Sounds of the city - podcasts

After the rather emotional theme of my last post on ways to remember the dead, I decided we were in need of practical and informative post to redress the balance.

I’ve been observing how different forms of media are converging - the division between print media and on-line media is blurring and more blogs are incorporating podcasts and videos as well as photography and the written word. It’s one of the benefits of the on-line media that we bloggers can create a multi-sensory experience both to invoke the feeling of being there and to provide useful information for the traveller.

So in the interests of research and hoping to find something useful for my forthcoming trips to Valencia and Rome, I started exploring the travel podcasts available and have been enjoying the audio experience as I walk to work each day.

If you’re the kind of spontaneous traveller that likes to just turn up and feel the vibe, then this approach may not be for you. But if you’re prepared to put aside a little time to ensure you get the most from your trip then I’d recommend you get downloading and listening. If you download all the podcasts you can find on your chosen destination, you can use them in the following ways;

- Listen before you go while walking, cycling or driving to give a flavour of your destination.
- Listen while travelling to the destination, killing time on buses or in airports.
- Give to your children or travelling companions when on the journey. It helps to stave off the boredom and it’ll mean more to them when you get there.
- Some of the podcasts will guide you round a particular area or tourist attraction to get the most out of your sightseeing.

There are a couple of podcast travel blogs that I’ve noticed. One is the Amateur traveller blog which publishes a weekly broadcast, usually on a different location or other travel related theme. Sometimes the show is an interview with someone about their trip, or is by Chris Christensen himself about a place he’s visited. Click on the Episodes for a list of past shows to see if there’s one for your chosen destination.

The second podcast blog I found is Indie Travel Podcast run by Craig and Linda who are full-time travellers. The blog concentrates more on travel advice than destinations - check their Archives to see if there are topics that might interest you.

Checking out the English newspaper sites, I found that the Guardian has some destination podcasts in their Sounds of the City series. Currently they have six guides to Mediterranean destinations which included Rome and Valencia. They gave a great overview of the city and were very well produced. Another benefit is that you can link from the podcast to tips from readers and travel articles previously published in the Guardian.

On the Independent website, I found four destination audio-guides which you can download (Barcelona, Athens, Dublin, Nice) and some video guides that you can view on your computer too. Sadly Rome and Valencia weren’t included in the list, but I enjoyed the one about Barcelona.

Lonely Planet has some good podcasts - click here and scroll down to see the list of podcasts about different destinations. They’ll give you a flavour of the destination from different angles rather than being a step by step guide to all the sights.

If you’re visiting Spain, the Notes From Spain website is a great resource. It has many different podcasts on places or aspects of Spanish life that you can download - from Spanish wine to cycling across Spain. The website and poscasts are but together by Ben Curtis and his Spanish wife Marina who are based in Madrid and there are some good language resources to download too. I enjoyed the podcast about the noisy Fallas festival in Valencia - there’s a video too which will give you the effect at full volume.

If you’re visiting Italy, the Italyguides site has free podcasts you can down-load, although you need to have or buy win-zip to unzip the file. For Rome there were podcasts on the Colisseum, Pantheon and Circus Maximus, and other resources like an interactive map and travel tips.

i-Audioguide.com have more than 40 podcasts for European and International destinations. They cost €4.95 to download, but you can hear a sample before you buy.

The AudioGuides2go site had links to many different audio-guides for tourist destinations - there were several for Rome, although you have to pay to download.

So if, like me, you’re visiting Rome or Valencia, here are the direct links to the podcasts you can download. Please do let me know if you come across any other good free podcast resources, particularly ones covering Rome and Valencia.

Rome
Amateur Traveller - Episode 29 That’s Amore - Rome
Guardian - Sounds of the City - Rome
i-Audioguide on Rome - costs €4.95 to download
Italy Guides on Rome - Episodes on Colisseum, Pantheon and Circus Maximus (needs Win-zip)
Audioguides2go has links to many different guides to Rome, but you have to pay to use them(from this link, search in Rome).

Valencia
Guardian - Sounds of the City - Valencia
Notes from Spain - Podcast 57 La Fallas

Thanks to the following on Flickr for their photos - Patrick Mayon, Not Forgotten, Lostpup , Giampaolo Macorig

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