Travel podcasts for city break fans. All the historical and cultural background you need to enjoy your visit.
Episodes
Wednesday Jun 25, 2025
Wednesday Jun 25, 2025
This episode revolves around Amsterdam's top art gallery, the Rijksmuseum. It starts with a little history, explaining how art came to be of such importance in Amsterdam's Golden Age in the 17th century, then continues with some biographical details on the two top artists from the era, Rembrandt and Vermeer. It finishes with pointers to some of their best-known works, plus ideas for other highlights to look out for when visiting the gallery.
Reading Suggestions
Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
Vermeer by Christopher Wright
Rijksmuseum guidebook
Links for this post
The Rijksmuseum
Rembrandt House Museum
Old World Voyages blog
Essential Vermeer
Simon Schama, Great Gallery Tours, the Rijksmuseum
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Amsterdam series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be a big help!
Wednesday May 28, 2025
Wednesday May 28, 2025
This episode on World War II in Amsterdam looks at how 5 years of German occupation affected everyone living there and suggests places to visit to find out more. We start with the population in general and the Dutch Resistance Museum, then look at the plight of the city’s Jewish population before finishing with a section on Anne Frank: her story and the museum now operating in the building where she and her family lived in hiding for 25 months.
Reading Suggestions
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Dutch Resistance 1940-1945 by Klaas Kastlein and Michael Wenting
Links for this post
The Dutch Resistance Museum
The Hollandsche Schouwburg Memorial Site
The National Holocaust Museum
Anne Frank House
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Amsterdam series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be a big help!
Wednesday May 07, 2025
Wednesday May 07, 2025
This episode introduces Amsterdam's Jewish culture. There's a little historical context, beginning with the arrival of Jews fleeing from other parts of Europe in the 16th century and ending in today’s city where Jewish culture is centred around the Jewish Quarter. Then there's a description of some of the most significant places to visit, focussing especially on the Portugese Synagogue and the Jewish Museum. The holocaust will be dealt with in the next episode.
Links for this post
National Holocaust Museum
Hollandsche Schouwburg
Portuguese Synagogue
Jewish Museum
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Amsterdam series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be a big help!
Wednesday Apr 23, 2025
Wednesday Apr 23, 2025
This episode takes you to Amsterdam's Golden Age, the era when, as the Encyclopaedia Britannica puts it, ‘the little nation on the North Sea was one of the most powerful countries in the world, dominating the seas and flourishing in trade, science and – especially – the arts.' First there's a little history to explain how this phenomenon came about and what it meant for Amsterdammers and for the rest of the world, then we visit three different places in the city where you can find out more.
Reading Suggestions
The Embarrassment of Riches The Dutch Golden Age by Simon Schama
Amsterdam A Brief Life of the City by Geert Mak
Amsterdam A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto
Links for this post
Rembrandt House
Amsterdam Museum
Rijksmuseum
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Amsterdam series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be a big help!
Wednesday Apr 09, 2025
Wednesday Apr 09, 2025
The churches of Amsterdam are not always what they seem. One is more of a national memorial, another is an art gallery and concert venue. A third is a museum where you can learn the story of the hidden churches which opened in the 17th century and where worshippers gathered for over 200 years. They key factor is a date – 1578 – when an event occurred which changed everything: the Alteration. This episode explains what happened and then tours half a dozen of the city’s churches and explains what you can expect to find if you visit them today.
Reading Suggestions
Amsterdam A Brief Life of the City by Geert Mak
Amsterdam A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto
The Invention of Amsterdam A History of the World’s Greatest City in 10 Walks by Ben Coates
Links for this post
The Begijnhof
The Oude Kerk
The Nieuwe Kerk
The Westerkerk
The Noorderkerk
St Nicholas
Our Lord in the Attic
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
The canals ARE Amsterdam and Amsterdam IS its canals. This episode is all about them, covering both the engineering genius which gave them their UNESCO World Heritage Site status and their beauty, charmingly different in each season. We bring you a little history, a little atmosphere and 4 suggestions for places to visit to find out more.
READING SUGGESTIONS
Amsterdam A Brief Life of the City by Geert Mak
Amsterdam A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto
The Invention of Amsterdam A History of the World’s Greatest City in 10 Walks by Ben Coates
LINKS FOR THIS POST
The Canal Museum
The Van Loon Museum
The Willet-Holthuysen Museum
The Houseboat Museum
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Amsterdam series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be a big help!
Wednesday Mar 12, 2025
Wednesday Mar 12, 2025
Here are 5 suggestions for walks around Amsterdam. They include possible stopping places and between them they offer a way to see something of all of the main parts of the city. We give enough detail to follow the route if you take a map with you and a little info on the main places you’ll be passing, although we’ll be coming back to most of them in later episodes. None will take longer than an hour if you don’t stop anywhere. .
Links for this post
Grand Café Restaurant 1e Klas
Anne Frank House
Royal Palace
Nieuw Kerk
The Houseboat Museum
Albert Cuyp Market
The Reijksmuseum
The Van Gogh Museum
The Stedelik Museum
MOCO
Hop on Hop off bus tours
Boat trips
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Amsterdam series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be a big help!
Wednesday Feb 26, 2025
Wednesday Feb 26, 2025
Welkom in Amsterdam! This introduction to our Amsterdam series brings you the basic facts - geographical, historical, cultural - which underpin everything. To capture the spirit of Amsterdam, here’s Russell Shorto’s description of the view from his Amsterdam window: ‘the little boats moored by the quay, the row of tilting, gabled buildings on the opposite bank and, on any given day, a couple of bicycles chained to the railing of a hump-backed bridge.’ So, let's go, or as the Dutch say ‘laten we gaan’.
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Amsterdam series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Feb 12, 2025
Wednesday Feb 12, 2025
This last episode on the Valletta series brings you lots of different stories from Malta. We start with a little descriptive writing, factual and fictional, followed by mini-biographies of 4 people who’ve featured in previous episodes but not really had the time they deserve: St Paul, St Publius, Caravaggio and Daphne Caruana Galizia, the high-profile journalist murdered for her stand against corruption in Malta. And to finish, some literary extracts, namely a mystery story set in Malta and 2 World War II love stories. In short, a whole range of new perspectives on Valletta and its surroundings.
Reading Suggestions
The Kappillan of Malta by Nicholas Monserrat
Ladies of Lascaris by Paul McDonald
Secrets of Malta by Cecily Blench
A Death in Malta by Paul Caruana Galizia
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Ryan Murdock
Links for this Post
Short Lets Malta blog
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Valletta series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Here are our ideas for easy days out from Valletta if you want to explore some of the rest of Malta. We start with the two most popular day trips, to the 3 Cities and to Mdina and Rabat, both very easy to do on public transport. Then we have a look at hop-on, hop-off bus tours and boat trips. You could spend a week in Valletta, you could just as easily spend a week doing day trips with Valletta as a base! Most likely, you’ll do a little of each and this episode will help you plan your excursions to other parts of the island.
The Inquisitor’s Palace
Malta at War Museum
St Paul’s Cathedral, Mdina
Carmelite Priory, Mdina
The Roman House, Rabat
St Paul’s Grotto, Rabat
St Paul’s Catacombs, Rabat
Hop-on Hop-off bus tours
Malta Boat Tours
Luzzu Cruises
City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!
Check our website to find more episodes from our Valletta series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk
We love to receive your comments and suggestions!
You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk
And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode. That would be very much appreciated!