Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy the PC Agency, flies more than anyone else I know. So in the first half of a two-part interview, I'm talking to him about the best and worst of aviation in 2025.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For people living in the UK without a car, Christmas Day has long been a problem. No trains are running, and in most areas local buses remain in the depot too – leaving car-less people dependent on friends, family or taxis to get around. But this 25 December things are getting better, according to Graham Vidler, CEO of the Confederation of Passenger Transport.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive of Dubai Airports, used to run Gatwick airport. In the third and final part of our conversation, the boss of the world's busiest international airport offers advice on expansion at both Heathrow and Gatwick. "The boost that will give to the economy, the advantages it will drive for trade for the UK are all desperately needed. Make the decision, stick to it,"This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of my exclusive conversation with Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive of Dubai Airports, we gaze deep into the future of aviation. Not only does Dubai International expect to be the first airport in the world to handle 100 million international passengers – along the road, Dubai World Central airport is planned to outpace the DXB and the rest of the world.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today and for the following two days, I am bringing you a conversation with the man who is responsible for more "passenger miles" than anyone else on the planet: Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports. For the first of three parts, we talked about how Dubai International airport has blossomed into the biggest hub for international passengers in the world.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm joined by The Independent's US travel editor, Ted Thornhill, for his insights on the tricky business of reclining seats, sharing armrests, stowing baggage and whether you can ever upgrade to the business class bathroom?This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amelia Neath, travel writer for The Independent, continues her romp through the best-value European city breaks for 2026. Today: the top five are revealed.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Travel writer for The Independent Amelia Neath has compiled a brilliant list of best-value European city breaks for 2026. It's another two-parter: today she is counting down from 10 to six, and tomorrow the top five will be revealed.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Travel desk Tuesday, and today senior travel writer Natalie Wilson is reporting on the Belmond British Pullman Christmas lunch trip from London Victoria to Kent – and looking ahead to Interrail travel for 2026. The current 25% discount offer, for passes that you can start any time in the next 11 months, ends at 9am GMT on Wednesday 17 December.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Starting a new year with a journey to a new destination is always rewarding, and one of the most memorable 1 January departures took me to Guatemala. As you will hear from Harris Whitbeck, minister of tourism for the Central American nation, diversity awaits from Maya culture to pizza baked freshly on volcanic rock. Yet the Foreign Office advice for Guatemala is strident – and Harris has plenty to say about it.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Could Edinburgh airport be the first in the UK to offer pre-clearance for travellers to the US? That's the hope of today's guest, Gordon Dewar – chief executive of the Scottish hub. Allowing passengers to go through US Customs and Border Protection before they board a flight to America "would be incredibly powerful for Edinburgh, and we are pursuing it", he tells me. "If the two governments can find common ground and sign the agreement, we'll start building the next day."This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Kathryn Leahy, chief operations officer for the air-traffic control service, Nats. We talked about the impact of bad weather – such as Storm Bram – on air-traffic control. And looking ahead, how “performance-based navigation”will make journeys more punctual.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've been hearing from the man responsible for improving reliability and attracting more people to the railway. Lord Hendy has strong views on how unifying tracks and trains will bring better services. He also believes the Great British Railways app will be the optimum way to buy tickets in future.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dozens of flights and ferry sailings have been cancelled due to strong winds and heavy rain. British Airways cancelled its first wave of domestic departures, while Aer Lingus Regional has grounded many flights between Great Britain and the island of Ireland – Belfast City and Dublin. Most Irish Sea ferry sailings are cancelled. And on the trains, ScotRail has imposed speed restrictions on lines to Carlisle, Inverness and beyond.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I have been hitchhiking for half a century. But in that time thumbing rides has shrunk from the mainstream method for budget travellers to get around to the most minority of sports – on the periphery of transport, with most people never having stood by the side of the road hoping for a lift. Adam Renak and Dan Smith are two engineers seeking to transform hitchhiking with an app called Hitchr. This is their story.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's the best strategy for booking your travel to attend the FIFA World Cup next summer in the US, Canada, and Mexico?As soon as the draw is made, prices for flights and accommodation will skyrocket.My hack? Well, you'll have to listen to today's episode to find out that!This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing the theme of looking ahead to 2026: I have been talking to an old travel pal of mine, Brian Young. He is now EMEA managing director for G Adventures, but has enjoyed a lifetime of travelling. So he is just the man to talk about a hidden beach in Mallorca and the trials and rewards of climbing Kilimanjaro – with a certain fear of heights.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"AI and the internet will be a huge part of the future of travel." So says Andy Headington, CEO of digital travel marketing specialists Adido. LLMs – large language models, also known as AI – are also auditing podcasts, perhaps even this one, for travel content. So if you're a bot, not a person; "Hi from humanity"This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subtract Amsterdam from the Netherlands and what's left would comprise a beautiful, diverse and cultured nation. I've been singing the praises of second city Rotterdam for many years. Sandra Ishmael, Director UK at the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions, has been telling me about the opportunities in 2026.I can't wait to explore more of North Brabant, which confusingly is in the south of the country. One word of warning: hotel rates rise by 11% on 1 January due to an increase in tax.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My first guest of the month is Rachel O'Reilly Director of Communications for Dertour UK – a company that includes Kuoni, Journey Latin America, Inghams, Kirker, Carrier and CV Villas, She says solo travellers who are not single are the fastest growing demographic.We talked about the impact of the BBC's Race Across the World in stimulating bookings – and how ski resorts are reinventing themselves in response to climate change.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wizz Air's UK Managing Director, Yvonne Moynihan, has been telling me about the year so far; Wizz Air's new "Class" product that will emulate British Airways' Club Europe on some routes from Luton; and plans for being the first airline back into Ukraine.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exploring the Arctic is one of the greatest experiences open to tourists – visiting remote locations such as Svalbard and Greenland – but there are concerns about the environmental impact of such voyages. Now Heather Thorkelson, founder of Minimal Impact Expeditions, is working on the launch of a new vessel, Captain Arctic – "powered entirely by nature".This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1970s, air fares were so high that the best way to reach India from the UK was on public transport – which Butterfield's Overland Tours was happy to organise, via Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Now one of the perpetrators, Richard Loosley, has written a book about his experiences – and has shared secrets of the road with me.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I first visited Cambodia in 1993, as the south east Asian country was recovering from the genocide of the appalling Khmer Rouge regime under the dictatorship of Pol Pot. In 2025, Global Travel Editor Annabel Grossman has just returned from Cambodia and describes a nation transformed – except for the warm welcome that visitors enjoy.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Claire Jones is chief executive of Polar Steps, a travel planning up that takes you worldwide (not just the Arctic and Antarctic). The idea is that all your plans and photos are in one place, so a close group of friends and family can follow your journey. As you go along, it generates a diary for you. And at the end of the trip, you can create a book of your experiences.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of my conversation with Martin Rolfe, chief executive of NATS – formerly National Air Traffic Services – we discuss the need to modernise the skies, why aircraft holding to land at London Heathrow are necessary and how air-traffic controllers will handle extra runways at Gatwick and Heathrow.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today and tomorrow I'm talking to Martin Rolfe, chief executive of NATS – formerly National Air Traffic Services – about the work air-traffic controllers do to keep the skies safe for passengers and crew. He also tackles the systems failure on Bank Holiday Monday, and warns that technical issues are an inevitability in an industry as complex as aviation.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great Western Railway has just unveiled "Formula 1" high-speed internet connectivity on one of its intercity express trains, connecting London Paddington with the West of England and South Wales. It uses technology from the world of motorsport to harness satellite and phone mast signals to maximum effect.I have been on a train from Paddington to Newbury in Berkshire and back, sounding out the views of Nick Fry from Motion Applied, Andy Jasper of the Eden Project and GWR managing director Mark Hopwood.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Travel Desk Tuesday, and The Independent's Deputy Travel Editor has top tips on travelling around by rail and road. Sophie's highlight: the Golden Temple at Amritsar. And, she adds:"The food was the best thing about the trip."This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katherine Moloney is founder of Elevate(her) Aviation. She started flying at 18, and is licensed to fly both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Katherine has been telling me: "Aviation as a whole is actually 30% female, but less than 5% in key roles such as engineering, pilot roles, and air traffic control." And she intends to change that ...This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heilbronn is a small city in western Germany. It is notable for being selected as European Green Capital for 2027. But what I find rather more amazing is that there are two medieval towers that you can climb, on your own, having picked up the key from the tourist office.Wild and wonderful: I hope you will try it too.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm finding out about how to survive in jungles and other wildernesses with Dr Joshua Allison, Medical Director at Unique Expeditions. All you need to know about them is that they are, quote, “experts in the extreme.”This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That's the plan being discussed at COP30, the UN climate summit in Belem, Brazil. France, Spain and Kenya want to see business class, first class and private jet passengers taxed much more heavily, with the money going to help less developed countries. The International Air Transport Association (Iata), representing the world's airlines, does not agree. I'm talking today to Thomas Reynaert, senior vice president for external affairs at Iata, about the COP30 plan – as well as air passengers' rights rules and the impending UK budget.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(* Though, as Dara Brady, Chief Marketing Officer of Europe's biggest budget airline has been telling me, if you need a boarding pass printed out at the airport staff will do that for free, so long as you have already checked in online.)This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Five years ago, Cat Jones created a start-up to use smart tech solutions (coupled, often, with Interrail passes) to deliver tailor-made journey by rail, sea and bus across Europe.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am at London Gatwick airport, location of easyJet's biggest base, to celebrated the 30th birthday – on Monday – of Britain's biggest budget airline. Since 10 November 1995, aviation has been democratised, giving us wider horizons than ever. I've been talking to Bill Rivett, captain of the first historic flight from Luton to Glasgow. Turns out he was on secondment from British Airways to GB Airways, the small airline easyJet initially hired to do the flying ...This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm at World Travel Market, the UK's biggest travel trade event, and talking to Lara Paxton of New Scientist Discovery Tours about the prospects for a new kind of adventure: whether searching for dinosaur traces in the Gobi Desert, or visit the Large Hadron Collider at CERN outside Geneva.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four weeks ago the MP for Barnsley South took over the tourism brief: a real challenge, in my view, with visitor numbers and spend last year lower than pre-Covid. I've been hearing about her vision for boosting business, and in particular broadening the appeal of the UK beyond London. To places such as Yorkshire ...This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Caledonian Sleeper has long linked London Euston with Fort William in the West Highlands of Scotland, as well as Inverness and Aberdeen. From 15 January 2026, the overnight train will call at Birmingham International, serving the city's airport. I've been hearing more from two Caledonian Sleeper executives: Interim Managing Director Graham Kelly and Head of Sales & Marketing, Steven Marshall.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone's heart must go to the injured and their families, as well as passengers and train crew, after the appalling knife attack on an LNER train south of Peterborough on Saturday night. The horrifying incident was handled with great professionalism and heroism by LNER staff and the police. But it raises wider questions about security on trains. I have also heard an account from Adam Gill, who was travelling in the opposit direction – and also has nothing but praise for the way train staff responded.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After airlines, domestic railways and a cruise line, the bearded billionaire is set to bring better service and lower fares on international trains to the Continent – but not until 2030.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack's Flight Club is an enterprise that specialises in finding exceptional deals on tickets to Europe and beyond. I've always been intrigued about how it works – and Head of Community and Content, Katy Maclure, has been revealing the inner workings. “We're the guys who do the hard graft and let you know when the price is right.”This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the Moldovan capital, deep set in autumn, I've been enjoying a walk and talk with Irina – who helps tourists make the most of a beautiful and intriguing city. Just search for "free tour Chisinau" – and of course tip, between 100 and 200 lei (£4.50-£9).This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The latest UK regional airline to closed down is Eastern Airways, which linked Aberdeen with Teesside, Humberside and Wick airports as well as flying between Gatwick and Newquay. What happens next?This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the weekend I was in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, to report on the finish of the latest Lupine Travel race across Europe. Chatting to past winner and pal of mine Bram Houtenbos, I learnt he had a fabulous city-centre apartment with a spare room. Yes, I could split the cost with him – a real win-win! Except that in the early hours of the morning, things started to unravel... This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.