Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

  • By: Michael Palin
  • Narrated by: Michael Palin
  • Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,701 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days cover art

Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

By: Michael Palin
Narrated by: Michael Palin
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £13.00

Buy Now for £13.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Himalaya cover art
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star cover art
Brazil cover art
Turtles in our Wake cover art
Into Iraq cover art
Journeys to Impossible Places cover art
Unhappy Endings cover art
Jupiter's Travels cover art
Perilous Question cover art
The Great Railway Bazaar cover art
Journeys North cover art
Legacy cover art
Hit the Road, Jac! cover art
Neither Here nor There cover art
Phoenix from the Ashes cover art
Canvas Flying, Seagulls Crying cover art

Editor reviews

Having mostly retired from comedy, former Monty Python member Michael Palin sets out with a BBC film crew from the Reform Club in London, planning to follow in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg to travel Around the World in 80 Days. Palin is allowed only to use modes of transport that to which Fogg would have access during Victorian times, a feat in itself. Visiting Venice and Hong Kong, Giza and many other exotic locations, Michael travels around the globe, bringing back entertaining anecdotes and an epic adventure filled with humour and excitement. Narrated by Michael Palin himself, this marvellous audiobook can be downloaded from Audible.

Summary

In the autumn of 1988, Michael Palin set out from the Reform Club with an ambitious plan: to circumnavigate the world, following the route taken by Jules Verne's fictional hero Phileas Fogg 115 years earlier. The rules were simple. He had to make the journey in 80 days using only forms of transport that would have been available to Fogg. And so, complete with visas, running shoes, an inflatable globe and sound advice from Alan Whicker, Michael Palin began his incredible journey.

Crossing 17 borders and meeting innumerable challenges, he saw Venice from the back of a rubbish barge, rode around the Pyramids on a camel called Michael, and was attacked by a cockatoo in Hong Kong - amongst many other adventures. Phileas Fogg may have brought a Princess back from his travels, but Michael Palin brought back a fascinating and frequently humorous account of the journey of a lifetime.

©1989 Michael Palin (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,024
  • 4 Stars
    525
  • 3 Stars
    125
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,009
  • 4 Stars
    291
  • 3 Stars
    61
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,761
  • 4 Stars
    442
  • 3 Stars
    139
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Well written, well read. Totally absorbing.
Would love to travel like this.
Nothing else to say minimum word reviews irritate me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story from a "nice man".

What did you like most about Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days?

Michael Palin writes the book as if seeing the world through young eyes. Everything is new and interesting, but it is the people who he meets that adds to the story. I don't know if he likes to be know as a nice man, but he is. I like that he narrates his own book so you feel you get more of the insight into the journey.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story and well read. Shame about the music

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The music is annoying and frequently drowns out the spoken word. There is no need for it after the opening.

What did you like best about this story?

It was all fascinating

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator didn't detract from the book, only the annoying music

Did Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days inspire you to do anything?

No

Any additional comments?

Get rid of the music!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting indeed

Very good, interesting story and well told. Nice pace to the performance, more than enough to keep you coming back for the next instalment. Made me want to buy the DVD of the TV series too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic boys own adventure

I saw the original TV series of Michael's adventure when I was a teenager - and enjoyed it from start to finish.

This audio book is a carbon copy of the TV series, and is an excellent listen - Michael Palin's genuine interest in the world, coupled with a strong sense of British reserve and sarcasm make for an enjoyable experience.


Highlights for me where the Dow adventure and his train travel across China; for different reasons. The Dow experience was very much about the strong relationship he built with the crew and the China train trip because it is a time stamp for a China that is fast changing.

Great boys own adventure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Most enjoyable.

I watched the Programmes when they first came out about 25 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed re-living it all now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Mr
  • 08-04-13

The Best Of The Best

Back when I was young and impressionable the TV series was (and still is) a wonder. Listening to it is a pleasure, yes things have changed in the world some for the better, some for the worst. bust listening to this you forget, you are dragged into Palin's life on the road. For anyone with even a passing interest in the world its a good choice!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent tale of adventure

Would you consider the audio edition of Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days to be better than the print version?

Yes

What was one of the most memorable moments of Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days?

Chapter after chapter of adventure from around the globe

What does Michael Palin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Narrative spoken by the author himself

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

An excellent tale of adventure. As relevant today as the day it was experienced.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great trip down memory lane

If you could sum up Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days in three words, what would they be?

Adventure, humour, exciting

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the TV series and the book in the 80's so it was great to take a trip down memory lane and relive the excitement and pressure of the trip

What about Michael Palin’s performance did you like?

As he lived the words he writes it made for a very authentic performance

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Join the adventure

Any additional comments?

Just a great book (still, despite being almost 30 years since it was written) and thoroughly enjoyable. I am sure I will go back to this again and listen in the future. I've also just bought full circle, which I also enjoyed when first available, in the print and TV forms.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Still a grand listen

Its 2020, and I found it fascinating to revisit this chaotic circumnavigation. It's easy to forget life before ubiquitous internet, how an unexpected change of plans was often a bit of a scramble ( though rarely with a time restraint such as this). No mobile phone to grab, no internet cafe to invade. The thing that particularly struck me was near the end, a conversation about ships' charts, how they would be amended manually, the quantities carried on board. The thing that most stood out for me, along with this being a Rattling Good Yarn, was the kindness and helpfulness of so many people, and peoples, whom the team encountered. Yes, there's always a Jobsworth, but there was interest and fascination which, perhaps with information at our fingertips, might now be less eager, less spontaneous - perhaps even lacking.

A tale that has stood the test of time. Very much still worth a listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful