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Travel Man (also advertised as Travel Man: 48 Hours in...) is a British television travel documentary series, presented by Richard Ayoade and, since Series 10, Joe Lycett.
Description
The programme focuses on the presenter travelling to a popular city in each episode, accompanied by a celebrity guest, to provide viewers a potential itinerary for a two-day (48-hour) break. The series is characterised by a fast-paced format, consumer advice and light humour.
In July 2019, Channel 4 announced that sardonic Richard Ayoade would be leaving the show after the ninth series and would be replaced as host by comedian Joe Lycett.[1] His first episode was broadcast on 27 December 2021.
The programme has been twice nominated in the Best Features category at the BAFTAs and won Best Factual Programme three years running at the RTS Midlands awards.[2][3]
Richard Ayoade and actress Kathy Burke go to Spain's second-largest city in 48 hours, including some far-out cuisine, Cava tasting, a guided tricycle tour, and surrealist artist Miró.
Ayoade and comedian Adam Hills embark on a whirlwind visit in Turkey's largest city, including a boat trip, a massage, a very close shave, and some haggling at the Grand Bazaar.
Ayoade takes actress Jessica Hynes on a whirlwind weekend away to the stunning scenery of Iceland, for waterfalls, geysers, whales, rotten shark, and elf school.
Ayoade and actor Stephen Mangan go hot air ballooning and camel riding on a quickie weekend trip in Morocco. Ayoade watches Mangan eat steamed sheep's head.
Richard goes to the Austrian capital 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.
Ayoade and comedienne Mel Giedroyc do a le weekend in the French capital, with snails, absinthe, a Cordon Bleu cookery course, bespoke perfume, and an art tour.
Ayoade and comedian Noel Fielding spend 48 fast and funny hours in the Danish capital, with cycling, sightseeing, art, sandwiches, beer, and rollercoasters.
Ayoade and comedian Greg Davies attempt to extract the essence of the Russian capital in two days, as they clash with army tanks, head into space, and visit one of the strangest circuses in the world.
Ayoade and comedienne Jo Brand do a fast, funny and ruthlessly efficient trip to Venice, learning to row a gondola, sampling Venetian tapas, and staying at the Hotel Danieli.
Ayoade and comedienne Katherine Ryan take a fast and funny trip to the US' largest city. Their overflowing schedule includes skyscrapers, rollerblades, museums, ferries, showtunes and cronuts.
Hollywood actor Paul Rudd joins Ayoade to discover Finland's 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 Ayoade for a high-speed tour of Portugal's capital, with trams, rickshaw, funicular and fado, and a visit to a doll hospital.
Ayoade and comedian Jack Dee take a trip to Southern Italy's largest city, featuring humour, history, culture, pizza, Vespas and chaotic traffic, a trip to Capri, and a guide to the meaning of dreams.
Actress Rebel Wilson joins Ayoade for a fun-packed whizz round Tuscany's largest city in a minibreak mixing art, action, gelato, a drive in a classic Alfa Romeo, and some tripe.
Comedian Rob Beckett joins Ayoade in Russia's cultural capital, for a post-Soviet itinerary including a tank, caviar, vodka, and a herring in a fur coat.
Ayoade and comedienne Aisling Bea make a whirlwind tour of Hungary's capital, with selfies, goulash, cake, pubs, liquor, and a game of chess at the thermal baths.
Ayoade and actress Lena Dunham fast forward through Tenerife, with a visit to a volcano, some stargazing, a sculpture tour, layered coffee, a spot of golf, and a whale hunt.
Ayoade and comedian Rhod Gilbert's high-speed visit to South Florida's largest city takes in art, art deco, alligators, speedboats, an airboat tour of the everglades - and dominoes.
Ayoade is joined by comedian Matt Lucas, for a frenetic 48 hours in the Italian capital. They cram in culture, cuisine, history, hats and as many sights as possible.
Ayoade and comedienne Sara Pascoe visit Spain's third-largest city for paella, cocktails, zorbing, a four-wheel bike ride and a hunt for the holy grail.
Ayoade and actress Sally Phillips visit the Swedish capital for fika, meatballs, scaling high rooftops, singing ABBA, and staying up late playing on their phones.
In an hour-long Christmas episode, Ayoade and actor Jon Hamm tour Hong Kong, taking in a tai chi drop-in session, a ride in a chopper, and fusion dim sum.
Richard brings inspiration to all mini-breakers as he heads to Belgium with comedian Lee Mack, for culture, comics, puppets, waffles, mussels, and pralines.
Shazia Mirza joins Richard Ayoade for a two day detour in the south of France, including blue art, fancy yachts, a glam helicopter ride, and a trip to the casino in Monaco.
Richard Ayoade returns, delivering the definitive guide to a minibreak in Switzerland's largest city. Joining him for fondue, hot chocolate, Dada, and footie is Frank Skinner.
Richard and comic actor Jessica Knappett tour the White Isle of the Med - taking in some alfresco art, deluxe cocktails, an exclusive supper club, and a hippy gong bath.
Richard and comedian Morgana Robinson tour a sweltering Milan, taking in paintings, a musical pasta-making lesson, and a drink in the smallest bar in the world.
Comedy goddess Dawn French joins Richard in Athens for some ancient history, doughnuts, molecular food, ouzo, and a radical pedicure involving a toothless fish.
Nish Kumar joins Richard for a potter round Porto. Their stuffed mini-break includes scooters, a tipple or two, a fat sandwich, pastries, confession, and some amazing views of Portugal's second city.
Richard and Alice Levine - DJ, broadcaster and podcaster - do Estonia's capital in 48 hours - including the most see-able sights, some nosh at its top restaurant, and a stroke of Sean Connery's face.
Richard Ayoade and Bob Mortimer go for a spin round cosmopolitan Hamburg. There's a Beatles tour in the red-light district, some local hash - corned beef - and hip cocktails.
Ayoade and Lou Sanders do a two-day blast round Bergen, including a gastronomic adventure, Norway's fastest zipline, some odd architecture, and a live-action museum.
Ayoade and Joe Wilkinson whizz round the historic Polish city, stopping for some obwarzanek krakowski, local dumplings, art nouveau, vodka, salt mines, showcase socialist realism, and a bit of soldering.
Comedian Ellie Taylor joins Ayoade for a two-day meander around Madrid, following an itinerary rich in art, history, histrionics, some vermouth, and plenty of ham.
Aisling Bea joins Joe in Split for some Croatian cooking, sunset paddleboarding, dog beach walking and a visit to Froggyland - a museum populated by hundreds of stuffed frogs!
Joe takes Mo Gilligan on a Cypriot odyssey where they get hands-on with halloumi, ride mushroom boats, visit the salt and pepper museum and sample a 24-carat gold ice lolly
Joe and Katherine Parkinson explore Antwerp by hitting a golf ball around it, before they sample the local beer, have breakfast in a launderette and journey down into the subterranean tunnels
Joe and comedian Mawaan Rizwan spend two days in Dublin, visiting talking statues, swimming in 'scrotum-tightening' waters at Forty Foot, swigging stout at the Guinness Storehouse, and marvelling at waxworks.
Joe and Roisin Conaty visit the fairy-tale city of Salzburg, where they enjoy a three-course meal on a horse and carriage tour, some forest-bathing, and a spot of musical cycling on the trail of The Sound of Music.
Asim Chaudhry joins Joe to spend le weekend in Marseille. Together they visit Hotel Le Corbusier, venture through an underwater museum, journey to Notre-Dame de la Garde and learn some tricks at a world-famous skatepark, before raising a glass of pastis.
Alan Davies joins Joe for a traverse around Trieste, where they shoot the breeze at the Wind Museum, enjoy food and fizz pairing in Prosecco, and pop over the Slovenian border to the Lipica Stud Farm.
Desiree Burch joins Joe for some snow-filled shenanigans in Rovaniemi, Lapland. They have a crack at ice fishing and ride in a Sámireindeer caravan, before sparking hope of seeing the Northern Lights.
Adam Buxton and Joe peruse Prague's wonders as they kayak down the River Vltava, sample sausages out of skulls and caviar-laced ice cream, hop into a beer spa and ascend the Zizkov TV Tower.
Jessica Fostekew and Joe enjoy a Canarian caper in Lanzarote, as they trike through the lunar landscape, sample volcanic vino and cactus croquettes, and explore the Jameos del Agua lava tunnels.
Travel Man Series 1 and 2 was released on DVD in October 2018.[citation needed]
Related programmes
Travel Man was a spin-off from the Ayoade-presented North One/Channel 4 series Gadget Man, which was first broadcast with Stephen Fry as host in 2012. Since this series was first broadcast, the franchise has been expanded by Channel 4/North One to include new commission Hobby Man, with Alex Brooker from Channel 4's Friday night comedy show The Last Leg as the main presenter.[6][7] Similar to Travel Man, the format features a main presenter with a different guest each week, but each episode of the new programme is an hour long, rather than half an hour. Channel 4 has commissioned a four-part Hobby Man series, with each episode exploring three different British hobbies. The guests for the series are Joe Wilkinson, Scarlett Moffatt, Joe Thomas and Andi Oliver.[citation needed]
