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34 best travel tv shows to binge watch this year.

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Are you looking for some amazing travel TV shows to feed your wanderlust?

There is nothing better than watching inspiring travel TV shows when you don’t get to travel. They are entertaining, helpful to plan your travels and open your mind (and heart) to new places.

I absolutely love watching travel shows on TV. While it’s true that I prefer doing the actual travelling, I’m like everybody else and I also enjoy staying at home and dreaming of my next destinations.

I spend a lot of time watching travel shows and find it to be not just entertaining, but enlightening!

Sometimes you will discover underrated places that you would have never thought of going. And that’s the great thing about it, you don’t only get to learn about the places you want to go. You discover new places!

It’s also a very good way to learn more about the culture of these places.

As you may know, I love discovering new cultures. I find all of them so incredibly interesting. Foreign languages, food, history… there is just so much to discover. It’s so interesting and exciting!

Here are some of the best travel TV shows to watch now!

🔎 Table of Contents

1. Jack Whitehall: Travels with my father

Jack Whitehall is a famous British comedian. He is mainly known to be the posh lad in Fresh Meat (filmed in Manchester by the way 😉 ).

In real life, Jack Whitehall actually is a very posh Londoner. He comes from a wealthy family and never got the chance to go backpacking as many young people do.

On top of that, he always had quite a difficult relationship with his dad, who is 79.

This is why, in 2017, Jack Whitehall invites his dad, Michael, to go backpacking with him in Asia for a Netflix original series .

By that, I mean proper backpacking. Sleeping in hostels, taking cheap transportation, carrying a backpack… and guess what, his dad said yes!

This show is absolutely hilarious and a perfect mix between comedy and travel. If you need something to cheer you up and make you dream of foreign lands, it’s the perfect choice!

In the first season, they travel through countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

It’s so funny to watch as the dad is quite a character. He is a very posh person and obviously not quite happy about the lack of comfort.

If you like British humour, Jack and Michael Whitehall will crack you up!

The show had so much success that it was renewed for a second season in Europe . A continent that Michael famously voted to leave! In the third season, they go to America and here again, it takes a whole new dimension.

Give it a try, you will be hooked straight from the first episode! It’s so funny and arguably the best travel reality show on Netflix!

2. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

You may know Anthony Bourdain as a chef but did you know that he had a few travel shows as well?

My favourite is Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown .

This American food and travel show was produced by CNN and ran from 2013 to 2018. Sadly, Anthony died while working on a show about Strasbourg, France on the 8th of June 2018.

In this show, he travels the world and focuses on the lesser-known and underrated places.

He goes to pretty much any country you can think of and explores the culture and cuisine with locals. Very often he goes around with local guides, sometimes he also gets to meet famous personalities.

In his episode about Lyon in France, he goes for dinner with Paul Bocuse, the famous French chef.

Bourdain has this very unique way to explore the world. He sees the beauty in everything and always makes sure to be in perfect sync with local cultures.

He had this unique ability to see the world as the absolute beauty it really is and through Parts Unknown, shares his vision of the world’s cultures.

It’s not a show that I would categorise as funny, although there are some quirks. But it’s definitely the most interesting and passionate one of this list!

3. Down to Earth

Seasons:  1

This is a fun travel show / documentary to watch. It stars Zac Efron who travels around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien.

The goal of these travels is to discover more sustainable ways to live. They go everywhere around the world including Iceland, Sardinia and South America. 

Each destination highlight a specific sustainable lifestyle. For example, Sardinia in Italy is known as a blue zone. A blue zone is an area with more people reaching the age of 100 than the average.

When they get to Sardinia, they meet with locals and experts to try to understand how the way people live and eat has impacted their health.

Darin Olien is known to be big on super foods so you will also learn plenty about that when they go to South America.

All in all, this is a great show to watch as it perfectly mixes together fun and education.

4. BBC Race Across the World

Even though the Amazing Race is a concept available in almost all countries, it doesn’t exist in the UK.

But don’t you worry, the BBC thought that through and created its own program!

The concept of the Race across the world is a bit different though. In this show, you will follow 5 pairs of travellers on an epic race across the world.

In the first season, their mission is to go from London to Singapore without taking a single flight.

They are being given a bit of money, the equivalent of a flight ticket from London to Singapore ie about £1000. With this money, they have to go to Singapore without flying.

This means they have to find transport, accommodation and food for a month within that £500 budget per head. Each pair adopts a different strategy.

They take all sorts of transportation. Some hitchhike, some take the bus…

It’s a very entertaining thing to watch. You will surprise yourself trying to plan that trip as well!

5. Somebody Feed Phil

Seasons:  4

This Netflix Original is an excellent thing to watch if you love both travelling and food.

You will follow Philip Rosenthal on his trips around the world and discover the local delicacies.

There is no better way to understand the local culture than eating local dishes with the locals themselves and that’s what Phil is doing here.

From the floating markets in Thailand to the classic Mexican cantinas, he tries it all!

The best thing about this show is that you will discover so much more than just food and drinks.

He really tries to understand the local culture and why things are the way they are.

It’s also worth noting that Phil is a very happy and funny guy which makes it very pleasant to watch.

6. Instant Hotel

Instant Hotel is an Australian reality show that follows several teams of homeowners.

Each duo owns a holiday rental in Australia and will host the other contestants for a day and a night.

It’s a nice thing to watch if you love Australia or would like to visit one day.

You will get to see several states including Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Northern Territory.

Not only will you see some very famous locations such as Bondi Beach but will also get to discover some hidden gems.

There are 2 seasons available on Netflix.

7. Ugly Delicious

This is another food and travel TV show on Netflix. In this one, you will follow chef David Chang on his journey around the world.

A bit like Anthony Bourdain used to do, Chang is using food to tackle misconceptions and break down cultural barriers. 

Food is a powerful way to experience a country and learn more about the local culture. Chef Chang knows that and he shows you exactly how to!

He is also joined by guests including other chefs, artists, activists and plenty more. With him, you’ll discover many different regions including the USA, Asia and Europe.

8. Dark Tourist

In Dark Tourist, the journalist David Farrier focuses on something rarely talked about: Dark Tourism. Dark tourism is the fact of travelling to places associated with death or tragedy.

This type of travel is getting more and more popular and that’s why David Farrier goes to experience it and share with us his journey.

Dark Tourist is a very interesting show to watch as clearly, he is immersing himself into some culture and believes that you probably never even heard of before that.

Secondly, it can get quite funny and that Kiwi accent is always so cute!

Lastly, let’s be honest, it’s bloody weird! And clearly extremely interesting. I had no idea most of these things existed and although it can be creepy at times, it is quite interesting to know more about them.

9. Emily in Paris

Emily in Paris is a Netflix Original TV Show that was released in 2020. It was created by Darren Star (best known for “Sex and the City”).

It’s the story of Emily Cooper, an American girl, who moves to Paris to work in a French marketing agency.

Although it was argued that the show was full of clichés, it is still a very cool thing to watch. As a French person, I loved it!

It may not quite be representative of what a normal french life is but it highlights the most magical aspects of Paris! It will make you dream!

Emily Cooper is played by Lily Collins (British-American actress) but most of the other main characters are French which makes the show even better!

They all speak English (some with a better accent than others).

It’s a feel-good travel show that will make you want to visit Paris straight away!

And if you do, you will be able to visit Emily in Paris filming locations!

10. Griff’s Great Australian Rail Trip

Looking for a travel show about Australia? Here you go!

This 2020 docuseries is one of the best things to watch before going to Australia.

Here you will see Griff Rhys Jones, a Welsh comedian, taking on an amazing train journey from Perth to Sydney and Darwin to Adelaide.

Not only is it a great way to see what the Indian Pacific and The Ghan trains are like but you will also get to learn so much about the Australian outback and culture.

You can tell that Griff is truly fascinated by Australia and he will definitely make you want to jump on a plane straight away!

11. The Kindness Diaries

The Kindness Diaries is one of the best travel programmes if you also love motorbikes (don’t worry if you don’t though, it’s fun either way but if you do like motorbikes, this is the ultimate best travel series for you).

You will follow the adventures of Leon who travels around the world on a vintage motorcycle relying solely on the kindness of strangers for accommodation, food and even petrol.

This is an extraordinary travel tv program. Not only is it interesting and fun but seeing the kindness of people all around the world is simply the most moving thing you can see.

It will leave you quite emotional on a few occasions!

12. James May: Our man in Japan

You may know James May as one of the presenters of Top Gear. But he’s got way more in store than you’d think.

In this Amazon Prime original , James May goes to Japan and experiences many aspects of Japanese Culture.

He goes to all the main cities including Tokyo and Kyoto but also some more remote places in the Japanese countryside.

James May is a typical British guy and definitely knows how to come up with the best comments!

Just picture him, in Japan, not speaking a single word of Japanese, clueless about the culture… and yet going for it!

It’s a very interesting mix of fun and culture.

If you love Japan, you will definitely like it but even if you don’t have any specific interest in this country, you will still enjoy it, I promise!

You can watch this amazing show on Amazon Prime.

Click here to check it out and get a free trial!

13. Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip

If you are looking for comedy travel shows, look no further! This one will make you laugh out loud!

This 2-season show features 3 famous chefs in the UK: Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo, and Fred Serieix.

Just picture it for a moment, we are putting together a British man, an Italian man and a French man, in a same place and make them travel the world to discover the best foods.

The result? One of the best celebrity travel shows we can think of!

It is a very cool show and you get to discover their home countries of Italy , France and Scotland but also some other destinations such as Texas or Mexico.

14. By Any Means

Seasons:  1 (6 episodes)

This one is for all the adventurers out there! Unlike some of the shows out there that are quite commercialised, this one is very pure and honest. You will be following Charley Boorman, an Irishman who decides to go from his small hometown in Ireland all the way down to Australia without flying.

Charley is not doing all of that on his own. He is with a team which makes it even more entertaining.

In the first episode, you will see how they went about planning the trip itself which was pretty challenging back in 2008. After that, the good stuff starts and you follow them on this incredible journey.

It’s a great way to learn more about hidden gems and underrated travel destinations.

Click here to watch on Amazon Prime.

15. The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour is British motoring show featuring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Although it is known for cars, it’s also an excellent travel TV show to watch.

The famous trio used to present Top Gear for BBC. In 2015, BBC didn’t renew Jeremy Clarkson’s contract.

At this point, his friends decided to follow him and they signed a contract with Amazon Prime. The Grand Tour was born!

On the Grand Tour, Clarkson, Hammond and May embark the most incredible vehicles and set off to explore some of the most beautiful countries in the world!

They visit some famous places but also adventure themselves in very remote, off-the-beaten-path, locations. This includes Madagascar, Morocco, Namibia, Italy and many more!

The Grand Tour is available on Amazon Prime . There are several seasons and some specials!

Click here to watch The Grand Tour.

16. Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is an American reality TV show. I’ve watched every season of the French equivalent, Pekin Express.

As much as I would love to talk about this show, I appreciate that watching a show in french might not be of your liking!

But it’s ok because the Amazing Race is pretty much the same thing. There is an American and Canadian version.

The concept is simple. There are several teams of two racing around the world. In each episode, they have to go to a certain destination with no money.

Therefore their only option is to hitchhike and get locals to accommodate them for free.

Along the way, other missions are given to them. These can be hikes, riding… all sorts of things.

It’s the perfect show to discover many countries in a different way. The Amazing Race has it all: competition, culture, landscapes, fun… A must see!

And there are over 30 seasons available so plenty to binge-watch!

Click here to watch the Amazing Race.

17. Travel Man

If you are looking for another funny British travel show, Travel Man is for you!

In this channel 4 show, the host Richard Ayoade explores all major cities around the world. The goal? Visiting as many tourist spots in the minimum amount of time.

When I say that, don’t get me wrong. He is very well organised and makes sure to go on a guided tour most of the time.

This means he actually embeds himself very well in the culture of the place he is visiting.

But where loads of travel shows focus on hidden gems and off-the-beaten-path destinations, Travel Man does the opposite. He goes for the most famous landmarks!

And it’s a good thing because even though these places are touristy, they are famous for a reason!

Richard Ayoade is a very funny man and will make you laugh out loud quite a few times!

Somehow, he always does his best not to enjoy himself which makes the whole show absolutely hilarious!

This show is perfect if you are planning city breaks or are into architecture.

If you are an adventure and after nature discovery, it won’t be what you are looking for.

Click here to watch Travel Man.

18. Anthony Bourdain: The Layover

The late Anthony Bourdain was famous as a celebrity chef. But he gained an army of new fans with his excellent travel series, Anthony Bourdain: The Layover .

Showcasing Bourdain’s swift visits to various cities around the world, the show aired on the Travel Channel from 2011 to 2013.

It focused on how to make the most of a short layover or brief stopover in a city.

Each episode featured Bourdain spending 24 to 48 hours in a featured city, providing viewers with a fast-paced, no-nonsense guide to experiencing the best food, culture and attractions a place had to offer.

He often sought the help of local experts and friends, including chefs and celebrities, to uncover hidden gems and popular hotspots.

Visiting everywhere from New York City to Istanbul, the show is renowned for Bourdain’s candid and unfiltered commentary, his willingness to try exotic and unconventional dishes and his deep appreciation for the diverse cultures he encountered.

19. All Joanna Lumley’s Shows

Joanna Lumley is a famous British actress. You may know her from  The New Avengers  or more recently  The Wolf of Wall Street.

She is also well known for her travel documentaries.

She has done quite a few of them over the years and they are all fantastic things to watch. The most recent one was released in 2020 and is called Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti.

If you love the Caribbean and want to learn more about this part of the world, watching Joanna Lumley’s TV show will be the perfect thing to do.

It is considered a documentary but like most travel shows, it’s quite funny on top of being interesting.

In this one, she goes to Cuban and Haiti. Local culture, quirky situations, funny humour… it has it all!

You should also consider watching the other ones as they are all fantastic:

• Joanna Lumley’s Nile
• Joanna Lumley’s Japan
• Joanna Lumley’s Trans-Siberian Adventure
• Joanna Lumley’s Unseen Adventures
• Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey
• Joanna Lumley’s India
• Joanna Lumley’s Home Sweet Home: Travels in My Own Land
• Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure
• Joanna Lumley’s Postcards

Most of them are available on Amazon Prime as well as ITV Hub and BBC Select.

20. Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad

This one is very similar to Jack Whitehall Travels with my father. On paper at least.

In this case, the dad is the celebrity. Bradley Walsh is a famous British comedian and presenter. If he never particularly wanted to travel, his 21-year old son, Barney, decided otherwise!

Together they go on a road trip in America in an RV. The series started in 2019 and can be watched on Amazon . There are 2 seasons, 10 episodes in total.

In this case, they don’t go for a budget-travel version. They keep their comfort but try very unexpected activities in the States.

It’s more about the contact with the locals which is quite interesting.

As you would expect from the Walsh’s, it’s also very funny!

They go from the Florida Keys up to Georgia. So if you are interested in knowing more about Florida and the east coast states, this one’s for you!

You can watch this amazing show on  ITV (eligible for a free trial as well!).

21. An Idiot Abroad

An Idiot Abroad is one the quirkiest travel show that you can find.

Here is the plot: the main person, Karl Pilkington has never wanted to travel and will be forced to.

Basically, at the beginning of the episode, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (who created the show) send Karl abroad with instructions. They put together a bucket list and he has to do everything.

It’s so funny! I promise, this British show will crack you up!

The thing that makes it so entertaining is the fact that Karl Pilkington has no interest in travelling and ends up doing all these things while the other two stay in the UK!

If you want to have a good laugh, An Idiot Abroad is the way to go!

22. The Americas with Simon Reeve

If you are looking for the best travel shows on BBC iplayer, this one is for you!

It features Simon Reeve, a famous British adventurer, exploring the Americas.

The first season includes 5 episodes during which you discover some of the most famous places in the Americas such as Machu Picchu in Peru but also some very remote places in the Amazon rainforest.

If you’d like to learn more about Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay, this is the travel show for you.

There is a lot to love about the Americas. Between the ancient Maya heritage and the beautiful national parks in the USA, there is so much to discover.

That’s exactly what you will do if you want “The Americas with Simon Reeve”.

You will follow him on his incredible journey and learn more about the local culture as well as sustainable ways to live. From planting trees in Costa Rica to hiking the Rocky Mountains, this is the perfect mix between adventure, culture and sustainability.

This TV show was produced by BBC and available on BBC iPlayer. 

23. Men in Kilts

If you’d love to learn more about Scotland , then Men in Kilts is the perfect travel show for you!

Here you will follow Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish, the stars of Outlander, around Scotland and discover plenty about the local culture.

This includes whisky, bagpipes and of course, stunning landscapes.

Not only is it a very interesting show to watch but the hosts are so funny and it’s so great to see them in another context than Outlander.

24. Long Way Up

Premiering in 2020, Long Way Up is part of the Long Way series of documentary travel TV shows, which follows motorcycle journeys led by longtime actors and friends Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor.

In Long Way Up , Charley and Ewan embark on an epic adventure, riding electric Harley Davidson LiveWire motorbikes from the southern tip of South America in Argentina to Los Angeles in the USA.

The journey covers over 13,000 miles and 13 countries, taking them through Chile, Bolivia, Peru , Ecuador, Colombia, Central America and Mexico between their start and finish points.

Some of the most memorable moments include navigating challenging terrains like the Atacama Desert and the Andes Mountains, dealing with extreme weather conditions, and experiencing the cultural diversity of the countries they visit.

The duo also encounter unexpected obstacles, like charging their electric motorcycles in remote locations with limited infrastructure, which adds an extra layer of adventure to their trip.

25. Booze Traveler

Booze Traveler was a popular Travel Channel television series from 2014 to 2018. Its host was the effervescent Jack Maxwell – a well-known Boston-born actor and television personality.

Each episode featured Maxwell embarking on a worldwide adventure to learn about different cultures through their alcoholic beverages and drinking customs.

The series took viewers to various destinations, including Mexico, India, Japan, Italy, and South Africa.

In each place, Maxwell immersed himself in local customs, tried traditional drinks and interacted with the locals to understand the importance of alcohol in their culture better.

In doing this, he often tried unique and sometimes unusual alcoholic drinks, such as snake wine in Vietnam and fermented mare’s milk in Mongolia.

Overall, the show explored the cultural and historical significance of alcohol, revealing how it has shaped societies and brought people together.

Sadly, the show was not renewed for a fifth series because Maxwell was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma while filming the last few episodes of this travel series.

26. Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby

Considered one of the best travel TV series out of the UK, Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby debuted in 2017 and quickly became popular amongst those who aspire to the finer things in life.

Giles Coren, a British food and travel writer and Monica Galetti, a renowned chef and restaurant critic, host the show.

The series explores some of the world’s most unique and luxurious hotels, delving beyond their opulent lobbies to uncover the behind-the-scenes operations and extraordinary experiences they offer.

In each episode, Coren and Galetti visit a different exceptional hotel, often located in stunning and remote locations.

They meet with the staff, from chefs to concierges, to understand the craftsmanship, innovation and dedication required to maintain these extraordinary establishments.

The show highlights the environmental and sustainability efforts of these hotels where possible.

Over the years, Amazing Hotels has featured various destinations, including the Fogo Island Inn in Canada, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, the Giraffe Manor in Kenya and the Treehotel in Sweden.

27. Iain Robertson Rambles

If you watch Iain Robertson Rambles , you’ll see one of the most fascinating documentary travel TV shows ever.

As its name suggests, this captivating series is hosted by Iain Robertson, a Scottish presenter and broadcaster widely recognised for his love for nature and the outdoors.

The show focuses on Robertson’s expeditions through some of Scotland’s most picturesque and remote terrains and the UK.

During each episode, viewers accompany Robertson on his long walks and hikes across breathtaking landscapes.

The show offers a unique blend of travelogue, natural history, and personal storytelling.

Robertson’s passion for the outdoors and his knowledge of wildlife and environmental conservation are central to the series.

Throughout the series, Iain Robertson explores various destinations in Scotland and the UK, including the rugged Highlands , the serene islands of the Hebrides, and the lush woodlands of Wales.

Whilst watching him do this, viewers feel like they are alongside him – trekking through the picturesque landscapes he explores.

28. The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan

If you are looking for funny travel shows, look no further than The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan .

The show, a travel documentary series starring the British comedian, first aired in 2018.

It follows Romesh as he embarks on journeys to various destinations worldwide, often focusing on places considered off the beaten path or challenging for tourists.

Throughout the series, Romesh immerses himself in the local cultures and traditions of the places he visits.

He often seeks unique and authentic experiences, interacting with locals and trying his hand at their customs and activities.

Some places he visits include Ethiopia, Haiti, Albania, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, and Bosnia – locations known for their rich history, distinctive cultures, and, in some cases, reputations for being less frequented by mainstream travellers.

As Romesh offers humorous and self-deprecating commentary while navigating unfamiliar and sometimes challenging situations, the show provides a fresh perspective on travel.

His witty observations and genuine reactions to the places he goes to make for entertaining viewing. 

29. Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown

Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown is one of several TV travel shows that hit our screens from the Travel Channel.

The show ran from 2004 to 2006 and was hosted by the American television personality and travel expert known for her engaging and relatable approach to travel.

In the series, Samantha Brown explores various European destinations, providing viewers with insider tips, cultural insights and travel recommendations.

She regularly immersed herself in the local culture, trying regional foods, experiencing traditions, and interacting with locals.

Some of the destinations she went to included Paris, Rome, Venice, London, Vienna and Barcelona.

The show captures each location’s iconic landmarks, historical sites and vibrant neighbourhoods while highlighting their unique charms during her visits.

It was known for dishing out practical travel advice and inspirational exploration of European cities and cultures.

It encouraged viewers to embrace the adventure of travel and discover the beauty and diversity of Europe’s many destinations.

30. Globe Trekker

One of the longest-running TV travel shows was the incomparable Globe Trekker , which aired for 17 seasons and well over 200 episodes from 1994 to 2010.

The show features trekkers who embark on journeys to destinations worldwide, providing viewers with insights into different cultures, traditions and experiences.

Over the years, it has had a rotating cast of hosts, including Ian Wright, Megan McCormick, Zay Harding and one Bradley Cooper – who went on to achieve international fame as a Hollywood superstar.

These hosts have travelled to various destinations around the globe from the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru and the vibrant markets of Marrakech in Morocco to the serene landscapes of New Zealand and the untouched beauty of Bora Bora.

The show’s format combines travelogue-style storytelling with practical travel tips, making it entertaining and informative for viewers interested in exploring the world.

31. Conan Without Borders

For those wanting the best travel shows streaming right now, it’s hard to go past Conan Without Borders.

Hosted by the famous comedian and talk show, the show debuted in 2015.

It featured Conan travelling to various international destinations, often to engage with local cultures, traditions and humour.

Celebrity guests, friends, and local personalities join Conan O’Brien in exploring the destinations throughout the series – including former First Lady Michelle Obama, actor Jack Black and comedian Jordan Schlansky.

The show has taken viewers on hilarious and insightful journeys to destinations like Cuba, Mexico, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Ghana.

It typically blends travelogue-style segments with Conan’s trademark comedic sketches and interviews.

While watching his attempts to immerse himself in cultural practices (such as learning traditional dances or trying regional cuisine), Conan presents us with his comedic take on each destination’s unique quirks and idiosyncrasies.

In doing so, the show entertains and fosters a sense of global connection and curiosity.

32. Tales by Light

Combining breathtaking imagery, storytelling, and a profound appreciation for the planet’s wonders, Tales by Light is a must-watch travel TV series for photography enthusiasts and anyone interested in the world’s most extraordinary and untamed places.

The show is a documentary television series that delves into the world of photography and the experiences of renowned photographers as they capture compelling images from around the globe.

It explores the stories behind these captivating photographs and the photographers’ journeys to catch them.

The series has featured various acclaimed photographers, including Art Wolfe, Darren Jew and Krystle Wright, who each provide insights into their unique approach to photography. 

They usually travel to remote and exotic destinations – including the Amazon Rainforest, Antarctica, Papua New Guinea, India and the Arctic Circle – often pursuing wildlife, nature and indigenous cultures.

Overall, the show provides viewers with a visually stunning and educational experience, showcasing the photographers’ dedication to their craft and deep respect for the natural world.

33. Ed Stafford: Into the Unknown

If you have yet to see it, Ed Stafford: Into the Unknown is one of the most compelling travel-related shows you can watch.

Hosted by British adventurer and explorer Ed Stafford – known for being the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River – the show illustrates the spirit of human exploration and resilience.

It highlights the former British army captain’s quest for adventure by journeying to some of the world’s most remote and challenging locations.

Throughout the series, Ed Stafford travels solo to destinations like Venezuela, Mongolia, Ethiopia and Peru. He has close encounters with grizzly bears in Alaska and tracking elusive snow leopards in Mongolia.

In every episode, Stafford immerses himself in the local culture and landscapes, often relying on his survival skills to navigate the wild and unfamiliar terrains.

The show combines elements of exploration, adventure and survival as Stafford pushes himself to his physical and mental limits.

34. Expedition Unknown

Expedition Unknown, a popular adventure and travel documentary television series, premiered on the Travel Channel in 2015.

The show’s presenter is Josh Gates, an explorer and adventurer who takes viewers on a quest to uncover mysteries, legends, and secrets from around the world.

During the series, Gates travels to a wide range of famous and obscure destinations to investigate historical enigmas, treasure hunts, and unsolved mysteries.

He often collaborates with experts, historians, and local guides to gather clues and solve puzzles related to each episode’s theme.

Some places he visits include Egypt, South America, and the Caribbean, where he seeks hidden treasures and solves perplexing mysteries.

His adventures involve investigating Amelia Earhart’s disappearance, searching for Atlantis, and pursuing the elusive Yeti in the Himalayas.

Ultimately, the show is known for its blend of adventure, history and exploration, making it entertaining for viewers interested in the thrill of discovery and the fascination of uncovering the world’s hidden secrets.

How to watch travel TV shows?

There are many places where you can find travel TV shows, but these would be the best places to start! I use all of them and love them! They are very complementary!

You can create an account and start watching Netflix here. This is where you will find most of the shows about travel.

Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video comes with your prime subscription. There are many things to watch on Prime and it’s very good value. You can get a free trial for Amazon Prime Video here.

BBC iplayer

BBC offers some of the best UK travel shows including Race Across the World and The Americas with Simon Reeve.

ITV channel

ITV Channel offers some amazing TV shows such as the Bradley Walsh one or Gordon, Gino and Fred Road Trip. You can get a free trial for ITV here.

Disney + / Hulu

Although these are no TV shows, I’d recommend you to watch some Disney movies . Loads of them are perfect to discover new places.

We don’t always realise it but they are very good to embed yourself into a foreign culture.

For example:

• France: Aristocats
• UK: Mary Poppins
• China: Mulan

I thought I’d put it in there as clearly, Disney is always a good idea !

Channel 4 is a free-to-air television channel in the UK. You can go to their websites and watch everything for free.

There are some ads but they are pretty short.

I hope you will enjoy these amazing travel shows! If you have any recommendations, please share them in the comments as I would love to discover more myself!

You may also be interested in:

• Best books about France and the French
• Harry Potter Things to do in NYC
• Guide to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the USA
• Magical Emily In Paris Filming Locations you can actually visit in France

Founder of Beeloved City, I am originally from France and have been living in the UK since 2016. I've travelled to 25 countries as a backpacker, travel coordinator and for holidays. I spent a year in Australia before eventually settling down in Manchester, England

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14 of the best travel TV shows to watch on demand

Epic landscapes, interesting characters and cool cultures – we transport you to the best places in the world right from the comfort of your sofa, with these top travel shows on Netflix, iPlayer and others…

While you may be hitting pause on your adventures, you can still be transported somewhere wild – using your TV remote as your passport to exotic climes, instead.

Chances are you’ve seen everything travel legends David Attenborough and Simon Reeve have done, but if you’re looking for inspiration for your next trip, sweeping landscapes and interesting characters to meet, take a look at our round-up of th e best travel documentaries available to stream right now…

Best of all, you can start this journey on the couch.

Here are the best travel TV shows to watch on Netflix or on demand now…

1. the americas with simon reeve (2019).

What you’ll watch: It topped the list for best TV show at our 2020 Reader Travel Awards, but if you haven’t yet seen The Americas with Simon Reeve , put it straight on top of your must-watch list.

And when you’ve binged on his journeys hiking through the Rocky Mountains, hanging out with the US Border Patrol in Texas and discovering a tropical paradise in Costa Rica, you can turn to his other documentaries: the Caribbean, Australia, the Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean.

If there’s anywhere this man hasn’t been or seen, we challenge you to find it.

Where to watch it: The Americas with Simon Reeve is available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer . Plus see Simon accept his Wanderlust award !

2. Race Across The World (2020)

What you’ll watch: Limited cash, no smartphones and forget about internet access – basically all the ingredients for an epic off-the-grid adventure.

In the latest series of the BBC’s Race Across The World , you can follow five teams as they race the length of Latin America, starting in Mexico City and ending in Ushuaia in Argentina, the most southerly city in the world.

Married couples and familial bonds are put to the test, as they weave friendships in the most unexpected of places on their way to the finish line. And if you can’t wait until next week’s episode, you can binge on series one as well. What’s better than that?

Where to watch it: Catch up on series two of Race Across The World on BBC iPlayer . And read our filming locations guide .

3. Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti (2020)

Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti is on ITV Player now (ITV)

What you’ll watch: She’s one of our favourite tour guides, taking us everywhere from India to the mighty Silk Road – it is, of course, the absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumley.

Let her lead you into a lesser-seen side of the Caribbean in her new two-part documentary, Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti, which begins in a boxing gym in the lively Cuban capital.

Keep watching as she wanders the streets of Havana, discovers Hemingway’s favourite beach and explores Fidel Castro’s hometown, before making her way over the Windward Passage to end her adventure with trips to ancient mountain fortresses and a mystical voodoo ceremony in Haiti.

Where to watch it: Catch up on Joanna Lumley’s Hidden Caribbean: Havana to Haiti on ITV Player now.

4. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (2018)

What to watch: If delicious food is at the very top of your reasons-to-travel list, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is the Netflix show to tune into.

Culinary capers abound as loveable chef Samin Nosrat takes us to Italy, Japan, Mexico and California to show us how the title elements are key to the cuisine of each country.

Where to watch it: See Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat on Netflix now.

5. Ugly Delicious (2020)

What to watch: H ungry for more? Try Netflix’s Ugly Delicious – there are two series to devour, as chef David Chang takes us to culinary hotspots across the world, showing us why good cooking is universal.

He meets everyone from pizza purists in Brooklyn and Naples to trying Viet-Cajun fusion cuisine in Houston.

Where to watch it: Catch the new series of Ugly Delicious on Netflix .

6. Night on Earth (2020)

What to watch: Even when you’re travelling, you don’t get to see some of the most incredible sights – because some of them happen under the very cover of darkness.

In Netflix’s Night on Earth , you can see this world open up before you, witnessing the secret lives of lions, bats and monkeys. Eerie and visually compelling stuff.

Where to watch it: Night on Earth is on Netflix now.

7. James May: Our Man In Japan (2020)

What you’ll watch: We know you loved Japan with Sue Perkins , but now that’s it not available on iPlayer… how about racing through the island country with James May, instead?

Starting on the chilly northern island of Hokkaido, James embarks on a journey south to the balmy beaches of Shikoku and Kyushu, while meeting samurai in Honshu, sampling street food in Osaka and, of course, tackling the Suzuka Circuit on his way.

Where to watch it: Watch James May: Our Man in Japan on Amazon Prime now.

8. Travel Man: 48 Hours in… (2019)

What you’ll watch: Richard Ayoade’s droll two-day jaunts through cities across the world has provided us all with laughs since 2015.

While 2019’s series was his last as lead presenter, we can still look forward to more Travel Man in the future as Hugo Boss – aka the the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett – takes over the role.

If you haven’t seen 48 Hours in… Amsterdam , it’s the perfect episode to get a feel for Hugo’s personality and learn more about the city’s culture, cuisine and canals.

Where to watch it: Find the past ten series of Travel Man: 48 Hours in… on All 4 .

9. Great Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo (2019)

What you’ll watch: Thousands of British commuters have plenty to say about UK train travel, but in the hands of Michael Portillo, the divisive subject matter seems to take on a golden glow of nostalgia.

You know best, after all – you voted for the BBC’s Great Railway Journeys as one of your top TV programmes in the last year.

Delving into the history of British rail, Michael reveals things we never knew about our local stations, including how an unlikely collaboration between London’s Crossrail railway project and a conservation charity is helping to protect birdlife in Series 11’s Limehouse to Rochford episode.

Where to watch it: Look out for your local station on Great British Railway Journeys on iPlayer.

10. Around the World in 80 Days (1989)

What to watch: It’s an oldie, but definitely a goodie – what could be better than staying in and getting a glimpse of how the world used to be with TV icon Michael Palin?

In Around the World in 80 Days , Michael follows in the footsteps of its main character Phileas Fogg, setting off on an epic adventure from London’s Reform Club across the world.

Close shaves, missed connections and inevitable delays await as he desperately attempts to meet the 80-day deadline in time. A delicious throwback to a simpler time.

Where to watch it: Watch Around the World in 80 Days on iPlayer .

11. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2013)

What to watch: The late Anthony Bourdain’s Emmy-winning travel series is a must-watch for any traveller whose adventures are driven by a passion for excellent food.

Parts Unknown sees the world-renowned chef and documentarian delve into cuisines, cultures and politics in countries across the globe. Essentially, he eats his way around the world.

With 12 seasons covering countless destinations (Vietnam and New York said to be two of his favourites), the later seasons take viewers on an off-the-beaten-track culinary journey through Armenia, Uruguay, Myanmar and beyond.

Where to watch it: You can stream the series on Amazon Prime now.

12. Dark Tourist (2018)

What to watch: If you’ve watched the majority of travel TV already, here’s one that may have slipped by you.

TV presenter David Farrier deep dives into so-called ‘dark tourism’: worldwide interest in visiting sites of nuclear disasters, destinations marred by danger or even death. If you’ve been to Chernobyl and Pripyat in Ukraine, you’ll understand the fascination.

You can expect to see a trip to Turkmenistan, a visit to Pablo Escobar’s former playground, Medellin in Colombia, as well as an excursion to Tomioka in Japan, the ghost town left behind after residents were evacuated following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Where to watch it: You can stream one season of Dark Tourist now on Netflix .

And… anything narrated by Sir David Attenborough

13. our planet (2019).

14. Seven Worlds, One Planet (2019)

What you’ll watch: Of course, no list of travel documentaries is complete without an appearance from the legend that is Sir David Attenborough.

Most of his back catalogue is listed on Netflix, including the original Our Planet and the BBC’s iconic Planet Earth and Frozen Planet.

You can also listen to Sir David’s dulcet tones on BBC iPlayer – as he takes us through Seven Worlds, One Planet , introducing us to some of the globe’s most hostile habitats and remote landscapes, while narrating the fascinating behaviour of the local creatures, such as golden snub-nosed monkeys and grey-headed albatross chicks .

Where to watch it: Find Our Planet along with most of Sir David’s past shows on Netflix or catch up on Seven Worlds, One Planet on iPlayer now.

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I Heart Britain

25 of the Best Travel Shows About London, England

Whether you're researching a possible trip to London or you just want to do a bit of armchair travelling, there are loads of great travel shows to help you get a sense of what it's like. We're firm believers in doing your research and figuring out what YOU want to see, not what old guidebooks say you should see – and watching a variety of travel shows can definitely help you narrow it down.

Table of Contents

The Best Travel Shows About London, England

Our top pick.

Footloose in London: All the Best Sights of Our Capital – 2016 – Presented by native Brits Dave and Debra Rixon and clocking in at 1 hour 46 minutes long, this is the video we recommend to anyone who's only planning on watching one. It includes all the major sights plus tips on how to get around more affordably – because anyone who's done much travelling will know London is not going to end up on any “cheapest cities to visit” lists.

Over on our British TV site , we've showcased even more of their European travel videos. You can read our interview with them HERE and explore more of their work. Their videos really are the next best thing to actually making the trip yourself.

Love London – 2015 – A London taxi driver and a young Londoner travel the city to learn its secrets. Through six 30-minute episodes, the pair explore a variety of locations around the city. They include: Mayfair, Southwark, Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Holborn, Bloomsbury, Clerkenwell, and Covent Garden.

Rick Steves's Europe – 2000 to 2019 – As far as many Americans are concerned, Rick Steves is the gold standard for travel shows. Though we wouldn't go that far (his videos are far too short and surface-level), they ARE a great way to get an overview of a location. Season 7, Episode 9 visits London. Others of interest for planning a UK trip include: S7E9 Northern England, S9E8 Western England, S9E9 Southeast England, S9E10 Cornwall, s10E1 Heart of England, S10E10 Scotland's Highlands, S10E11 Scotland's Islands, and S10E12 Glasgow.

Slow TV – 2018 – This unique series has no host or narration. It's just footage of various things in London – each season covers a different sort of experience:

• Season 1 – Wildlife in London
• Season 2 – The River Thames
• Season 3 – City Walks
• Season 4 – The Tube
• Season 5 – City Bus Rides

If you're the sort of person who likes to people watch, or the sort who likes to know what they're going to see in advance, these videos are great. For others, it's like watching paint dry. We like it, but we totally acknowledge it's not for everyone.

The Best of the Rest

Not enough armchair travel for your tastes? No worries – there are plenty more London travel videos to choose from. Below, we've rounded up quite a few more videos for your viewing pleasure.

Crown and Country – 1998 to 2007 – Edward Windsor (son of Queen Elizabeth II) takes us on a tour of some of Britain's most famous landmarks. A number of episodes are devoted to landmarks in and around London.

London: A City in Time  – 2015 – This programme mixes live footage with historical documents and photos to tell the story of London. Though listed as 2015 on Amazon, it feels significantly older so that date may not be accurate.

London: A Tale of Two Cities  – 2015 – This hour-long documentary looks at the highs and lows London has faced over the years.

London Guide: Roberts London  – 2017 to 2018 – Originally produced as a YouTube series, these videos take you on a tour of England's capital city. 

Curious Traveler – 2015 – This American travel series takes us to a variety of locations around the world, but there are a few episodes specific to London. Look for Season 1, Episode 2 (London) and Season 3, Episode 9 (London Shops).

Travel in Style – Though few are lucky enough to indulge in luxury travel, we can all enjoy a bit of vicarious luxury travel with this series. Two episodes include London: Season 1, Episode 9 and Season 2, Episode 13.

Anthony Bourdain: A Cook's Tour – Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain visits cities all over the world to explore what their people eat. Season 1, Episode 22 sees him in London, attempting to dispel the myth that all British food is bland and overcooked. There's also a Scottish episode just before it.

Smart Travels with Rudy Maxa  – 2002 to 2006 – Although not exclusively about Great Britain, this series includes episodes in London, the London countryside, Dublin, Ireland’s West Coast, Bath, South Wales, Edinburgh, and St. Andrews (not to mention a lot of other lovely cities around the world).

Passport – London – This one's fairly short, but it's well-made and it offers some less conventional destinations (like a perfume maker).

Rudy Maxa's World – 2010 – This series follows a similar format to many travel shows, and the episodes include destinations all over the world. For London (and some nearby day trips), check out Season 2, Episode 3.

Travel with Kids: London – 2011 – This London travel video is not for everyone. If you like calm, adult things free of bouncing, rambunctious children…definitely watch something else. On the other hand, if you're planning a family trip to London with kids, you may find it useful. 

A Taste of Travel – 2016 – This is kind of an unusual travel show in that it has a number of hosts and they each visit different places within a single episode. For London, check out Season 1, Episodes 9-11. Episodes 12 and 13 venture elsewhere in England.

Places to Go – 2018 – This is another series that visits locations all over the world, with two episodes of interest to those looking for London footage. Check out Season 1, Episode 5 for a dedicated London episode, then skip ahead to Episode 9 to see the “overflow footage” that didn't make it into their other British episodes.

Discovering the World – 2019 – This series visits a variety of cities around the world, including London. Episodes are roughly 50 minutes long, so it's a little more in-depth than some travel shows. You'll find the London episode in S2E5, but you may also enjoy the Scotland episode (S1E2).

Legendary Cities – 2014 – This series focuses on the history, architecture, and cultural heritage of some of the world's finest cities. Episode 2 takes a look at London.

Oxford Street  – 2017 – This series takes an in-depth look at one of Europe’s largest shopping districts and its day-to-day activities.

London and Paris Vacation – 2016 – This is not a typical, well-polished and heavily-researched travel series. That doesn't mean it's without merit, though. It's casual, it's honest, and it's full of great tips on saving money and maximising your time in the city. At 1 hour 40 minutes long, it's also reasonably in-depth, with a lot of scenes you won't see in most travel videos.

Portrait of a City – 2010 – Tour guide Liam Dale hosts this series about world-class cities. Episode 3 visits London.

Welcome To – 2019 – This is another one of the many travel series that visit lots of different locations around the world. Season 1, Episode 3 covers London.

Greatest Cities in the World – 2010 – Welsh actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones hosts this grand tour of some of the world's greatest cities. Episode 2 visits London.

The Story of London   – 2014 – Six episodes walk us through different sites in London.

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A Note About DVDs : Remember that many British shows are only available on non-US DVDs. Learn more about what that means in our Region-Free DVD Viewing Guide .

Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages

Series 1 : Penelope visits East Anglia, North Wales, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Wessex. Series 1 DVD

Series 2 :Penelope visits Devon and Cornwall, Cumbria, Royal Deeside, Sussex, and Kent. Series 2 DVD

Series 3 : Penelope visits The Cotswolds, Argyle and Bute, North Yorkshire, and Pembrokeshire. Not yet available on DVD

Series 1 : Nicholas Crane shows us Hunstanton, Dover, Robin Hood's Bay, King's Lynn, Berwick, John O'Groats, Firth of Forth, Wick, Northern Ireland, Liverpool, Carlisle, Severn Estuary, Aberystwyth, Exmouth, Bristol, and Dover. Neil Oliver joins for Solway Firth to Skye.   Series 1 DVD

Series 2 : Neil Oliver and his team explore Felixstow, Margate, Newcastle, Hull, Dublin, Derry, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Arran, Gretna, Holyhead, Liverpool, Dover, and the Isle of Wight. Series 2 DVD

Series 3 : The team explores the Channel Islands, Dover, King's Lynn, Felixstowe, Galway, Baltimore, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Aberdeen, Cardiff, St. David's, Southport, Whitehaven, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Shetland, and Orkney.

Series 4 : Neil Oliver and the team visit Rosyth, Hull, Lillesand, Svalbard, Anglesey, Blackpool, Cork, Dublin, Land's End, Porthcawl, Cap Gris-Nez, Mont Saint-Michel, Whistable, and Isle of Wight. Series 4 DVD

Series 5 : In series 5, Neil Oliver and the crew check out Hull, London, Denmark, Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Caledonian Canal, Galway, Arranmore Island, Gower, Anglesey, Brittany, Swanage, Land's End, and the Irish Sea.  Series 5 DVD

Series 6 : The team visits Sweden and the Baltic, Wales, the Western Isles and Shetland, the Netherlands, Devon, Cornwall, London, and Antwerp. Series 6 DVD

Series 7 : Series 7 offers a change of pace, exploring topics like the secret life of beaches, the riddle of the tides, the Great Storm of 1703, the hidden history of harbours, the Isle of Sicily, and the death of Lord Kitchener. Series 7 DVD

Series 8 : This time around, the team dives into a seafaring prince and communist submarines, the secret life of sea cliffs, the estuaries of Britain, seaside work and leisure, and invasions of the British Isles. Series 8 DVD

Series 9 : In series 9, we see the coast in winter, the sea and the city, British connections in North America, Cornwall's artistic side, Cape Wrath, and the sides of the English Channel. Series 9 DVD

Series 10 : The team explores caves and coves, wild waters, the Irish Sea, inventiveness fueled by living in and around Britain's isles, the bounties of the sea, and the holiday coasts. Not yet available on DVD

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Celebrity travel shows rated: From Breaking Dad to Travel Man

The celeb travelogue is big business – six of them are already on screen in 2023.

It can be a great way to escape from everyday life, even if you aren’t there yourself, as the celebs travel to luxury locations or destinations closer to home, bringing the amazing places into our homes.

So with that in mind, we’ve picked the best hosts from the budget disasters and given them our rating.

Among them there’s fun and laughter on Channel 5’s Holidaying With Jane McDonald, where she gets to experience things we can only dream of.

ITV’s new travel release, Amanda And Alan’s Italian Job, sees the duo do up a dilapidated house in beautiful Sicily.

And Channel 4’s popular series, Travel Man, sees host Joe Lycett spend a long weekend with one celeb in a particular location.

Holidaying With Jane McDonald

Where are we? The first episode sees us in Las Vegas for a weekend of debauchery.

How are the hosts? Wakefield-born Jane is pleasant company, even if the show’s insistence that she keeps making friends with strangers in a queue feels like a police report waiting to happen. It ends, as it must, with a song.

What do they do? It’s surprisingly high-octane. Jane takes the SlotZilla Zipline above Fremont Street, tackles the X-Scream at The Strat hotel that dangles you 866ft over the edge of the tower and, swoon, takes in a Donny Osmond show.

Any good tips? There’s a bizarre extended sequence where Jane tells us to test the shower and don’t eat from the mini-fridge when arriving at a hotel. I mean, duh.

Escape-ability? 8/10. The show may not be much cop but you can’t deny Vegas’s charms.

Amanda And Alan’s Italian Job

Where are we? We’re in Sicily, where Amanda Holden has bought a dilapidated house and is doing it up while taking in the local culture with good pal Alan Carr.

How are the hosts? The two are close friends and Carr is as fun as you would expect but Amanda is the real surprise as someone worryingly handy with a sledgehammer.

What do they do? They take time to go water-biking in the ocean and visit stunning ancient salt pans.

Any good tips? That if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Escape-ability? 9/10. A jolly watch and Sicily is beautiful.

My Cornwall With Fern Britton

Where are we? We’re exploring the historic hundreds of Cornwall (shires, if you will) and, in the first episode, the magical aspect of the county.

How are the hosts? Britton deserves a medal for keeping a straight face while a woman talks about getting a ‘corner tingle’ from a damp wall near a holy well.

What do they do? Britton packs a lot in. From visiting stone circles near a village called Minions to St Nectan’s waterfall.

Any good tips? You can speak to mermaids via a conch shell apparently.

Escape-ability? 7/10. Hokum but a spiritual excursion has its charms.

Motorhoming With Merton & Webster

Where are we? The second episode sees comic couple Paul Merton and Suki Webster taking their motorhome around the picturesque Cotswolds in the UK.

How are the hosts? Suki definitely feels more suited to the eternally upbeat tone of a travel show than Paul, who mainly stands around and makes the odd remark.

What do they do? Surprisingly little. They mainly sit around and eat. There is a brief sojourn to a local lavender farm in Snowshill and a visit to the Rollright Stones – a poor man’s Stonehenge – just outside Chipping Norton.

Any good tips? From taking a portable wi-fi dongle to the perfect heat stove, the show is packed full of tips for budding motorhome owners.

Escape-ability? 5/10. The Cotswolds is beautiful part of the UK but is this the best way to see it?

Bradley and Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad

Where are we? Dad and son are in Mexico on their Central American adventure.

How are the hosts? There were times when I thought thrill-seeker Barney was genuinely trying to kill off his dad. Credit to Bradley, he’s got more guts than me.

What do they do? The centrepiece is a horrifying ‘iron climb’ up La Tanda mountain. If that wasn’t enough, they descend into the Cave of the Hanging Serpents, filled with more than 9,000 bats and the snakes that eat them.

Any good tips? The odd fact that the Cornish pasty is popular in Mexico.

Escape-ability? 4/10. The show is brilliant but I’ll be cold in the ground before you get me in that bat cave.

Where are we? The alternative travel show spends 48 hours in Lithuania’s bohemian capital of Vilnius – best known for an ad campaign in which it christened itself ‘the G-spot of Europe’.

How are the hosts? Joe Lycett continues to try to put his own stamp on a show that doesn’t quite fit his undeniable talents. Sarah Millican is this week’s special guest.

What do they do? A whistle-stop tour sees them ride a hot-air balloon to take in the sights and visit the arty enclave of Užupis.

Any good tips? Joe and Sarah make quick work of Lithuania’s national dish of cepelinai (so-called as they look a little like Zeppelins). It is, unsurprisingly, a form of dumpling.

Escape-ability? 8/10. Vilnius looks perfect for a long weekend.

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MORE : Ever heard of set-jetting? It’s a new travel trend set to take 2023 by storm

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10 travel shows to watch in self-isolation: Our Planet, The Grand Tour & An Idiot Abroad

See the world without leaving your sofa.

Looking for some escapism during lockdown? We've rounded up a list of the best travel shows you can binge on through quarantine, so you can see the world without leaving your sofa. Join Anthony Bourdain on a tour of Colombia, explore Japan alongside James May and laugh until you cry as Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant send Karl Pilkington around the globe.

RELATED:  Normal People's Marianne's Italian villa is on AirBnB from £31 a night

Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father on Netflix

A travel documentary and road trip comedy, Travels With My Father is presented by comedian Jack Whitehall and his father, Michael Whitehall. The first series sees Jack and Michael embark on a 'gap year' trip across South East Asia, while the second series takes Jack and his father on a European road trip, culminating in a hilarious third season in which the father and son duo explore America. 

Our Planet on Netflix

Witness the planet's breathtaking diversity in this limited series, courtesy of Sir David Attenborough . Filmed by more than 600 crew members over four years in 50 countries, this groundbreaking documentary captures nature at its best, all the while examining the current threat's to the world's ecosystems. 

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown on Amazon Prime

This series follows celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain as he journeys to Colombia, Peru and Congo in an exploration of food and dining rituals across the globe. 

The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime

Join iconic trio Jeremy Clarkson , Richard Hammond and James May as they travel around the world in an array of different vehicles. At each location, the presenters undertake extraordinary tasks - from training with the SAS in Jordan to saving coral reefs with car body shells in Barbados, there are four action-packed seasons waiting for you on Amazon Prime. 

James May: Our Man in Japan on Amazon Prime

The title is pretty self-explanatory, but this travelogue centers around James May's journey around Japan. In a bid to truly understand the Land of the Rising Sun, the TV star is meeting locals, touring incredible sites, and sampling the local cuisine. 

An Idiot Abroad on Now TV

A joke turned-sociology experiment, Karl Pilkington is sent by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on once in a lifetime trips. Watch Karl visit the New Seven Wonders of the World in season one, before taking on a generic bucket list in season two, and partnering up with Warwick Davis to travel the route taken by Marco Polo to China in season three.

READ:  8 travel destinations celebrities will book post lockdown

The Americas with Simon Reeve on BBC iPlayer

Embarking on one of his most ambitious journey yet, Simon Reeve is traveling the entire length of the American continent - from Alaska to Costa Rica, Texas to California and more. 

Travel Man: 48 Hours in on All 4

Travel Man is a British travel documentary series presented by actor and comedian, Richard Ayoade. In each episode, Ayoade travels to a popular city with a whole host of celebrity guests including Rob Beckett, Johnny Vegas and Greg Davies in tow. 

Frankie Boyle's Tour of Scotland on BBC iPlayer

According to Frankie Boyle, "There comes a time in every comedian's career when they decide to do travelogues". In this series, Boyle travels across Scotland on his stand-up tour all the while exploring his homeland. 

Asian Provocateur on Netflix

Comedian Romesh Ranganathan travels to Sri Lanka, his parents' homeland, to learn about the culture and connect with his roots. Watch him take part in a barefoot pilgrimage, learn about martial arts, and audition for a Sri Lankan soap opera.

Ugly Delicious on Netflix

Ugly Delicious combines traveling, cooking, and history. The show follows star chef David Chang as he travels around the world tasting food from different cultures on a hunt to find the world's most delicious dishes. 

Want more travel inspo? Get on mylatedeals.com for fantastic holiday planning. 

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The Best Travel TV Shows (Updated July 2020)

By Author Jon Algie

Posted on Last updated: July 3, 2020

Categories Blog , Movies/TV/Music

This is an update to a post I published a couple of years ago. I’ve seen a lot more travel TV shows since then so this is a far more comprehensive guide. Enjoy!

An Idiot Abroad

There’s nothing funnier, in terms of travel TV shows anyway, than a man travelling the world who would rather be sat at home watching insects and eating Monster Munch. The ultimate reluctant traveller, Karl Pilkington has a unique view of the world and its inhabitants. He’s shipped off to see the seven wonders and then to tick off some typical “bucket list” activities (there is also a shorter 3 rd series where Karl travels through Europe, China and India with a midget/dwarf). We see Karl on awful long distance bus rides in India, storming out of a hotel room with an “ensuite shed” and generally being unimpressed with everything he sees.

Long Way Round and Long Way Down

A-list actor Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, McGregor’s D-list actor friend, take to the roads on motorbikes on two huge journeys. Long way round takes them from London to New York, via Europe, Mongolia and a big slice of Russia, and on Long way down they ride from Scotland to South Africa. They travel through places that people never really go to and this gives the viewer a good look at the countries away from the main tourist sites. The two best friends have good chemistry and they really get into the highs and lows that such extreme journeys offer up. Ewan McGregor comes across as very down-to-earth for a famous actor and is also pretty funny. Long Way Down features the awkward moment when McGregor’s wife tags along, completely ruining the boys trip dynamic that worked so well.

Departures is a beautifully shot travel show hosted by two friends from Canada. The cinematography and chemistry of the hosts elevates this above any other straight forward travel show I’ve seen. They go to some interesting places and always feature a good mix of tourist sites and local flavor. They often travel with locals who give them, and us, a good understanding of everyday life in such out of the way places as Ethiopia, Libya, Madagascar and Mongolia. Over the top hosts always annoy me on these kinds of shows, so luckily Justin and Scott from Departures have a really laid back presence which only adds to the great filming. They also throw themselves into some out-there situations, like bull racing, wild hyena feeding and climbing a volcano in Papua New Guinea that the locals wouldn’t go near.

Gordon’s Great Escape / Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip

One of the best things about travelling in Asia is the food, and this show puts celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey right into the kitchens of both renowned chefs and street food cooks. He’s out of his comfort zone, just like most first time travellers to Asia, and it’s good to see the usually smug and arrogant celebrity chef taken down a few notches. He handles himself pretty well and I definitely respect him a bit more after seeing this show. He gets to some pretty out of the way locations and really delves into the traditions that infuse Southeast Asian and Indian cooking. In the newer Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip, we see Ramsey travelling around Europe and the US in search of local food and good times — not bad but not one of my favourites.

Anthony Bourdain (A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations, The Layover, Parts Unknown)

This chef / writer has a very different style to most travel TV show presenters. His shows are often dark, funny and surreal. He also visits some pretty off-beat places and definitely doesn’t join the tourist trail. Bourdain’s whole “be a traveller not a tourist” thing is a bit smug but I can forgive him for that. I prefer No Reservations to his current show, Parts Unknown, as it seems to take itself a bit less seriously.

Travel Man features another travel TV host, Richard Ayoade, who it seems would rather not be travelling. He teams up with a different celebrity each week and together they spend 48 hours in cities across Europe (with a couple of further flung destinations thrown in too). It’s generally really funny, but the level depends greatly on the “other celebrity” (often comedians who are really only famous in the UK). Ayoade himself has a style all of his own and is pretty funny.

The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan (and other shows)

Romesh Ranganathan is a British comedian of Sri Lankan decent who falls into the “reluctant traveller” category. The first season of his show Asian Provocateur shows him on a trip to Sri Lanka for the first time (mainly getting to know his family rather than travelling) while the second follows the same format only this time in the USA. Just Another Immigrant sees Romesh return to America to try and make it as a comedian. For The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, he heads off to some less common travel destinations including Haiti, Albania and Ethiopia. Romesh is a funny guy (check him out on Taskmaster and The Reluctant Landlord) and he encounters some interesting characters along the way.

Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year

Australian comedy due Hamish and Andy do crazy things in exotic locations in this series of gap year adventures. My favourite would have to be Gap Year South America (which somehow includes Mexico). They cook a lasagne in an active volcano in Guatemala, go to a “long shoe dance” in Mexico and eat some horrible things in the “Cultural Eating” segment. It’s an entertaining and often hilarious show — I hope they do more episodes in the future!

Michael Palin (Various shows including Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, The Himalayas)

Michael Palin, a quick witted British man, undertakes several long journeys to all parts of the world . He doesn’t delve too deeply into the issues of the countries he passes through but he does meet plenty of interesting people. He talks to anyone, from fellow travellers to local aristocrats, and is equally at home on the roof of a rickety local train as he is on an upmarket cruise ship. Palin rose to fame as a member of Monty Python (which I never got into) — he’s one of the most naturally funny travel TV host out there and is still going strong in his 70s.

Simon Reeve (Various Shows including The Tropic of Capricorn, The Indian Ocean and the Caribbean)

Simon Reeve is kind of like a modern day Michael Palin only not as funny and a bit more socially conscious. He makes a point to delve into serious issues facing the countries he visits but also shows the lighter side. His shows generally cover an area (The Caribbean is one of my favourites) and he does a great job of giving an in depth look into life there.

Globe Trekker (AKA Lonely Planet and Pilot Guides)

Out of all the travel shows on this list, Pilot Guides is the best at showing a typical backpacker experience. The hosts are a bit hit and miss, but they do travel like regular people (without a massive film crew — it looks pretty low budget), talk to lots of locals, stay in cheap guesthouses and go to tourist sites. This show has been going for 17 seasons now and has an episode on pretty much any region of the world you’d want to visit.

The Amazing Race

Take 22 attention seekers, starve them of sleep, rest and regular food and watch them struggle to complete challenges around the world. It shouldn’t work, and it often doesn’t, but it is sometimes entertaining. I despise reality TV shows but this one is OK — I find it works as a show to kind of have on in the background while you’re doing other things.

Walking the Himalayas / Nile / Americas / Caucasus

Former British Army officer (and probable Forest Gump fan) Levison Wood walks incredible distances in this series of travel TV shows. He first tackles the Nile (with tragic consequences) then treks the length of the Himalayas before walking from Mexico to Colombia. Wood is a great host and forms close bonds with those he walks with. There’s always an element of danger in his voyages which makes for an exciting watch.

Race Across the World

This show is a bit like the Amazing Race only much simpler. In the season I’m watching at the moment there are five groups travelling from Mexico City to Ushuaia in Argentina overland. I did almost this exact same trip a few years ago so it has been great to recognise so many cool places from that trip. You also see the haggling, the night bus rides and the general “unclassy” side of travelling, which most shows don’t really delve into.

Dark Tourist

New Zealander David Farrier takes viewers to some of the most dangerous, or most depressing, places on Earth. These are places most people avoid, but Farrier proceeds with plenty of enthusiasm and curiosity, both towards the places and the interesting characters that inhabit them. It’s not the most inspiring or uplifting travel show on this list but it is entertaining!

Rhys Darby: Big in Japan

Rhys Darby, the kiwi comedian famous for his roles in Flight of the Conchords and the new Jumanji movies, travels to Japan to explore the culture and to see if his comedy will translate to the Japanese style of humour. He meets some interesting people and helps create one of the cutest Yuru-chara (mascot) you’ll ever see. There’s only four episodes, and I’m not sure how anyone outside of New Zealand can watch it, but check it out if you can!

50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy

This show proves, in an extreme way, that you’re never too old to try new things. Irishman Baz Ashmawy takes his mammy (that’s their word for mum) to all sorts of exotic locations to try various extreme activities. In the second season he travels with a small group of mammies, with often amusing results.

You probably think there is nothing particularly travel related about three middle aged men talking about cars while trying to be mildly controversial. There isn’t, but every now and again Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May go on adventures in places like the Arctic Circle, Bolivia, Vietnam and Patagonia (or they used to, until Clarkson got fired for punching an Irishman). They now do basically the same thing (with a bigger budget) on the Grand Tour.

Gap Year is a new British sitcom (cancelled after 1 season!) which follows a group of young people (and one not so young person) on a trip around Asia. It’s great to see a scripted show like this that centres around travel, and it was clearly written by people with backpacking experience. Gap Year shows you what’s like (in a slightly exaggerated way) to embark on a big trip while you’re young, with all the sex, drugs and alcohol which generally ensues. Hopefully there will be another season next year.

What is your favourite TV show about travel? Let me know in the comments below!

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Sunday 11th of October 2020

I think departure is the best..anyhow checking out the others as well.By the way awesome review mate.cheers..

Keith brittain

Friday 3rd of January 2020

Race Across the World BBC2 is the best series I’ve watched in a long time.

Monday 6th of January 2020

Cheers Keith, I'll try and check it out!

Saturday 14th of December 2019

I also enjoy the travel show, "The Voyager with Josh Garcia"...

Sunday 15th of December 2019

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out!

Thursday 28th of November 2019

THESE Reviews are really great. I knew I only watched 2 of them. Will check out the other ones. Thank you

Sunday 1st of December 2019

Thanks for the comment Johanne, enjoy the others!

Monday 4th of November 2019

Awesome review!

Thursday 7th of November 2019

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The 75+ Best Travel TV Shows Sure To Give You The Travel Bug

Travel shows, a captivating genre on television, have been inspiring wanderlust for decades. These programs, from educational documentaries to entertaining reality series, transport audiences to various parts of the world right from their living rooms. Through vibrant imagery, engaging storytelling, and charismatic hosts, viewers get to experience the thrill of exploration and discovery without leaving their couch.

More than mere escapism, travel shows celebrate our planet's diverse cultures and stunning landscapes. They offer a plethora of unique experiences, such as savoring the spice-infused dishes of Southeast Asia or exploring ancient civilizations in Europe. Notable shows like " Parts Unknown " and " Departures " epitomize the genre, blending travelogue and documentary elements to captivate audiences with rich narratives and visual allure . Other popular shows, including " An Idiot Abroad ," " Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations ," and " Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern ," offer diverse perspectives and are available on platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime​​​​​.

The best travel TV shows provide a passport to the world, highlighting its diversity and encouraging viewers to explore beyond their immediate surroundings. These programs, available on streaming platforms such as Disney+, Paramount+, and Max, offer unique postcards from the farthest reaches of the globe, showcasing both renowned and obscure destinations. Embrace the thrill of discovery and let these travelogues fuel your curiosity​​​​.

Departures is a masterpiece of travel television, immersing viewers in an authentic and raw exploration of various cultures, landscapes, and human connections. The show's hosts, Scott Wilson and Justin Lukach, offer a genuine and relatable portrayal of two friends embarking on a journey around the globe, making viewers feel like they are right there with them. With its brilliant cinematography and engrossing storytelling, Departures  showcases the transformative power of travel, creating an undeniable sense of wanderlust in all who watch. More than just a typical travelogue, this series delves into the heart of cultural experiences, leaving viewers inspired to take their own adventures.

Is Departures Worth Your Time?

Parts Unknown

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown remains a trailblazer among travel shows, thanks to its unapologetic and thought-provoking examination of often-overlooked destinations. Bourdain's passion for exploring the world, combined with his innate curiosity and respect for other cultures, truly sets this show apart from its contemporaries. Through intimate conversations with locals and immersive culinary experiences, Parts Unknown  expertly intertwines the themes of food, culture, and travel, revealing the interconnected nature of humanity. With its mesmerizing storytelling and rich cultural insights, this groundbreaking series leaves viewers yearning for a deeper understanding of the world.

Is Anthony Bourdain: Part... Worth Your Time?

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Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

With Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations , viewers are treated to a unique blend of culinary curiosity, cultural immersion, and a healthy dose of humor. Bourdain's willingness to jump headfirst into any experience, from sharing a meal with a tribal community to facing his fears in a haunted Romanian forest, highlights the transformative nature of travel. No Reservations  artfully showcases how culture and cuisine inform one another, as Bourdain uncovers the hidden stories and flavors of each destination. The show's marriage of culinary delights and globe-trotting adventure will leave viewers hungry for their own epicurean escapades.

Is Anthony Bourdain: No R... Worth Your Time?

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The Layover

In The Layover , Anthony Bourdain takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of cities around the world, making the most of the limited timeframe a layover provides. By showcasing the best each destination has to offer in just 24 to 48 hours, the show highlights the importance of embracing spontaneity and flexibility in travel. Bourdain's charismatic personality and insider tips make him the ultimate travel companion, proving that meaningful experiences can be had even in the briefest of moments. With its fast-paced adventures and hidden gems, The Layover  inspires viewers to seize every opportunity for exploration, no matter how fleeting.

Is The Layover Worth Your Time?

Travels in Europe with Rick Steves

Travels in Europe with Rick Steves stands out as a quintessential travel show that effortlessly transports viewers to the continent's most iconic destinations. Steves' genuine enthusiasm for European history and culture, paired with his expert guidance, helps demystify foreign travel for beginners while also captivating experienced globetrotters. Through engaging storytelling and valuable travel tips, the show encourages viewers to connect with locals and immerse themselves in authentic experiences. Travels in Europe with Rick Steves  is a must-watch for those looking to explore Europe with both reverence and curiosity.

Is Travels in Europe with... Worth Your Time?

An Idiot Abroad

An Idiot Abroad offers a refreshingly irreverent take on travel, delivering equal parts humor and cultural insight. Following Karl Pilkington, a reluctant traveler with a penchant for comedic grumbling, the series documents his experiences exploring the world at the insistence of his friends, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The show cleverly juxtaposes Pilkington's unconventional perspective with the rich tapestry of global cultures, resulting in a truly unique and entertaining travelogue. With its offbeat humor and endearing protagonist, An Idiot Abroad  showcases the transformative potential of travel, even for the most skeptical of sojourners.

Is An Idiot Abroad Worth Your Time?

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Globe Trekker

Globe Trekker has earned its place among the best travel shows, thanks to its engaging hosts, stunning cinematography, and unrivaled cultural insights. Venturing off the beaten path, the series exposes viewers to lesser-known destinations and traditions, fostering a deeper understanding of the world's diverse cultures. With its rotating cast of enthusiastic hosts, Globe Trekker  highlights the importance of embracing new experiences and remaining open to learning from others. Packed with adventure, heart, and valuable knowledge, this iconic series leaves viewers eager to embark on their own globe-trotting expeditions.

Is Globe Trekker Worth Your Time?

Insomniac with Dave Attell

Insomniac with Dave Attell dives headfirst into the captivating world of nocturnal exploration, shedding light on the unique experiences and characters that come to life after dark. Hosted by comedian Dave Attell, the show unearths the hidden gems of nightlife around the globe, from bustling city centers to remote rural haunts. In each destination, Attell engages with locals and seeks out the bizarre, the unexpected, and the downright hilarious, highlighting the importance of embracing spontaneity in travel. Insomniac with Dave Attell  reveals a world typically hidden from tourists' eyes, inspiring viewers to embrace the unexpected during their own night-time adventures.

Is Insomniac with Dave At... Worth Your Time?

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern is a tantalizing feast for the senses that takes viewers on a culinary journey unlike any other. Host Andrew Zimmern expertly weaves together the worlds of food and travel, exploring fascinating cultures through their most unusual dishes. Encouraging open-mindedness and curiosity, Zimmern demonstrates that seemingly bizarre foods are often integral to a culture's identity and history. With its mouth-watering cuisine and captivating storytelling, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern  reveals the delicious potential for discovery when travelers venture beyond their comfort zones.

Is Bizarre Foods with And... Worth Your Time?

Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

Taking inspiration from Jules Verne's classic novel, Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days  chronicles the host's exhilarating attempt to circumnavigate the globe in just 80 days – without air travel. Palin's charming wit, affable nature, and determination make him an ideal travel companion, as he explores diverse cultures and overcomes numerous challenges. The series ingeniously marries the thrilling adventure of global exploration with the timeless appeal of a literary classic, encapsulating the true spirit of wanderlust. Around the World in 80 Days  captivates viewers with its unforgettable journey, proving that the spirit of adventure is alive and well.

Is Michael Palin: Around ... Worth Your Time?

Full Circle with Michael Palin

In Full Circle with Michael Palin , viewers are treated to a breathtaking journey around the Pacific Rim, guided by the inimitable charm and wit of the beloved host. Palin immerses himself in the diverse cultures, landscapes, and histories of the region, highlighting the interconnectedness of humanity along the way. The show excels in showcasing the beauty and wonder of travel, inspiring viewers to look beyond their own borders and embrace the spirit of global exploration. With its captivating storytelling and stunning visuals, Full Circle with Michael Palin  provides an unforgettable voyage for all who join the adventure.

Is Full Circle with Micha... Worth Your Time?

Passport to Europe

Passport to Europe whisks viewers away on an enchanting tour of the continent's most captivating cities and landscapes, guided by the delightful Samantha Brown. With her infectious enthusiasm, Brown expertly navigates each destination's cultural nuances, blending sightseeing highlights with hidden gems and local experiences. The show strikes a perfect balance between practical travel advice and immersive storytelling, inspiring viewers to embark on their own European adventures. Passport to Europe  is a must-watch for those looking to discover the charm and allure of this storied continent with an engaging and knowledgeable host.

Is Passport to Europe Worth Your Time?

As the name suggests, Raw Travel  delivers an unfiltered and authentic look at the world, delving deeper into local cultures and their unique stories. With its focus on sustainable tourism and human connections, the show offers a refreshing departure from the typical travelogue, encouraging viewers to travel with a purpose. By showcasing off-the-beaten-path destinations and experiences, Raw Travel  fosters a newfound appreciation for the rich tapestry of human cultures and traditions. This thought-provoking series is sure to ignite the wanderlust in even the most seasoned travelers, inspiring them to seek out more meaningful and transformative journeys.

Is Raw Travel Worth Your Time?

Samantha Brown's Great Weekends

Samantha Brown's Great Weekends offers viewers an engaging and attainable approach to travel, with host Samantha Brown curating the ultimate weekend getaways across North America. Brown's warm personality and keen eye for unique experiences make her the perfect guide, ensuring that each adventure feels both exciting and accessible. The show's focus on shorter trips highlights the importance of seizing opportunities for exploration, no matter how limited one's time may be. With its invigorating mix of exhilarating activities, stunning locales, and valuable travel tips, Samantha Brown's Great Weekends  proves that unforgettable adventures are closer than you think.

Is Samantha Brown's Great... Worth Your Time?

Pole to Pole

In Pole to Pole , Michael Palin embarks on yet another extraordinary journey, traveling from the North Pole to the South Pole along the 30-degree East line of longitude. As he traverses an array of countries, cultures, and landscapes, Palin's characteristic wit and warmth shine through, making him an ideal travel companion. The show skillfully demonstrates the diversity and beauty of our planet while highlighting the shared human experiences that bridge geographical divides. With its stirring storytelling and awe-inspiring visuals, Pole to Pole  is a testament to the transformative power and endless wonder of travel.

Is Pole to Pole Worth Your Time?

The Thirsty Traveler

The Thirsty Traveler takes viewers on a spirited tour of the world, delving into the history, culture, and production behind various alcoholic beverages. Host Kevin Brauch's engaging personality and passion for libations make for a captivating and informative journey, as he explores the local customs and flavors associated with each drink. Through lively interactions with local experts and immersive experiences, the show highlights the central role beverages play in bringing people together across cultures. The Thirsty Traveler  is a unique and intoxicating blend of travel, history, and culinary exploration, sure to leave viewers thirsting for more.

Is The Thirsty Traveler Worth Your Time?

Rick Steves' Europe

Is Rick Steves' Europe Worth Your Time?

The Amazing Race

As one of the quintessential travel shows, The Amazing Race  delivers an adrenaline-pumping blend of competition, adventure, and global exploration. The Emmy Award-winning series pits teams against each other in a race around the world, challenging them with physical, mental, and cultural obstacles. The show's breakneck pace and high-stakes challenges offer an exciting, albeit unconventional, look at the dizzying array of cultures, languages, and landscapes the world has to offer. The Amazing Race  ultimately celebrates the spirit of adventure and perseverance, inspiring viewers to step outside their comfort zones and embrace the thrill of the unknown.

Is The Amazing Race Worth Your Time?

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Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe

Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe transports viewers to some of the most remote and breathtaking locations on Earth, offering a rare glimpse into the stunning beauty and fragile ecosystems of our planet. Acclaimed photographer Art Wolfe's keen eye and passion for conservation make him an exceptional guide, as he captures the essence of each destination through his lens. The show masterfully intertwines adventure, exploration, and environmental awareness, encouraging viewers to appreciate the natural wonders that lie just beyond the beaten path. With its awe-inspiring images and thought-provoking messages, Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe  is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of our world and the importance of protecting it.

Is Travels to the Edge wi... Worth Your Time?

Lonely Planet Six Degrees

Lonely Planet Six Degrees offers a fresh and engaging approach to travel, as hosts Asha Gill and Toby Amies immerse themselves in the local culture and connect with fascinating individuals at each destination. The show's underlying theme - that we are all connected through a mere six degrees of separation - highlights the shared human experiences that transcend geographical boundaries. Through captivating storytelling and insightful interactions, Lonely Planet Six Degrees  encourages viewers to approach travel with an open mind and a desire to forge meaningful connections. With its unique format and thought-provoking premise, this groundbreaking series is a must-watch for those looking to experience the world in a more personal and profound way.

Is Lonely Planet Six Degr... Worth Your Time?

Long Way Round

In Long Way Round , viewers are taken on an exhilarating and challenging motorcycle journey across continents, as actor Ewan McGregor and his best friend Charley Boorman embark on the adventure of a lifetime. The series intimately documents their trials and triumphs, offering a raw and authentic portrayal of friendship, determination, and the transformative power of travel. As the duo navigates diverse terrains and cultural encounters, the breathtaking scenery and unforgettable experiences serve as reminders of the boundless possibilities for exploration and personal growth. Long Way Round  is essential viewing for those seeking a compelling narrative of adventure, camaraderie, and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Is Long Way Round Worth Your Time?

Dhani Tackles the Globe

Dhani Tackles the Globe combines the worlds of sports, travel, and adventure, as former NFL linebacker Dhani Jones sets out to master various traditional sports around the world. The show offers a fresh and energetic take on global exploration, with Jones' athletic prowess and enthusiasm for new experiences making him an engaging host. Through his immersion in each region's unique sports culture, Jones fosters meaningful connections with local communities and explores the values, traditions, and history that shape these time-honored activities. Dhani Tackles the Globe  is an inspiring celebration of the universal language of sports and the untold stories that unite us all.

Is Dhani Tackles the Glob... Worth Your Time?

Booze Traveler

Booze Traveler offers viewers an intoxicating blend of travel, history, and culture as host Jack Maxwell embarks on a global quest to uncover the stories behind the world's most iconic drinks. With his affable demeanor and insatiable curiosity, Maxwell expertly showcases the inextricable link between alcoholic beverages and the cultures that produce them. The show skillfully balances immersive experiences, engaging storytelling, and fascinating historical insights, revealing the myriad ways in which alcohol has shaped human civilization throughout history. Booze Traveler  is a spirited journey, sure to delight viewers with its unique perspective on global libations and their storied pasts.

Is Booze Traveler Worth Your Time?

Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

In Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted , the world-renowned chef embarks on an exhilarating journey to uncover the globe's most exotic and undiscovered flavors. Ramsay's unparalleled passion for food and bold sense of adventure make him the perfect guide, as he braves remote locations, diverse cultures, and extreme conditions in pursuit of culinary excellence. The show masterfully combines exhilarating adventures, immersive storytelling, and captivating cultural insights, showcasing the transformative power of food as a bridge between people and cultures. With its thrilling escapades and tantalizing tastes, Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted  inspires viewers to broaden their culinary horizons and embrace the vast tapestry of global flavors that await them.

Is Gordon Ramsay: Unchart... Worth Your Time?

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Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure

Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure follows the beloved British adventurer as he retraces the footsteps of iconic author Ernest Hemingway, exploring the places and experiences that shaped his life and work. Palin's wit, charm, and genuine interest in Hemingway's story make for a fascinating and enjoyable journey, as he delves into the writer's complex psyche and uncovers the locations that inspired some of his most famous literary works. The show elegantly combines travel, literature, and biography, offering viewers a unique look at the world through Hemingway's eyes. With its captivating storytelling and insightful discoveries, Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure  is a literary pilgrimage that will inspire and enchant viewers in equal measure.

Is Michael Palin's Heming... Worth Your Time?

Expedition Unknown

Expedition Unknown takes audiences on a thrilling and informative journey through history, mystery, and adventure, with host Josh Gates uncovering the world's greatest legends and forgotten stories. Gates' charisma, humor, and expertise make him an ideal companion on this quest for knowledge, as he ventures off the beaten path to unearth fascinating tales and enduring mysteries. The show brilliantly merges history, archaeology, and travel, providing viewers with a unique and engrossing peek into the past while sparking an insatiable curiosity to learn more. Expedition Unknown  is a compelling, thought-provoking, and entertaining exploration of the unknown, proving that the world is still full of untold stories waiting to be discovered.

Is Expedition Unknown Worth Your Time?

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Travel Man: 48 Hours in...

Travel Man: 48 Hours in... offers a unique and entertaining approach to city breaks, as host Richard Ayoade is joined by a celebrity guest to explore exciting destinations around the world. The show's fast-paced format, dry humor, and quirky insights provide a fresh take on traditional travelogues, proving that meaningful experiences can be had in just 48 hours. Ayoade's keen eye for hidden gems and offbeat experiences encourages viewers to step outside the well-trodden tourist path and embrace the unexpected delights that each city has to offer. With its engaging blend of humor, adventure, and unconventional wisdom, Travel Man: 48 Hours in...  is essential viewing for those with limited time and boundless curiosity.

Is Travel Man: 48 Hours i... Worth Your Time?

The Getaway

The Getaway combines the thrill of travel with the allure of celebrity, as famous faces guide viewers on a tour of their favorite global destinations. Each episode features a different celebrity host, offering unique perspectives and experiences tailored to their personal tastes and interests. The show expertly balances cultural insights, local tips, and luxurious recommendations, providing viewers with a distinctive and aspirational look at the world's most desirable locales. With its glamorous spin on travel and insider access to the lives of the rich and famous, The Getaway  is a captivating journey that will leave viewers longing for their next escape.

Is The Getaway Worth Your Time?

Better Late Than Never

In Better Late Than Never , viewers join four iconic personalities - William Shatner, Henry Winkler, Terry Bradshaw, and George Foreman - as they embark on a whirlwind adventure across Asia. The show's unique blend of unscripted humor, genuine camaraderie, and cultural exploration offers a fresh and entertaining twist on the traditional travelogue. As the seasoned celebrities navigate their way through unfamiliar customs, languages, and experiences, they demonstrate that it's never too late to embrace the unknown and embark on new adventures. With its heartwarming friendships, comedic mishaps, and inspiring ethos, Better Late Than Never  proves that the spirit of discovery knows no age limit.

Is Better Late Than Never... Worth Your Time?

Around The World In 80 Ways

Around the World in 80 Ways follows hosts Robert "Boston Rob" Mariano and Dennis Anderson as they circumnavigate the globe using 80 different modes of transportation. This unique and ambitious journey showcases the incredible diversity of travel methods available, as the duo navigates everything from camelback to hot air balloons. With its thrilling pace, exhilarating challenges, and stunning locales, the show provides a captivating look at the wide world of travel possibilities. Around the World in 80 Ways  invites viewers to open their minds to the myriad ways in which people traverse our planet, inspiring them to seek out their own unforgettable adventures.

Is Around The World In 80... Worth Your Time?

Around the World in 80 Treasures

In Around the World in 80 Treasures , host Dan Cruickshank embarks on a fascinating journey to uncover the stories behind 80 of the world's most enigmatic and beautiful artifacts. The show masterfully combines history, art, and culture, offering viewers a captivating and educational look at the objects that have shaped human civilization. Cruickshank's enthusiasm and expertise are infectious, guiding audiences through the complexities of each treasure with clarity and warmth. With its stunning visuals, compelling storytelling, and powerful insights, Around the World in 80 Treasures  is an awe-inspiring journey through the rich tapestry of human history and artistic achievement.

Is Around the World in 80... Worth Your Time?

Journeys In India

Journeys in Africa transports viewers to the heart of this vast and diverse continent, showcasing its stunning landscapes, unique wildlife, and rich cultural heritage. Host Bill Ball explores Africa's most remote and fascinating places, sharing his deep knowledge and passion for the region with audiences. The show's captivating visuals, engaging storytelling, and immersive experiences offer an unparalleled glimpse into the beauty, complexity, and resilience of Africa's ecosystems and communities. Journeys in Africa  is a must-watch for nature enthusiasts, adventure-seekers, and anyone yearning to explore the breathtaking wonders of this extraordinary continent.

Is Journeys in Africa Worth Your Time?

Dark Tourist

Dark Tourist delves into the intriguing and often macabre world of dark tourism, as host David Farrier explores destinations with morbid, tragic, or controversial histories. The show offers an unflinching look at the darker side of travel, challenging viewers to confront uncomfortable truths and question their own fascination with the grotesque and macabre. Through immersive storytelling and candid conversations with locals and fellow tourists, Dark Tourist  examines the ethical implications of dark tourism and the complex emotions such experiences evoke. This thought-provoking series will leave viewers contemplating the limits of their curiosity and the true nature of the human experience.

Is Dark Tourist Worth Your Time?

Travels & Traditions

Is Travels & Traditions Worth Your Time?

The Reluctant Traveler

Is The Reluctant Traveler... Worth Your Time?

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Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham

Is Men in Kilts: A Roadtr... Worth Your Time?

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Geographically Speaking

Is Geographically Speakin... Worth Your Time?

Down to Earth With Zac Efron: Down Under

Down to Earth With Zac Efron: Down Under takes viewers on a breathtaking adventure across Australia, as the charismatic host explores the country's stunning landscapes, unique wildlife, and eco-friendly initiatives. Efron's passion for environmental sustainability and love of adventure make him an engaging and relatable guide, drawing audiences into the natural beauty and resilient spirit of Australia. The show excels in showcasing the importance of conservation and the power of individual action, while also providing plenty of heart-stopping adventures and awe-inspiring sights. With its inspiring message and jaw-dropping visuals, Down to Earth With Zac Efron: Down Under  is an exhilarating and educational exploration of one of the world's most diverse and captivating destinations.

Is Down to Earth With Zac... Worth Your Time?

Never Say Never With Jeff Jenkins

Is Never Say Never With J... Worth Your Time?

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Billy Connolly: Journey To The Edge Of The World

Is Billy Connolly: Journe... Worth Your Time?

Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi

Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi is a captivating exploration of American food culture, as the renowned host travels across the country to uncover the diverse culinary traditions that define the nation. Through heartfelt conversations with immigrants, farmers, and chefs, Lakshmi delves into the rich history, stories, and flavors that make up the melting pot of American cuisine. The show expertly weaves together the diverse threads of culture, history, and personal narratives, showcasing the transformative power of food to unite and nourish. With its mouth-watering dishes, enchanting storytelling, and powerful message of inclusivity, Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi  is a feast for the senses, sure to satisfy your wanderlust and your taste buds.

Is Taste the Nation With ... Worth Your Time?

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In Off Limits , host Don Wildman ventures into the hidden and restricted corners of America, unearthing the fascinating stories and secrets that lie beneath the surface. Wildman's intrepid spirit and insatiable curiosity make him the perfect guide for this journey into the unknown, as he explores everything from top-secret military installations to underground cities. The show challenges viewers to reconsider their perceptions of familiar locations and uncover the rich, complex history lurking just below the surface. With its compelling storytelling, breathtaking visuals, and intriguing revelations, Off Limits  showcases the boundless potential for discovery in even the most seemingly ordinary places.

Is Off Limits Worth Your Time?

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy takes viewers on a tantalizing journey through the rich culinary landscape of Italy, as the acclaimed actor and passionate food lover explores the country's diverse regions, flavors, and traditions. Tucci's warm personality, genuine curiosity, and love for Italian cuisine make him an ideal host, guiding audiences through the labyrinth of regional specialties and culinary delights. The show masterfully blends travel, culture, and food, offering a sumptuous tribute to the enduring appeal and timeless appeal of Italian gastronomy. With its stunning locations, engaging storytelling, and irresistible aromas, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy  is a must-watch for food lovers and Italophiles alike.

Is Stanley Tucci: Searchi... Worth Your Time?

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You Are Here

Is You Are Here Worth Your Time?

Passport to Latin America

Is Passport to Latin Amer... Worth Your Time?

Madventures

Madventures offers a raw and unfiltered look at the world, as Finnish duo Riku Rantala and Tunna Milonoff embark on adrenaline-pumping escapades around the globe. The show's fearless approach to travel showcases the daring and often unconventional experiences that await those willing to venture off the beaten path. With its gritty visuals, engaging storytelling, and genuine camaraderie between the hosts, Madventures  transports viewers into the heart of the action, inspiring them to embrace the thrill of the unknown. This high-octane series is a must-watch for thrill-seekers, globetrotters, and anyone yearning for an authentic and exhilarating adventure.

Is Madventures Worth Your Time?

Huang's World

Huang's World is a captivating exploration of global cultures through the lens of food, as host Eddie Huang immerses himself in diverse cuisines and communities around the world. Huang's infectious enthusiasm, humor, and genuine curiosity make every episode an entertaining and enlightening journey, as he unearths the stories, histories, and flavors of each destination. By showcasing the power of food to unite, inspire, and inform, Huang's World  highlights the importance of breaking bread and sharing experiences with others. This mouth-watering and thought-provoking series invites viewers to expand their culinary horizons and embark on their own epicurean adventures.

Is Huang's World Worth Your Time?

The Express Way With Dulé Hill

Is The Express Way With D... Worth Your Time?

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Trippin' with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris

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Around the World in 80 Days

Crossing South

Crossing South takes viewers on a captivating journey through the cultural and culinary riches of Baja California, as host Jorge Meraz explores the region's hidden gems and local stories. With his warm personality, genuine curiosity, and expert palate, Meraz makes each episode a delightful and enlightening experience, showcasing the beauty, history, and flavors of the region. The show's focus on Mexico's lesser-known treasures encourages viewers to venture beyond the familiar tourist destinations and discover the rich tapestry of experiences awaiting just south of the border. With its breathtaking visuals, engaging storytelling, and irresistible flavors, Crossing South  is a love letter to all that Baja California has to offer.

Bert the Conqueror

Bert the Conqueror combines the thrill of adventure with the hilarity of comedian Bert Kreischer, as he conquers America's wildest and wackiest attractions. From roller coasters to outrageous contests, Bert tackles each challenge with gusto, laughter, and his signature self-deprecating humor. The show encapsulates the spirit of Americana, showcasing the weird, wonderful, and extreme experiences waiting just around the corner. With its contagious enthusiasm and heart-pounding adventures, Bert the Conqueror  inspires viewers to revel in the excitement and eccentricities of their own backyards.

Is Bert the Conqueror Worth Your Time?

Talking Sabor

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Orlando Bloom: To the Edge

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Photographer

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Drive With Swizz Beatz

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Fantastic Friends

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Only in America

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Life on the Water

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The Kindness Diaries

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• Entertainment
• Watchworthy
• Places/Travel

Lists for those with wanderlust.

50 Best Travel Shows Of All Time (& How To Watch Them)

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Most of us can't reasonably travel all of the time. Thankfully, we can live vicariously through our screens when we cannot be globetrotting ourselves. Travel shows are a dime a dozen, mainly because many of us would rather explore than deal with our responsibilities. But how do you know which shows are worth your time? That depends mainly on your tastes and interests, but we can provide some solid starting points.

From celebrities heading their own adventurous docuseries to food-loving vagabonds visiting remote destinations, travel shows can show us scenes and cultures we would otherwise have no concept of. In fact, television often inspires travel, and watching world wanderers eat their way through exotic destinations is a great way to help plan your next trip. These 50 series are some of the best TV has to offer, and even if you don't make it through all of them, you may find a gem that piques your particular interest.

50. Nomad with Carlton McCoy

Classically trained chef and expert sommelier Carlton McCoy seeks out the best in international cuisine, music, and art in the CNN series "Nomad with Carlton McCoy." Premiering in May 2022, McCoy travels everywhere in the travel series, from the overlooked pleasures of Mississippi to the corners of Ghana. For McCoy, the show's focus lies in adventures and delights found away from the well-worn paths frequented by tourists. Instead, he enjoys savoring hometown favorites from local populations. What McCoy may lack in experience and poise, he and "Nomad" make up for with its premise to go behind the scenes of some of the world's most recognizable locales. 

The first "Nomad with Carlton McCoy" season is available to stream on  Prime Video with Discovery+.

49. Down to Earth with Zac Efron

The world is a beautiful place, and it's easy to showcase such on film. This is why a travel show has to be about more than just pretty scenery, and "Down to Earth with Zac Efron" delivers in a big way. The series puts a highly informative spin on the genre by taking viewers on whirlwind journeys worldwide in search of health secrets. We're not talking about avocado toast or juice cleanses, either.

Efron and wellness expert Darin Olien visit destinations to learn about topics like renewable energy, superfoods, and water quality. Have you ever heard of a water sommelier? The experts know a thing or two about what kind of water makes our bodies happy, and a "Down to Earth" episode in France consults one of the few professionals in existence. The series also has episodes on a seed bank stocked for the end of the world, Iceland's Blue Lagoon, and the Amazon rainforest.

Although "Down to Earth" earned Zac Efron a Daytime Emmy, lack of viewership caused the series to be canceled quickly. It had one season at Netflix and was picked up for another at The CW, only to be on the chopping block two episodes later. Lack of quantity does not mean lack of quality, though, and the "High School Musical" star's travel show is a solid viewing.

You can watch "Down to Earth with Zach Efron" on Netflix and The CW .

48. The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals

Sometimes, a typical hotel on vacation doesn't cut it, with intrepid travelers opting for more unique and luxurious digs during their stay abroad. The Netflix original series "The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals" explores everything from treehouses to alpaca farms to rent worldwide. Hosted by Megan Batoon, Jo Franco, and Luis D. Ortiz, the show reminds viewers that far more than cheap motels and chain hotels are available to make a vacation even more authentic and unique. While some of the rentals visited on the show run on the pricier side, these are balanced out with more cost-effective rentals for travelers not looking to shell out top dollar on accommodations.

"The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals" is available to stream on  Netflix .

47. Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Academy Award-nominated actor Stanley Tucci reconnects with his ancestral roots in the CNN travel series "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy." Premiering in 2021, the show has Tucci visit different regions in Italy to learn more about the local cuisine, culture, and history in a sun-soaked tour of the Mediterranean country. Though the major tourist centers of Italy are among the destinations in Tucci's tour, the host takes the time to explore restaurants and locations off the beaten track to reveal a more authentic Italian experience. Buoyed by Tucci's understated yet quietly charismatic presence, "Searching for Italy" has been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards, winning two for its achievement in nonfiction television. 

Available to purchase and rent through most digital retailers, "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" is also available to stream on Discovery+ .

46. Mysterious Islands

Accomplished pilot and explorer Kellee Edwards invites viewers to join her on his globe-trotting adventures with the Travel Channel series "Mysterious Islands." Edwards particularly takes an interest in some of the most remote islands on Earth, visiting them with her private seaplane to examine them from above and by foot. A refreshing contrast to the hustle-and-bustle of travel shows revolving around heavily populated locales, "Mysterious Islands" offers a more serene, nature-focused look at isolated getaways. Before hosting "Mysterious Islands," Edwards hosted and published a travel vlog through her website that catapulted her into the public eye.

"Mysterious Islands" is currently available to stream on  fuboTV and Philo .

45. Ride with Norman Reedus

"Cool" is the only way to describe "Ride with Norman Reedus." Cruising on a slew of bikes, "The Boondock Saints" and "The Walking Dead" actor meets up with a different travel partner in each episode to explore the open road of America and international destinations. With six seasons as of 2023, the series has become a lasting one on AMC.

Norman Reedus isn't the first to make a travel show centered on biker culture, so what makes it so unique? His vibe, for one. However, it's also the particular variety that his program offers viewers. Reedus does not stick to just one style or motorcycle manufacturer; he also has many celebrity guests. He has the bikers' seal of approval.

From Dave Chapelle to Keanu Reeves, you'll be surprised that some of your favorite celebrities ride and are just as captivating in an environment you don't usually see them in. Fans of Reedus' work will also be happy to see quite a few familiar faces as his "The Walking Dead" co-stars, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Steven Yeun, join in on the fun.

You can watch "Ride with Norman Reedus" on AMC+ .

44. Epic Drives

Car expert Arthur St. Antoine entered the pole position with the automobile travel series "Epic Drives," premiering in 2010. Backed with a whole fleet of cars, often with some of the world's coolest and fastest sports and luxury automobiles, St. Antoine opens the engine up and cuts loose on roads around the globe. From traversing the Pacific Coast Highway to showcasing winter driving tips on the frozen roads of Scandinavia, St. Antoine guides viewers through truly stunning international roadways. Though "Epic Rides" puts its slick automobiles in the forefront, the travel series is also keenly aware of how to capture the natural beauty of the gorgeous destinations visited. 

"Epic Drives" is available to stream on Roku and Prime Video  with a MotorTrend extension.

43. Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern

Prolific chef, author, and television personality Andrew Zimmern delves into the off-kilter local cuisine from around the world that outsiders may view as strange in the Travel Channel series "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern." Running steadily since 2006, "Bizarre Foods" has become a large television franchise in and of itself, spawning spinoff series and specials, while the main series has undergone several rebrands. Later, carrying the subtitle "Delicious Destinations," Zimmern's unique perspective on local cuisine proved as engaging as ever. Traveling anywhere from remote settlements in the untamed wilderness to local gastronomy usually avoided by tourists, Zimmern doesn't just focus on the cuisine and preparation itself but where the key ingredients come from. 

A Travel Channel staple for over a decade, "Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern" is currently available to stream on Max and Discovery+ .

42. Samantha Brown's Places to Love

Prolific travel television personality Samantha Brown created the acclaimed PBS series "Samantha Brown's Places to Love," which premiered in 2018. Markedly different from her previous programming on the Travel Channel, Brown's PBS show offers ways for prospective travelers to blend in more naturally with places they visit rather than disrupt local scenes. Featuring a more subdued approach, Brown presents a more authentic, understated cultural experience in the destinations she showcases. "Places to Love" was widely praised for its approach to travel programming and won two Daytime Emmy Awards for its outstanding achievement.

"Samantha Brown's Places to Love" is available to watch through local PBS outlets.

41. A Cook's Tour

Chef and author Anthony Bourdain's first foray into travel television was on the Food Network series "A Cook's Tour," which was filmed while Bourdain was simultaneously writing a book about his experiences. Running for two seasons from 2002-2003, the show took Bourdain around the globe to sample local cuisine and culture, with Asia being a prominent recurring destination. In Variety's review of the first season, "A Cook's Tour" was praised for focusing on destinations less well-documented by other travel shows while providing a man-on-the-street perspective. The series offers a fascinating look at Bourdain discovering his voice as a television host while still possessing his acerbic wit.

"A Cook's Tour" is currently available to stream in full on Prime Video and Tubi .

40. America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston

Notable writer and commentator Baratunde Thurston expanded from his usual political fare to launch the PBS travel series "America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston." Thurston travels around the United States, from Death Valley to the Appalachian Mountains, to document America's distinct and immersive outdoor destinations. More than simply hiking and camping, Thurston engages in local activities, including trying his hand at collecting wild rice and surfing, to better appreciate local cultures. Thurston takes the premise behind "America Outdoors" more liberally than most travel shows with similar scopes, with an entire episode reframing outdoor culture in Los Angeles. 

An engaging look at the United States' relationship with its outdoor spaces, "America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston" is available to stream on Prime Video with PBS Living or PBS Documentaries and PBS with WOSU Passport.

39. Travel Man

Popular British actor and comedian Richard Ayoade launched the breakneck travel series "Travel Man," blending comedy with hectic itineraries. Paired with a celebrity guest, Ayoade and his travel companion have 48 hours to take in the sights and cuisine in different international cities. Starting with the show's tenth season, Ayoade was replaced by British comedian Joe Lycett, but the overall formula remains largely the same. Buoyed by Ayoade and Lycett's hilarious personalities and its limited-time premise, "Travel Man" is as freewheeling and fun as travelogs get.

"Travel Man: 48 Hours in..." is available to stream on Prime Video and  Peacock .

38. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Beloved chef and restauranteur David Chang covers all the most important meals of the day around the world in the original series "Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner." Joined by different celebrity guest stars in each episode, including Seth Rogen and Kate McKinnon, Chang learns what constitutes traditional daily meals in major cities from Marrakech to Phnom Penh. Elevated by thoughtful and entertaining discussions between Chang and his guests, the series offers a broader perspective on the meals we take for granted each day. As with Chang's other travel and cooking shows, the international cuisine-driven travel series focuses on authenticity and a society's connection to its defining food. 

"Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner" is available to stream on  Netflix  and  Prime Video with Fuse+.

37. No Passport Required

With a country as richly vast and varied as the United States, there are plenty of interesting travel spots without ever having to go abroad. This underlying truth provides the basic premise to the PBS travel series "No Passport Required," which is focused on exploring the legacy of immigrant traditions and cuisines within the country. Hosted by noted chef Marcus Samuelsson, six major American cities are showcased as Samuelsson examines the immigrant legacy and food that lovingly define each locale. Going beyond the typical fare that colors each city's perception, Samuelsson meets with everyone from the Armenian community in Los Angeles to the Chinese legacy behind Las Vegas, showcasing some of the cultures that help to make each city great.

"No Passport Required" is currently available to stream on Roku ,  Prime Video with PBS Living or PBS Documentaries, and PBS.

36. Big City, Little Budget

The prospect of living in or visiting major American cities isn't cheap, but host Oneika Raymond guides audiences through more cost-effective approaches to modern metropolises in "Big City, Little Budget." Produced by the Travel Channel, the web series has Raymond visiting cities from sea to shining sea while also providing tips on how to navigate each place without having a robust budget at one's disposal. From frugal dining tips to which neighborhoods won't break the bank, "Big City, Little Budget" offers invaluable advice. With its bite-sized episodes, Raymond offers clear and concise guidance through cities from Miami to New York as she leans into approaching each destination on a budget without compromising the fun.

"Big City, Little Budget" is available to stream through the Travel Channel's YouTube channel .

35. I'll Have What Phil's Having

After helming the long-running sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," prolific television writer and producer Phil Rosenthal turned to travelog hosting, starting with the 2015 series "I'll Have What Phil Is Having." Running on PBS for six episodes, the show follows Rosenthal as he travels around the world to check out the local food scenes. Joined by celebrity guests like Martin Short and Ray Romano, Rosenthal's comedic perspective helps give the usual travel show proceedings a more engaging approach. Though short-lived, "I'll Have What Phil Is Having" provides an early look at the type of travel programming Rosenthal would host to greater success on Netflix.

"I'll Have What Phil's Having" is currently available to stream on Roku , Prime Video with PBS Living or PBS Documentaries, Pluto TV , and PBS.

34. Basic Versus Baller: Travel at Any Cost

Even the same iconic locales can offer vastly different experiences depending on the visitor's financial situation, and this dichotomy is explored in the travel series "Basic Versus Baller: Travel at Any Cost." Hosted by siblings Alex and Marko Ayling, the two showcase how to navigate major travel destinations on a budget or take advantage of the visit when flush with cash. Whether they're discussing different approaches to visiting Hong Kong or trying the varying cuisines of France, the Ayling brothers provide plenty of information and varying perspectives on the same destinations. One of the things that work in favor of "Basic Versus Baller" is that the show's premise isn't necessarily binary, as tourists can mix the frugal and luxurious options provided as they see fit. 

A dual-perspective on the travelog formula, "Basic Versus Baller: Travel at Any Cost" is currently available to stream on Hulu , Prime Video with Tastemade, and Peacock .

33. Ugly Delicious

Chef and author David Chang looks at the cultural history and deeper meaning behind popular cuisine in the Netflix original series "Ugly Delicious." Premiering in 2018, Chang and a group of celebrity guests explore the origins of different foods through extensive interviews and traveling to informative points from the cuisine's origins. A thoughtful discussion about food and its inextricable links to societal identity, "Ugly Delicious" blends serious insight with Chang's quick wit to great effect. Widely acclaimed for its approach to asking the hard questions about cuisine's impact on culture and cultural perception, the series was nominated for an Emmy Award.

"Ugly Delicious" is currently available to stream on Netflix .

32. United Shades of America

The United States is, like any nation, an incredibly complicated and occasionally contentious place to live, from sea to shining sea, across a variety of communities. Comedian W. Kamau Bell spotlights these communities, their traditions, and their struggles in the CNN documentary series "United Shades of America." From speaking with indigenous communities in South Dakota to the extensive Black populations in the Appalachians, Bell provides an all-encompassing tour of the modern American experience. Bell's thoughtful approach to admittedly somber subject matter paints a more complete look at the country and the many voices that bring it to life as he travels nationwide.

The winner of multiple Emmy Awards for its sweeping work, "United Shades of America" is available to stream on Discovery+  and  Max  and purchase and rent via online retailers.

31. Booze Traveler

A lot can be learned about a culture through its gastronomy, and host Jack Maxwell is determined to get to the bottom of this search for identity – and the bottom of many bottles – in the Travel Channel show "Booze Traveler." Exploring domestic and international destinations, Maxwell reveals how drinking culture informs daily life in places like Seoul and Dublin while partaking in local spirits himself. With Maxwell's easygoing personality at the forefront, "Booze Traveler" looks at how communities bond over their love of drink. As a former South Boston bartender, Maxwell lends an everyday perspective to his global travels. He is more interested in looking for a good time than asking the hard questions as the show breezily chugs along.

A fittingly rambunctious travelog, "Booze Traveler" is available to stream on Discovery+ and rent and purchase through most digital retailers.

30. Street Food

While acclaimed filmmaker and documentarian David Gelb focuses primarily on haute cuisine with his award-winning "Chef's Table" series, his other Netflix original show, "Street Food," takes a different perspective. Rather than spotlight a single cook per episode like his previous work, Gelb examines an entire city's street food scene, exploring the origins of the cuisine that defines it. From the robust marks of Singapore to hole-in-the-wall restaurants in New Orleans, "Street Food" and its rotating set of hosts provide an authentic culinary portrait of the show's destinations. Gelb's everyman approach and broader scope per episode, in contrast to "Chef's Table," is an effective change that "Street Food" takes full advantage of.

The first season of "Street Food" is set in Asia, the second in Latin America, and the third in the United States, with the series currently available to stream on Netflix .

29. The Kindness Diaries

Connecting with your fellow humans and experiencing people of different backgrounds and cultures is one of the enormous benefits of traveling; for some, it's their entire purpose. In a way, "The Kindness Diaries" encapsulates the spirit of travel, as host Leon Logothetis traverses the globe depending on the kindness of strangers.

Equipped only with a bright yellow motorbike swapped for an equally yellow vintage convertible in the second season, Leon Logothetis searches for kind-hearted people to supply his needs on his travels. This includes food, accommodations, and gasoline. You'll be pleasantly surprised how far one can get in the world just by simply asking — though, he does sleep in his motorbike's sidecar when necessary. While the destinations range from all over the United States to Europe, Cambodia, and Vietnam, this feel-good travel doc is more about the people we meet along the way. Even though "The Kindness Diaries" only has two seasons behind it, the beautiful souls depicted stay with viewers for the long haul.

You can stream "The Kindness Diaries" on Discovery+ .

28. Gordon's Great Escape

Famous chef and television personality Gordon Ramsay decided to visit the originating countries of some of his favorite cuisines in the British television series "Gordon's Great Escape." In an interview with The Guardian , Ramsay shared his lifelong love of Indian food and chronicled his first trip to India in the show. Beyond his visit to India, Ramsay filmed the second set of interviews exploring other parts of Southeast Asia and its cuisine, including Thailand and Vietnam. Offering Ramsay a chance to escape the limelight he was experiencing in America and the United Kingdom, the show reveals him rediscovering his love of cooking while learning about overseas culinary traditions.

"Gordon's Great Escape" is available to stream through Prime Video , Tubi , Roku , and Fox.

27. Long Way Down

Actors and longtime motorcycle aficionados Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman reunited for another international motorcycle voyage with the British travel series "Long Way Down." A follow-up to their 2004 series "Long Way Round," the 2007 offering has the two bikers travel from Scotland all the way to Cape Town, South Africa. Along the way, the pair rides through 18 countries by motorcycle as they traverse Europe and the length of Africa. Even for those not particularly enamored by motorcycles, "Long Way Down" is a fascinating look at life on the open road across two continents anchored by two charismatic leads.

"Long Way Down" is currently available to stream on Apple TV+ .

26. Globe Trekker

One of the longest-running travel shows from the United Kingdom is "Globe Trekker," originally broadcast from 1994 to 2016. With a rotating set of hosts for each episode, the British series highlights a different region and provides audiences with a thorough guide to the sights and culture. More than simply presenting the major tourist attractions, the hosts examine local traditions, including interviews with local industries beyond tourism and hospitality. With such an impressive breadth of episodes, "Globe Trekker" set an enduring standard for travel programming in the United Kingdom against which all other travel shows are to be judged. 

Unfortunately, "Globe Trekker" is unavailable to stream or purchase in the United States.

25. Man v. Food

Eating challenges can say a lot about a culture, from the type of cuisine competitors consume to the quantity eaten to succeed. Actor and television personality Adam Richman took it upon himself to travel all over the United States to face all manner of eating challenges in the Travel Channel series "Man v. Food." Heading to a different destination each episode, Richman singlehandedly subjects himself to various regional eating challenges, from consuming massive steaks to an entire platter of chili dogs in a limited time. "Man v. Food" gave the Travel Channel its highest-rated debut upon its premiere in 2008 (per the Los Angeles Times ), with the show revived in 2017 and Richman replaced by current host Casey Webb.

An amusing look at different American regions by the eating challenges that help define it, "Man v. Food" is available to purchase and rent through most online retailers and to stream on Discovery+ and Max .

24. Tales by Light

If a vacation isn't documented and shared on Instagram, did it actually take place? Photography in some of Earth's most jaw-droppingly gorgeous places is the central premise behind the Australian travel series "Tales by Light." Each episode follows different professional photographers who tell an immersive story about exotic destinations through their pictures and videos. The perfect travel series for the social media-oriented generation, "Tales by Light" delivers truly breathtaking photographs and videos from the overlooked corners of the world.

All three beautifully rendered "Tales by Light" seasons are currently available to stream on Netflix .

23. Conan Without Borders

As an extension of his popular talk show on TBS, veteran host Conan O'Brien took his series on the road on multiple occasions to experience different cultures around the world. These special episodes were compiled in the online "Conan Without Borders," as O'Brien eschewed his typical talk show format. Traveling everywhere from Cuba to South Korea, O'Brien explores the societal morays of each of these destinations with his usual comedic antics and insight. A welcome change of pace from his usual formula, O'Brien blends biting political commentary with a genuine appreciation for local cultures, with "Conan Without Borders" winning an Emmy for its efforts.

"Conan Without Borders" is currently available to stream on Max .

22. The Moaning of Life

When British comedian and actor Karl Pilkington faced something of a midlife crisis, he decided to examine the lives and cultures of others around the world to gain a better sense of perspective (per Cinema Blend ). The resulting international tour was filmed for the British travel series "The Moaning of Life," as Pilkington contemplated love, life, and mortality on the road. To expand his view on the human condition, Pilkington visits drive-thru weddings in Las Vegas, professional mourners in Taiwan, and fertility clinics in Japan. The Hollywood Reporter's review of "The Moaning of Life" complimented the show's existential subject matter and Pilkington's hilarious perspective on the world to make its messaging less somber.

A good-natured look at life, death, and everything in between with an international scope, "The Moaning of Life" is available for purchase and rent on most major digital retailers, including Prime Video and Vudu .

21. Long Way Round

The first of a trilogy of documentary series, 2004's "Long Way Round" puts Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in the driver's seat as they ride motorcycles from London to New York City eastward. The 19,000-mile journey is undertaken to promote the international humanitarian causes spearheaded by UNICEF, while McGregor and Boorman endure pitfalls and injuries in their journies around the globe. Inspired by the experience, McGregor and Boorman wrote a book detailing their journey, including McGregor adopting an orphan encountered along the way. The kind of celebrity road trip that doesn't feel overly pretentious or self-indulgent, McGregor and Boorman provide a unique perspective as they embark on a truly epic journey.

"Long Way Round" is currently available to stream on Apple TV+ .

20. Three Sheets

Not all cuisine is solid, which is why the 2008 travel series "Three Sheets" showcased a decidedly liquid diet as it visited drinking cultures around the world. Hosted by comedian Zane Lamprey, the show highlights local alcoholic beverages at a multitude of destinations, learning about their history and cultural impact. Of course, this examination goes beyond a mere history lesson, with Zamprey partaking in the beverages, usually in impressive quantities. Part travel series and part televised pub crawl, Lamprey is often accompanied on his journeys by a group of guests, including his college friend Steve McKenna.

After starting on MOJO HD, "Three Sheets" was broadcast on various platforms before ending its run on Spike in 2011. Most of the series is currently available to buy on Prime Video .

19. Worth It

The popular Buzzfeed series "Worth It" offers three different and simultaneous perspectives on the worldwide dining scene in each episode. The show has the three hosts, Steven Lim, Andrew Ilnyckyj, and Adam Bianchi, order three different dishes from a range of price points at varying destinations. This can entail a cheap cup of coffee or designer espresso costing hundreds of dollars while visiting Tokyo. The underlying question is whether or not the dishes are worth the price. Winning a Streamy Award, "Worth It" has been credited with changing how people approach food criticism online, actively comparing quality with price points worldwide (per SBS ).

Available to stream on Hulu , "Worth It" helps viewers know how best to check out the food scenes and types of cuisine in several countries.

18. Somebody Feed Phil

After getting his start travel hosting on PBS, Phil Rosenthal went bigger and better for the Netflix original series "Somebody Feed Phil" in 2018. While maintaining the broader premise of his previous show, "I'll Have What Phil Is Having," Rosenthal's Netflix series feels like a more personal experience for its host. Occasionally checking in with his brother, parents, and son while he is on the road, Rosenthal continues to sample local cuisine from around the world. As Rosenthal visits major international cities, he spotlights local charities and nonprofit organizations active in the destinations, providing a more community-based scope.

"Somebody Feed Phil" is currently available to stream on Netflix .

17. Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father

Popular British comedian Jack Whitehall and his longtime television producer father, Michael, take their paternal dynamic on the road for the Netflix original series "Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father." With a decided focus on familial comedy, the Whitehalls find themselves in countless awkward and hilarious situations worldwide as they bond together over their international trips. The two men learn about the cultures they visit, from Cambodia to Turkey, with the final season bringing the father-son duo back to the United Kingdom. Though Jack and Michael Whitehall's antics are played for laughs, the societies they visit are largely treated with the utmost respect as they travel through the jungle and desert together.

All five "Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father" seasons are available to stream on Netflix .

16. Extreme Engagement

Journalists and producers PJ Madam and Tim Noonan decided to put their then-recent engagement to the test around the world for the Netflix original series "Extreme Engagement." The miniseries has the happy couple travel around the globe for over a year to see how their relationship endures. While the premise feels relatively scripted, rather than providing an authentically spontaneous show, "Extreme Engagement" offers a romantic twist on the travelog format. Noonan and Madam visit romantic destinations that keep the focus on love and lasting relationships, from observing ancient fertility rituals to meeting cultural practices promoting romantic love.

A love odyssey that spans the islands of Indonesia to remote villages in Africa, "Extreme Engagement" is currently available to stream on Netflix .

15. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Restauranteur and television host Guy Fieri has become something of a cultural icon himself, and Fieri's flagship series is the enormously popular "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." Premiering in 2006 on the Food Network, the show has Fieri travel across North America, stopping at diners, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and dive bars to sample their signature cuisine. Occasionally joined by an impressive set of celebrity guest stars, Fieri has visited hundreds of locations as part of his cross-country odyssey. Due to the sheer popularity of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," many of these spots have seen a noticeable increase in business following episode airings.

As the gold standard among Fieri's travel and food reality shows, "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" is available to rent and purchase via most online retailers and to stream on Discovery+ and Max .

14. Survivorman

Travel isn't just luxury hotels and all-inclusive resorts; for some, vacations involve roughing it in the wild and returning to nature through camping and other immersive experiences. The Canadian travel and wilderness survival series "Survivorman" takes these sensibilities to their extreme as host Les Stroud spends over a week alone in remote locations. With only a handful of tools and the clothes on his back, Stroud has to make do with local flora and fauna to survive these conditions for the allotted time. As a much more stripped-down and extreme approach than "Man vs. Wild," Stroud takes audiences everywhere, from the frozen expanse of Alaska to the predator-filled Amazon rainforest.

For those looking for the ultimate survivalist approach to the world's most unforgiving locations, "Survivorman" is available to stream on Discovery+ and Roku and to rent and purchase through most digital retailers.

13. An Idiot Abroad

When comedian Karl Pilkington's friends and frequent collaborators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant learned he had no interest in world travel, the two created the series "An Idiot Abroad" in response. Capitalizing on Pilkington's often innocently naive worldview, the British travel show is primarily played for laughs as Pilkington makes wry observations about the destinations he visits. Not content to simply let Pilkington take in the picturesque sights, sounds, and cuisine, Gervais and Merchant have Pilkington endure several challenges, including bungee-jumping in New Zealand and swimming with sharks in Australia. MSN's review of "An Idiot Abroad" praised the mishaps for Pilkington's voyages orchestrated by Gervais and Merchant, with Pilkington's odd perspective and observations elevating the entire show.

A humorous look at the most gorgeous international locales, "An Idiot Abroad" is available to purchase and rent on most digital retailers, including Prime Video and Vudu .

12. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

After two seasons on the Food Network with "A Cook's Tour," Bourdain made the leap to the Travel Channel to host his popular travel series "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations." Running for nine seasons from 2005-2012, Bourdain upped the scope considerably from his previous series while still retaining its everyman qualities. Backed by a more ambitious production, Bourdain visits a wider range of locales while incorporating his love of pop culture and inviting celebrity guests, including Bill Murray and Sean Penn. One of the more notable episodes sees Bourdain and his film crew trapped in Beirut during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War. "No Reservations" went on to win two Emmy Awards and multiple nominations as a testament to the show's captivating perspective on the world. 

"Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" is available to purchase from most online retailers and to stream on Discovery+ , Max , and through the Travel Channel website with a linked television provider.

11. Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

After exploring and experiencing culinary traditions in Southeast Asia firsthand in his first travel series, chef Gordon Ramsay expanded the scope of his follow-up show " Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted " to encompass the whole world. Premiering on National Geographic in 2019, "Uncharted" has Ramsay visit different countries to learn about their cuisine and cooking techniques and take advantage of local thrills. From white water rafting through Laos to climbing up Alaskan mountains and glaciers, Ramsay showcases a more outdoorsy side of himself beyond the world of restaurants and kitchens. In Forbes' review of the series, Ramsay's genuine enthusiasm for the subject matter and destinations he visits was praised for elevating the premise and showing a new side to the temperamental chef.

"Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted" is available to stream through Disney+ and Hulu .

10. Chef's Table

After directing the universally acclaimed documentary film "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" in 2011, filmmaker David Gelb teamed up with Netflix for its original documentary series, "Chef's Table." Premiering in 2015, the show focuses on a different cook for each episode, from a Korean monk renowned for her kimchi to Mexican street food in Philadelphia. With its highly detailed and stylized cinematography and in-depth portraits of its subjects, "Chef's Table" is one of the best documentary series currently on the air. "Chef's Table" brings a global scope to cuisine while never losing sight of the very grounded and human story behind each of the cooks that make every dish possible. The show has been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards as it shines a light on everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to hole-in-the-wall dining locations. 

The main "Chef's Table" series and its numerous spinoffs are available to stream on Netflix .

9. The Amazing Race

In contrast to "Survivor," which keeps its contestants in a single remote location for an entire season, CBS' long-running reality series "The Amazing Race" takes full advantage of its global scope. Teams of two speed through different legs around the world, following clues and completing challenges to gain an edge. On the air since 2001, "The Amazing Race" has showcased some of the most stunning locales on the planet while pitting its teams in genuinely thrilling competitions each season. With many seasons of "The Amazing Race" offering a journey with contestants circumnavigating the globe, the travel element to the reality competition series is unmistakably at the forefront.

"The Amazing Race" is available to stream on Hulu , Netflix , and Paramount+ .

8. Expedition Unknown

With so many legends and historical mysteries around the world demanding answers, archaeologist Josh Gates sets out to find the truth in the Discovery Channel series "Expedition Unknown." From cryptozoology searches for mythical creatures like Bigfoot to attempting to discover clues linked to the lost city of Atlantis, Gates positions himself as a real-life Indiana Jones. Part globe-trotting history lesson, part debunking widely known myths, "Expedition Unknown" provides a fun twist on international travel off the beaten path. As an immensely popular show, "Expedition Unknown" has spawned several spinoff specials, miniseries, and after shows as Gates widens his worldwide search for truth.

"Expedition Unknown" is currently available to stream on Discovery+ and  Max and is available to purchase or rent through most online retailers.

7. Dark Tourist

Not every tourist is going to check out conventional art museums or major family-friendly attractions in their voyages around the world. The Netflix original series "Dark Tourist" offers travelers a chance to check out the more off-beat elements of local cultures, sometimes venturing into the outright macabre. Hosted by journalist David Farrier, "Dark Tourist" visits the purportedly haunted areas of major cities and tourism sites capitalizing on local tragedies and notorious figures around the world. From exploring irradiated sites to touring museums dedicated to infamous serial killers, "Dark Tourist" certainly isn't every traveler's cup of tea by the way it provides a morbid twist on the genre.

"Dark Tourist" is currently available to stream on Netflix .

6. The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Celebrated documentarian Ken Burns, who has crafted documentary series chronicling numerous elements of American culture and history, turned his attention to the country's national parks. The 2009 six-episode miniseries "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" recounts the history behind the parks and how they each capture the stirring beauty of the United States. From the enduring legacy of John Muir to the evolution of the National Park Service, "The National Parks" is a must-watch for anyone planning to visit the natural wonders nationwide. Universally acclaimed, "The National Parks" won two Emmy Awards, with critics praising how the documentary series presented the parks as a gorgeous extension of the national identity.

Released with a companion book expanding its story, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" is currently available to stream on PBS with WOSU Passport and Prime Video with PBS Documentaries.

5. The Grand Tour

After being ousted from hosting "Top Gear," Jeremy Clarkson and his co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May took their globe-trotting automobile expertise to Prime Video for "The Grand Tour" (via Variety ). Retaining much of the format from their previous work together on "Top Gear," "The Grand Tour" has participants travel to different destinations using an impressive array of cars. From Cambodia to Madagascar, "The Grand Tour" showcases thrilling routes and cars, backed by the hosts' irascible wit. The Independent's positive review of "The Grand Tour" praised the show as distilling the best elements from "Top Gear" while boasting a significantly larger production budget.

With jaw-dropping destinations and high-octane action, "The Grand Tour" is currently available to stream on Prime Video .

4. Passport with Samantha Brown

Television personality Samantha Brown has built an impressive empire of travel shows on a number of platforms. One of Brown's most enduring lines of programming to date is "Passport," which sees Brown extensively explore different regions around the world for the ultimate experience. Starting with 2004's "Passport to Europe," Brown launched several different shows, taking her informative style to examine Latin America, China, and eco-friendly tourism. Brown's "Passport to Europe" won a Daytime Emmy Award while the subsequent "Passport to Latin America" was nominated for an Emmy, as a testament to Brown's eye for entertainment and educational quality. 

Brown's "Passport" series are currently available to stream on Discovery+ .

3. Anthony Bourdain: The Layover

As someone who hosted travel shows since 2002, Anthony Bourdain has experienced a lot of extended layovers and quick detours between trips to larger destinations. This premise of enjoying a locale on a tight turnaround time drives the core premise behind his Travel Channel series "The Layover." With only 24-48 hours in each location, Bourdain enjoys as much of the tourist-oriented and locally authentic experiences as he can before departing once more. A more tightly paced approach to Bourdain's usual travel fare, "The Layover" still finds the time to provide an informative look at different city cultures all over the globe. 

Invaluable for those looking to make the most of their time on a tight schedule, "Anthony Bourdain: The Layover" is available to stream on Discovery+ , along with purchase and rent options on most digital platforms.

2. Rick Steves' Europe

Perhaps the gold standard in public broadcasting produced travel shows, "Rick Steves' Europe" follows travel author and television personality Rick Steves as he explores cities in Europe. Running from 2000 to 2021, Steves not only shares the biggest cultural landmarks and defining fare in each destination, but he provides audiences with valuable travel tips along the way. More than simply focusing on the biggest tourist spots, like London and Paris, Steves adds plenty of overlooked getaways, including Slovenia and Oslo. With a steady hand and wealth of knowledge, Steves has provided his even-keeled traveler wisdom to those interested in visiting Europe for decades.

"Rick Steves' Europe" is currently available to stream on the show's website , PBS with WOSU Passport, Prime Video , and Tubi .

1. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Television personality Anthony Bourdain's final travel show was "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," which ran for 12 seasons on CNN from 2013 to 2018. Though "Parts Unknown" certainly retains the focus on local cuisine prominent in Bourdain's past travel shows, the CNN series weaves in more sociopolitical commentary in examining its locales. The series came to an abrupt end  following Bourdain's tragic death , with the remaining episodes becoming a tribute to the late host and his unique worldview. Led by Bourdain's insightful and incisive perspective on the places he visited around the world, "Parts Unknown” was widely acclaimed and won numerous Emmy Awards across its run. More than just a show about food and culture, "Parts Unknown" examines the overlooked qualities of its destinations and what brings people together on a universal level.

Available to purchase on most digital retailers, "Parts Unknown" is also available to stream on Max and Discovery+ .

Our ranking methodology

Everyone has that one show they're connected to, whether popular or not. "Best" is always subjective, and your all-time favorite series may not even be something someone else knows exists. That doesn't mean it's any less valid, though. We've tried to keep our personal opinions from this list and instead relied on more tangible elements when compiling our rankings. You'll find some of the most beloved, compelling, and critically acclaimed travel shows — and some you may have never heard of.

A travel show's host can be as important as the places traveled. There's a reason why Anthony Bourdain will always appear on lists like this one. His captivating storytelling capabilities and genuinely raw nature make for compelling TV that viewers resonate with. This kind of grab power shows up throughout our list of picks, with the face and voice of a program helping to boost some of the programs in our rankings.

We've considered the likability of the shows chosen here by scouring reviews from multiple sources, like Reddit, Rotten Tomatoes, and IMDb. We've also factored in the number of seasons and any accolades a show may have been given. A lack of awards certainly doesn't dull a hidden gem's luster, though, so don't be surprised that many shows featured here have gone under the award committees' radar.

• Entertainment

The best travel shows to watch now

Travel shows on the BBC

Oceans apart: art and the pacific with james fox.

BBC Four, Monday 22nd August, 8pm

Dr James Fox takes a closer look at how the West’s contact with the people of the Pacific impacted them, from the perspective of an art historian. He explores subjects such as Australian Aboriginal art, and how the native people have told the story of colonization through painting.

Rap Trip: Underground Scenes Uncovered

BBC Three, Thursdays at 11pm

Catch up on BBC iPlayer

Take a tour of the UK through the lens of hip-hop, from Liverpool, to Ireland, to Yorkshire. The rap scene may be associated with London due to the huge success of artists like Stormzy and Wiley, but the further from the capital you go the more unique and diverse the genre gets…

Monty Don's Japanese Gardens

BBC Four, Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd of August, 7pm

Join Britain’s favourite TV gardener as he takes a trip to Japan, exploring their approach to horticulture. In episode one Monty takes a closer look at zen gardens, learning about their history and spiritual significance.

Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures

BBC Two, Starts Thursday 11th August, 7pm

Not only will Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull take you on an eccentric tour of the Uk, but their focus on Victorian era inventions will teach you a thing or two about history! Join the duo as they follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, figure out their latitude using just a compass and the north star, and investigate the world of cement.

Treasures of the Indus

Sona Datta tells the story of the Indian subcontinent, using her knowledge as a curator at the British museum to illustrate the history with significant objects. The area is one of cultural and religious diversity, with a rich and storied past.

Travel shows on ITV 

Gordon, gino and fred: road trip.

Join superstar chef Gordon Ramsay, Italian chef Gino D’Acampo and French maître d’ Fred Sirieix as they take road trips across the world to discover the best delicacies and entertainment on offer. In series two they travel from Mexico across the USA, experiencing everything from Texan steaks to goat yoga in San Francisco. Catch up on all three seasons on the ITVX.

Judi Dench's Wild Borneo Adventure

Judi Dench proves that you can’t tame a Dame, as she delves into Borneo’s rainforest headfirst. Judi explores the significance of the rainforest, from the animals to the plants to the people, and shows us why it’s so important to protect it.

All Around Britain

Hosts Ria and Alex spend time in every nook and cranny of Britain, going on a wide range of adventures such as sailing through Birmingham, getting involved in rugby and trying their hands at motor racing.

Travel shows on Channel 4

Trip hazard: my great british adventure, season 2.

Channel 4, Starts Tuesday 23rd August, 10pm

Catch up on series 1 on All 4

Join comedian Rosie Jones as she takes her guests on an unconventional tour of the UK, celebrating the sights, culture and traditions of areas that are sometimes overlooked. Narrated by Olivia Colman in season 1, season 2 kicks of with Joanna Lumley on narration and AJ Odudu as the first guest. Catch up on season one with All 4.

Britain by Beach, Season 2

Channel 4, Starts Saturday 20th August, 8pm

The UK may not be known for its white, sandy beaches, but Anita Rani is setting out to show the beauty of the British seaside, pebbles and all. Season two starts out taking a tour of the Cornish coastline, with 420 miles of it to be getting on with. Catch up on season one with All4.

Travel shows on Channel 5

First class vs economy: is it worth it.

Channel 5, Sunday 21st August, 6:45pm

Get an insight into how the other half live, as Nigel Havers and Sally Lindsay fly from Heathrow to Washington DC with both First Class and Economy tickets. See for yourself what perks a First-Class ticket will get you on British Airways, and whether you think it’s worth the cash…

The Pyrenees with Michael Portillo

Channel 5, Starts Tuesday 23rd August, 9pm

Michael Portillo is walking the length of the Pyrenees, starting at the Bay of Biscay in the west, all the way to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the east. Along his journey, Michael will stop and meet the locals who live along the mountain range, and experience life from their point-of-view.

A Greek Odyssey with Bettany Hughes

Catch up on My5

Start planning a legendary trip around Greece by following author and historian Bettany Hughes as she follows in the footsteps of Odysseus around the gorgeous Greek islands. You can catch up with all six episodes on My5 and whisk yourself away to a romantic paradise, all while learning about the remarkable history and mythology of the area. Feeling intrigued? Find out more about this spectacular voyage from Bettany Hughes herself in our exclusive interview with her about the trip. 

Travel shows on UKTV

Ricky & ralf's very northern road trip.

Catch up on UKTV Play

Stars of the classic sitcom The Royle Family, Ricky Tomlinson and Ralf Little, reunite to explore the northern England together. Nothing is off limits, as they visit factories, curry houses, and lakes, as well as looking back on their 20 year-long friendship.

Travel shows on Netflix

The worlds most amazing vacation rentals.

Don’t limit yourself to staying at hotels next time you go on holiday…. Hosts Jo Franco, Megan Batoon, and Luis Ortiz travel the world staying in unique rentals, all at different price points and styles. Luis is a fan of the bougie, Megan loves a bargain and Jo has an eye for the wacky, so there is something for everyone.

Magical Andes

The Andes are much more than a geographical phenomenon to those who live there, it’s their home. In 10 episodes, this show explores the unique lives of various people who live on the Andes and surrounding areas, stretching across South America, from Argentina to Columbia.

Dark Tourist 

This isn’t your average all-inclusive getaway. Join journalist  David Farrier  as he ventures around the world to some of the most unusual and dark tourist spots around. From a nuclear lake to haunted forests, if you like your travel with a side of danger, this is the travel show for you.    

Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father 

Who doesn’t love an odd couple? Follow comedian  Jack Whitehall  as he travels the world with his stuffy father. As they travel through Southeast Asia, Europe and the U.S.A. trying to strengthen their bond with unique and unusual experiences, this travel show will make you laugh as much as it’ll make you want to pack your bags and head abroad.  

Tales by Light 

Follow photographers and filmmakers as they travel the world capturing stunning images of remarkable people, places, cultures and wildlife. See the world from new and vibrant angles through the eyes of photographers and discover new stories in this eye-opening travel documentary.  

Keep stopping back to find new travel shows which will whisk you away somewhere new and exotic whenever your wanderlust is calling. PLUS, find out what else is  new on TV  and check out our top picks in the  Showcase .  

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The Travel Sisters

Best travel shows to watch right now (on tv, netflix, amazon prime & other streaming services).

by The Travel Sisters | Oct 20, 2020 | Travel Inspiration | 3 comments

And if you are looking for more travel related things to watch, here is a list of the best travel movies of all time .

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Best Travel Shows and Series

Best Travel Shows on Netflix

The following travel shows and series are available on Netflix only.

Ugly Delicious

Recommended by Stephanie from Explore More Clean Less

Ugly Delicious is a relatively new food focused travel show that follows celebrity chef David Chang, founder of Momofuku, as he explores both across the United States and internationally. The episodes are loose and casual, showing Chang investigating the history of different regional cuisines and food rivalries. His guests range widely including other chefs, writers, actors, and artists, but they tend to share similar air time to the restaurant owners and people off the street. The focus blurs between culture and personal, feeling like you’re the fly on a wall while interesting people who love food hang out and chat about it. There’s no way to watch it and not be itching to travel to a new region and try some of the foods they highlight!

Travels With My Father

Recommended by Lee from The Travel Scribes

From the moment they touchdown in Bangkok, Thailand and make their way to the famous Khao San Road, the Netflix series Travels with my Father  will capture your heart, and tickle your funny bone.

Chronicling the experiences of British father and son duo, Jack and Michael Whitehall, this laugh a minute series not only showcases some of the globe’s most famous destinations but features the offbeat, slightly sarcastic relationship between Jack, a 30-something comedian still longing for his backpacker days and Michael, his elderly ever-suffering dad. The drama (and the giggles) are mostly driven by the vastly different travel styles of the two: Jack, the singlet and loud shorts-wearing millennial who is most comfortable in questionable hostels and eating street food and Michael, a slightly uptight luxury traveller who insists on wearing his ‘Sunday best’ on the streets of Southeast Asia and checking into five star hotels.

The show, now in its third season, sees the unlikely pair traverse the globe with jaunts in South East Asia, Europe and, more recently, a tour of the USA. This is must-watch viewing for anyone who loves British comedy and travel, in each measure.

Somebody Feed Phil

Recommended by Amber from Food And Drink Destinations

From the creator of the hit comedy series, Everyone Loves Raymond, comes the Netflix food travel series, Somebody Feed Phil. Following the culinary journeys of Phil Rosenthal, Somebody Feed Phil presents food travel from the “average” travelers perspective. Phil is by no means a food professional like Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmern. Phil is an easy going family man who just happens to LOVE food. Over 2 seasons and 12 episodes, Phil with his mall crew, including his brother, travel to some of the best food destinations around the world. Phil’s childlike enthusiasm for each new destination, cuisine and culinary experience is priceless. His inquisitive nature and ability to connect with people makes Somebody Feed Phil a one of a kind culinary travel show. For those interested in traveling for food, Somebody Feed Phil attempts to alleviate the fear of trying the local food. It’s certainly worth watching. Netflix has also previously announced a season 3 with episodes scheduled to air sometime in 2020.

Dark Tourist

Recommended by Martha from Quirky Globetrotter

Nowadays, travel is often painted as an Instagrammable pastime. Yet, there is a surge of tourists who are looking for quite the opposite and want to see the not-so-glamorous parts of the world. We’re not talking off the beaten path. We’re talking more about what happens behind closed doors and what rumors try to speculate. The trend of traveling and diving into the taboo and unknown comes to life in the Netflix show, “ Dark Tourist .”

Whether it’s visiting radioactive nuclear sites or learning about gruesome assassinations, it’s the sense of forbiddenness or coveted secrets that these tourists ache for. Have you ever wondered why people are so enthralled by serial killer documentaries? The same thrill takes place in these destinations. (Don’t worry, there’s a Jeffrey Dahmer tour for you true crime aficionados.) Dark tourism profits off exposing the occult or veiled history of these locales.

Recommended by Laura from What’s Hot?

Our Planet is one of David Attenborough’s latest documentary series and was made directly for Netflix. Like all his other series, this one is beautifully shot, highly informative and well-loved by all the family. What sets One Planet apart from some of the others however is the focus upon how human life and global warming are destroying these natural havens. Attenborough takes us to some of the most beautiful and peaceful places on Earth before showing us the tragic consequences that have left other, similar areas barren wastelands.

Alternating between land and sea, you’ll go to the desert, the depths of the ocean, the jungles and the coast. This is an important one for avid travellers because it will jointly inspires us to travel more of the world’s secluded locations but also to do so in a way which doesn’t disturb our planet.

Emily in Paris

Recommended by Matilda

Emily in Paris is about a young American woman who lands a job in a Parisian marketing firm. The show was created by the same person as Sex and The City and has a similar vibe only instead of New York heavily features Paris. It is fun, somewhat campy and an easy watch. While I wouldn’t recommend it as an entirely accurate portrayal of French culture, the scenery is absolutely beautiful and reminds me why Paris is one of my all-time favorite cities.

Best Travel Shows on TV, Amazon Prime Video and Other Streaming Services

The following travel shows and series are available on TV, Amazon Prime Video and/or various streaming services (such as Hulu).

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An Idiot Abroad

Recommended by Haley Plotkin, Ready Set Jet Set

An Idiot Abroad is a hysterical British travel docu-series following Karl Pilkington, a man that one could call an “idiot savant”. What everyone has to know about Karl is, he really does not like to travel. Knowing this, his friends Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who one may know as famous British comedic actors, send Karl on epic adventures all across the world, with some twists and pranks along the way. These are the kind of trips that most people would kill for, but to Karl, he’d rather be home with a cup of tea. One of the highlights of the show is the Karl-isms along the way, such as: “The Great Pyramid is overrated. It’s a bad design. The lounge is going to be huge, but the bedroom is going to be tiny.” This is really not your typical travel show, and that’s what makes it a must-watch!

Where to Watch: This show is a few years old, so it is not currently airing anywhere in the US (it was created for Sky TV in the UK). In the US, you can buy it digitally on platforms such as Amazon Prime , Vudu , and iTunes .

The Layover

Recommended by Paula Morgan from Expert Abroad

The Layover was just one of the many travel shows that featured everyone’s favourite food traveller Anthony Bourdain. It aired for three seasons between 2011-2013 and after watching the very first episode on a 48-hour visit to New York it will likely change the way you travel forever.

No longer will you book the fastest trip to your destination. A stopover is not viewed as a hardship it is now something to embrace. The series covered 20 cities and racing against the clock Bourdain showed the audience the best things to eat, see and do, usually with a knowledgeable local as his sidekick.

The pace at times seems a little exhausting and you may not manage to cover as much in your 24 hours as the pro’s do but they make it easy for you to pick a few things for your next visit.

The team covered almost all of the main transit hubs across Asia, Europe and the USA including Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and NYC. Next time you find a cheap flight because of a long stopover check the series list and start making some plans.

Where to Watch: You can watch The Layover on Amazon Prime or The Travel Channel . Some episodes are also on YouTube .

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Recommended by Arrianne Guzman from Travel Habeat

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown is a travel and food show featuring an amazing chef exploring destinations less traveled by. As it inspires you to explore off-the-beaten paths, you’ll delve into intricate cultures, rich history, and beautiful people. You’d realize that a dish is more than what goes in a plate, it’s about tradition, heritage, and way of living. Catch Anthony tries a delectable Filipino dish called sisig and a scrumptious dessert fondly named “halo-halo” while grasping how the Philippines spend an extended Christmas season. Unravel with him the complicated past of Koreatown in Los Angeles and see what it was like to grow up Korean American. Or maybe you’d agree with him how a salad of fermented tea leaves can taste good in Myanmar.

Where to Watch: An original CNN series, it is available in digital media platforms including Amazon Prime , iTunes, and Vudu .

Expedition Unknown

Recommended by Albi from Ginger Around the Globe

Expedition Unknown is a TV show that will sparkle the heart of every traveler, who loves history. Josh Gates will take you around the globe and at the same time, you will see him and other archeologists, solving ancient mysteries. You will get to know about Kruger treasure, where is the tomb of last Inka king and more Indiana Jones mysteries like this. So you will see all kinds of places and at the same time, know their history and local culture. It is very informative, fun and wanderlusty.

Where to Watch: You can watch the show on the Discovery Channel or on the Travel Channel . If you prefer streaming services, you can also find the show on Hulu or Amazon Prime Video .

Rick Steves Travel Series

Recommended by Noel Morata from Travel Photo Discovery

One of my favorite travel shows that turned me onto traveling was watching the PBS travel programs with Rick Steve’s. Primarily focused on travels in Europe, Rick Steve’s showcased an amazing series of places to visit around Europe and each lovely country. He initially visits a destination and hops around with a local expert to show the highlights, enjoy some local food and drink and see some cultural treasures along with connecting with locals, merchants and everyday people. It makes it so fascinating to watch his programs and really shows audiences the connection with people, place, culture and food makes traveling to Europe so wonderful and fun. Rick Steve’s has created a lot of guide books about individual countries that you can purchase or just watch his TV series on PBS for inspiration for planning a trip to a specific country in Europe that has always been on your bucklist of places to visit. So if you are looking for inspiration about a particular country with all the bells and whistles of what makes each area so unique and special, check out any of his programs on TV. You’ll be hooked and wanting to binge watch all of his programs in a row.

Where to Watch: On TV at PBS and Amazon Prime Video

Booze Traveler

Recommended by Megan Starr

One of the best shows to watch for those that love combining travel with beverages and food is Booze Traveler, a show by The Travel Channel that showcases a host traveling around the world in search for special alcoholic drinks in countries that he visits. I actually helped with a couple of the episodes back in the day (Lithuania and Armenia ) and it really brought to light how many unique drinks exist in every place that you travel! They travel across the globe from Hawaii to Armenia to Nepal and beyond. It is a really refreshing show!

Where to Watch: The best way to watch Booze Traveler is to catch reruns on-demand from The Travel Channel in the US. You can watch it on Amazon Prime Video .

Recommended by Coni from Experiencing the Globe

Three Canadian friends decide to leave the Great White North behind and explore the world. They pack a bag, say goodbye to friends and family, and off they go. The initial plan is to spend a year traveling, but it quickly transforms into three whole years.

They spend a month in India, another in Japan, another in New Zealand. As they start feeling more comfortable on the road, the push their own boundaries and head to tougher destinations, like Libya and North Korea. They explore Greenland during winter, meet ancient tribes in Papua New Guinea and travel across the different scientific bases of Antarctica .

It’s impossible not to get inspired with the tons of wanderlust Departure sends our way.

Where to Watch: Available on Apple iTunes and Hoopla .

James May: Our Man in Japan

Recommended by Emma from Emma Jane Explores

Top Gear’s James May might seem like a strange choice for a travel show host, but the bumbling Englishman is an endearing host as he takes viewers on a comprehensive trip around Japan from North to South. Always happy to throw himself into any bizarre situation, Our Man in Japan sees May participate in all sorts of activities from dog sledding in Hokkaido to painting Mount Fuji with a renowned Japanese artist. Streaming on Amazon Prime, Our Man in Japan covers a whole lot of unique quirks that make the country a must-travel destination for all kinds of traveller types. Whether you’re a first timer to Japan or a serial visitor, Our Man in Japan will make you all kinds of eager to get back over to the land of the rising sun soon.

Where to Watch: You can watch on Amazon Prime Video only.

Planet Earth

Recommended by Roshni from The Wanderlust Within

The award-winning, BBC documentary series, Planet Earth was first shown in 2006. It took four years to film, using 71 cameramen in 64 different countries. The series was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC and the first to be filmed in high definition. The 11 episode series is narrated by David Attenborough and celebrates the natural world in a way you’ve never seen it before. Each episode features a different biome or habitat on Earth and lasts 50 minutes plus an extra 10 minutes of behind the scenes footage showing the challenges of filming the episode.

Ten years after the first series, Planet Earth II was released showing how animals meet the challenges of surviving in the most iconic habitats on earth. A third sequel is planned to air in 2022.

Where to Watch: All 11 episodes of Planet Earth , and all 6 episodes of Planet Earth II are available for streaming on BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.

Samantha Brown: Places to Love

Recommended by Francesca Makana of Homeroomtravel

Samantha Brown has been an icon in the travel world for my entire life. Back in the day, she was best known for her Passport series . Present-day she hosts Samantha Brown: Places to Love. In this show, Brown showcases some lesser-known destinations, like the Texas Hill Country, and covers things to do in that area. Although she does still cover larger, well-known cities, such as Shanghai, she will not just list the main tourist sites. Instead, she interacts with the locals and finds unique things to do in that location.

Where to Watch: Viewers can catch Places to Love on PBS and select episodes on the PBS website .

Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure

Recommended by Emily from Wander-Lush

There are few parts of the world that inspire wanderlust more than Central Asia. In this 2018 miniseries, British actress and supermodel, Joanna Lumley (you may recognize her from the 1990s comedy sitcom Absolutely Fabulous) retraces parts of the fabled Silk Road trading route from the perspective of a tourist.

Over four episodes, she travels from Venice to Uzbekistan via Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, visiting caravanserais, fire temples and bazaars along the way. This series brings to life the cross-pollination of ideas and influences that characterizes this part of the world where East intersects with West.

Lumley’s dry British humor and insatiable curiosity make her a terrific host. Even if you’re never considered visiting Central Asia and the Caucasus before, this series will inspire you to follow the footsteps of Marco Polo on one of the most epic overland journeys of all time.

Where to Watch: Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure is currently available to stream via Amazon Prime UK . Some episodes are also on YouTube .

Recommended by Ruby from A Journey We Love

Travel Man is a 30 minute British TV show hosted by Richard Ayoade shown on Channel 4 (UK). Each week, he travels with someone for a quick getaway (48-72 hours) and breaks down tourist sites, what to eat, facts about the city and banters around with his co-presenter for the week. For people living abroad, you can watch some of the shows on Channel 4’s website, and there are also full episodes available on Travel Man’s official YouTube channel . What makes the show interesting is that the host, Richard Ayoade, is not a big traveler nor is he a big fan of trying new things. It makes for a great perspective on how to plan quick weekend getaways for those who are planning trips with people who don’t like to travel and how to make it interesting for them. It also makes the series very funny because watching the host’s reactions and monologues is absolutely priceless.

Where to Watch: For people living abroad, you can watch some of the shows on Channel 4’s website, and there are also full episodes available on Travel Man’s official YouTube channel . You can also find episodes on Amazon Prime Video .

The Amazing Race

Recommended by us

The Amazing Race is our favorite travel show and we have been watching it from the beginning. The American reality competition show has aired 32 seasons on CBS since its premiere in 2001. If you enjoy the drama of reality competition shows and are also a travel lover then you will love The Amazing Race . Each season takes place in a few different countries and in total The Amazing Race has visited over 90 different countries and six continents. Teams of two people (usually couples, friends, or family members) race around the world, solving clues and completing tasks and challenges along the way. Relationships are tested and there are sometimes arguments between teammates and with other teams. The last team to finish each leg is eliminated until three teams race to the finish line in order to win $1 million. Fun fact: We actually applied to be on the show as a sisters team (more than ten years ago and long before we started this blog) but alas we were not chosen!

Where to Watch: You can stream old seasons of the Amazing Race on CBS All Access , Amazon Prime Video and various streaming services such as Hulu .

Did your favorite travel show or series make the list?

Some good recommendations on this list for sure. James May also has some other travel shows that can be found on Netflix, Youtube, etc. Although it’s a Vlog and not a true TV show I would add Kara and Nate’s Vlog show from Youtube. They have visited over a 100 countries and it’s one of the best. If you’ve never watched them, just start with their first show and binge watch it through to today.

Thanks for the suggestion. Will check them out!

I’ll recommend a few new ones. AppleTV has “Long Way Up” from the “Long Way Down” and “Long Way Around” fame. Actor Ewan McGregor and his friend, Charley Boorman from the tip of South America to Los Angeles on electric Harley Davidson motorcycles. I pretty much hate AppleTV+ but this show is so very good. You might check out Max&Lee on Youtube which has recently continued on with Max&Occy. This is one of many Vanlife travel vlogs but it’s better than most. Start at the beginning with Max & Lee and work your way forward for good binge-watching. I will also add in a bonus travel vlog from YouTube and that is Sergio & Rhoda in Isreal. This couple travels around Isreal and shows details about various historical sites with a local flair. Very interesting for those that enjoy this region.

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Haven’t we suffered enough from male celeb travel shows? Bradley Walsh in Mexico was a dark moment

British tv is currently overwhelmed by series starring celebrities – among them gordon ramsay, clive myrie, keith lemon and bradley walsh – embarking on globetrekking odysseys for free, writes adam white . when will it stop.

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S top! You there! Are you a man of a certain age who enjoys staring off into the middle distance? Do you wish to exhibit your mid-life male bonafides but wish not to merely stuff a sock down the front of your trousers and call it a day? Were you also very famous 10 or 15 years ago? The navel-gazing travel show may just be the answer for you.

Throw a dart at a copy of the Radio Times and you will inevitably land on one of numerous new holiday programmes presented by celebrities with no discernible interest in food, drink and tourism beyond “I like doing it”. Keith Lemon and Will Mellor drove cars in Albania. Mark Wright went to Snowdonia. Martin Compston took skiing lessons in Oslo. Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo and Fred Sirieix have road-tripped through France, Scotland, Finland and Greece. Italy has come under sustained attack: Clive Myrie made tiramisu there, Strictly ’s Giovanni Pernice and Anton Du Beke raced each other in three-wheeled taxis in Sicily, Danny Dyer and his daughter Dani have sampled the country’s eateries (“Not as good as Pizza Hut,” the older Dyer grumbled). Between all of this and Brexit, Europe surely has even more reason to despise us.

These programmes are full of wide-angle drone shots and confected drama, usually involving flat tyres or heavy wind. The starry friendships seem confected much of the time, too. Martin Clunes and Mel Giedroyc roaming Britain? Amanda Holden and Alan Carr building a house together? By the time I witnessed Ruby Wax, Emily Atack and Mel B climbing a mountain for BBC One, I was convinced I’d begun hallucinating. Next week sees the BBC insisting upon even more Giovanni and Anton, this time for Adventures in Spain . Haven’t we – and the poor, defenceless locals of these places, frankly – suffered enough?

This is not, surprisingly, a new phenomenon. In the halcyon days of Michael Palin doing a bit of trainspotting or trekking across the Himalayas, the BBC commissioned any number of Palin-alikes to do much the same. Remember Joanna Lumley stuck on a beach? Or Sue Johnston’s journey to Tibet? In the mid-Noughties, a motorcycle-riding Ewan McGregor basically invented the concept of handsome celebrities slathering themselves in muck and getting lost in the wilderness. The strained, brawny odysseys of Bear Grylls and his metaphorical cubs – see Zac Efron’s Down to Earth , or don’t because it was abysmal – came later.

That said, it is undeniable that the number of these kinds of shows has ramped up in recent years. It may have something to do with the depressing success of Jack Whitehall’s Travels with My Father , in which the plummy comic journeyed across the world with his dad, scenes of absolutely side-splitting casual racism coming thick and fast. Or programme commissioners completely missed the irony of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s mortifying meta-comedy The Trip and screamed: “More of that! But less fun!”

Outside of a few of these shows that are genuinely quite lovely – the gentle, dad-joke meander that is Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing , for example, remains this genre’s gold standard – the results are typically rotten. Wit and curiosity are sacrificed at the altar of mindless bants. Enthusiasm for different cultures, or Anthony Bourdain-like charm – gosh, his Parts Unknown food and travel series was brilliant – are swapped out for macho competitiveness and faux language-barrier hijinks. Many are mere variations on The Grand Tour , only with slightly prettier people.

They’re also incredibly male. And seemingly by design. In 2019, the comedian London Hughes sparked justifiable bafflement when she revealed on Twitter that she and Whoopi Goldberg could not, for the life of them, get a channel to commission a show in which they did everything from travelling to Ibiza to sitting in a caravan “making sausages”, adding: “It’s me and Whoopi Goldberg, who wouldn’t want to watch that?”

A number of female comedians replied to Hughes’s tweet, saying they’d also struggled to get a foothold in the “funny people going on holiday for the telly” genre, including Gina Yashere and Meera Syal. If Holidaying with Jane McDonald is anything to go by, I don’t believe more female representation in these shows will necessarily boost their quality. But if broadcasters insist on commissioning celebrity holiday crud, at least make it equal opportunity celebrity holiday crud.

Better than that, though, why not just cease most of these things altogether? Holidays are becoming more and more expensive, with Tui revealing last summer that prices had risen on average by 27 per cent since 2019 . It means it’s increasingly icky to watch the already wealthy embark on free vacations on behalf of creatively bankrupt TV channels; stars larking about experiencing far-away destinations that many can only ever dream of. Isn’t there something a bit bleak about that?

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There’s little sign of this trend coming to a close, though. And if you thought the genre’s nadir was Bradley Walsh encountering Mexico’s most dangerous bats with his aspiring TV personality son Barney – think an evil Roman Kemp – then you are wrong. Currently in production by ITV is a show in which Gary Barlow ventures across South Africa to learn about wines. Which is somewhat apt because who wouldn’t want to hit the bottle after witnessing the world’s most boring man “learning about the variety of grapes”. Scintillating!

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The 9 Best Travel Documentary Series Worth Watching

I love travelling and I love watching documentaries so put the two together and it’s a match made in heaven. I can be transported away from the comfort of my living room and see places that I hope I will be able to travel to one day! If you want to do the same then carry on reading to discover my best travel documentary series worth watching (and if there’s any others that you’d suggest I watch next, please let me know in the comments!).

The best travel documentary series I would recommend

Dark Tourist – Netflix

I had to include a Dark Tourist review as I love that this series is a new take on travel – it explores the premise of dark tourism, visiting places that are associated with death and/or tragedy (although strangely the theme tune is quite upbeat!). My favourite episode is the one in Japan, where David Ferrier visits areas with high radiation following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, as well as Aokigahara Forest which is a well-documented suicide spot, and the abandoned Hashima Island (pictured above). The whole episode is intriguing and eerie, and the rest of the series is very interesting too. I really enjoyed it and David Ferrier is very likeable, so I can only hope for a Dark Tourist season 2.

Travel Man – Channel 4

What I like about this series is that it focuses on spending 48 hours in a city, so it’s quite fast paced and gives you an oversight of the best things to do if you have a limited amount of time in a location. Richard Ayoade is rather quirky and a bit awkward, and it’s funny watching him interact with a different celebrity guest on each episode. There are 9 series so far and there’s lots of episodes I am yet to see, however all of the episodes I have seen have been based in European cities. I think that is why I enjoy it as I find it quite relatable, I’ve been on several short breaks away in Europe and I like to do my research and get inspiration of places to go in advance, and this gives some great ideas.

Cruising with Jane McDonald – Channel 5

My parents and I love to watch Jane McDonald – she has such a fun and warm personality and some of her reactions to things make us all laugh. In fact we love watching her so much that my Dad will regularly text me to tell me when an episode is about to start! She has made a lot of different programmes, but in my opinion the best travel documentary series by her is Cruising with Jane McDonald. Not only do you get to see all the amazing destinations she goes to, but you get to tour around the different cruise ships as well. I have only been on a cruise ship once, but it was an experience I will never forget. She goes on cruises all over the world, so there’s destinations to suit every viewer’s interests. I recently read that she had left the series but that lockdown has made her re-evaluate and that she will now be making them again – hoping that’s true!

Joanna Lumley’s Japan – ITV / Amazon Prime

Joanna has done a range of different travel series, however I enjoyed Japan the most as it has always been somewhere that has interested me (probably why I loved the Dark Tourist episode on Japan so much too) and she shows rural Japan, not just the well-known places like Tokyo. For me the main draw with her programmes is how she comes across – her soft spoken manner, the way she can romantisise anything – she just seems like a delight to meet and I find her quite mesmorising! Sadly I don’t think this is available on the ITV Hub (some of her other series definitely are though), it is on Amazon now but that does involve paying for it if you’re not a Prime subscriber.

Travels with my Father – Netflix

One of my favourite Netflix series, this sees comedian Jack Whitehall and his dad Michael travel to various places around the world. I was a fan of Jack anyway but I love watching the father and son dynamic between them, and there are lots of laugh out loud moments. There was one episode in Las Vegas which will always stay with me though, where Jack and his dad have a heart to heart and he says to his dad “home is wherever you are” – cue emotional crying from me. Series 4 got released a few weeks ago and has gone straight on my must-watch list (I would have started it sooner but I’m halfway through about four different programmes right now!). Travels with my Father is the perfect mixture of a travel documentary series with comedy and heartfelt family moments thrown in.

Gordon, Gino, and Fred: Road Trip – ITV

For anyone who hasn’t heard of this previously, there are two series so far where chefs Gordon Ramsay and Gino D’Acampo, and French maître d’hôtel, Fred Sirieix, go on road trips together. They all have such different personalities yet somehow make the best of friends and have lots of funny moments. In the first series they go to their home countries of Italy, France and Scotland, and in the second series they go to Mexico and the US. A third series was due this year but has been postponed due to Covid. As they all have jobs related to cooking and hospitality, there is a big focus on them trying out food and drink as well as cooking themselves, so it is a great choice for foodies who like to explore the local cuisines of the places they travel to.

An Idiot Abroad – Sky One / Amazon Prime

These series are quite old now (2010-2012) but are still some of the funniest things I’ve ever watched so I had to include them in my best travel documentary series list. I think at some points I even cried from laughter as I just adore Karl Pilkington and his dry sense of humour so much! They originally aired on Sky, but I think are only available on Amazon now. Series 1 focuses on the seven wonders of the world, Series 2 is about bucket list activities, and Series 3 ‘The Short Way Round’ sees him travelling with Warwick Davis. You get to see lots of well-known destinations, but the uniqueness of An Idiot Abroad is him sharing his blunt opinions, often with a deadpan expression. He has some hilarious catch-ups with Ricky Gervais on the phone too, and all in all, I would just recommend watching anything that features Karl Pilkington!

The Kindness Diaries – Netflix

I have only seen Season 2 of this which starts with Leon Logothetis in Alaska, who has no money and no food, only a VW Beetle. He wants to prove kindness can change the world, by travelling all the way to Argentina with only help from strangers along the way. He also picks someone in each episode who has touched his heart, and rewards them in some way. It is heartwarming to see evidence that there are still nice people in the world, when there is so much negativity. There is definitely more of a focus on human interaction in this, than the actual travel destinations themselves, but it is a good pick-me-up for days when you feel like the human race is doomed.

Down to Earth – Netflix

This series follows Zac Efron and his friend Darin Olien around the world to check out various sustainability initiatives, as well as sustainable restaurants. When I first started watching the series I thought it was a general travel show, but I loved that it had a big focus on sustainability and it opened my eyes to a lot of initiatives around the world that I didn’t know about. I was so interested by it I wrote a blog post about it which gives you more of an idea of what the series covers, if it sounds like it would be of interest! There has since been another season of Down to Earth, set solely in Australia.

Sophie is a Content & Social Media Manager, and the Founder of Britain and Beyond.

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The best food and travel shows to watch right now

By James Medd

Joanna Lumley’s Home Sweet Home – Travels In My Own Land

Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley has retired the infamous Patsy Stone and gone on to make a string of travel documentaries, flitting from the USA to Japan. Her 2021 series is closer to home as she drives around the UK in an Aston Martin DB5 taking in some of the country’s most popular staycation spots. Episodes include stints on Devon ’s epic moors and Cornwall’s pretty island of St Michael’s Mount, as well as in North Wales, the Peak District and her hometown, London. Available to watch on ITV Hub

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

In this offshoot from his Ugly Delicious show, the preposterously busy David Chang hits the road for four hour-long adventures with comedians. He’s in Vancouver with local lad Seth Rogen, fishing and giggling, getting lost in a maze and above all revelling in the city’s Asian food emporia. Then he’s in Marrakech with Chrissy Teigen and in LA with Lena Waithe before the best of the bunch, visiting Phnom Penh with Kate McKinnon. The Saturday Night Live comic and Ghostbusters actor is charming, open and interested in everything around her as they talk Buddhism, ride helicopters and tuk-tuks, and dig surprisingly deep into the issues of a rapidly changing country. Streaming on Netflix

Conan Without Borders

This really is something different. For those outside of the USA, chat-show host Conan O’Brien is very much an unknown quantity, and this show may well be equally baffling: it’s a travel programme but directed primarily for laughs and with the reaction of a studio audience added as if it’s an in-show segment. We get Conan being tall, zany and actually pretty witty in the usual places Americans are interested in: Cuba, Korea, Mexico, Israel, Haiti and Italy. Don’t expect to get all the references but give it a go. Streaming on Netflix

Frankie Boyle’s Tour of Scotland

Well, he’s certainly mellowed. Once the scourge of tabloid and liberal broadsheet alike, the comic has revealed more humanity as his face has been ever more hidden under a beard. He’s still sharp, as the introduction shows – ‘There comes a time in every comedian’s career when they decide to do travelogues,’ he tells us – though this is much richer than the sitcom-character-goes-to-Africa formula we’re used to. Over four episodes, each given a very loose theme, he enjoys Scotland’s camera-friendliness – the coast, moors and monumental architecture – and meets a parade of eccentric locals. His secret weapon is asking unusual questions, ensuring a wide range of subjects: one episode alone covers Mary Queen of Scots, martial arts, protests and funfairs. Be warned: contains adult content and sarcasm. Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Great Railway Journeys

Want to take the train but can’t face Michael Portillo and his range of bright slacks? Now’s the time to dive into iPlayer, then, as the Tory grandee’s monopoly on rail travel falls off the rotation, leaving this multi-presenter series from 1994. Follow the lovely Michael Palin to Ireland and the awkwardly charming Clive Anderson to China, and watch ballerina Natalia Makarova take on her native Russia and the great BBC correspondent Mark Tully head to India. Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Griff’s Great Australian Adventure

Despite an unpromising start – do we need a TV comic to tell us that ‘this is a big place’, or that he’s about to embark on ‘the journey of a lifetime’? – this is well worth your time. Griff Rhys Jones travels around the great southern land by train, packing a great deal into his 30-minute episodes. Along with crocs, sheep-shearing, gold-prospecting and whitewater-rafting, he joins the drag scene in Broken Hill, digs into the poetry of the Outback and hitches a ride with a Flying Doctor. Throughout, he transcends the formula by being well-informed and showing an interest in people. Streaming on ITV Hub

My Greek Odyssey

If you enjoyed the last season of The Trip but felt there was too much competitive banter and not enough Greek scenery, then this is for you. Be warned, however, that host Peter Maneas is a character beyond even the imaginings of Steve Coogan: a full-on Aussie of Hellenic extraction, he’s colourful, exuberant and generally not backward in coming forward, all to the power of 10. If you can handle that, then join him on his mission to visit every one of his homeland’s 227 inhabited islands, starting with Season 1’s tour of the Saronic and Ionian, including Hydra , Spetses , Kefalonia and Zakynthos. Included with Amazon Prime membership

Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father

The comedian is a divisive figure, but less so than the man he insists on calling ‘Daddy’, an old showbiz hand who’s loving his spell in the spotlight. It’ll take five minutes to decide whether you’re up for this show, but if you can take the intergenerational eager-puppy-versus-stuffed-shirt banter you do get a lot of travel for your time. In season one they hit South-east Asia to live out Whitehall’s cancelled gap year, while season two is a cultural tour of eastern Europe led by his father Michael. In both cases, hijinks ensue, locals are baffled and we’re lightly entertained. Streaming on Netflix

Dark Tourist

New Zealand journalist David Farrier looks like a geography teacher and often appears more scared than you’d expect from someone in his line of work, but he’s a curiously engaging host for this tour of unlikely, unsafe and unsavoury destinations. Usually wearing pink patterned shorts, he ventures to nuclear disaster zones, serial-killer hotspots, voodoo rituals and the dreadful, monolithic emptiness of Turkmenistan. His show is genuinely informative and remarkably un-hipster. Streaming on Netflix

Now eight seasons in, this short-haul travelogue is admirably dependable. A lot of that is down to actor-director Richard Ayoade, who can bend his deadpan wit to provide a foil to whichever fellow comedian he has in tow for that week ’s 48-hour city break (including occasional Hollywood stars such as Jon Hamm and Paul Rudd). It’s basically a comedy but, for all the eccentric hotels , drinking and quirky-museum-hunting, this show is still a reliable indicator of whether you’ll enjoy two nights or more in that week’s destination , so bring on season nine. Catch up on All 4

The Mind of a Chef

Chef-profile shows can merge into a blur of hot men in dark rooms talking about sourcing and knives, but this PBS show is in sharp focus – partly because episodes last just 23 minutes. Each of its five seasons are hosted by a different chef, from David Chang, who presents Netflix’s Ugly Delicious , to Prune author Gabrielle Hamilton, who traces a dish to its source, has a good dig and still manages to get in more travel trimmings than most of the hour-long competition. Season five’s resident Ludo Lefebvre is particularly good value – look out for his outraged attempt to reclaim Jersey for France on a lobster-fishing trip. Stream it on Netflix

The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan

Currently vying for the title of most familiar face on British TV, Ranganathan generally trades on sardonic wit but these tours of ‘the places others avoid’ break through the cynical veneer to show the thoughtful and frequently terrified everyman inside the comedy sports-quiz panellist. In the latest, second season he journeys to Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Colombia. Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Around the World in 80 Gardens

Led by the soothing, earnest tones of Monty Don, this is a different and highly satisfying tour of the globe, first screened in 2008. Naturally each region’s flora and plant-husbandry tell us something about the culture and landscape, and our thoughtful and well-informed host is just the man to tell us how. Starting in Mexico and Cuba with rainforests and colonialism, he passes through the the tomb gardens of India’s Mughal emperors, the floating wonders of the Amazon, the Imperial Summer Palace of Beijing, Emperor Hadrian’s Retreat in Italy and the perfection of the Alhambra in Granada, via Bali, Bangkok and the Arctic Circle. You don’t need green fingers to enjoy this, just a love of beauty. Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Somebody Feed Phil

If you don’t know Everybody Loves Raymond , the American sitcom he created – actually, even if you do – you may find Philip Rosenthal a distracting host: odd, distracted, awkward. Still, he sure loves his food and Netflix sure loves him, bankrolling 12 episodes of this foodie travelogue that takes him all over the world to Bangkok , Tel Aviv , Buenos Aires , Dublin and Mexico City (always Mexico). It’s a pretty easy ride – he walks around a bit, eats some local dishes, gets excited – but it’s fun, and you’ll like Phil. Streaming on Netflix

National Geographic Presents

Dig deep into the travel-related content from the always-reliable NatGeo. For that unique combination of brashness and culinary genius, there’s Gordon Ramsay Uncharted , where the king of the TV cooks heads for Peru, Morocco, Laos and more. The Bear Grylls-narrated Hostile Planet is a fascinating look at how animals have adapted to the most difficult conditions, from icecap to desert to ocean – highlights include a jaguar hunting crocodiles in the Amazon. Adventure fans, meanwhile, should dive into Lost Treasures of the Maya , where explorer Albert Lin hunts down lost civilization with new tech. Streaming on Disney+

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s semi-improvised wander between scenically sited restaurants is a journey that bears repeating. The original six-part run through the North of England in 2010, where both idea and stars were at their freshest and there was a real edge of melancholy tod the impressions and repartee, remains the best but it’s hard to argue with Season 2’s finale in Capri, where two middle-aged men talk rubbish against one of the world’s most beautiful backdrops, and Season 3’s visit to Spain kept up the quality. This year, of course, the boys were back for a tour of Greece. Find out where Season 4 of The Trip was filmed. Stream on Amazon Prime Pictured: Adatepe Ida Blue Hotel

All Aboard! The Great Reindeer Migration

From BBC4’s ‘Slow Christmas’ series, this 2018 programme follows the Sami reindeer herds of Norway on their 160-mile trek north through Finnmark to the Arctic Circle. With no eager presenters to tell us how amazing/dangerous/unchanged it is (though all those things are true), the result is more like a visual poem or guided meditation – most of it just the jangle of the animals’ bells, traditional singing and barking dogs over aerial views and close-ups. And breathe… Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Dating from 2013 to 2018, this CNN series may just be the great legacy of the Godfather of the foodie-travel genre. The effortlessly cool and much-missed NY chef really scratches his adventurer’s itch here, starting with the just reopened Myanmar, Libya and the Congo, and throwing in local-knowledge trips to US cities as well. Regardless of the destination, though, the aim is the same: to live a more interested and interesting life. Watch and learn lessons for travel and beyond. Season 1 streaming on My5. Seasons 1-5 included with Amazon Prime membership

Floyd on France

A time capsule from a different age (1987, to be precise), this makes a pretty startling contrast to the current Netflix foodie doc. Bow-tied and boozy, the late Keith Floyd sets off from a land barely out of the boiled-mutton-and-suet dark ages and barges into the kitchens of France, then considered the world leader of haute cuisine. However misguided his confidence, his enthusiasm and astonishing ability to drink and talk are wondrous to behold as he charges through Provence, Périgord, Burgundy, Alsace, the Basque Country and Brittany. Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Ugly Delicious

Momofuku chef and Vice graduate David Chang (see also The Mind of a Chef ) gets down and dirty on this show, sold under the motto ‘Food is a four-letter word’. Each episode looks hard at one home-cooking favourite, with help from guest chefs or foodies, giving American comfort food, from pizza to fried chicken, the kind of attention usually reserved for haute cuisine. Just added is Season 2, where David deals with worries about feeding his forthcoming baby, looks at ways of eating beef, investigates curry with Aziz Ansari and explores the world of kebabs. Streaming on Netflix

World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys – C5/MY5

If you’re drawn to the romance of rail travel but don’t need the usual celebrity guide, fill your boots with this six-parter. There’s a Rocky Mountain ride past lakes, rainforest and wandering bears from Vancouver to Banff, an architecture-heavy tour of northern Spain, volcanoes and sacred hunting grounds in New Zealand, plus trips through Wales, Norway and to the Matterhorn in Switzerland. It’s packed with business and all very thorough, well-researched and beautifully filmed, and the narration is in the capable hands of Bill Nighy. Streaming on My5

Salt Fat Acid Heat

Hosting this adaptation of her own book, chef Samin Nosrat proves an exuberant, natural presenter. The high-concept format – four journeys in pursuit of the four titular pillars of cooking – provides the structure, leaving Nosrat to enthuse and convince with the help of chefs from Japan , Italy , Mexico and California . And though it’s mostly kitchen-based, the show always has a strong sense of place, whether in the olive groves of Liguria, Italy , on the cable car to Japan’s Shōdoshima island or under the corrugated roofs of Oxkutzcab in Mexico. Streaming on Netflix

Huang’s World

Tattooed, perma-vested Eddie Huang is a true one-off. An attorney, restaurateur and author (of televised memoir Fresh Off The Boat ), he’s also a man with a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for food, and the most energetic host in food-travel TV. This series is excellent value; Huang is unafraid to talk to experts and locals alike and always has his nose in the action. Catch up on All4

…with Simon Reeve

While others provide entertainment, the perturbingly youthful but tremendously wise Reeve brings the information part of the BBC’s Reithian values. With his background in investigative reporting, he digs that bit deeper while retaining the Bear Grylls-meets-Brian Cox enthusiasm that ensures you always know this is about travel rather than history or politics. You’ll find a selection of his trips on BBC iPlayer, from the six-part Indian Ocean journey and three-part whistlestop tour round Australia to a one-off in Colombia . Catch up on BBC iPlayer

Rick Stein’s Seafood Odyssey

In this series from 1999, the doyen of British seafood has a quick look at how the rest of the world does it. He cooks shark vindaloo in Goa, tries percebes (goose barnacles) picked from the rocks in Galicia, has seabass and oysters in Chesapeake Bay and generally enthuses about grills, saucepans and fishing nets in Naples, Queensland and Thailand before heading closer to home for a fish supper in Whitby. Streaming on BBC iPlayer

Arabia with Levison Wood

British Army officer Wood is an explorer in the classic mould, and solo walks are a speciality ( the Himalayas , the Nile, Central America , Russia ). This programme finds him, Bedouin-scarved and deeply tanned, touring 13 countries and 5,000 miles of the Arabian peninsula, crossing Oman ’s Empty Quarter by camel, embedding himself with troops fighting Isis in Yemen and exchanging selfies in Saudi Arabia. There’s all the derring-do and endurance you could ask for, but he’s also a sensitive and curious companion. Watch on Amazon Prime

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The Problem With Celebrity Travel Shows? The Celebrities.

What used to be meaningfully informative programming, delivered by personable but only tangentially notable hosts, is gradually being swallowed up.

By Nicholas Cannariato

In the resplendent green of Costa Rica, a peak reaches toward the clouds. Eugene Levy gazes up at it in awe. “That’s a volcano,” his host explains, adding that it last erupted about 10 years ago. Levy looks unsettled. “I was hoping it would be more dormant,” he says. The understated delivery is classic Levy, but it feels different, less endearing, in this context. The premise of Apple TV+’s “The Reluctant Traveler” is that the celebrity actor hasn’t liked to travel in the past, but is now pushing himself out of his comfort zone with televised trips to places like Finland, Italy and Japan. With that, he joins an increasingly established subgenre: the celebrity travel show. Netflix has “Down to Earth With Zac Efron.” TBS had Conan O’Brien’s “Conan Without Borders.” CNN had “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” which was both a celebrity travel show and a celebrity food show — another thriving subgenre, with entries from Selena Gomez, Amy Schumer, Jon Favreau and Paris Hilton.

The idea behind these programs is the same as ever: You settle in and watch your host learn about new places. It’s just that, in these shows, it’s the host’s very celebrity that inevitably becomes the star around which everything revolves. Consider Levy and that Costa Rican peak: You’re offered one moment to admire a beautiful scene before the active volcano becomes the setup for celebrity quipping. The shows’ stars can rarely help drawing attention this way, whether it’s with solemn head-nodding or relentless cleverness. O’Brien, traveling in Armenia, is so shameless in his pursuit of laughs that he almost seems to embarrass his Armenian-American assistant. Stanley Tucci, eating cantucci in Florence, has to remark that “anything that ends in ‘tucci,’ I like.” The celebrity travelogue doubles as proof of just how hard it is for performers to subordinate themselves to their surroundings.

The point of featuring celebrities seems obvious enough; in a crowded TV market, a familiar host can lure people to watch a new show. The trade-off, of course, is that the format and subject matter — whether travel or food or, say, home renovation — will find itself drifting toward the formal demands of a reality show, sacrificing its capacity to inform to its host’s own shtick or charisma. The things we see must serve the narratives and characters of the stars, providing opportunities to play to or against their images, drawing out their particular moods or charms. A result is a suffocating and often superficial take on how fascinating or delicious everything is. Eventually you come to suspect that each show would feel functionally identical no matter where you sent the celebrity — that Stanley Tucci could tour America’s bowling alleys, or Zac Efron could sample Midwestern diners, or vice versa, without much changing. This is happening across the TV world: What used to be meaningfully informative programming, delivered by personable but only tangentially notable hosts, is gradually being swallowed up by celebrity.

I still remember the first time I traveled abroad, and the feeling I had emerging from the Paris-Nord train station to behold one of the world’s most beautiful cities. It made me feel alien and bracingly helpless. I was an outsider. That was the whole point of my being there. That decentered feeling never really went away, neither on that trip nor on later ones. I wouldn’t want it to.

Celebrity travel shows tend to evoke something close to the opposite of that feeling. This is not to say that you can’t learn anything from them. It’s just that the celebrity at the center will generally steal the spotlight from the locale itself. Levy, interestingly enough, seems to exhibit some self-awareness about this phenomenon; per his show’s premise, he seems, at times, to progress from fear of travel to an embrace of travel’s helplessness. In southern Utah, he spends time with his guide in the quiet of night, discussing the stars and the spirituality of the desert. It’s a striking contrast to your typical celebrity fare, in that it seems to capture Levy giving himself over to the unfamiliar in a strikingly vulnerable way.

But it’s fleeting. The show has Levy spending a lot of time at luxury hotels, where fame affords him deferential treatment. Earlier in the Utah episode, he spends breakfast chatting with a chef (who is making one very elevated pancake) about whether he’s ever cooked for Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Much of the series revolves around this kind of celebrity-centric riffing. The show’s entire premise, after all, revolves around Levy’s own experiences and hang-ups, not the curiosities of a viewer or a would-be traveler. Offered “crocodile schnitzel” at Kruger National Park in South Africa, Levy tells his guide, “I’m going to enjoy watching you eat that,” and quips that he’ll just take a vodka-tonic. In Lisbon, his guide tells him the Portuguese people like to explore the world, and asks if Levy does, too. The actor says that “adventure is my middle name,” and that world exploration is “in my nature,” but he’s then seen confessing his deceit to the camera: “That’s where acting comes in. You know, when you can hide ineptitude on a scale like that, give me an Oscar.” He is traveling as a character in his own travel series, all while ostensibly trying to break free from that character’s limitations and experience new places — which he can never quite do, because the show is ultimately about the character, not the places.

Travel stories have often benefited from a guide, from Matsuo Bashō’s “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” in the 17th century to Peter Matthiessen’s “The Snow Leopard” or Pico Iyer’s “The Lady and the Monk” in the 20th to Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” and “Parts Unknown” in the 21st. (Bourdain became a celebrity, but he had a curiosity and humility, an authenticity in his travels that could make him feel like he wasn’t.) These figures serve as proxies and narrators and cultural synthesizers, both standing in for us and offering us their impressions. When we come to trust them, it’s often precisely because they know how to step out of the way and help us engage with the places they’re exploring. The same goes for any other topic. We know names like “Julia Child” and “Bob Ross” because of how compellingly those people served their subjects, not because of their pre-existing star power. And, I suppose, because nobody at the time thought to develop “Learning to Paint With Mr. T.”

I’m inclined to say the ideal travel show would merely be a video montage with someone reading a guidebook over it. The less narrative basis, the better. “Rick Steves’ Europe” and “Big City, Little Budget,” with Oneika Raymond, may be two series that come closest to that ideal, in that they’re basically video guidebooks. The hosts subordinate themselves to the places they visit. They aim to show people why to travel, and what it’s like — not to entertain them along the way.

Not so today. In one episode of “The Reluctant Traveler,” Levy visits the Maldives, where he meets a local who seems eager to dispense some wisdom. “You really need to connect — remove your shoes, feel the sand,” he tells Levy, as the camera shows his bare feet and Levy’s footwear. You get the distinct feeling he’s saying this, in part, because it’s what Levy wants to hear. Still: Point taken. To center the place, you must decenter yourself. In travel, as in all things, fame is a distraction.

Source photograph (Levy): Maarten De Boer/Contour by Getty Images.

Nicholas Cannariato is a writer living in Chicago. He last wrote about common birds for the magazine.

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Taylor Swift theories rife that she will perform 'secret show' in London this weekend

There are a slew of rife theories that hitmaker Taylor Swift could perform a 'secret show' in London this weekend ahead of her Cardiff show and before her string of London shows starting on June 21

• 12:01, 15 Jun 2024

Taylor Swift is currently in Liverpool, gearing up for her third and final show in the city, but fans have uncovered theories that she might be performing a "secret show" this weekend.

Some fans are convinced that the hitmaker could be storming London's Wembley Stadium this Sunday, just mere days before her shows are due to take place in the same stadium. Taylor is bringing her Eras Tour to the capital city on June 21, 22 and 23, as well as a further five days in August.

On Sunday, June 16, 2024, Capital Radio will be hosting its annual Summertime Ball event, and rumours are rife that Taylor could make a surprise appearance. After all, she does like surprising her fans, right?

For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US .

Order the 'Taylor Swift' Collector's Edition of OK! magazine now

Sometimes the event will bring on surprise acts, so it's no surprise that fans have started to speculate, especially considering that the last time Taylor appeared at the Summertime Ball was in 2013. One fan said on X: " Taylor Swift at summertime ball this year? she’s free on the 16th [of] June and in the UK..."

Someone then agreed: "Delulu theory: please please please is going to feature taylor swift and then sabrina is going to bring taylor out at summertime ball since she’ll be in the uk, yup it’s gonna happen."

Another fan also said: "Everyone saying Taylor might be a surprise act for summertime ball is stressing me out." While a fourth added: "can we all agree that taylor is gonna be a surprise guest at summertime ball pls and thanks xxx."

But others aren't convinced. One fan said: "i don’t think taylor is going to get down from liverpool to london for the summertime ball then back to cardiff for tuesday in that time plus she always rehearses the show at each city." While another added: "if summertime ball is this weekend no cause she is in cardiff on tuesday and is in liverpool on Saturday."

viagogo and resale tickets

Sites such as Viagogo and Vivid Seats allow fans to buy resale tickets from other fans. However, it is important to note that many event promoters say tickets should not be resold after initial purchase and will not be valid for admittance to gigs.

Fans attending live events with tickets acquired through resale websites are advised to double check the ticket terms and conditions at the point of sale - such as Ticketmaster or Live Nation - to ensure a smooth live event experience. Tickets could be voided if they were found to be bought second-hand. As a result, fans are buying at their own risk.

With that said, viagogo also commented: "viagogo is a regulated marketplace where fans have the guarantee."

How to buy Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets

Taylor Swift fans looking at resale tickets for the upcoming Eras Tour in the UK can purchase them from from a number of online retailers right now.

VIAGOGO - Buy Taylor Swift resale tickets right here

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TICKETMASTER - Buy Taylor Swift resale tickets here

Although the above sellers, including viagogo and Vivid Seats , are not "official" retailers, they do have a number of strict terms and conditions in place to keep ticket buyers and ticket sellers safe.

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12 of the best family adventures in the UK

It’s adventure all the way with these active, creative and educational UK experiences for children and teenagers, from a week-long outdoor expedition to an evening in a planetarium. 

If we adopted a child’s-eye view of the world, how would we choose to have fun? It’s likely to be about more than the usual incentives, such as an ice cream, suggests research from Nature Communications . According to the journal, children as young as four seek experiences that deliver positive results, guide action, answer questions about the world — and are just plain fun. Whether it’s getting up-close with crustaceans on a rockpooling adventure, diving into a good book at a literature festival, learning to surf, taking to the stage or gazing at the stars, these 12 UK-based experiences deliver hands-on learning and creativity.  

1. Safaris with the Rock Pool Project Plymouth, Devon and Falmouth, Cornwall

Few activities for kids get as close to exploring alien worlds as rockpooling, in which bizarre-looking marine invertebrates reveal themselves with every rock or shell inspection. From shape-shifting sea hare slugs to spiky urchins, there’s plenty of marine wildlife to discover on the South West coast — but it’s after dark that this unique ecosystem gets really interesting. Fluorescent snakelocks anemones glow green under UV light while pink starfish flex their knobbly arms as they move between pools. A marine biologist leads the activity, teaching how to identify the creatures and demonstrating ethical and responsible ways to explore the rockpool habitat — a habitat that is highly sensitive to wandering hands and feet.

How to do it: The Rock Pool Project runs day and night safaris all year round in Plymouth and Falmouth. Specialist equipment is supplied. Wear suitable shoes with good grip to protect against sharp rocks and warm, waterproof clothing. Group tickets (maximum four people) cost £59.

2. Belfast Children’s Festival 8-16 March 2024, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Hosted by Young at Art , an educational organisation catering for the needs of babies, children and young adults, this festival promises “events to entertain, surprise and delight.” Things get a little crazy at the Baby Rave, the festival’s most popular event. Held in Belfast Cathedral, the dance party is suitable for toddlers up to four years old who don’t mind getting lost amid colourful parachutes and inflatables. Elsewhere, expect interactive painting, dancing and theatre workshops, with performances by local students.

How to do it:   Events are ticketed separately and cost a maximum of £10 each (2+ years). Initiatives are in place to assist children with special educational needs or disabilities.  

3. The Children’s Garden at Kew Richmond, London

One of the most extensive botanical gardens in the world, The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew features multiple unique attractions, including a dedicated area designed specially for young minds. The Children’s Garden at Kew is an enchanting space that is home to interactive play areas, hands-on planting beds and treetop walkways that celebrate the world’s flora. The garden hosts educational workshops too, aimed at shining a light on the ecological significance of plants. All of this is set over four distinct zones: earth, air, water and sun — everything a plant needs to survive. Quiet Garden Sessions are aimed at children with special educational needs and disabilities, and take place once a month from March to October. Visitor numbers are reduced for those sessions, and there are specialists onhand to host the sensory play.

How to do it: The Children’s Garden is fully accessible, with a supervising member of staff onhand every day during busier months. Tickets are required for the Quiet Garden Sessions (free, maximum four children). Children’s entry tickets for Kew cost £5 (ages 4-15).  

4. Lilidorei Play Village at Alnwick Garden Alnwick, Northumberland

Having masqueraded as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, the diminutive market town of Alnwick and its centuries-old castle have hit the headlines again. Lilidorei, touted as the world’s largest adventure play structure, opened in June 2023. The £15.5 million project, brainchild of the Duchess of Northumberland, is in the Alnwick Garden, next to the castle. The plastic-free play village has plucked scenes from fairytales and brought them to life — think Hansel and Gretel’s gingerbread house, hidden among conifers, and a gigantic elves’ castle that conceals a 24m slide.

How to do it: Tickets £16.50 ( Lilidorei only, not the castle) and under 2s are free. Wheelchair-accessible.  

5. West End Stage Summer School 5-11, 12-18 or 19-25 August 2024, Covent Garden, London

Drama, dancing and singing masterclassesfrom the pros, and tickets to thrilling West End theatre shows — as well as a chance to perform at the 1,200-seat His Majesty’s Theatre in Haymarket — are the highlights of these week-long summer schools. West End actors and choreographers are the tutors, and the kids will come away with a certificate and a T-shirt, as well as skills and memories to last a lifetime.

How to do it: The course plus seven nights’ accommodation costs £1,345 per person (£695 without accommodation).  

6. Bath Children’s Literature Festival September/October 2024, Bath, Somerset

Kids can jump into their favourite tales and meet best-selling authors and illustrators at this book bonanza. Alongside storytelling sessions and film screenings, children can practise their wordsmithery at writing workshops and illustrate their own comic heroes, villains and monsters. In 2023, Lenny Henry, Cressida Cowell, Dermot O’Leary and Katherine Rundell met fans and gave readings, and there were events focusing on themes such as nature and mystery.

How to do it: Tickets are sold for specific events and vary in price.  

7.   Outer Reef Adventure Activity Weekend Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales

Amid the UK’s only national park designated for its coastline, Pembrokeshire’s reef breaks draw surfers from all over the country. This corner of Wales is excellent for beginners too, as gentler waves make training more accessible. On Outer Reef ’s adventure weekends, kids can learn to surf and paddleboard like pros. Training is fully supervised — and, for the adventurous, there are thrilling trips out to sea.

How to do it:   From £160. All specialist equipment is included; accommodation and meals are not.

8. Night Sky Live Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium, Hampshire

Kids can indulge their interest in space at Winchester’s stellar planetarium. At the Night Sky Live event, they hear about the stars and learn to identify planets and constellations. Afterwards, they head outside to explore the sky above South Downs National Park (an International Dark Sky Place) with a stargazing guide.

How to do it: Tickets cost £15 and include a planetarium show , visits to science exhibitions, an expert-led outdoor session and a stargazing guide to take home.  

9. Teen Research Expedition Hebrides, Scotland, 27 July to 2 August 2024

Budding environmentalists aged 16-17 can join the Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust on this seven-day expedition in the Southern Hebrides. Garnering industry-recognised marine biology and conservation skills, they’ll learn from leaders in the field. Wild and remote Scottish isles are visited en route, including Mull, Islay, Jura and Tiree. There’s plenty of time to catch sight of rare marine wildlife and to make lifelong friendships.

How to do it:   A spot on the expedition costs £1,450 per person and includes transfers, meals, accommodation and specialist kit.  

10. Adventure Summer Camp Conwy, North Wales, from July 2024

Orienteering, coasteering, kayaking, hiking and rock climbing are on offer for 12 to 17-year-olds at this five-day camp. Hosted by the National Outdoor Centre and guided by experienced instructors, the camp’s adventures make the most of the craggy terrain in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park.

How to do it:   £749 (or £469 non-residential). No previous experience is required, with easier and more challenging routes available to cater to mixed abilities. Bunkhouse accommodation with wi-fi, and specialist equipment are included.  

11. Co-op Live Arena Etihad Campus, Manchester, from April 2024

Concerts from Olivia Rodrigo (3-4 May), the Jonas Brothers (17 June) and former One Directioner Niall Horan (27 August) are among the first attractions at Manchester’s new, music-focused indoor arena. Set to open in April 2024, it prioritises sound quality and innovative audiovisual experiences, with capacity for 23,500 people.  

How to do it:   Concert tickets can be booked online. Co-op members receive first dibs and discounts. The venue is wheelchair-accessible and has assisted hearing technology. Under-14s must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.  

12. Forest Live Cannock Chase, Staffordshire; Delamere Forest, Cheshire; Thetford Forest, Suffolk; The National Arboretum, Gloucestershire, June 2024

A small but perfectly formed area of outstanding natural beauty, Cannock Chase is among the venues for these woodland-based music festivals. The 2023 lineup included Jack Savoretti, and 2024’s stars will be announced in the spring. Ecologists ensure wildlife disturbance is minimised, while profits support the forests’ sustainability.

How to do it: Day tickets from £44.50. No overnight camping allowed. Under-16s must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.  

Related Topics

• FAMILY TRAVEL
• FAMILY LIFE
• OBSERVATORIES

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Euros 2024 – Articles

Satellite images show Putin’s warships just miles away from US shores

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Satellite images show Russian warships moored in Cuba, around 100 miles from Florida .

The arrival of Putin’s vessels so close US shores has widely been seen as a show of force from the leader, as tensions rise over the Ukraine war.

Speaking yesterday, Russia said the west need not be nervous, though claimed its governments appeared only to take notice when Putin’s army or navy take action, while diplomatic signals from Moscow fell on deaf ears.

The US, meanwhile, said there was no evidence of Russia transferring any missiles to Cuba, but added it would remain vigilant.

Before docking in Havana on Wednesday , the frigate and nuclear-powered submarine, according to Russia, carried out ‘high-precision missile weapons’ training in the Atlantic Ocean.

The warships, which were not carrying nuclear weapons, will remain in Havana until June 17, before moving onto Venezuela.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the navy’s actions and movements were ‘normal practice for all states including such a large maritime power as Russia’.

‘So we don’t see any reason (for the west) to worry in this case,’ he said.

But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added: ‘As soon as it comes to exercises or sea voyages, we immediately hear questions and a desire to know what these messages are about.

‘Why do only signals related only to our army and navy reach the West?’

‘Why does the West remain completely deaf, and then comes up with the most powerful campaigns to prevent Russian signals from entering its information realm?’

Dozens of Cubans and foreign tourists queued for the chance to go onboard the frigate.

One, Havana resident Ariel Vera, a 55-year-old state worker, said: ‘The United States need not worry.

‘Cuba is a country of peace and our Russian friends are coming on a friendly visit.’

Russia is a long-time ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and its warships and aircraft have periodically made forays into the Caribbean.

But this mission comes less than two weeks after Biden finally lifted an embargo for Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

In response, Putin threatened that his military could respond with ‘asymmetrical steps’ elsewhere in the world.

The sight of warships in Havana rekindled memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, which has long been seen as the moment the world came closest to a nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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