Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

I regularly trawl the European Union site for news about the “ETIAS” scheme and have seen that they have quietly changed the target date.It turns out that British travellers to the EU will not need a £6 “eurovisa” until 2024 at the earliest.The scheme has been under development for at least the last seven years and was due to begin in 2021, but has been repeatedly postponed. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why has air travel become so fraught with difficulties?" So asks a reader. "50 years ago travelling by plane was exciting and reliable. Now it seems like an obstacle course." Well, I beg to differ about the Golden Age of Air Travel.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm in Compiègne in northern France, which has a compelling chateau to rival Versailles and Fontainebleau, and also the 'Armistice Carriage' – the railway car where the German surrender in World War I and the French surrender in World War II were both taken.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you get the best seat on a plane? Well, I'll outline my strategy: I tend to get on last. But let me warn you that it doesn't always work. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the first time, I am trying the French notion of no frills trains. French railways has a budget brand called Ouigo. It uses the same high speed trains, but with higher density seating, no buffet car and strict rules on check-in and baggage. But for £10 from the deep south of France to somewhere near Paris, I’ll take it.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's travel podcast, I speak with wildlife guide and safari camp owner Paul Goldstein about how to get the most from a Safari.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's podcast, I chat with Manchester Museum Director, Esme Ward about what visitors can expect from the museum, having just opened its doors for the first time in almost 18 months after undergoing a £15m transformation project.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm joined on today's podcast by my colleague Charlotte Hindle, and we're discussing how to get your money back when travel plans go awry.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's travel podcast is in praise of overnight sleeper trains – but many of them exist only because they are hugely subsidised by taxpayers.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today is Valentine's Day and I'm joined by Travel Editor (and also, I like to think, Chief Romance Correspondent) of the Independent, Helen Coffey, to discuss the least and most romantic places in the world to travel.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.