Globe Trekker travellers Ian Wright, Megan McCormick, Jonathan Atherton and Justine Shapiro travel the length and breadth of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to experience the best of the countries’ heritage, history, nature, festivals, food and drink and eccentric traditions! Our team start off by looking at the monarchy in different periods of England’s history; Ian visits Windsor castle whilst Jonathan learns about the bloody and gory past of the Tower of London. Although the United Kingdom doesn’t hold the best reputation for food, our travellers tuck in to all manner of delightful and doubtful food; from the cooked English breakfast to deep fried chocolate bars, jellied eels and Cornish pasties. Strange sports are sampled, from dog racing in North London to grand horse racing at Ascot, bizarre road bowling in Northern Ireland and the Highland Games in Scotland. Our travellers complete their journeys by taking in some of the UK’s most stunning vistas, from atop the Scottish Highlands, Northern Ireland’s Giants Causeway and Wales’ Snowdonia.

With over 1.3 billion citizens and a land mass barely larger than the USA, it would be easy to think China is just crammed with people, but as Globe Trekker's Ultimate China shows, this is a land of incredible diversity. Megan McCormick starts out in the old capital, Xianyang, which was established over 2000 years ago and is the home of Emperor Qin's huge mausoleum with its army of terracotta warriors. On a brief journey through the history of the nation, Megan McCormick, Justine Shapiro and Zay Harding visit the forbidden city of Beijing and the centuries of Imperial reign. During these centuries, we find that China led the world in arts and sciences and became rich selling silk, porcelain and tea along the silk route and from ports such as Quanzhou. But the Imperial era was brought to an end by the Opium wars with Britain and the series of revolutions that followed, culminating in the communist revolution under Mao Zedong. Justine meets a teacher who experienced Mao's oppression in the cultural revolution and Zay talks to one of the original long marchers who fought beside Mao against Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist army. China seems to be modernizing at an incredible place, but many millions of Chinese still live peasant lifestyles. Away from the cities, Justine visits the beautiful Miao people of the south west and sees the swinging festival of the Akka people. Zay sees the extraordinary Tolou mud homes of the Hakka people of Fujian. And between them all they see that China has stunning rural landscapes, ranging from jagged mountains to vast deserts. In the midst of that, Chinese ingenuity is everywhere, from elevators up mountains, to the Great Wall of China and, most recently and dramatically, the Three Gorges Dam project which is transforming the Chinese landscape forever.

Our travelers Justine Shapiro, Ian Wright and Megan McCormick set out on a voyage around the massive gulf that separates the North and South American continents to delve beneath the perception many people have that the Caribbean is merely a rich man’s playground to bring you the Ultimate Caribbean experience! There are hundreds of tiny islands strung out across the Caribbean but the largest islands have the strongest characters. We visit Trinidad, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic to discover the history of the Caribbean – and its decidedly dark underside. It was colonized by European settlers who put the native Carib and Arawak Indians to work on the sugar plantations; when they were virtually wiped out the colonists brought over millions of African slaves. Our travelers visit Santo Domingo, a plantation on Jamaica and the Maroons (descendants of escaped slaves who still live in the hills) to discover more. If you want to avoid the crowds, head to some of the smaller islands such as St Kitts which still has a seriously English feel while Dominica remains a jungle paradise. Tobago is a beautiful peaceful island and a great place to get involved in local events – where the Bacoo Goat Race is the place to be seen at! Just outside the Caribbean the Turks & Caicos Islands are the place to escape. Animal lovers will find another sort of paradise in the Caribbean from exceptional diving to swimming with dolphins to keeping out of the way of alligators and communing with massive leatherback turtles. If you want to get trekking, Dominica has the biggest rainforest in the Caribbean and big tracts of it are still untouched while the Dominican Republic’s pine forests are a great place to go mule riding as Megan discovers! Jamaica also offers some wonderful views – for an amazing experience climb the Blue Mountain in time for the sunrise – a perfect way to end our Caribbean odyssey!

The cradle of European art and science, romance, intrigue as well as the style and fashion mecca of the world – it can only be Italy. Unified in 1861, Italy has still maintained a unique identity owing to a very proud and illustrious history and an immensely diverse cultural heritage. And the Pilot Guides team are off to find out what makes it tick. We begin with KT Comer hitching a ride in a Ferrari, which proceeds to scream along a racetrack followed by an equally intense trip in a taxi. Meanwhile Ian Wright gets into a spot of bother not realising he has to get his ticket validated before being allowed on the bus. Estelle Bingham is in Rome, the country’s capital set amid seven hills and home to the Vatican City and the Coliseum. Beginning at the Forum, Estelle investigates the administrative heart of the Roman Empire, which over a period of 700 years grew to encompass most of Europe as well as part of Asia and North Africa. Ian strikes up a friendship with a local baron and stays in an idyllic farmhouse from 90 euros per night. He also gets to indulge in some wine tasting at a local cellar and does some olive picking in the groves. Meanwhile Estelle stays in a hostel for the night for 15 dollars while in the southern Italian town of Albero Bello, Megan stays in a hotel overlooking the town’s conical shaped houses. Megan gives us a quick peek at the designer boutiques in Milans Quadrillatero dOro or Golden square. Estelle tries her hand at making a pizza and Ian indulges in some ice cream and a rather dubious tripe salad. Finally we end our action packed programme with a visit to Siena’s annual Palio, a hectic horserace held between rival towns in the main square. Ian watches a match of Calcio Storico Florence’s traditional yet violent sport where teams combine rugby, football wrestling and boxing and Megan partakes in a game of orange throwing in the town of Ivrea – a three day celebration that commemorates the town’s revolt against the tyrannical Count Ranieri.

Justine Shapiro, Ian Wright and Christina Chang travel to the four corners of France to taste the food the wine and the culture. Ian climbs the mountains of Corsica, only to be rescued by helicopter. Christina dons mediaeval costume to enter the spirit of the wine festival of Chateauneuf du Papes and Justine attempt to impress with her cordon bleu cooking. From Roman amphitheatres to science fiction towers, France remains the most charming, perplexing, varied and fascinating of countries. Christina helps make Roquefort and perfume, the two extremes of olfactory pleasure. Ian debates Corsican claims for independence and Justine reaches dizzy heights on the Eiffel Tower.

The Middle East is known as the cradle of civilisation for good reason. The area has been home to some of the most formidable empires the world has ever known and is the birthplace of the world’s three biggest monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Pilot team go in search of the major empires, religions and conflicts that have, and continue, to shape the region.