Jack Shepherd: My Life In Travel

'One meal in Corfu was so incredible that nobody spoke for 45 minutes'

Going to the seaside resort of Filey in Yorkshire during wartime; there was barbed wire on the beach. After that we went to Whitby for several years, which is a haunting, beautiful place.

Best holiday?

There have been lots of really good villa holidays in Greece, Portugal and France. I have a big family, so that kind of holiday is always perfect because we can all get together.

Favourite place in the British Isles?

Yorkshire; when I was young I did a lot of hiking and camping around there so I got to know it rather well. I enjoy camping much more than my children do! I also love mountainous Wales and we have a house in Sussex so I go walking around there. While I was filming Wycliffe, I grew to love Cornwall. We filmed everywhere apart from the extreme north and east.

What have you learnt from your travels?

Never underestimate anyone. People are always more knowledgeable and informed than you imagine.

Ideal travelling companion?

I associate holidays with family, rather than taking long trips to Africa for example, so they are my ideal companions.

Beach bum, culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?

Lounging, drinking and swimming. I've always been interested in the history of places too, though.

Holiday reading?

I enjoy books that are full of imagination. I also like biographies, fantasy and crazy science books - the madder, the better.

Greatest travel luxury?

I always used to take a kettle, but I tend not to bother these days, because I feel uncomfortable going through airport security with one.

Where has seduced you?

Delphi in Greece - it's a haunting, magical place. Drinking the waters of Kastania is supposed to give you poetic inspiration. I found it a very powerful, almost primeval place.

Better to travel or arrive?

To arrive. I quite enjoy driving, but I don't like long train journeys and flying causes me anxiety.

Worst travel experience?

Flying back from Tenerife in severe turbulence in the 1960s. The plane kept dropping and chickens were flying out of their baskets. We all thought we were going to die.

Worst holiday?

There's nothing worse than going on camping holidays when it's cold and wet. But at least you can always pack your bags and come home.

Worst hotel?

The Hotel Monopol in Wroclaw, Poland, where I stayed while filming. It had been Hitler's favourite, apparently. It was a nice, old Victorian building but I heard an actor screaming in the room next door because a rat had come out of his lavatory. The plumbers poured something into the plumbing system, which resulted in the floors becoming flooded with foam.

Best hotel?

A resort on remote Dunk Island (right) in Queensland. It was as close to a tropical paradise as I have ever experienced.

Favourite walk/swim/ ride/drive?

Walking along the Sussex cliffs towards Seven Sisters past Burling Gap, then coming round through Friston Forest and having tea at the little Litlington Tea Gardens. It is a last surviving scrap of the Victorian pleasure grounds.

Best meal abroad?

A meal in Corfu a couple of years ago at a restaurant that specialised in ancient Greek cookery. It was so incredible that nobody spoke for about 45 minutes. It is quite similar to Iranian or Lebanese cooking.

First thing you do when you arrive somewhere new?

Go and get a coffee in the village.

Dream trip?

I have never been to South America, so I'd like to go there.

Favourite city?

The most beautiful city I have been to is Edinburgh. The architecture and atmosphere are fantastic.

Where next?

I dare say that at some point soon I'll drive over to France.

Jack Shepherd is appearing in 'The Slavery Business: How to Make a Million from Slavery', on BBC2, from 3 August at 9pm