selling author, and TV presenter. You probably know him from his incredible walking expeditions, which he’s documented on TV. He’s walked the length of the River Nile, through Central America from Mexico to Colombia, and the length of the Himalayas from Bhutan all the way to Afghanistan. We talk about the time he hitchhiked...

Rachel Khoo is a cook, writer and TV presenter, who first rose to fame with her bestselling cookbook, The Little Paris Kitchen, a collection of recipes tested from her little Paris kitchen! The book was soon developed into her first TV series, and Rachel quickly became known by food lovers the world over, with several cookbooks and TV series that followed. Now, she lives in Stockholm with her Swed...

Today, I’m joined by Peter Grunert, the editor of Lonely Planet magazine. In fact, Peter is the editor of 13 different editions of the magazine around the world. And each is imbued with that spirit of adventure and a cultural understanding that makes it one of my favourite travel magazines - and as a result of our chat, I’ve added about 10 new destinations to my bucket list! We’ll be talking about...

Style icon Lucy Williams is one of the UK’s most successful bloggers, with over 429,000 followers on Instagram. Starting her career as a fashion journalist for magazines like Stylist, In Style and Sheerluxe, her own blog Fashionmenow quickly amassed a huge following and became her full time job. On her blog, she documents her incredible travels, and some really useful guides. Lucy is now the face...

This week, I’m joined by a bit of a national treasure. He’s a chef, an author, a presenter - most notably of one of my childhood favourites - Ready Steady Cook. It’s Ainsley Harriott.  Ainsley first trained as a chef in London, but it might surprise you that before becoming a TV star, he was part of pop duo The Calypso Twins, releasing a hit record in the nineties. He soon started presenting...

The world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, has led an extraordinary life, travelling to some of the most remote and dangerous places on earth. He’s climbed Mt Everest, traversed from the North to South Pole, discovered a lost city and ran 7 marathons in 7 days in 7 continents. He’s cheated death many times, and raised millions for charity along the way. Chatting in the lobby of a b...

When it comes to travel, names don’t get much bigger than Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group. On this short haul (bite size) episode of The Travel Diaries, recorded in the bustling lobby of the new Virgin Hotel San Francisco, Richard takes us on a journey around the world, from the mountains of Morocco to the plains of Kenya - and even into outer space.  Destination recap: Virgi...

Since winning the Great British Bake Off in 2015, life has changed immeasurably for Nadiya Hussain. In this episode of The Travel Diaries, Nadiya explains that travel wasn’t even something she contemplated as a young stay at home mum of three, except to visit her family in Bangladesh. Now, as a TV presenter and author, she is travelling the globe, discovering her favourite destinations, learning m...

Subscribe now to The Travel Diaries, a brand new podcast series starting Tuesday July 23. Each week, travel and entertainment journalist Holly Rubenstein will be joined by an incredible guest, as she uncovers the places around the world and travel experiences that have shaped her guests' lives. Be transported to exotic and far flung places as Holly and her diverse lineup from across the arts and t...