You should have been there

We are joined, from her narrowboat home, by Anna Hughes, the director of Flight Free UK.  On the agenda are ways of travelling more responsibly and sustainably and how to at least mitigate the effects on the planet of our constant need to move around it.  The websites mentioned by Anna are flightfree.co.uk; byway.travel; raileurope.co.uk

We discuss our favourite travel conundrums and their enduring fascination.  Whatever happened to.......?   How did they get here... ? Why on earth......  ?  Flight MH 370, Easter Island statues and the bewildering seat numbers in Portuguese trains all make it onto the agenda  

Our audio guide includes where to go to find free transport and and when you can visit the world's great museums without  putting your hand in your pocket. Plus, we evaluate listener's miracles-do they stand up to our rigorous testing?  

Taking our cue from the miracles sought by pilgrims to the French city of Lourdes, we try to track down some secular miracles for the modern traveller. 

We delight in a key feature of travel-the u turn.  Whether performed by hapless politicians,  lost walkers or confused pilots, they are generally screeching and usually embarrassing.  

The third and final part of our Pyrenean trek finds us on the homeward stretch, enjoying an off-grid mountain refuge, a convivial evening at a  'chambre d'hôtes ' and a walk through the ever-surreal streets of Lourdes

Part two of Simon and Mick's trek through The High Pyrenees. It brings spectacular cols, "Dormitory Hell" and a brush with the French equivalent of Basil Fawlty

The audio diary of our 5-day trek in the French Pyrenees, South of Lourdes. As well as the terrain to contend with, we face battles against weight, time and unexpected crises. 

We exchange playlists of our own favourite travel sounds and visit the Cotswold village of Adlestrop, the setting for Edward Thomas' evocative travel poem of the same name.

Basilicas with views, Bob Dylan's childhood home and the world's best London all featured on Simon's packed August itinerary. We discuss the experiences, the discoveries and the lessons of his busy trip

Our guest Raquel tells us all about an essential but often unsung job in the travel industry-  the Tour Manager- revealing its upsides as well as its disadvantages. While Simon takes a trip back in time on the chrome-covered Amtrak express, The Wolverine, en route from Detroit to Chicago.     

Can you avoid the summer crowds in Italy?   How trustworthy are online travel agents?  And last but not least, the real reason why we didn't win a UK Podcast Award. With thanks to James Hill, Rebecca Halpern, Helen P and Jonny N. 

Simon wisely cycles to Dover's ferry port to report on the queues and the chaos that have beset holidaymakers. Who is to blame?  Plus, the winners of our competition to find the UK's best city for a summer break.     

Which UK city has most attractions for the visitor? Join us for a discussion of hills, lanes, beaches, museums, architecture and other key features. Vote for your favourite at    https://twitter.com/SimonCalder/status/1548983503190114305?s=20&t=WyCR1_M_9ElJ5nx98ayfaA

As the summer of chaos continues, with its many barriers to having an enjoyable holiday- flight cancellations, Covid concerns and Brexit effects, for starters- we discuss how to prepare for them and make your travels relatively relaxing.

Jean McNeil, writer and academic, joins us on the roof terrace of London's Barbican Centre to talk Psychogeography. Discover what it is, where it comes from and how it can help you get a bit more from your travels. Plus, more on the great Bielfeld conspiracy!    

With the help of listeners' stories, we distil positivity from the unlikeliest of subjects-  delayed flights at airports.  

Follow Simon's week of travel reporting-from the chaos at UK's airports to the 9 euro deal of the century on German railways. And taking in the bizarre dangling tram of Wuppertal as well as plenty of technical challenges along the way.  Many thanks to Hywel Jones and Linda WS for their contributions.   

Our guest interviewee is airline pilot and travel writer, Mark Vanhoenacker. He talks about his new book, Imagine a City, recently published in the UK by Chatto and Windus and also shares some trade secrets. Would you have guessed that the first things he packs is a spork?   Thanks to Mark for his photo of Cairo by night

Enjoy more of listener's  photos of great dishes with spectacular views. Find out which country topped the polls as your favourite location and see the photos @ https://www.flickr.com/gp/190976368@N06/Dc61Tp.    Thanks to all contributors for their photographs and to Scott Buckley for permission to his music track, Solstice

We discover listeners' rooms with views (with Greece clocking up a majority) and serve up the first helping of plates with views. With thanks to everyone who sent in pictures to our twitter account @ youshouldhave BT, and to Nicky Gardner, co-author of Europe by Rail magazine, for sharing her favourite view from a train.   

Hear from listeners about the views that have inspired them and created travel memories both happy and sad. With special thanks to Julia Lo Bue-Said of The Advantage Travel Partnership, James Beagrie of Meon Valley Travel, Mary Poulton, Rebecca Halpern and everyone else who got in touch to share their rooms and their views via our twitter account, @youshouldhave BT 

Bats, birds and bones, not to mention churches and cheese. We enter the twilight zone of caverns and grottoes to discover much more than stalactites and stalagmites.

We discover ways of adding spice to your travels by undertaking special or unusual quests.  The "route of the dovecotes" in southern France, the grounded solar system in Zagreb and the Shakespeare trail in Stratford-upon-Avon are all on the itinerary. Thanks to Norman Smith, Tim Neale and Gary Knapper for taking part.      

Simon takes the temperature of travel in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, three small states in the menacing shadow of Russia and Belarus. Even so, he enjoys the scenery, the hospitality and a surreal cultural tour in the Estonian town of Sillamäe. With thanks to his guide, Valentina, and the anti-war protestors of Tallinn.