From Brian Blessed on Mount Aconcagua to Joan Collins on the Ritz in Paris: The best of My Life in Travel

Private planes, voyages of discovery and camping trips, our archive reveals how celebrities prefer to travel

On top of the world: Aconcagua in Argentina (Alamy)

“I don't like beaches unless I can find a private one – I'm not a child at Cliftonville any more.”

Sir Roger Moore, 9 October 2004

“My greatest travel luxury is private planes. You have to take a deep breath and say, 'I could go to Nice on easyJet for £100 or take a private plane for £15,000.'”

Michael Winner, 18 September 2004

“I am not a beach bum. I am a prisoner of the shade. Yes, restful immobility in the shade.”

Charles Kennedy, 27 March 2004

“I went to Oman in the 1960s with the army of the Sultan of Oman. I spent two and a half years in Dhofar and it was utterly unspoilt. I found the area to be the loveliest place on earth. I have been back on archaeological digs, and on one occasion we uncovered the lost city of Yuba.”

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, 5 February 2005

“I dream of going home. I always say 'ET home' when I'm travelling.”

Gene Wilder, 4 June 2005

“I once climbed Mount Aconcagua. At about 3,000ft, I had the worst attack of the trots ever. I had to strip off and, because it was about 40 degrees below zero, I thought I would lose my manhood.”

Brian Blessed, 24 June 2006

“I was told by a medicine woman in Hawaii that the first thing I should do whenever I go somewhere new is take off my shoes so that I can feel the heartbeat of the place. I've done that ever since and it grounds me in a visceral way.”

Daryl Hannah, 22 May 2010

“My best meal abroad was in Japan. The first time I went with Serge [Gainsbourg] in the Seventies, we had never eaten raw fish before.”

Jane Birkin, 9 July 2011

“Memories are made when you're travelling – not when you're chained to your desk.”

Sir Richard Branson, 6 April 2013

“The President Hotel in Moscow was terrific. You got the impression everybody was listening in.”

John Cooper Clarke, 31 August 2013

“I've always loved the Ritz in Paris. In the Eighties, I took up a whole floor. I had two children, the secretary, the husband – we were treated beautifully.”

Joan Collins, 14 June 2014

“For our first family holiday, we went from our hometown in Illinois to somewhere on Lake Michigan. All I really remember about it is that we had these plastic drinking glasses shaped like little cowboy boots.”

John Malkovich, 20 March 2015

“The sheer concept of being able to eat above the clouds is rather unbelievable. It helps to lend charm to what might otherwise be a rather ordinary lunch tray.”

Alain de Botton, 15 August 2015