Packing list for your next city break: clothes, cards, passport, camera ... guidebook? No, leave it at home. Just remember your MP3 player — and make sure you’ve loaded the latest podcasts, of course.

That last sentence might sound like a foreign language, but it’s one many of us will want to learn over the next few months. Because podcasting is shaping up to be the next big travel trend.

The principle is simple. Over the internet, you subscribe to a “feed” that enables you to download a series of sound files to your computer: these are then automatically transferred to your MP3 player (the system’s name is derived from Apple’s ubiquitous iPod) and, hey presto — you can listen on the move. There’s no doubt podcasting is still at an embryonic stage, but in the past few months, the technology has been taken up by a range of radio stations, including the BBC: according to one chart, Radio 4’s In Our Time is the most popular podcast around.

So far, so intriguing, but what’s it got to do with travel? Well, the technology is also perfectly suited to supplying spoken-word travel guides to be listened to at the destination. While they could never be as comprehensive as a guidebook, they’re a lot lighter, easier to use, more personal — and they don’t cost anything. You can wander the streets with your earphones in, and when you want some local knowledge on, say, choosing a restaurant, or interpreting the public sculptures, you scroll to the relevant podcast, just like choosing a song on your MP3, and listen in.

And it’s already happening. Virgin Atlantic has published four podcast guides to New York on its website (http://virginatlantic.loudish.com), with six minute segments on restaurants, shopping, essentials for first-timers and off-the-beaten-track sights and activities. The company is planning to produce podcast guides to all its 26 destinations over the coming year: Havana is expected to be available within days, with Shanghai and Las Vegas following soon.

“We’ve had 3,000 downloads so far,” says the company’s Breda Bubear. “It’s a very new technology, but people are obviously catching on fast.

“One beauty of the system is that we can update the infor- mation much more frequently than a guidebook would. It’s great for cities, where things change so fast.”

But are the guides any good? After all, there’s no point having a native New Yorker talking you around their city if they’re talking garbage.

Happily, Virgin’s guides are lively and informative. The choices in the top-10 restaurant segment are bound to be contentious, but it’s a good, wide selection, from a Chinatown noodle bar to Thomas Keller’s Per Se. The offbeat New York guide is fun too, with spots on hip cocktail bars and diamond-district restaurants. The presenter is a touch arrogant, but, hey — as he constantly reminds us, this is Noo Yoik.

In addition to Virgin’s offering, there are hundreds of travel- related podcasts out there: the problem is finding the good ones. Podcasts are cheap and easy to make, and as a result, thousands of individuals and groups have done just that, with hugely varying results. Some are unwittingly comical, such as the lugubrious Finn giving his thoughts on local culture from his Helsinki bedroom.

HOW CAN I LISTEN IN?

All you need to download podcasts is a reasonably up-to-date computer and a good internet connection — broadband is recommended. If you want to take full advantage and hear them on the move, you’ll also need an MP3 player, such as an iPod.

Step 1: Get a podcatcher

First, download the software package, or “podcatcher” as it’s known, in order to receive podcast files. There are a number of free podcatchers available: try www.ipodder.com or www.dopplerradio.net; for iPod users, the latest version of iTunes, from www.itunes.com, has a podcatcher built in. Thankfully, all these podcatchers also have idiots’ guides on how to use the technology.

Step 2: Find your podcasts

Most podcatcher sites have links to a number of “feeds” from a range of podcasters, so you can sample a bit of what’s out there straightaway. To find more, though, look on www.digitalpodcast.com and www.podcast.net, both of which have a range of travel-related shows — or just type “travel podcasts” into your web search engine.

While many of the podcasts are the work of enthusiastic amateurs, others are more professional and information-packed. Try Las Vegas Insider (www.sincity-insider.com), the Definitive London Podcast (www.podcast.net/show/81419) and the New York Minute Show (www.podcastnyc.net).

Step 3: Listen in

You can now play the podcast directly through your computer’s speakers, or to listen as you travel, use your normal music software to transfer the sound file to your MP3 player.