Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

I'm at London Waterloo – the busiest railway station in the UK, and also the home for Network Rail and the Great British Railways Transition Team. The latter is the body that is supposed to be acting as a "guiding mind" for the nation's rail services. Reports this morning say that the legislation necessary to establish GBR won't happen before the next election. Add to that the latest strike called by the RMT, and there are few reasons to be cheerful about the near future of rail – and train travellers.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you love 18th-century classical music or 20th-century rock, a top London tourist attraction reopens today, 18 May 2023: the Handel Hendrix House, at 25 Brook Street, London W1. After a £3m restoration lasting nearly two years, the house where George Frideric Handel lived from 1723 until he died in 1759 has reopened in ravishing style. An adjoining flat at no 23 – and part of the same museum – is the only place that Jimi Hendrix called home. Olwen Foulkes, assistant researcher, showed me around for today’s podcast. The museum opens 10am-5pm from Wednesday to Sunday, admission £14.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We’re seeing the rebirth of package holidays.” That’s the message from Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2 and Jet2 Holidays. He’s just announced a very significant expansion for the company: opening a base at Liverpool John Lennon airport from spring 2024 with a big network of holiday flights Jet2 Holidays has taken over as the biggest tour operator in the UK from TUI – which is itself growing strongly next summer. Great news for holidaymakers. But is it a wise move for the company?This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine a world where we can get from London to Sydney in two hours. It's a fantasy that the Civil Aviation Authority and the RAF have been working towards. The journey would involve space travel and sustaining a force of 6G on your body. One important thing to be sure of: whether humans could survive the journey. So, recently, a group of healthy participants between 30 and 80 years old were put under similar strains in a centrifuge. Thankfully everyone in the group survived. But does this mean we'll be zipping across the world in no time? Here's what I think.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Flights from Gatwick Airport were halted this afternoon due to reports of drone activity close to the airspace.At least 12 inbound flights were diverted away from Gatwick for almost an hour while an investigation took place into the suspected drone.Gatwick is the busiest single-runway airport in the world, with little slack in the system when schedules unravel.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The latest round of rail strikes has begun, bringing 48 hours of misery for train passengers. It is especially aggravating for people hoping to travel to Liverpool for Eurovision. But dare I say it? There are a number of alternatives to rail travel for reaching Merseyside.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's travel podcast, I chat with tour guide Ruth Ben Ami in the heartland of humanity, Jerusalem. This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this day in 1919, the first commercial air service in Britain began – from Manchester to Southport, a distance of just 40 miles. In the 104 years since then, the range of UK domestic flights has waxed and waned.I'm at Luton airport, where EasyJet began in 1995 as a purely domestic airline with links to Edinburgh and Glasgow.As rail links have improved, links like this have reduced – but Northern Ireland and Cornwall continue to benefit from planes rather than terrestrial links.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sun, sea and... school term! June is just weeks away now and it's a contender for one of the best months of the year to get away. In southern Europe you can expect warm temperatures (although expect cool seas!), and inexpensive flights due to a full month of term time for schools.Also in this episode: what Rome and New York have in common. And, no, it's not a shared love of pizza.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm always happy to answer your travel questions, and often do so! But, as my colleague Charlotte Hindle points out in this episode, I am only one man...So, with my mortality recognised, who else can *you* ask for help and travel advice?Whether you need to get money back after airline issues or need emergency travel, there are multiple examples of when you might need a helping hand, so listen now for a thorough overview of who can be of assistance.This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter - subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.