Inspiring travel programmes?

[ChristmasSexyTime]

Anybody got any recommendations?

I'm really just missing getting on a plane and going somewhere

I've watched all of Anthony Bourdain on Netflix, all of Somebody Feed Phil - both excellent, and am looking for my next fix. These worked well for me because you got to see people, culture and food as well as scenery.

What say you Mumsnet?

[Thisendsnow]

Can't remember the name of it, but there is a good series on netflix with Zach Efron travelling

[ChristmasSexyTime]

Yeah that's a good one @Thisendsnow but sadly, I've watched it all

Would definitely recommend to anybody who hasn't seen it though. Loved the Iceland episode.

[Bloodylovecheese]

Joanna Lumley in Japan is just fantastic

[Thisendsnow]

Jack Whitehall does a few with his dad which are pretty funny too on Netflix.
Love travelman with Richard Ayoade which is on catch up I think. Also the TopGear specials are really good for travel stuff, not too car based and show a lot of the local cultures etc.

I'm excited to see if anyone comes up with some new bits too! I feel I have 'completed' TV during lockdown

[Waxonwaxoff0]

I like Simon Reeve's documentaries.

[smallandimperfectlyformed]

I may be biased as I love him but I really enjoyed Romesh Ranganathan's series on places that weren't particularly well travelled to. I really enjoyed the episode on Ethiopia in particular, I now want to go there and didn't have a major inclination to before! They were BBC programmes so should still be available on iplayer

[ChristmasSexyTime]

Excellent recommendations folks, thanks!

I'm definitely going to watch Joanna Lumley, Reeves and the Top Gear specials. Richard Ayoade is fab so I'll check his show out, and I love Romesh too so another for the list. DH can't stand Whitehall so I'll have to wait until he's out until I watch those.

[NotPennysBoat]

Race Around The World! There's been two series x

[Chambored]

I was going to say Travelman as they often do pretty unusual things too, which makes it a bit more interesting than your bog-standard weekend city break.

[smallandimperfectlyformed]

I know not everyone loves him, and there was some criticism of him that he had some stereotypical views, but I really enjoyed Paul Hollywood's Japan series on Channel 4. I think he's great personally - yes he sounds like a rubbish husband and partner but I like his presenting and judging on Bake Off!

[kwiksavenofrillsusername]

Won’t be to everyone’s taste but I loved Dark Tourist on Netflix. The presenter is sort of a kiwi Louis Theroux type and he goes to lots of unique places with strange histories like the parts of Cyprus under military control and a town in Mexico where they worship the devil. I hope they make more.

[jitterbugintomybrain]

There was a guy who travelled from Alaska to the tip of Chile in a yellow beetle, relying on the kindness of strangers. Think it was called the kindness diaries and might have been Netflix. The scenery and places he went to were amazing!
Race across the World also great.
Watching this thread with interest!

[Covine]

Race Around The World was brilliant! I got really invested in some of the people eg the mother and son team, and the young married couple who were coming to terms with the husband's hearing loss. Great programme.

All the old Michael Palin docs are on iPlayer, obviously all good and really interesting from a historical perspective eg he left Russia a couple of days before the old Soviet Union collapsed, which is just wild to think about.

Simon Reeve goes to some interesting places and comes across as quite sweet and earnest but can be sort of both preachy and unaware, which is not a great combination in that it makes for awkward viewing sometimes.

Whatever you do, don't watch the Sara Pascoe series. She is breathtakingly rude and self absorbed and seems to piss off everyone she meets.

[ICouldHaveCheckedFirst]

Michael Portillo's many series of journeys by train. He's covered every continent I think.

Chris Tarrant has done a few train travel documentaries, as has Tony Robinson.

Or you could go down the rabbit hole of foreign TV series, from Montalbano (Sicily) to Spiral (France) to Trapped (Iceland) to The Bridge (Sweden) - I could go on and on.

[LubaLuca]

We loved 'Race Across the World'.

[muddledmidget]

My Greek Odyssey by Peter Maneas was good. Was on amazon prime but I'm not sure if its still on there. Wanted to hate him for being rich and having a boat to visit all the Greek Islands, but he was just too likeable, and also speaks Greek so no awkward bits with translators

[letsmakethetea]

Ooh Race Across the World! It's so exciting and inspiring.

[Esbm2015]

If you can find it then Alex Polizzi did a wonderful series on Spain, Italy and the Italian islands. Francesco's Venice and his Top to Toe of Italy series. Also you’ll find Rick Steves on YouTube. Great little short episodes.