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About Travel Man

Since 2015 Travel Man has been delivering the definitive guide to making the most of 48 hours (and sometimes a little longer) in some of the most exciting destinations in the world.   In the process it has become the most popular holiday show on UK television.

For the first 9 series the show was hosted by comedic polymath (Actor, Presenter Writer, Director) Richard Ayoade. Since 2020 the show’s host has been the comedic polymath (Comedian,  Presenter, Writer, Director) Joe Lycett . Joining them on their travels have been some of the finest and most available comic talents from Britain and the US, among them Bill Bailey, Sarah Millican, Lena Dunham, Jon Hamm and Paul Rudd.

The show’s aim remains the same; a mini-break with the boring bits taken out.  A guide that combines famous attractions, the quirky and the cultural, mixing the must-see and the offbeat, and making sure there is always lots to do, whether it’s a cookery class, an interactive tour, or even an art lesson.

Travel Man’s peak audience for an episode is 2.8 million and its YouTube channel attracts 2 million views a month.  The show has been nominated for 2 BAFTA awards and won 5 Royal Television Society Awards, the most recent of these being a Best Presenter gong for Joe Lycett.  Travel Man has been shown in 62 countries.  It has received glowing reviews from as far afield as the New York Times and the Australian Guardian, and was described as ‘hilarious and surprisingly informative’ by The Times.  

The show is produced in Birmingham by North One Television . 

Previous locations and guests include:

Ep1 - Barcelona & Kathy Burke 

Ep2 - Istanbul & Adam Hills

Ep3 - Iceland & Jessica Hyne s

Ep4 - Marrakech & Stephen Mangan

Ep1 - Vienna & Chris O’ Do wd

Ep2 - Paris & Mel Giedroy c

Ep3 - Copenhagen & Noel Fi elding

Ep4 - Moscow & Greg Davies

Ep5 - Seville & Rob Delaney

Ep6 - Venice & Jo Bra nd

Ep7 - Dubai & Johnny Vegas

Ep8 - Berlin & Roisin Cona ty

Ep1 - New York & Kat herine Ryan

Ep2 - Helsinki & Paul Rud d

Ep3 - Lisbon & Adam Buxton

Ep4 - Naples & Jack Dee

Xmas Special - Florence & Rebel Wilson

Ep1 - St Petersburg & Rob Beckett

Ep2 - Budapest & Aisling Bea

Ep3 - Tenerife & Lena Dunham

Ep4 - Miami & Rhod Gilbert

Ep1 - Rome & Matt Lucas

Ep2 - Valencia & Sara Pascoe

Ep3 - Amsterdam & Joe Lycett

Ep4 - Stockholm & Sally Philips

Xmas Special - Hong Kong & Jon H amm

Ep1 - Brussels & Lee Mac

Ep2 - Oslo & Faye Ripley

Ep3 - Madeira & Robert Webb

Ep4 - Cote D’Azur & Shazia Mirza

Ep1 - Zurich & Frank Sninner

Ep2 - Ibiza & Jessica Knappett

Ep3 - Ljubljana & Eddie Izzard

Ep4 - Milan & Morgana Robinson

Xmas Special - Jordan & David Baddiel

Ep1 - Athens & Dawn  French 

Ep2 Porto & Nish Kumar

Ep3 Tallin & Alice Levine

Ep4 Hamburg & Bob Mortimer

Ep1 - Dubrovnik & Stephen Merchant

Ep2 - Bergen & Lou Sanders

Ep3 - Krakow & Joe Wilkinson

Ep4 -Madrid & Ellie Taylor

Xmas Special - ICELAND & BILL BAILEY

Ep1 - BASQUE COUNTRY & James Acaster 

Ep2 SPLIT & Aisling Bea

Ep3 CYPRUS & Mo Gilligan

Ep4 ANTWERP & Katherine Parkinson

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Travel Man: 48 Hours in...

British comedian Richard Ayoade and a celebrity guest, usually from the comedy world, spend 48 hours in a popular city to discover the must see tourist attractions. British comedian Richard Ayoade and a celebrity guest, usually from the comedy world, spend 48 hours in a popular city to discover the must see tourist attractions. British comedian Richard Ayoade and a celebrity guest, usually from the comedy world, spend 48 hours in a popular city to discover the must see tourist attractions.

• Richard Ayoade
• Stephen Mangan
• 33 User reviews
• 1 nomination total

Episodes 61

• Self - Presenter …

• Self - Guest

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Connections Referenced in The Last Leg: Episode #19.4 (2019)

User reviews 33

• RanDizzle1198
• Nov 6, 2019
• How many seasons does Travel Man: 48 Hours in... have? Powered by Alexa
• January 3, 2019 (United States)
• United Kingdom
• Official Facebook
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• North One Television
• Television Interactive Network Agency
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 24 minutes
• 1080i (HDTV)
• 576i (SDTV)

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Travel Man 48 Hours in: Watch For Free on Journy

Richard and actor Kathy Burke do Barcelona in 48 hours, including some far-out cuisine, Cava tasting, a guided tricycle tour and surrealist artist Miro.

Richard takes actor Jessica Hynes on a whirlwind weekend away to the stunning scenery of Iceland, for waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, whales, rotten shark and elf school.

Richard and actor Stephen Mangan eat steamed sheep's head and go hot air ballooning and camel riding on a quickie weekend trip in Morocco.

Richard goes to Vienna with comedian Chris O'Dowd to sample the sausages, cakes, wines and spirits. The pair also take a hot-rod tour, visit a fairground, the Freud museum and the city sewers.

Richard Ayoade and Mel Giedroyc do a Paris le weekend, with snails, absinthe, a cordon bleu cookery course, bespoke perfume and an art tour.

Comedian Noel Fielding joins Richard for 48 fast and funny hours in the Danish capital, with cycling, sightseeing, art, sandwiches, beer and rollercoasters.

Richard and Greg Davies attempt to extract the essence of Moscow in two days, as they clash with army tanks, head into space and visit one of the strangest circuses in the world.

Richard Ayoade heads to southern Spain with comedian Rob Delaney from Catastrophe, where they eat tapas, learn to dance flamenco and go a bit Wild West.

Richard and Jo Brand do a fast, funny and ruthlessly efficient trip to Venice, learning to row a gondola, sampling Venetian tapas, and staying at the famous Hotel Danieli.

Richard stretches the description mini break to the limit as he heads to the United Arab Emirates for a luxury bonanza with comedian Johnny Vegas.

Richard heads for super-cool Berlin with comedian Roisin Conaty, taking in the city's famed nightlife, Checkpoint Charlie, fancy food, and a replica Cold War apartment.

Richard and comedian Katherine Ryan take a fast and funny trip to New York. Their overflowing schedule includes skyscrapers, roller blades, museums, ferries, show-tunes and cronuts.

Hollywood actor Paul Rudd joins Richard to discover Finland's seaside capital, with a time-efficient exploration by kayak, a good steaming in the city's saunas and salty sweets.

Actor and comedian Adam Buxton joins Richard for a high-speed tour of Portugal's capital, with trams, rickshaw, funicular and fado, and a visit to a doll hospital.

Watch Richard and Jack Dee take a trip to Naples featuring humor, history, culture, pizza, Vespas and chaotic traffic, a trip to Capri, and a guide to the meaning of dreams.

Comedian Rob Beckett joins Richard Ayoade in Russia's cultural capital, for a post-Soviet itinerary including an armoured tank, caviar, vodka, and a herring in a fur coat.

Richard and comedian Aisling Bea make a whirlwind tour of Hungary's fairy-tale capital, with selfies, goulash, cake, pubs, liquor, and a game of chess at the thermal baths.

Richard Ayoade packs his case and heads to the Canaries to discover what lies beyond the all-inclusive resorts of the volcanic island of Tenerife. Making the trip from LA to join him is writer, director and actor, Lena Dunham.

Richard and Rhod Gilbert's high-speed visit to Florida's famous hot spot takes in art, art deco, alligators, speedboats, an airboat tour of the everglades - and dominoes.

Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson joins Richard for a fun-packed whizz round Florence in a mini-break mixing art, action, gelato, a drive in a classic Alfa Romeo, and some tripe.

Richard is joined by Matt Lucas, actor, comedian and many other things besides, for a frenetic 48 hours in the eternal city, Rome. Over a packed duo of days they cram in culture, cuisine, history, hats and as many sights as they can see.

Richard Ayoade is joined by comedian Sara Pascoe for a two day test of the mini break merits of Valencia. Together they ruthlessly examine Spain's third largest city, taking in its history, parks, architecture, culture and cuisine, as well as falling under the powerful spell of local cocktail agua de Valencia.

Richard Ayoade and comedian Joe Lycett head to the mini break mecca of Amsterdam for a 48 hour hurtle through the city's attractions. In just two days the pair power through culture, cardio, canals, cuisine and much more, not all of it beginning with a 'c'.

Richard Ayoade and actress Sally Phillips head to Stockholm for a fulsome 48 hours in the Swedish capital. Together they scale rooftops, sing Abba, eat Swedish-Danish, and stay up late playing on their phones.

Richard Ayoade returns to provide much needed guidance and inspiration to would-be mini-breakers. This time, Richard is joined by comedian Lee Mack for a funny, yet surprisingly informative, 48 hours in Brussels - featuring culture, comics, pralines, puppets and attractions both large and small, including the Grand Place and the famous atom-shaped Atomium. There's also waffles, mussels - including Moules Genghis Khan - and the secrets of chocolate making.

Richard is joined by actor Fay Ripley for a wintry mini-break in Oslo. Together they pack two days with sledging, screaming, skiing, sculpture and scoff.

Richard Ayoade is joined by comic actor and writer Robert Webb - the destination Madeira. Together they seek to discover more than the Portuguese island's eponymous wine and cake, although both are sampled along the way. Madeira is famed for its bananas and for the culinary bravado of combining them with fish.

Richard Ayoade is joined by comedian Shazia Mirza for a fancy two day detour on the Côte d'Azur, in the south of France. In Nice they hire a three-wheeled 'Nice Car' for a scenic tour of the city. They also scope out Cap Ferrat, blue art, fancy yachts, and a grotto in Monaco. Later, there's a pricey helicopter ride and a trip to the casino - in a bid to win back the budget overspend on the helicopter.

In an hour-long Christmas extravaganza, Richard and Mad Men actor Jon Hamm tour Hong Kong, taking in a tai chi drop-in session, a ride in a chopper and some fusion dim sum.

Back for his final outing as the Travel Man, Richard Ayoade dashes to Dubrovnik with comedy colossus Stephen Merchant.

Richard Ayoade is joined by comedian Lou Sanders for a two-day blast around Bergen. They explore the mountains and fjords that surround it, as well as sampling the best that this Norwegian city has to offer.

Richard Ayoade is joined by comedian Joe Wilkinson for a 48-hour fling around the historic city of Krakow.

Richard Ayoade is joined by comedian Ellie Taylor for a 2-day meander around Madrid, following an itinerary rich in art, ham, history and histrionics.

Richard Ayoade

Richard Ayoade is a British actor, comedian, and writer who is best known for his role as the socially awkward IT technician in the IT crowd. He won the 2015 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance for this role. He has often worked alongside Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt, Matt Berry, Matthew Holness, and Rich Fulcher. He studied law at Cambridge University, and followed in the footsteps of British comedy legends Monty Python's Eric Idle, Hugh Laurie, and Graeme Garden when he became the president of the Cambridge Footlights Club.

Travel Man: 48 Hours In...

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In the company of prominent personalities, Joe Lycett explores famous tourist destinations in only 48 hours.

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TRAVEL BLOG

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I'm David Leiter , the guy behind this website. I'm an American who's been traveling the world full time for 8 years now.

I started this travel blog in 2019 to document my own international trips, share my photos, and help others learn how to travel the world and find some really good spots off the beaten path.

I'm currently based in Bali , Indonesia , where I met my wife Intan, who’s a Bali local. Now she joins me on these wild and crazy adventures too.

Together, we've done some bucket list hikes , climbed active volcanoes , seen exotic wildlife , and visited some spectacular castles , temples , and monuments around the world.

I've worked with and been featured by BBC Travel , NBC News , Time , and other companies.

I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list. I hope this world travel blog can help and inspire you in your own journeys as well!

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Why Men Are ‘Rawdogging’ Flights

Everyone has their own tricks for staving off boredom on a long-haul flight. Some people load up on podcast episodes, others power through the available in-flight entertainment. But no one simply sits, staring silently at the real-time flight map on the screen in front of them, for the entirety of a trip. Right? Wrong. A small group of hardy men—the gender that brought you frat hazing and Logan Paul—are now doing exactly that, and for a variety of surprisingly solid reasons.

A 26-year-old Londoner named West (who asked to use only his first name) went viral in May when he posted about his decision to forgo any entertainment and pass a seven-hour trip watching the flight map. “Anyone else bareback flights?” he asked in the caption.

The concept—referred to in a vivid and perhaps unfortunate parlance as “rawdogging,” “flying raw,” and “bareback”—resonated with many in the comments on West's TikTok page, @WestWasHere . “Yup, from London to Miami this week…pure bareback no food or water,” one wrote. “I swear barebacking flights make it go quicker,” another added.

“I've got DMs on Instagram like, ‘Bro, you need to teach us how to bareback flights,’” West tells GQ .

“I am a nervous flier and generally cannot focus on anything on a plane—movies, TV shows, books, articles, whatever—with any success,” says Luke Winkie, a 33-year-old staff writer at Slate, who has used the flight map as his only in-flight entertainment for years. “For some reason I don't like processing new information when I'm in the air. I want to stick to things that are predictable and safe.”

For West, who has since posted multiple videos from his raw flights (including his longest, a 21-hour slog from London to Perth, Australia), the practice simply resulted from how much he has to travel for his work in the music industry. “I got sick of watching the same movies,” he says. West likens flying raw to meditation. “Visually, you are kind of impaired. You only get to look at the seat in front of you, to your right or left if you're at the window. All you hear is that drumming sound of the engine. It's just white noise.”

But West and others have also come to see rawdogging flights as a kind of challenge, like the Tough Mudder or No Nut November, the goal being to see how fully participants can deprive themselves of creature comforts, up to and including free snack and drinks and even bathroom visits. A true rawdogger takes no indulgences.

West says that the women who have commented on his videos are usually doing so to express shock. Taking flights raw seems to be a “masculine thing,” he says. “Everything's about looking cool. Most guys embrace it as a joke or like, ‘We are so hard. David Goggins has nothing on us.’”

Winkie agrees. “I don't think men have the same ‘treat culture’ that women do, which is frankly a shame,” he says. “A long flight, for women, is the perfect venue to organize an entire itinerary of treats, and I do think men tend to be more stoic and weird about the spaces in which they allow themselves to receive pleasure.”

Still, West says that a recent trip from London from Bali (20 hours) taught him that there are benefits to rawdogging beyond its meditative nature. His best ideas, he says, have come from the time spent locked into the flight map, just thinking. “I'm there like, Oh, we're flying over Afghanistan. Oh, we're going at 36,000 feet instead of 37,” he says. “Or like, Oh, I think that's a good idea as a new series on my TikTok.” The experience left him refreshed. “When I saw my mom [upon landing], she was like, ‘You have so much energy,’” he recalls. “And I'm like, I feel fine. I feel recharged. I feel like I've been able to have time to myself.”

The last benefit may be the most significant: Everyone else leaves you alone. West recalls how a man who was seated next to him in a middle aisle opted to squeeze past two people on his other side rather than disturb West. “He must have been like, ‘I do not want to bother him right now,’” West says with a laugh. “‘He's locked into this altitude.’”

Hurricane Beryl kills 2 in Jamaica and cuts path of destruction as Mexico prepares for impact

Hurricane Beryl churned toward the Cayman Islands and Mexico on Thursday after leaving a trail of destruction in southern Jamaica , killing at least two people on the island nation, bringing down power lines, and leaving hundreds homeless and in shelters.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force told NBC News that one man and one woman had died as a result of the storm in the last 24 hours. The man, age 26, was swept away by floodwaters in the capital, Kingston, on Wednesday evening.

“He was playing football with friends at the mini stadium when the ball went outside, and he attempted to retrieve it,” police said. A search is underway for another man who was swept away by floodwaters, they added.

That brings the total dead this week as a result of Beryl in the Caribbean to nine.

Beryl was downgraded to a Category 2 storm, with sustained winds of 110 mph, and has moved away from the Caymans, where a hurricane warning has been dismissed Thursday as it moved west.

Strong winds, storm surges, damaging waves, between 4 and 6 inches of rain and floods are all expected in the Caymans and in parts of Mexico and Belize from Thursday night.

Some communities on Mexico’s Caribbean coast were evacuated, and sea turtle eggs were moved away from beaches before a storm surge could destroy them. A hurricane warning was issued for the country's Yucatán Peninsula along the coast from Cancún to Costa Maya.

Mexican naval officers told people in tourist areas, in Spanish and in English, to get ready for the storm’s arrival.

Jamaica's hurricane warning has been lifted, but a flash flood warning was put in place until 5 a.m. ET, as heavy rainfall continued to fall after the storm had passed.

“It’s terrible. Everything’s gone. I’m in my house and scared,” Amoy Wellington, a 51-year-old cashier who lives in Top Hill, a rural farming community in southern St. Elizabeth parish, told Reuters. “It’s a disaster.”

Honeymooners Casey and Warner Haley, of Knoxville, Tennessee, told NBC News that after their wedding on Saturday they were told to hunker down at their resort in Montego Bay.

“Yesterday morning it was perfect weather. We went snorkeling and we went kayaking, and by the time we got back, the forecast had changed,” Casey, 23, said in a phone interview Wednesday.

The couple said they immediately contacted their travel agent but were told no flights were available. At the airport, they were told the same.

“It was quite literally doomsday-type level scenery,” Casey said. “We went to all the flight counters, just saying, ‘Hey can you get us anywhere at all, particularly in the U.S., but literally just anywhere?’ And they all said, ‘No, we’re all booked.’”

Beryl is expected to reach Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula on Friday before moving into the southern Gulf of Mexico early Saturday. It’s unclear what effect it may have on the Gulf Coast of Texas, where people in coastal areas were urged to be “weather aware” over the holiday weekend.

The National Hurricane Center warned Thursday that the storm could restrengthen over the warm waters of the Gulf and reach the U.S. at or near hurricane strength.

“Almost all of the model guidance show the system near hurricane strength as Beryl approaches the western Gulf Coast, and so does the official forecast,” the center said early Thursday.

The center added that regardless of the hurricane’s track, rip currents could cause “life-threatening beach conditions” from late Friday and through the weekend across the Gulf coast.

The devastation across some of the Caribbean’s smaller islands has been vast. Michelle Forbes, director of the National Emergency Management Organization in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said about 95% of homes on the islands of Mayreau and Union Island were either damaged or destroyed.

Ralph Gonsalves, St. Vincent’s prime minister, said in a radio interview Wednesday that it would take a “herculean effort” to rebuild Union Island.

Patrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Breaking news, historic tourist attraction loses $170k worth of donations after going cashless.

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A popular UK tourist attraction has lost a whopping $170,000 worth of donations after it banned cash.

Visitors to the Roman Baths in Bath have been stopped from throwing money into the historic attraction and are instead asked to make a contactless payment.

But the move has had devastating consequences.

The charity organisation behind the well-known site banned the use of the wishing well in March 2022.

In the last financial year, it collected just $17,000 in donations despite welcoming one million visitors in 2023.

Visitors were greeted with a sign that said: “Please do not throw coins in the bath. Tap the Contactless point or use the cash box to make your offering.”

Prior to that it had raked in almost $200,000 from donations when it was fully open between 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic hit, with $170,000 coming from the 1.6m plunge pool that had been turned into a wishing well for visitors.

The decision to ban cash was made due to a “notable decline in the use of cash” since the pandemic but was also fuelled by concerns that the practice had “begun to damage the 2000-year-old structure”, according to Bath and North East Somerset Council.

It also found the donations were no longer viable because of the process to collect coins, which took a long time to drain the baths wasting water, while some coins were “garbled” and could not be banked.

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However, campaign groups slammed the move and said cash was still a common way to make donations.

Campaign group Payment Choice Alliance spokesman Martin Quinn said the public should be given a choice on how they make donations.

“A child making a wish with a contactless card does not have the same magical appeal, this policy should be reversed immediately,” he told  The Telegraph.

“The British public should be allowed to have payment choice when it comes to charitable giving.”

The historical site boasts some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world, which were constructed in 70AD and is the UK’s most popular attraction after Stonehenge.

The site includes the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and an accompanying museum.

Last year, just $4500 worth of donations were collected via contactless payments, dropping even lower than the $4750 the year prior.

Mr Quinn described the cashless donation policy as “utterly mad”.

“The march towards a cashless society needs to stop. What’s next? The Tooth Fairy going cashless,” he quipped.

But a spokesman for Bath and North East Somerset Council said the Roman Baths said in the last financial year the tourist attraction had generated more income from ticket sales and other activity than ever before.

“In addition our priority is to care for and conserve the Roman Baths, one of the world’s great historic sites,” they said.

“The tradition of throwing coins into the water had begun to damage the 2000-year-old structure of the circular bath, putting the monument at unnecessary risk.

“Managing water-damaged coins and the decline in cash usage post-pandemic further supported our decision to look at other ways to encourage support.”

Australians have also expressed serious concerns about heading towards a cashless society.

Seven in 10 say they’re concerned, while two in five Aussies are extremely concerned about notes and coins becoming relics.

The research showed 63 per cent of Aussies are concerned the move would exacerbate economic inequality.

It also found 58 per cent hold concerns because they are worried they will pay more in banking and card fees, and 42 per cent don’t trust in financial services to operate ethically in a cashless society.

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Money blog: Cheapest supermarket rankings now include loyalty card prices - do Aldi and Lidl still reign?

Welcome to the Money blog, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Leave a comment or your Money Problem/consumer dispute (don't forget to leave a contact number/email) in the box below.

Tuesday 9 July 2024 07:20, UK

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We've known for some time that Aldi is the cheapest supermarket - with the German giant dominating price survey after price survey. 

But those surveys rarely take loyalty schemes into account.

So does having Clubcard or a Nectar card discounts help bring Tesco and Sainsbury's in line with the likes of Aldi and Lidl? 

The below bar chart, made using data compiled by consumer magazine Which?, shows how an average shop of 65 items compared over the course of last month... 

Aldi was the cheapest overall - costing £118.41 on average, beating rival discounter Lidl by £2.90.

At Tesco (with a Clubcard), you would get that shopping list cheaper (£130.90) than if you shopped at Asda (£131.42).

Shopping with a Sainsbury's Nectar card was slightly more expensive (£132.90) than Asda.

Waitrose was the priciest supermarket in June, averaging £151.01 - a whopping £32.60 (28%) more than Aldi for the same items.

While Which? found that having loyalty cards would save you 2.5% at Tesco and 3.4% at Sainsbury's for those 65 items, Aldi still wins out overall.

Basically, car finance allows customers to purchase cars over a longer period of time, if they don't have the cash to buy outright in one lump sum. 

It's by far the most popular way to buy cars, with 93% of new cars paid for via monthly instalments.

There are several options open to you to finance used or new cars, with the main differences centring on how much you pay, for how long, and when (if at all) you own the car itself. 

Let's take you through the four most common ways to finance a car... 

Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) 

A Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) allows you to pay low monthly payments to effectively hire a car for a fixed term (typically 24-36 months) - at the end of which you're offered the chance to make a "balloon" payment to purchase it outright. 

Often you'll need a deposit (somewhere around 10%), but that, alongside a mileage limit, can be negotiated between yourself and the dealer. 

The amount you'll borrow is determined by the finance company's prediction of how much the value of the car will drop over the term of the deal minus the deposit and with added interest. 

It's a good option if you're not able to pay a large lump sum in cash to buy a car in one go, but you will be paying interest on your monthly payments. 

The "balloon" payment is typically half the value of the car at the start of the agreement, although this varies. 

If you don't make the balloon payment, you'll return the car to the dealer, paying for any damage beyond reasonable wear and tear and for any miles over the mileage agreement. 

You'll need certain information, documents and proof of ID for your PCP application to be assessed.

A good credit history is preferred, but not essential. 

Personal Contract Hire (PCH) 

The Personal Contract Hire (PCH) is remarkably similar to the PCP, but there's no option to own the car outright at any stage.

If you go for the PCH option, you're effectively renting a car over an extended period of time. 

Instead of a deposit, you'll pay an "initial rental fee", before paying monthly instalments with interest. 

At the end of the term, you simply return the vehicle, paying for any damage or over-mileage as with the PCP deal. 

There are a couple of problems with the PCH - namely that, as you don't have the option to own the car at any stage, you aren't covered by consumer law. 

That can make contract agreements quite inflexible.

You may also find the monthly payments for the same car with a PCP agreement may be cheaper - so it's worth comparing quotes. 

But it's ideal if you want to drive a new car every few years, with relatively low monthly payments and no worries about the vehicle's resale value.

Once again, a good credit history is preferred, but not essential. 

Hire Purchase (HP) 

A Hire Purchase (or HP) is much more like your traditional loan - a deposit followed by monthly instalments.

Once you've finished making the payments, you'll own the car.

This one's even suitable for those with a bad credit score, as you can secure the car itself against the loan. 

It goes without saying that if you don't think you'll be able to make repayments, you absolutely should not be taking out any kind of loan. 

You'll be paying interest on your loan and a down payment of around 10% of the car's value is standard, although there is a bit of room for negotiation. 

PCP agreements typically have a fixed APR of between 5% and 10%, while HP agreements typically have higher rates – usually between 10% and 15%.

If you're unsure what APR is, one of our previous Basically... features covers it here...

0% Finance 

This option does what it says on the tin - it lets you buy a car with monthly instalments without any interest added on top.

Ideal for anyone who's happy to pay higher monthly rates over shorter periods, but crucially only wanting to pay the value of the car and not a penny more. 

For this, you'll need an excellent credit score.  

To make things slightly more complicated, you can also have a PCP or PCH with  0% finance applied - meaning you'd pay no interest on those monthly repayments. 

Car subscriptions and personal loans

You can, of course, take out a personal loan to own the car outright from the get go, but that comes with its own set of risks - including potentially seeing the vehicle's value depreciating heavily by the time you've fully paid off the loan.

There's also the relatively new "car subscription" model offering a new car for monthly payments without a fixed-term lease agreement. 

This means you'll be able to access the latest cars, but it can also work out to be very expensive compared with other options.

Read other entries in our Basically series...

Thanks for all your questions  - and for following Ian King's responses on the likely changes we can expect under the new Labour government.

If you could not join us in time, do not worry - you can scroll through the answers below at your leisure.

Dad of Swifties:

Why don't the government remove VAT on concert tickets like in other countries and announce stronger regulation on sites like Ticketmaster? Prices are a joke

Here's what  Ian King , our business presenter, says on this one...

Labour promised not to increase the rate of VAT during the election campaign. 

That is very different from cutting it or making some products and services tax free. 

I'd be surprised if it happened. The government needs to raise money, not give it away. 

That said, I note that US Congress has recently been talking about tougher regulation of businesses like Ticketmaster, so doubtless parliamentarians on this side of the Atlantic will be watching closely.

May I ask who is likely to be eligible for the proposed new housing as outlined today? I have a son of 43 and his wife living with us as they can't afford a mortgage, and aren't eligible for social housing. Not everyone in Britain wants the responsibility of owning a house.

Ian King , Sky News business presenter, says...

Labour is aiming for increasing housing availability across the board with a mix of both public/social housing and also private sector accommodation – while also looking to stimulate the "build to rent" sector. 

It's not a case of eligibility, as such. 

They're seeking to increase supply in the first instance – get that right and demand will be met.

Haven't we heard all this before with housebuilding targets - what's different this time?

Good question – which reminds me that one of the most dangerous phrases in investment and business is "it's different this time". 

What genuinely appears to be different is that Labour seem totally committed to sweeping away the planning rules and regulations that stand in the way of more homes being built. 

If they can pull this off then, all other things being equal, they will have a fighting chance of completing 1.5 million new homes over the life of this parliament.

The other thing I would say is that this is a hugely ambitious target and so Labour, by making it public, have confidence it can be done. 

You can rest assured that Labour will be asked about it a lot towards the next general election. 

The political graveyards are littered with those politicians – Harold Macmillan, Conservative prime minister from 1957-1963, is a good example – who made promises on housebuilding they failed to keep.

The last government promised an end to no-fault evictions... is this legislation still alive?

Another short answer from our business presenter  Ian King ...

The legislation died with the last government but, yes, the expectation is that Labour will abolish no-fault evictions.

What will Labour do with dividend tax? And what about corporation tax?

Rachel Reeves is already committed to keeping corporation tax unchanged for the life of this parliament. 

But no such commitments have been forthcoming on the taxation of dividends. 

And some people fear the worst because Labour has form here - Gordon Brown took away tax relief on the dividends that pension funds received on their investments in 1997 - which contributed to the near extinction of gold-plated "defined benefit" or "final salary" pension schemes in the private sector.

In fairness, Labour can point out that the Conservatives also stripped away protections enjoyed by savers on their dividends. 

You can now only receive dividends of £500 on shares or investment funds held outside an ISA. The allowance stood at 10 times that just seven years ago.

The moral of the story is clear – if you hold shares or investment funds which pay dividends, protect them in an ISA, which ensures the payouts will be tax-free.

If memory serves me correctly weren't the railways an unmitigated disaster last time they were in public ownership? How is renationalising meant to help anyone?

Here's what  Ian King , our business presenter, says to this...

Labour argues that, in state ownership, the rail network can be more coherent with one "fat controller" type figure in charge to oversee timetables and ticketing. 

Bear in mind most of the railways more or less have been renationalised already – the exception being the rolling stock companies, which will remain privately owned. 

You are right to point out the shortcomings of the nationalised model – as I did in this article for Sky News back in 2017 .

The nationalised model is not a silver bullet – as English and Scottish football supporters to have used Germany's nationalised rail service during the Euros will testify.

We heard nothing in the campaign about how growth would be achieved - how much convincing detail did we get from Reeves?

The UK's sclerotic planning rules have been a major drag on growth over the last decade. 

If Labour has found a way of obviating those rules then it should generate growth. But bear in mind this is going to cause huge rows as Whitehall orders local planning managers what to do and rides roughshod over them when they don't co-operate. 

Not everyone will like it and especially those who find their views interrupted by, for example, new homes. The same applies to tearing up the rules banning more onshore wind farms. 

All other things being equal, it should also be positive for growth, but those who have views of open countryside blighted by new wind turbines may disagree.

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The new Travel Man, Joe Lycett, whisks Bill Bailey off to Iceland, for alfresco bathing, volcanoes, Northern Lights, husky sledding and snowflake bread

Jessica Fostekew and Joe enjoy volcanic vino and cactus croquettes on their Canarian caper

Adam Buxton and Joe explore Czech sights, eat sausages from skulls and hop into a beer spa

Desiree Burch joins Joe in Rovaniemi for aurorae-gazing and sleigh-riding shenanigans

Alan Davies and Joe traverse around Trieste and shoot the breeze at the Wind Museum

Joe and Asim Chaudhry visit an underwater museum and a world-famous skatepark

Joe and Roisin Conaty enjoy a culinary horse-carriage tour and a spot of musical cycling

Joe and comedian Mawaan Rizwan spend two days sightseeing, swimming and swigging stout

Sarah Millican joins Joe for hot air ballooning, cepelini dumplings and gira in Vilnius

96 Hours in Rio

Joe and Stephen Mangan visit Christ the Redeemer and cook Christmas dinner Brazilian-style

Joe and Katherine Parkinson sample local beers and explore Antwerp's subterranean tunnels

Find out more...

Visit the travel man webpage for detail on all locations and activities featured in the show travel man website, people also watched, bargain-blagger joe wilkinson and luxury-lover katherine ryan show us how to live the champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget with some fantastically affordable getaways joe & katherine's bargain holidays, from scrumptious food and vintage finds to ancient traditions and unusual crafts, dick and angel strawbridge venture beyond their chateau gates to explore france's hidden gems secret france with dick and angel, comedians eddie kadi and guz khan immerse themselves in the exclusive millionaires' playground of ghana's capital, accra, exploring its rich culture and lavishly luxe lifestyle my super-rich holiday, the greek island of zante is the most searched-for destination by young brits. here are the stories of the holidaymakers and workers who made it to zante for summer 2021. party island: summer in zante, julie walters meets a mariner in north berwick, rides the famous jacobite steam train, gets a lesson in herring gutting in mallaig, and visits remote duirinish in the western highlands scotland's coastal railway with julie walters, eighty-seven-year-old adventurer tim slessor sets out to recreate his own 1955 record-breaking drive from london to singapore - in the same badly behaved old land rover. what could possibly go wrong the last overland, a look at the great british holidaymaker abroad - at the largest all-inclusive resort on spain's costa del sol the secret life of the holiday resort, after a lifetime exploring the uk's countryside, matt baker crosses the atlantic to experience rural life in the usa matt baker's travels in the country: usa.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Here’s the exact date the UK will start to sizzle under an incoming ‘heat dome’

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After a truly hideous spell of thunderstorms and even, in some parts of the country, snow, it appears the summer is finally on its way. 

It’s proven one of the coldest Junes in more than a decade for the South East of England , and the chilliest since 2015 across the UK. 

Sodden weekend has followed sodden week, as flood warnings remain in place for some parts of Scotland and Wimbledon fans brave the downpour to watch this year’s tournament in West London . 

However, the showers finally look set to clear toward the end of the week, the end of the school year.

Here is what you need to know.

When will the UK weather start to get warmer?

Some forecasters say temperatures are finally set to climb from July 9 onwards . 

This is expected to start in the mid-20s but will likely steadily rise to the low 30s by the end of the month. 

On Facebook, Exacta Weather has warned Brits to prepare for ‘some sort of potential heat dome scenario’, with air currents from the Azores and from Africa possibly pushing those numbers up into the high thirties by the time August is upon us. 

A post read: ‘If things continue to develop as expected over the next several weeks, then there is no reason we couldn’t see temperatures topping out at the mid to high 30s at the very least, particularly in more southern areas.’

The Met Office, however, has been more measured in its forecasts.

Looking toward July 15 to July 29, the service has said: ‘On balance, it may be rather changeable at first, with periods of unsettled and cloudy, wet weather mixed with spells of dry and fine weather. 

‘The west is likely to see the wettest conditions, while the east will tend to be drier.

‘By mid month there is a signal for more settled conditions to develop, so more in the way of dry weather, although still with a risk of some rain / showers at times. 

‘Temperatures close to average at first, but with a greater chance of warmer than average conditions later in the period.’

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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