Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

In today’s podcast, I tackle the confusion surrounding new travel requirements for UK citizens heading to Europe. I clarify the timeline and facts about the upcoming entry/exit system and ETIAS, debunking myths and explaining what you need to know. 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.

Once again I'm at London King's Cross station, a hub for the East Coast main line to Yorkshire, northeast England, and Scotland. Two significant fare changes, neither of them beneficial:ScotRail's experiment to abolish peak fares will end in late September after it failed to lure enough travelers out of their cars.And LNER is expanding the area where off-peak fares are unavailable to include the whole line between Newcastle and Edinburgh. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me as I chat with Bram Houtenbos, who earned third place in the thrilling race from London to Tirana. We explore his race strategy, the challenges that came his way, and his reflections on finishing in the top three once again.Join me as I chat with Bram Houtenbos, who earned third place in the thrilling race from London to Tirana. We explore his race strategy, the challenges that came his way, and his reflections on finishing in the top three once again.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 at London Gatwick Airport in today's podcast, delving into an exclusive survey that ranks the world's best-connected airports. Gatwick impressively secures 15th place, highlighting London’s dominance in global air 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 Simon Calder, and I'm sharing insights on the end of the ASLEF rail strike from London Euston Station. While the pay dispute is settled, significant hurdles remain for the UK rail system, requiring urgent action from Transport Secretary Louise Haigh.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 Simon Calder, and in this podcast, I guide Taylor Swift fans on the best ways to reach Wembley Stadium. You'll be well-prepared for the eras tour with tips on avoiding the busiest routes and selecting the most efficient transport options.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.

The first country in the world to close at the start of Covid pandemic in January 2020 will finally open this winter. Simon Calder hears the latest from Simon Cockerell of specialist operator Koryo Tours.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.

What's happening in Greece and what are travellers' rights if they are there and want to come home early or cancel a pre-booked holiday?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.

On Saturday 17 August, 180 competitors will set off from Trafalgar Square in London, destination Tirana in Albania, in the second Race Across Europe staged by Lupine Travel – using only public transport. Today I'm talking to the organiser, James Finnerty.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.

Leeds Bradford Airport has unveiled its Vision 2030 strategy, aiming for more flights and more passengers but a more gentle environmental footprint.Simon Calder speaks with Vincent Hodder, the airport’s chief executive, about plans to boost the transform the gateway to – and from – Yorkshire.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.

London Euston, London King's Cross and London St Pancras International. I've visited them all this morning to explain what will happen to intercity trains on north-south routes over the impending August bank holiday weekend. Network Rail engineering work will lead to some interesting changes. A mention, too, for London Paddington to South Wales services, diverted via Gloucester from 24 to 26 August.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 at London St Pancras International, hub for Eurostar trains to Paris and Brussels. The lowest return fare from London to Paris, looking a day ahead for a 48-hour stay, is £338. Airlines are charging at least £100 less. What we need on this most essential intercity link is proper competition between rail firms.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 Simon Calder, and today I discuss why Jordan and Egypt are excellent travel destinations despite current travel advisories. With rich histories and welcoming atmospheres, these countries offer unforgettable experiences. Plan your trip to these underrated gems today.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.

With tension rising in the Middle East, what are the implications for travellers? A range of airlines have suspended their operations to Tel Aviv although a couple haven't. If you want to continue flying to a no go area you may also want to check your travel insurance.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 at Land’s End, but not the one you might expect. This is Cap Gaspé in Québec, Canada, the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula. It’s also the start of the Appalachian Trail, a breathtaking 1,000km journey that winds through the scenic landscapes of Québec and crosses into the United States, passing through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.Join me as we explore the stunning vistas, diverse wildlife, and rich history along this remarkable trail, discovering the unique beauty of each state along the way.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.

On the first day of the peak travel month of the year, Simon Calder gives you the lowdown on BA’s misleading advice on passport validity - which it has now finally corrected.British Airways had claimed, wrongly: “To travel on an international flight your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter a country.”The airline now says, correctly, than non-EU nationals who wish to travel to an EU member state (except Ireland) or the Schengen Area nations of Switzerland, Norway and Iceland must carry a passport “issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country”.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.

Play is the latest Icelandic airline to join the fray between the UK and Keflavik International Airport near Reykjavik – with onward connections to five North American destinations. I've been talking to the chief executive and largest shareholder, Einar Örn Ólafsson – and heard about starting an airline during Covid and the unusual appeal of Iceland in winter to Brits (with everyone else it's summer).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.

In the past 24 hours I have been to three different airports – Paris Orly, London City and Dublin. Here's what you need to know about the different security procedures at each for your own travels.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.

France attracts more international visitors than any other country, and in summer its capital is usually rammed – particularly with big tour groups from Asia and North America. But this year they are staying away from Paris during the Olympics.In today's pocast, Simon Calder gives you the lowdown on his budget weekend in France's capital, and why you too should visit before the end of the Games.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 planned, I am at London St Pancras International station, the UK hub for Eurostar trains to Paris. I had intended to report on the great getaway to the Olympics, but sadly once again I am reporting on travel chaos – after sabotage on the high-speed line between Lille and Paris closed the main route.Trains are heavily delayed and cancelled – though most get through eventually.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 celebrating the Olympics – no, not Paris 2024 but Chamonix 1924, the first Winter Games. Skiing has had an intriguing history, as I’ve been discovering in the company of Nic Oatridge of the Ski Club of Great Britain. Our location: the club’s archive at De Montfort University in Leicester.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.

Lots of aviation news this week, so a good moment to catch up with Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency and former communications director for Virgin Atlantic.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm in wonderful Walthamstow, northeast London, in the company of one of the UK's foremost thinkers on transport: Thomas Ableman, founder of innovative bus start up Snap, recent director of strategy at Transport for London and now a leading consultant.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the calamitous busiest weekend of the year so far for UK airline passengers, these are your rights if it all went wrong.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder has explained what your rights are if your flight has been cancelled or delayed by the global IT outage.A botched software update brought down systems worldwide on Friday (19 July), resulting in a massive disruption to flights across the country.I explain your rights as a passenger caught up in the resultant mayhem.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the summer rush gets fully under way, I'm at London Gatwick talking to Nick Williams, head of passenger operations at the world's busiest single-runway airport. On a really busy day, there are more than 900 take-offs and landings: around 50 in a typical hour, or one every 72 seconds. The wait for security, says Nick, is rarely more than five minutes.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For today's travel podcast, I'm at London Liverpool Street station – the busiest in Britain – ahead of the King's Speech, in which Labour's plans for reforming the railways will be revealed. Nationalisation on its own will do little to improve the ramshackle service and mad fares that passengers endure at present ... good luck, transport secretary, Louise Haigh.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many people are organising holiday money. These days, paying with plastic or contactless is getting more and more universal – but cash can still be handy. I've been talking to Kaya Niedenthal of Currency Online Group about how to get a good exchange rate, even if you live a long way from hypercompetitive London. and why you shouldn't buy many Turkish lira in advance.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Natalie Wilson, Annabel Grossman and Ben Parker from The Independent's travel team who discuss where in Europe (if anywhere) cash is still king.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New EU border checks and travel for the Olympics will make the Port of Dover “exceptionally busy” this summer, its boss has warned.In today's travel podcast, I talk to Doug Bannister, the port's chief executive, about the great exodus that begins next weekend, and how to beat the queues.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the late, great Leonard Cohen so rightly predicted: "First we take the Netherlands – then we take Berlin."Want to be in the German capital on Sunday for the Euro 2024 final? Here's my guide.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've been taking a walk – and a train – in the Black Forest of southern Germany. I visited the ticket office in the town of Triberg, where the person behind the counter is sitting at a desk 20 miles away.Remote ticket office staff are already a reality on German railways, as staff are still able to give advice, take money and print tickets.But could video ticket kiosks catch on in the UK?This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm with Eddie Wilson, chief executive of Ryanair DAC, the main operating division of Europe’s biggest budget airline. He's in Tangier, announcing a big expansion in Morocco. I talked to him about the plan.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yet more carnage of airline schedules on Sunday, with British Airways and easyJet both cancelling 32 flights in and out of their main hubs, London Heathrow and London Gatwick respectively.Booking a flight departing early in the day is a good plan – but if your trip is grounded your airline must get you to your destination as soon as possible.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you in line to be the next transport secretary? You're in luck. In just 10 minutes, I’ll give you free advice on everything you need to tackle, from road, to rail, to air.Tune into today's podcast for a concise guide to transforming our transport system.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three weeks tomorrow, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 takes place. Yet I think the French capital will be a bit of a ghost town. Air France has just said: “International markets show a significant avoidance of Paris.Here's my take on what will be happening in the city – and how you could benefit.This podcast is free, as is my newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday by signing up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Simon Calder, and in today’s podcast, I speak with Ian Jeffrey, who leads Great British Rail Replacement. This new company aims to improve the often-dreaded experience of rail replacement by enhancing bus, coach, and taxi services during disruptions. We discuss how they plan to make this service more efficient and customer-friendly.This podcast is free, as is our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Simon Calder, and today’s guest is Gediminas Ziemelis, chair of Avia Solutions Group. With peak holiday season underway, we discuss how his organisation is tackling the aircraft shortage affecting airlines like EasyJet and British Airways, ensuring that flights operate more reliably for travellers across Europe.This podcast is free, as is our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Simon Calder, and on today's podcast, Chris Hancock, CEO of Avioxx, discusses how his company is pioneering new methods to produce sustainable aviation fuel, potentially transforming the aviation industry's environmental impact.This podcast is free, as is our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a miserable week it has been for air passengers. Monday saw Manchester airport hit by a power outage, train delays caused problems at Stansted and now today a plane stuck on the runway caused major disruption to the Gatwick airport. I take a look at what's gone wrong.This podcast is free, as is our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The day began with an announcement by easyJet of new flights from Edinburgh and Liverpool to City of Derry in Northern Ireland. Also this week, Delta announced a winter series from London Heathrow to Orlando. And Jet2 will offer Manchester, Leeds Bradford and Birmingham to Jerez from May 2025.In today's travel podcast, I assess these new routes.This podcast is free, as is our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to receive every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Simon Calder. Today, Aer Lingus pilots start an indefinite work-to-rule and plan a strike on June 29th. I discuss the reasons behind this action and its impact on passengers.This podcast is free, as is our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to receive every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you believe it's six months until Christmas Day? Never too early to plan your 25 December travels, and so today I have enlisted the support of Lyn Hughes, founding editor of Wanderlust magazine. Listen to her surprising choice of Christmas getaways.This podcast is free, as is our weekly newsletter. Sign up here to receive every Friday.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For many seasoned travellers, Venezuela was the first South American destination, thanks to Viasa's competitive fares from the UK to the wonder-filled continent.Currently, Venezuela is on the Foreign Office's no-go list. Despite this, travellers from other countries are flocking to the troubled republic bordering Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia.Blas Fabian from HoverTours in Caracas and Daniel Santin from Inspiring Destinations have been encouraging me to return.This podcast is free, much like our weekly travel newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As summer approaches, we explore how to book international flights. Annabel Grossman and Ben Parker reveal their thorough processes, contrasting sharply with my approach.This podcast is free, much like our weekly travel newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the summer travel season heats up, Simon Calder sits down with global travel editor Annabel Grossman and deputy travel editor Ben Parker to discuss their methods for booking train tickets in the UK. From using the Trainline app for convenience to seeking out cost-saving options, their approaches vary widely.This podcast is free, much like our weekly travel newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, I talk with Claire Bonniol of Kevin Speed about their ambitious plans to bring competitive high-speed rail services to France by 2028. We discuss their affordable pricing strategy, the inclusion of lesser-known stations, and what this means for UK travellers heading to France.This podcast is free, much like our weekly travel newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's four weeks today since Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 hit severe turbulence on a journey from London to Singapore. Tragically, one passenger lost his life after suffering a heart attack, and many more were injured. My guest today, Professor Paul Williams of Reading University, says turbulence is getting worse because of climate change.This podcast is free, much like our weekly travel newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m on a train adventure in the Czech Republic with Steven Ollive of the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. Listen as we explore the region's rail network and discuss the state of UK railways in comparison to those in Europe.This podcast is free, much like our weekly travel newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm in Prague, having flown in last night with a lot of Scotland football fans who were finding a roundabout route to reach Munich for the opening match in the Euro 2024 tournament tonight. Want to experience the atmosphere? Wait till the knock-out stages. Meanwhile, travel and accommodation for the Paris 2024 Olympics are wide open.If like football, you'd like our weekly travel newsletter to come home with you, subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.