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My current favorite TV travel shows

For those who are also into armchair travel, I thought I would give a run down of my favorite shows currently airing:
-BBC Travel show. A fast-paced weekly show which airs weekends on the BBC World news channel. A lot of varied topics from different corners of the world.

-Somewhere Street. A quirky yet fascinating show which airs weekends on the english language Japanese NHK World Channel available on most cable/satellite systems. It's basically a live action version of Google Streetview. A camera crew wanders the streets of a city or village somewhere in the world and simply walks around and stops to look at whatever peaks the cameraman's interest. It's all very spontaneous, talking a bit to locals they come across and often asking if they can look around their houses/apartments or shops. The locales they choose are quite varied from very touristy places like Nice or Stockholm to a small city in Albania nobody has every head of. It's all very charming and fun.

-Great British Railway Journeys/Great Continental Railway Journeys. Also from the BBC, it's probably one of the best travel shows about Europe every made! Hosted by Michael Portillo, he uses an old Victorian era George Bradshaw guidebook to show how the railways have influenced industrialization and tourism throughout the decades. A must for anyone who loves European travel. To my knowledge it hasn't been picked-up by any broadcaster in the US, but full episodes in HD are available on YouTube. Here is a sample:
http://tinyurl.com/oryevyk

Posted by
8889 posts

I also recommend Great British Railway Journeys/Great Continental Railway Journeys. They are all on YouTube. They show real travelling, not just "skimming the surface" of the big sights. The series is very evocative of "how we got here". Should be recommended watching for all potential Euro-tourists.

Some people from outside the UK might not realise who Michael Portillo is. He is a former British government minister, ending up as Minister of Defence (1995–1997). He is the son of a refugee from the Spanish Civil war, and holds both British and Spanish citizenship. In one of the episodes he goes back to his father's hometown in Spain.

Posted by
40 posts

"Great Continental Railway Jouneys" hosted by Michael Portillo was shown recently on ABC ( Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and was essential viewing as my friend and I are traveling by train on some of the same routes as shown on the series. It whets the appetite for train travel!

Posted by
5697 posts

Our PBS station runs a morning trio of Rick Steves, Rudy Maxa and Burt Wolf, often covering the same areas. Love to compare Rick's hotel picks with the 5-star Intercontinental s the others choose.

Posted by
5678 posts

What about Globe Trekker? I love seeing what those kids are up to in all the wild places of the world that I am not getting to!

Posted by
915 posts

The Great Continental series is running now on WETA UK - Washington's PBS British channel. Great show. Northern Germany on tonight's episode. I didn't even know Hamburg had that tunnel!