  Recent progress on Baade-Wesselink (BW)-type techniques to determine the
distances to classical Cepheids is reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on
the near-infrared surface-brightness (IRSB) version of the BW method. Its most
recent calibration is described and shown to be capable of yielding individual
Cepheid distances accurate to 6%, including systematic uncertainties. Cepheid
distances from the IRSB method are compared to those determined from open
cluster zero-age main-sequence fitting for Cepheids located in Galactic open
clusters, yielding excellent agreement between the IRSB and cluster Cepheid
distance scales. Results for the Cepheid period-luminosity (PL) relation in
near-infrared and optical bands based on IRSB distances and the question of the
universality of the Cepheid PL relation are discussed. Results from other
implementations of the BW method are compared to the IRSB distance scale and
possible reasons for discrepancies are identified.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics;Solar and Stellar Astrophysics