Helen Baxendale's holiday heaven and hell

Vicki Power 20 February 2012 • 12:00am

Great holidays…

Which was your best holiday?

I always try to go somewhere historic in Britain at Easter with my partner [David L Williams, a filmmaker] and our three children. Last year we stayed in a really lovely b & b near Hadrian’s Wall and felt really free; there was nobody there and it was absolutely stunning. We’d walk the wall in the daytime with a lunch the b & b had packed. We’d think we’d done brilliantly, but after hours of walking we’d find out how far we’d gone and it would turn out to be a mile and a half or something! It was up and down, but it didn’t matter. It was fantastic.

I discovered Northumberland fairly recently – the beaches there are so beautiful, and it’s like the Fifties up there: unspoilt and with very few people. Easter’s good for holidaying in England; we seem to get the warm weather then, and a rainy summer.

Which is the best hotel you’ve stayed in?

I stay in so many hotels when I’m working that I never stay in them on holiday: they make me feel locked in. I much prefer camping or a caravan. But when I was little, my dad had a colleague who was a French teacher. We got to know the family and they invited us to stay in their hotel. It turned out to be the Belles Rives in Juan les Pins in Cap d’Antibes .

Our friends were so unassuming, because it was the most beautiful, historic hotel. We stayed in their house behind it, which had been stayed in by Picasso, and there were Picasso drawings all over the walls. I was too young to appreciate it then, but I think now how amazing it was.

What do you need for a perfect holiday?

A camper van and the open road. I just love the feeling of “We’re off!” We did own one until recently, but we’ve outgrown it. We hire them now because the big ones are very expensive. I had a lot of caravanning holidays when I was young with my parents and have very happy memories, and this is me trying to replicate that.

What do you always take with you?

A washing line and pegs, a tin opener and a couple of books for each of us. We take Scrabble or Boggle or Bananagrams, probably all three. Lately we’ve quite got into Carcassonne, a game where you build a medieval city out of tiles. We get really into our games and then we go off them, so it’s good to have a few.

What’s your best piece of travel advice?

Always have double the number of pairs of knickers of the days you’re away, because anything can happen. You don’t want to get caught short.

Where would you like to go next?

Somewhere in Britain within an hour of home. I think Britain is very underrated as a holiday destination. I’d like to do things like walk the Ridgeway through Oxfordshire. I think we might do a bit of canoeing and camping in the Wye Valley next.

… and disasters?

Which was your worst holiday?

We once booked a horse-drawn caravan in Ireland. The pictures on the website were absolutely idyllic, but the reality was a horse that absolutely hated us. We don’t know anything about horses. It used to go really slowly, so we’d try to make it go faster – they’d said “Kick it on!” – but we didn’t know what to do and it used to kick and bite us and we were all really scared of it. It ended with our pulling it along, with people making rude gestures to us out of their cars. The Irish seem to hate people in gipsy caravans. The axle came off on the bridge to Ballykissangel [Avoca, in County Wicklow], it rained the entire time and it was really depressing.

What was your worst experience on holiday?

Years ago I sprained my ankle on the first day of skiing in Celerina , Switzerland. I had to watch the others for a long time. But then we decided to go and have a look at Venice, and that was perfect. So I was glad in the end I’d injured myself.

What’s the biggest packing mistake you’ve made?

When I went to Cape Town to film Kidnap and Ransom in 2010, it was sweltering in February – I was having to lie on the kitchen floor to keep cool because it had ceramic tiles. I didn’t have the right clothes. When I went back in 2011 for the second series, I just imagined it would be the same. It was cold and all I took was flip-flops and summer dresses, so I’d got it wrong again.

What’s the worst hotel you’ve stayed in?

We went to the Chelsea Hotel in New York City because of its bohemian past as the home of writers and musicians, and it was just horrible. We imagined we were being very bohemian, but all we wanted was clean sheets. I don’t want much from a hotel, but I do want clean sheets.

What do you avoid on holiday?

I avoid loads of people, because I’d rather have a bit of countryside and an experience that’s different from London, where I live.

What do you hate about holidays?

Nothing, although I always appreciate home when I come back. I always think this is the best place in the entire world. Britain gets a lot of things right; I worry for our future, but I think of the NHS and the BBC, our tolerance and our green belt and I just think we’re so privileged to live here. I’m always happy to come home.