Alexander Armstrong: The best place I've ever been, and why I don't do hotels anymore

Alexander Armstrong, the comedian and actor/singer, reveals his greatest luxury, his lingering dread and why he doesn't do hotels anymore.    

I like having a purpose

...when I’m on holiday, but guilt-driven tourism is not for me. I’d take lying by the pool doing nothing over aimlessly wandering the streets clutching a guidebook. 

Italy’s dark underbelly is enlightening

...and I loved investigating the tunnels, crevasses and dungeons, including one in Naples where we had to negotiate cave moths.

Massachusetts is absurdly beautiful

...and amazing. I recently went to a densely forested place there called the Berkshires, about two hours by car from Boston, to a Glyndebourne-style music festival called Tanglewood.

I don’t like travelling without my wife

...as it’s simply not the same when I do. I’ve been to some lovely places but if she’s not with me it just doesn’t feel like a holiday to me as I miss her terribly.

Swimming in icy water

...was marvellous but bracing. I did it in the Norwegian Sea, and only lasted about a minute and half.

Greenland is bleak but extraordinary

...and I found it exhilarating. The polar ice cap there is formed from layers of snow from centuries and millennia ago and the weight that has now compacted is phenomenal. It’s pink and orange clouds were beautiful.

Christmas without cold is wrong

...I used to think but in Singapore with my brother it was fantastic. Seeing the huge snowmen and displays of reindeer skiing down Nathan Road still made us feel Christmassy.

I don’t like seeing places through a car window

...and much prefer being at sea such as in Corfu where we rented boats and travelled on the Ionian Sea. It was the ultimate in relaxation. 

The best place I’ve ever stayed in

...was Positano’s Sirenuse Hotel. We had our honeymoon there and it’s not so much the luxury that appeals but the location, surrounded by the orange tress and the blossoms.

I don’t do hotels anymore

...and have swapped them for villas, which are better for my family of six. I’ve got four boys and villas are not astronomically expensive, especially if you share with another family.

The greatest luxury for me is 

...thoughtfulness, when it comes to service. We stayed at Babington House in Somerset for New Year once and, as we were leaving to return home to an unstocked house, we were presented with this wonderful bag full of freshly baked bread, jam, butter and granola, so we wouldn’t have to stop at the garage on the way home.

Edinburgh is positively supernatural

...for its incredible ancient charm. I’ve been to Venice, Rome, and Dubrovnik, but none of them come close to Edinburgh.

Human nature has a way of ruining beautiful places

...and I fear that happening to places like Florence, which is known for its staggering beauty.

I discovered the most phenomenal soap

...at the Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The shop smells amazing, and it hasn’t changed since the late 18th century.

I had the best meal of my life

...at the world’s most northerly Michelin-starred restaurant, Huset Svalbard. It’s located on the closest stretch of land to the North Pole and, after a hard spell filming, we enjoyed fabulous proper posh nosh there. The theatre and sheer incongruity of the occasion made it memorable.

I like the idea of raving in Ibiza

...but it’s never happened. I’ve been a few times and friends and I have talked about clubbing but the dancing doesn’t start until about half one in the morning, so we’ve never made it. 

People slate Blackpool but I loved it

...while I was filming there. The people were lovely. I found it surprisingly beautiful.

I used to think all budget airlines were horrible

...but now I make a distinction after a harrowingly depressing experience with Ryanair two years ago. I was staggered by how badly we were treated. It genuinely felt like the staff didn’t care.

I have a lingering dread

...of coming back through passport control on the return journey of a holiday. I hate that “cattle passage” feeling about the security process, and the prospect of an hour-long wait at the end of your holiday.

My biggest travel dream

...is to do a big drive down the West Coast of America driving a Cadillac.

Alexander Armstrong’s album, In A Winter Light, is out on November 24.

Interview by Nick McGrath